Last Friday morning, I was meeting with a Board Committee member (and parent of an alum) when the faintest hint of an alarm was heard. Tweaking my ears to hear exactly what it was (recognizing that I am still trying to attune myself to the sound of a tornado siren) I recognized it immediately; within a few seconds the sound was growing closer and stronger. It became clearer to me. I was hearing a whistle being sounded, and then kazoos, and then just plain old noise makers joined in this joyful chorus of disruption. This was the announcement of Congé!

Have you every heard the saying when the going gets tough, the tough get going?  Recently I overheard this advice being shared by a Fourth Class student to his classmate.  It got me thinking…how has this youngster come to understand that there is a value in sticking with something—to see a project through to completion.

The chance of snow, and dare I say the dream of a snow day, is not the only cause for excitement at the Academy.  The students in our Second and Fourth Classes have participated in the international Hour of Code initiative.  The program is designed to help expose students to computer science and coding.  Our Sixth Class is going well beyond this as they are ‘building’ their own Space Invaders game.  Don’t be mistaken, while it sounds like fun and literally games…real learning is occurring as our students learn computer programming including: sequencing, loops, iteration, functions, variables and list.