Education

Gil Fayard is an alum of Sacramento Academy and a soon-to-be Pacific Union College graduate. A kind and compassionate hard worker, Fayard is determining his professional path. Currently, he works as an EMT and volunteer firefighter for the Angwin Fire department. His sister Natalie recently invited him to talk to her preschool class of youngsters at Sacramento Academy.

The children sat on the carpeted floor for circle time, a place used for special presentations and worship. With excitable attention, the children watched as he donned his turnouts (fire retardant overalls), firefighter’s jacket, and helmet describing the purpose of each piece of clothing.

Aided by a PowerPoint presentation, Fayard explained fire safety to the children, including how to dial 911 in an emergency and “stop, drop, and roll” to extinguish a fire on your clothing.

Fayard said, “Even though preschoolers are very young, this foundational safety lesson will stick with them for life. It’s also important to explain why they shouldn’t be afraid of first responders. We’re always there to help them.”

Shari Thompson, Sacramento Academy preschool director, said of Fayard’s presentation, “You can’t communicate this kind of information just being a teacher. To have somebody like Gil from the community present information from his work life is more vital to the education of our children. To see the kids’ faces light up is just amazing! We are thankful for people like Gil for serving as a first response worker and taking time for our children!”

Featured in Northern Lights, February 2, 2023

The 22-day storm that recently bombarded California did not leave Lodi Academy and Elementary schools unscathed.

Lance Lemos, business manager, said, “We had about 9 inches of rain that completely saturated the soil. With that sogginess, the accompanying wind took down about six trees on the two campuses.”

The more significant trees included mature cedars and spruce that music teacher Jeanine Hanson remembers from the boarding school era – decades ago.

After the storm passed, cleanup started immediately. Volunteers and staff began cutting the trees into fireplace-sized wood to sell in a future fundraiser. The logs too big to cut were removed on trailers by volunteers.

Elementary principal Lisa Nuss said, “We hated to lose our beautiful trees out in front of the school. But God has a reason. What is amazing is that one tree fell just a foot away from our music building!”

Lemos concluded, “God sent all those trees in the right direction, thankfully avoiding building damage.”

Featured in Northern Lights, January26, 2023

December 6- Pine Hills Academy Choir helped Sacramento Capitol visitors ring in the Christmas Season by performing a selection of sacred and secular holiday music.

As part of the Capitol Holiday Music Program, the Choralaires performed in the Capitol Rotunda. According to David Carreon, principal, “It is amazing and satisfying to have our talented students perform in such a public setting.”

Carreon continued, “It is a privilege to be able to share the story of Jesus’ birth through song in such a secular setting. To see our young people minister through music and interact with the community is what Adventist education is all about.”

Featured in Northern Lights, January 5, 2023

December 9- Redwood Academy celebrated the opening of its new gymnasium by hosting a basketball game. The former gym was burned along with the school during the Santa Rosa Tubbs fire in 2017.

According to Lisa Paulson, principal, “Redwood has so much to offer our community, excellent education, our food farm program, and now our gymnasium with events lined up one after another. We are so blessed and ecstatic to have it ready!”

Receiving their occupancy permit on December 6, they promptly had their first basketball practice on Wednesday in preparation for a game on Friday. And play they did! The 7th and 8th-grade boys battled back from a 12-point deficit to win their game against a local undefeated team.

According to Matthew Beehler, financial chair, and coach, “We were definitely the underdogs in this game, so winning 42 to 38 may have been sparked by being on our new home court.”

Paulson concluded, “It’s been an extraordinary week, the end of a long wait. Winning this game was a great way to inaugurate our shiny new home.”

<em>Featured in Northern Lights, December 15, 2022</em>

Northern teachers met at Gracepoint church Monday morning for a conference-wide in-service.

According to Lodi Elementary principal, Lisa Nuss, “We have four new teachers this year at Lodi so quick team-building success and conference procedural help is very important.”

Education superintendent Albert Miller said, “Our territory is large geographically and spread out. We set up several of these gatherings every year to support our teachers, discuss important issues, and promote a flow of information going in both directions.”

The day’s activities include new employee orientation and many breakout sessions that offer continuing education credits.

One of three teachers in an eight grade school, Yreka kindergarten teacher Diona Lowery noted, “I was a walk-on teacher last year so these meetings are my crash-course in education management. I loved Keith Jacobson’s message at worship and God has blessed our fifty-student school. I can’t wait to see my little ones next week!”

Featured in Northern Lights • August 11, 2022

By Rika Meyer and Nick Sigler

Teachers in all grades are observing varying levels of learning loss in students after an entire year of instruction online. At Rio Lindo Adventist Academy, new students who attended a public school the previous year have demonstrated that their knowledge is not at grade level. A record four new students are repeating a grade this year after not receiving credit for last year’s high school classes.

One surprising aspect of learning in a COVID world is demonstrated by Rio’s freshman class. This class of 25 students has overwhelmingly taken ownership of their learning and turned their challenges into resilience as they find intrinsic motivation that we haven’t seen before in a freshman class. The freshman class also has a record high number of students who had previously attended an Adventist school—with 22 out of 25 coming from Adventist education, versus about half of all other new students, who have previously attended a public school.

English teacher Nick Sigler (pictured above) explains:

“At the end of most units, I have my students complete a reflection survey. This wrap-up assists them in taking what they learned about the content, the educational process, and themselves and applying it to future subject matter. My hope is always that they will grow both in their knowledge and gain confidence in themselves as students. The comments usually run the gamut: ‘I wasn’t interested in this subject,’ ‘Assign less reading,’ ‘I think I did pretty good.’ This is all normal teenage perspective on school and studying.

“However, this year (and the previous 18 months) has elicited a new perspective from my students that I haven’t seen before. When I assigned the first unit reflection, the comments by and large exhibited a more determined tone than I have ever seen before in my years of teaching. Students commented: ‘I know I can do better and I want to try harder this unit,’ ‘I’m enjoying reading so much more now,’ and ‘I am going to spend more time preparing for class.’

“Two characteristics of this point of view jumped out at me. Number one: their comments were ‘I’ focused. Then took ownership of their efforts and acknowledged what they each individually had put into their unit. If they had not done as well as they could have, they owned their mistakes. Which leads us to number two. These comments exhibited a growth mindset. The growth mindset is an indicator of success because it demonstrates the person is looking at obstacles as opportunities. It is a brave resilience that shows their ability to grow in the face of struggle.

“I believe this resilience is a product of what all our students have gone through this last year and a half. Our Rio students faced school as they have never known it before; they have been ingenious about how to make their lives work in a quarantined existence; they have had to pivot at a moment’s notice. And yet through all of it, they can still see the possibilities for growth and improvement.

“I am hopeful. If a student body can see their own potential, take ownership of their mistakes, and set goals for themselves, then the future of Rio Lindo, our country, and our planet looks like a place we all want to be.”
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Rika Meyer is Rio’s vice president of marketing, admissions & development.
Nick Sigler is Rio’s English teacher.