News

JA Spirit Teams Capture Four Championship Titles

JA cheerleaders, dance teams, and drumline demonstrated their skills at inspiring audiences during the MAIS Spirit Competition held at the Mississippi Coliseum yesterday. The newest addition to spirit competition is a drumline show, this year held as an exhibition. JA’s drumline delivered a lively, crowd-pleasing performance. JA spirit teams brought home four championship titles, three runner up positions, and two All-Star recognitions. Congratulations to all of JA’s spirit teams!

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Podcasting in Class

Bronwyn Burford’s financial management students are out on a special assignment to research, record, and produce a podcast! Students will use the application Anchor to record and edit their findings on topics related to personal financial management. They’ll also be working together in groups of two or three, practicing collaboration, and interviewing friends and faculty for their episodes, a great way to hone communication skills. This project is so full of learning opportunities it’s categorized as an educational superfruit!

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Community Helpers Day in K3

To a three-year-old, a box of dress-up clothes is a portal to a world of possibilities. Last Friday, the K3 classes stepped through such a portal to imagine the world of the community helpers who keep us safe. The students arrived dressed up as firefighters, police officers, nurses, doctors, and many other community helpers and paraded through the playground for all of their Preschool and Lower School friends to see.

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Investigator Educates Middle School Students on Internet Safety

Middle School students gathered in the PAC yesterday morning to hear a presentation from guest speaker Jay Houston on online safety and cybercrime. Houston is a certified forensic computer examiner and commands the Internet Crimes Against Children unit within the Attorney General’s office of cybercrime division. He has served as an investigator for 13 years with the ICAC unit, and uses his experiences in the field to inform and encourage students.

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Counseling Office Helps Students Navigate the College Admission Journey

The year 2020 has been interesting for high school students, counselors, and college admissions offices, all of whom have had to navigate a challenging course in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Jackson Academy’s Upper School Counseling Office has steadily adapted to provide students with guidance and clarity as they prepare to make a college decision.

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Rowdies’ Mr. Wolf Explained

If you’ve been to a JA Raider athletic event (and who hasn’t?), you have glimpsed a gray figure that seems quiet and still amid the raucousness of pep rallies and games. Mr. Wolf, who accompanies the boys spirit team known as the Rowdies, is a stalwart supporter of the Raiders. But why?

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Encore and Showtime Overcome Obstacles on the Path to Competition

Normally, choreographers Kevin Chase and Nick Quamme spend a week at JA teaching Encore and Showtime the dances for their upcoming competition season. But 2020 isn’t a typical year. Instead of visiting Jackson, Chase and Quamme taught choreography via Zoom from their studios in Iowa and Wisconsin as students watched from the Performing Arts Center’s choral music room.

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J.F. Smith Group, Inc. Leads Conversations at JA

Sissy Spence, a senior vice president with J.F. Smith Group, Inc., has become quite familiar with Jackson Academy in recent years. She and her colleague, Richard Hood, are spending time on campus this month interviewing JA families to determine JA’s readiness to pursue a capital campaign.

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Three JA Seniors Recognized as National Merit Semifinalists

Jackson Academy is proud to recognize three 2021 National Merit Semifinalists. Seniors Zoe Ladner of Jackson, Isabelle Lee of Brandon, and Priya Ray of Brandon are among approximately 16,000 Semifinalists in the 66th annual National Merit Scholarship Program, officials of National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced last week.

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