Congratulations to the newest Episcopal Alumni Board members and Officers!

The Fine Arts Department gave their special recognition awards for the year at a luncheon in April. The list of students receiving awards is available on the Episcopal website.

The Varsity Baseball team, District Champions, defeated Fernandina Beach in the Regional Semi Finals last night 3-2. The Eagles will move onto the Regional Finals, hosting Pensacola Catholic on Friday, May 11 at 7 p.m. at Episcopal.

The complete list of Episcopal students who have committed to play a sport at the collegiate level is available on the Episcopal website. Twenty-two seniors will play a sport at college next year. Congratulations to these seniors!

At the Senior Athletic Banquet 10 awards were given to deserving student-athletes. Click for a complete list.

Haley Brown has '14 been selected to attend the Engineering and Construction Camp at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, NC, on June 17-23, 2012. This camp is sponsored by the Society of American Military Engineers (S.A.M.E.). Haley applied to the Jacksonville Post of the S.A.M.E., and was selected based on several factors, including her academic performance and extracurricular involvement. She is one of 40 students selected from communities throughout the United States, the Pacific and Europe.

Senior Andrew Joseph earned a First Place Gold Medal and $1,000 at the International Sustainable World Science Olympiad May 3-7th in Houston. Approximately 440 students from 68 countries presented their projects, which focused on energy, engineering and environmental issues that face our society today. During his three-year scientific investigation, Andrew designed and conducted original research in a lab at the University of Florida to genetically alter rice to make it more drought resistant. May 13-18 Andrew and junior Alex Forsyth will be in Pittsburgh to present their projects at the International Science and Engineering Fair.

The Alumnus of the Year Award is given to an alum who has consistently provided exemplary service to Episcopal by enhancing the mission, success, stature, and well-being of the School. This year’s recipient has done all of those things, many times over! The Alumnus of the Year Award goes to Tommy Donahoo, Class of ’84.

In April, ESJ students elected new Senate officers and Senate Upper School class representatives for grades 9-12. All ESJ students who participated in the elections, in many cases, tightly contested races, should be congratulated for their enthusiasm and willingness to serve the Episcopal student body. Even those who did not run for office felt enthusiastic about next year’s potential, Kalen Koch, a junior said, “I am really excited about what the senate will accomplish next year!” Anna Bauman, another junior, said, “The leadership of the senate inspires me to become more involved in the school next year.”

Episcopal alum and Admissions Administrative Assistant Kelby Siddons ’06 recently won the Theatre Jacksonville 24-hour Playwriting Competition for the second year in a row with her play, Threshold. The play is about two high school seniors.

The Track & Field team had a big finish at the State Championships this weekend! The girls finished fifth overall, beating all their District and Regional rivals.

Episcopal is pleased to announce that current Acting Head of School Charles F. Zimmer will continue in this role with Episcopal through the 2012-2013 school year.

Episcopal’s Acting Head of School, Charley Zimmer, today announced that the School’s Office of Institutional Advancement and Stewardship will now be headed by Missy Ketchum as the new Director of Advancement. Most recently Missy was Director of The Episcopal Fund for the School, and joined the Advancement Office in the summer of 2011.

Girls Crew raced many area teams last weekend on the Ortega River, including club teams (Bolles, St Johns Country Day, Stanton-Riverbank Rowing Club, Jacksonville Rowing Club and Evans Rowing Club). The girls dominated on their side, winning the Varsity 8 and Varsity 4, along with the JV 8, Freshman 8, JV 4, Freshman 4, and the single. The Girls Crew victories combined with the scores from the Boys Crew team, who won the JV 8 and freshman 8, helped Episcopal to win the all-points trophy, named for Dr. Art Peterson, a former teacher and crew program director at Episcopal. Both teams will head to States.

The State weightlifting championships were held in Kissimmee this Friday. Episcopal senior Dan McCarthy competed in the 183 lb weight class and went into the competition in fifth place; however he ended up being third in the state!

Each semester, media production ventures off campus to visit a professional production studio. This time, the class was fortunate to be able to view the Jacksonville Jaguars studio first hand.

Wednesday in Chapel, angels painted in Episcopal gold and maroon with Dale Regan's name on them were blessed by the Rev. Hopie Jernagan. The angels will be given to all faculty and staff by Angels for Allison, a non-profit organization that assists families who have lost a child. In Chapel the angels were carried by students, parents and Angel Board members.

Girls Varsity Lacrosse won the District Championship last night by defeating Stanton 13-8. After being down 5-1, the team scored 11 unanswered goals! Regionals are Tuesday against Bartram Trail. Congratulations, ladies!

Episcopal’s Track and Field team has three Regional Champions: senior Christine Griggs was a double winner - 1600 and 3200, and senior Emily Smithwick won the Pole Vault in a PR 11’8, which is the top mark in the state in 2A.

The Boys Lacrosse Team defeated Paxon last night to win the District Championship! The final score was 25-2, earning the Eagles a season record to date of 11-5. Regionals begin next week on Tuesday. This is the team's second year in a row as District Champions and third Championship in the last four years. Congratulations to the team!

The pond in front of the Munnerlyn Center for Worship and Fine Arts now hosts a ceramics installation of 63 aquamarine fish arranged in concentric circles, created in celebration of Dale Regan’s 63 years of life and her contributions to the community over that time. Episcopal’s National Art Honor Society Students, who participate in all mediums, including photography, ceramics, photography and studio art, created the installation.

Episcopal has appointed three new members to the Board of Trustees, Claudia Amlie '87, Marty Lanahan, and Steve Suddath '73. The Board appointments were recently approved by the Vestry of St. John's Cathedral.

Episcopal Spanish Instructor Josephine Jimenez has been selected from among college and university professors and Spanish teachers across the country to review the AP Spanish Language Exams for the College Board. Ms. Jimenez will be reading the exams in Cincinnati Ohio this summer in June. The exam is given in May. Congratulations, Ms. Jimenez!

Episcopal Track and Field athletes competed in the Class 2A, District 3 meet this past Thursday, April 12th, at Raines High School. In order to advance on to the Regional meet, an athlete must place in the top four in his/her event. Episcopal had many qualifiers!

The Episcopal Girls Varsity Tennis team went into Districts with a perfect 6-0 winning record, and won Districts to go on to Regionals. The team defeated Oak Hall at home yesterday in the Regional semi-finals, and will head to Gainesville to play PK Yonge tomorrow for the Regional finals.

The Girls Softball District tournament starts next week, and the Episcopal Varsity team will open the tournament number one seed. The game will be at Episcopal on Tuesday, April 17 at 5:00 on J. Marchman Field, though the Eagles’ opponent has not yet been determined because all district games are not yet complete. The district championship is on Thursday, April 19 at 7:00 at Episcopal.

Three Episcopal seniors and Fine Arts students have been accepted into four prestigious bachelor of fine arts (BFA) programs around the country. Jack Vincenty was accepted into Elon University's BFA acting program. Ashleigh Watkins was one of 12 students accepted into the University of Central Florida’s Theatre Conservatory's BFA for Stage Management program. Brooke Ferguson was accepted to the BFA program at Lipscomb University.

At the 57^th State Science and Engineering Fair of Florida, April 3-5, approximately 850 middle and high school students presented their science projects. Eleven students from Episcopal represented this region at the fair, and all of those students earned an award!

The fourth Middle School Science Night -- entitled "Extreme Engineering" -- will be held April 12 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30. Middle School students and parents will have the opportunity to play a life-sized Angry Birds game, hear from a construction engineer, and build their own project which will compete against others for structural soundness -- supporting the most mass, or flying the furthest distance. RSVP to Pat Brown in the Middle School office by April 10.

This Monday I happened to catch a glimpse of Episcopal art teacher Michelle Krueger’s students traipsing across campus with large sheets of folded paper and a few rolls of masking tape.

Episcopal’s Varsity Girls lacrosse team will host the playoffs this season, and the team is headed to Districts as the number one seed!

“While the season has been a series of ups and downs, the team is a unique group of athletes. I have all skill levels playing for me, from Middle Schoolers to seniors. The mentoring of the older girls makes me so proud to be a part of this team. Everyone is accepted and we win big games with these young players on the field, some in starting positions!” said Coach Noelle MacDougall.

Kalen Koch '13 started the McKenzie Club at Episcopal last year in memory of Bolles student McKenzie Noelle Wilson. Kalen's fundraising goal this year for the club so they could contribute to the McKenzie Noelle Wilson Foundation was $3,000 - and she surpassed it!

Jacksonville University hosted their 22^nd annual Science, Math and Engineering Day last week, a day organized around competitions involving biology, chemistry, physics, engineering, marine science, math and computer programming. Episcopal students entered in numerous categories to compete against many other area schools. First place winners included the Episcopal Marine Science team, and the AP Chemistry team. Second place winners included Episcopal’s second AP Chemistry team and also one regular Chemistry team. Individual winners in the individually scored competitions were Ben Wilson ‘12, who won first place in AP Chemistry, and Michelle Bahri ‘13, who won third in AP Chemistry. Congratulations to all the participants!

Just two years after receiving my high school diploma and shaking Ms. Regan´s hand on the Acosta House patio, I am already becoming a world ambassador as I travel over land and sea to spend four months in one of Europe’s most historic and culturally rich countries: Spain. For the past nine years, I have been working diligently on building a rich Spanish vocabulary and perfecting my grammar, but this semester, Spring 2012, it was time to put all my knowledge to the test. On January 7, I landed in Madrid’s Barajas Airport and took a two and a half hour bus ride to the small but famous city of Salamanca, Spain. Read Kristie's story on the Episcopal blog.

Eighth grade Spanish teacher Debbie Hicks helped her students practice past tense in Spanish in a fun and creative way. Students wrote and illustrated a children's book in Spanish and then presented their story to the class. "Students has been working hard on learning the forms of past tense in Spanish," said Ms. Hicks. "I thought that a project about a little boy or girl who had 'adventures' would be a great way for them to use this past tense!" Students chose a character and made up a story. They then illustrated it.

The eighth grade celebrated Renaissance Day on Friday, enjoying different activities from the time period as well as viewing scenes from Romeo & Juliet, and dressing in period dress. In addition, the afternoon began with a Renaissance-style Feast in the Buck Center.

Episcopal's Varsity Baseball team will play Ponte Vedra High School Friday, March 30 at 6:00 p.m. The game between the two schools annually focuses on raising money and awareness to help those women fight breast cancer. The game is at Ponte Vedra this year: 460 Davis Park Rd, Ponte Vedra Bch, FL 32081. Survivors and families of those lost to breast cancer will be honored.

The FHSAA has announced the winners and placings of the Winter 2011-12 Academic Team Champions. This award goes to the winter athletic team with the highest cumulative GPA in the state for each teams respective classification. Wrestling earned first place in their classification!

Episcopal commemorated Founders' Day today, recognizing the School’s past and how that foundation has contributed to the current community. During a special Chapel service, past leaders were recognized and our hope for the future was celebrated. Dale Regan and Horton Reed, Episcopal’s first Headmaster, were remembered.

The Episcopal community is thankful for the prayers, condolences and offers of assistance from members of the Jacksonville community and beyond during the past two weeks. The memorial celebration for Dale Regan held the Friday before spring break was an uplifting tribute to her contributions during her 34 years at Episcopal. We are grateful for the support of those who attended this beautiful event, in person or in spirit. As the school works to move forward, Episcopal welcomes former Head of School, Charles F. Zimmer, who has agreed to serve as Acting Head of School, effective today. The Board will appoint a permanent Head after conducting a nation-wide search. Mr. Zimmer served as Head of School for Episcopal from 1997-2006, when he retired and was succeeded by Dale Regan. “Charley’s familiarity with the school, and its faculty and staff, will help provide stability and comfort as our community continues to grieve our loss but begins to heal and plan for the next school year,” said Rob Clements, Chair of the Board of Trustees for the school. “We are truly fortunate to have the benefit of his strong leadership to guide us as we continue in our mission.”

Horton Cleveland Reed died on March 15, at age 80 in Ponte Vedra. Mr. Reed served as Episcopal’s first Headmaster and President beginning in 1966, and was one of its founders. After 11 years at Episcopal he went on to serve as Headmaster of Charlotte Country Day School in North Carolina. Mr. Reed graduated from Harvard University and Tufts University. He is survived by his wife, brother, three children and three grandchildren. A memorial service was held today at the Ponte Vedra Lodge & Club on the Ocean Lawn.

Atlantic Coast High School hosted the first Northeast Florida All-Star Basketball Classic before spring break, and Episcopal’s Alex Saunders ’12 was selected as an All-Star to participate in the event. Twelve players selected from Duval County’s schools played against 12 players collectively from Baker, Clay, Nassau and St. John’s County’s schools.

The Honors Band, an annual event sponsored by the Jacksonville University Young Artists Program, features musicians from north Florida private schools. ESJ musicians selected to perform this year were Catherine Yip ’14, Nathan Rowicki ’13, Al Castiel ’13, Manny Walton ’12, William McCall-Parker ’13, Olivia Ade ’15, Mary Partee ’15, Cutler Renard ’13, and Johnathan Cernigliaro ’14. Musicians are nominated by their instructors and selected by the conductors for the event.

Episcopal’s Brain Brawl team earned second place at the Jacksonville area Brain Brawl competition, defeating Englewood, Atlantic Coast, and Bolles to advance to the final round against Stanton. Brain Brawl is an academic competition that incorporates all academic disciplines. Sixteen schools participated in the Varsity tournament and were seeded for play at two earlier competitions. The matches were held at Ribault High School.

Episcopal inducted more than 120 students into the National and National Junior Honor Societies on Thursday. The program included congratulatory remarks from Audrey Moran, senior vice president for social responsibility at Baptist Health. Junior inductees heard remarks from Dr. Anne Egan of Carithers Pediatric Group. Inductees were welcomed by Cyndee Cain and Scott Jevic, faculty advisors for the Junior Honor Society, and Kate Pritchard and Candy Edwards, National Honor Society advisors.

A picture is worth a thousand words, which makes a video worth millions. The Media Production class at Episcopal is taking those millions of words and compressing them into a modern form of art: short film. While some of the pieces support school pride or public announcements, others, like James Plyler’s film show the artistic ability one can create with video. With more and more companies reaching out this way, film production has become paramount in marketing a company. Media Production is the perfect place to learn and practice that knowledge, and it allows for artistic ideas to be expressed without a paintbrush or wheel.

The Varsity Boys Soccer team has been recognized by the North Florida Soccer Officials Association as the most sportsmanlike team in Northeast Florida. Captains Keegan Ball '12, Sebastian Hardington '12, and Sam Homra '12 will receive the award from Charlie Towers, the President of the NFSOA. In addition, Keegan Ball '12, John Ingham '12, Kyle Nasta '12, and Sebastian Hardington '12 were selected to play in the Florida Athletic Coaches Association's First Coast Senior All Star Game. Keegan and Kyle also were selected to play in the Florida Athletic Coaches Association's State All Star Game Classic in Tampa on March 2. Kyle also was named the Florida Athletic Coaches Association's District Player of the Year.

Five Episcopal students science students participated in the Northeast Florida Science Olympiad Competition at Matanzas High School in Palm Coast, Fla., last weekend. "Science Olympiad is a "think on your feet" event and allows students to apply what they have learned in a variety of science classes to solve problems, design experiments or answer questions related to a particular field of scientific study," said Sally Russo, Episcopal Science Department Chair. The competition includes events in biology, chemistry, physics and engineering. The participating students included: Tyler Rice '12, William Parker McCall '13 and sophomores Catherine Yip, Natalie Lewis and Haley Brown.

Varsity Boys Lacrosse won their opening game of the season under new coach Patrick Harnett last night. The team defeated Lee High School at home.

“We are very excited to have Patrick Harnett as our new Boys Lacrosse Head Varsity Coach. Patrick has been very instrumental in growing the sport of Lacrosse in First Coast and is the founder of the Jacksonville Lacrosse Club. His passion for the sport and experience will be a great asset to our program," said Keesy Goebertus, Interim Athletic Director.

This month, the Middle School Drama Club attended Florida Junior Thespians State Festival for the very first time.

"Getting to laugh and spend time my friends was one of the many fun experiences I had at state. I got to share my gift of drama with others and attend a great workshop. Overall I loved going to state and I will remember it forever," said Drama Club President Sarah Cumella '16.

Episcopal students shined at the Northeast Florida Regional Science and Engineering Fair. Andrew Joseph and Alex Forsyth were named to represent Episcopal's region at the International Science and Engineering Fair in Pittsburgh, May 13-18th. Eleven other Episcopal students will represent the region at the State Science Fair of Florida in Lakeland, April 3-5th.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation has named four ESJ seniors National Merit Finalists. Grant Simon, Harrison Tool, Ali Wells, and Ben Wilson have earning this recognition. Nationwide, only 8,500 high school seniors are selected as Merit Scholarship winners, from 15,000 finalists. In March the National Merit Scholarship Program will notify the winners. Selection is based upon performance on the PSAT/NMSQT exam, administered during the fall of the junior year. Students can earn college scholarships based on their academic performance and leadership potential. In addition, seniors Connor Clark, Danny Hered, Jenna Magri, Carter Matthews, and Julia Rogers have been named National Merit Commended Students by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

by ESGN

Episcopal's student club "Youth Against Cancer" is raising money for cancer research in a fun way on Valentine's Day! The club is sponsoring a “Love Compatibility” poll. The club members are hoping to get as many students as possible to fill out surveys of their likes and dislikes. Today, on Valentine’s Day, students can buy the results for $2 to see who at Episcopal are their top three matches and who their opposite is!

Episcopal’s French exchange students arrived to rousing American welcome on February 5! The students will be here until Friday.

"The energy, enthusiasm and zest for learning about America and Americans brought by this group and their teachers are remarkable! The ultimate goal of any exchange program is to look without and within in order to experience and celebrate our differences, as well as discover and celebrate our fundamental shared connections," shared Sara Merrill, Episcopal French instructor.

The Winter 2012 Magazine of Episcopal will be landing in your mailbox in the next two weeks. The Magazine hit the presses today!

In a city that’s had its share of controversies related to religious differences and intolerance, Episcopal is working to build understanding of different faiths and cultures. Today Episcopal is holding Global Community Day, in which members from seven faith communities in Jacksonville share insights into their faith through discussions and activities with middle and upper school students and faculty. The day focuses on helping students explore the question “Who is my neighbor?”

Senior Andrew Joseph was featured in Tuesday's Florida Times Union. In the article, Andrew shares his passion for science and the project he has been working on for three years: “The Genetic Engineering of the Oryza sativa Plant carry the Escherichia coli Genes Producing Trehalose.” Andrew, who recently won a first place in Episcopal's science fair, also was a semi-finalist for the Intel Science Talent Search! Read the Times Union Story

Episcopal's Yearbook staff has earned a great honor from Balfour, the yearbook's publishing company. Balfour has selected Episcopal's yearbook to be "overrun" so that extra copies of it can be used as samples by Balfour representatives for workshops and sales opportunities nationwide. Balfour chooses less than 4% of the books it publishes for overrun samples. Congratulations to the Yearbook staff and advisor Leah Glotzbach!

Episcopal School of Jacksonville hosted a pep rally and National Signing Day event for its entire student body this afternoon in the Semmes Gymnasium for ten seniors who plan to continue their athletic careers at the collegiate level after graduation, including at Division I and Ivy League colleges and universities.

This past weekend Episcopal’s Wrestling Eagles traveled to Savannah, Ga., to take part in the Cross-Bones Classic Duals. The teams were divided into 2 pools of four. At the conclusion of the pool competition the Eagles were the only undefeated team in both pools and thus declared tournament champions!

Episcopal’s College Counseling Office is holding meetings for 9th and 10th graders, their parents, advisor and college counselor in January and February. These special meetings are to facilitate conversations between the student and parent and college counselor about what they would like to get out of the college admissions process, and how to begin the process. Bringing the student’s advisor into the meeting also helps the advisor understand the student and parent expectations and how the college application process works.

Matthew Harwood '12 is a finalist for the Park Scholarship at North Carolina State University. The Park Scholarships program helps bring exceptional students to NC State, based on their accomplishments and potential in scholarship, leadership, service, and character. The scholarship is a four-year full ride scholarship, and includes retreats and seminars, study abroad stipends, and grants for enrichment activities.

Read ESGN student James Prohaska's '12 account of swimming with the manatees and watch his video on the Episcopal blog! Ms. Buford’s Marine Biology class had the chance to “swim with the manatees” January 9, when the class took a trip to the Crystal River, north of Tampa on the Gulf Coast. The Crystal River is home to the majority of the manatee population in the Gulf Coast region. The trip allowed students to have a unique, hands-on opportunity to interact with them.

This past weekend the ESJ Wrestling Team traveled to Terry Parker again for another weekend of dual meet matches against schools from around Duval and St. Johns County. Many of the schools the team wrestled were the same ones they wrestled two weeks ago but this enabled them to gauge their improvement. The team ended up 5 – 1, losing to Fletcher in the finals. The varsity team raised their overall season record to 19 – 9.

Episcopal Girls Varsity Soccer defeated Bolles on Friday at Episcopal to win the District Championship! The final score was 2-1. Congratulations to the team! Their next game is against West Nassau on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Episcopal.

Two Episcopal students were honored Friday at the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast. The students, Emmanuel Walton ’12 and Steven Matos-Torres ‘13 were recognized for their work in the community. The breakfast was held at the Prime Osborne Convention Center and more than 1,000 area leaders and community members were in attendance. Episcopal’s Community Service Office nominated the students. Congratulations to Steven and Manny! This is the second year Manny has been named a "Leader of Tomorrow."

News4Jax named Aaron Burroughs a Vystar All-Star Athlete this week. Aaron plays both offensive and defensive positions on the Varsity football team, volunteers for Youth Against Cancer and Relay for Life, and is in the Spanish and Chinese Clubs. Congratulations, Aaron! Watch Aaron's interview online!

Nine Episcopal students were selected as Joe Berg Scholars last week. Joe Berg Scholars are recommended by school, undergo a rigorous test, and then are admitted into either the Science series or the Humanities series of non-credit, evening seminars.

Episcopal senior Andrew Joseph has been named a semifinalist in the Intel® Science Talent Search® (Intel STS) for his science project on the improvement of environmental stress tolerance: The Genetic Engineering of the Oryza sativa Plant Carrying the Escherichia coli Genes Producing Trehalose.

Episcopal today announced that Andy Kidd ‘99, currently Director of Advancement, will serve as Episcopal’s next Director of Athletics!

“Andy exemplifies all of the qualities that personify the best of our athletic programs, and I have no doubt that he will lead Episcopal athletics to the next level,” said Dale Regan, Episcopal’s Head of School. " He has received numerous awards and recognition for his athletic skills as well as coaching skills. In addition, the administrative and director positions he has served in at Episcopal over the past eight years have prepared him well for this new role."

The Episcopal wrestling team this season is young and small in numbers. However, this weekend the team celebrated their wrestling ability by participating in the U.S. Army Duals and coming in second! The tournament was hosted by Terry Parker High School. The team placed second in a 12 team tournament, finishing the weekend with a record of six wins and one loss.

Episcopal will host a 5K and Fun Run on Saturday, January 21, 2012. Pre-entry is $20 until Jan. 14 at 6 p.m. Registration is available online. The race will be timed and scored by Jaguar Timing Systems. The event will include awards, a runners' banquet, music and more! Sponsored by Boosters.

News4Jax attended swim practice this week during the cold weather! Check out Coach Benji DeMotte on the news!

Episcopal graduate Shakeel Rashad signed his committment to the University of North Carolina during a ceremony at the Episcopal football banquet last week. Shakeel graduated from Episcopal in December and will attend UNC for the 2012 spring semester. Both Shakeel and Erich Schneider '12, who has committed to Duke University, were selected by the Florida Times Union for the Super 24, a collection of the top college football recruits in Northeast Florida. Congratulations to Shak and Erich!

Episcopal's Varsity Boys Soccer team is ranked seventh in the state of Florida and has a national ranking of 29. The team is 13-1-0. Congratulations to the team!

The last Chapel of the semester featured a Nativity Pageant during the service. The program featured liturgical dance as well as the traditional reading of the story of Jesus's birth. The pageant was performed by the sixth grade. The poem and dance were done by Upper School theological arts students.

Renowned dancer, teacher and choreographer Stephanie Martinez has spent the past week teaching and choreographing for the Upper School Dance Ensemble.

Ms. Martinez taught a Master Dance Class and choreographing a piece for the upcoming Dance Concert. Ms. Martinez has more than 20 years of teaching experience and has headed the Joffrey Ballet's trainee program, among others. Provided by FANS.

"This original contemporary ballet is an inspiring, uplifting and powerful dance that will be featured in the spring dance concert on March 1 and 2," said Katie McCaughan, Episcopal Director of Dance.

Episcopal's Fine Arts Department presented "A Musical Feast," Christmas at St. John's Cathedral, on Friday. The concert featured Vocal Ensemble, Concert Chorale, Honors Chorale, Instrumental Ensemble, and Jazz Ensemble. In addition to the students, six faculty and staff members also contributed to the show, including David Gehler, English department; Shane Schumerth, World Languages department; Shelton Magee, History department; Michelle Krueger, Fine Arts department; Fred Lind, Science department; and Ryan Paddock, Director of Communications. Audio from the concert is available online.

College Counseling’s Christmas tree is a little differently decorated than the rest of the trees around Episcopal’s campus! The tree is decorated in college pennants. The pennants were chosen based on the book Colleges that Change Lives, by Loren Pope, and the tree has a pennant for each of the colleges in the book. The book highlights 40 small, liberal arts schools throughout the U.S. These schools, according to the author, have proven their ability to develop potential, values, initiative, and risk taking in students of many different backgrounds and talents.

According to the Church calendar, we are two weeks in to the season of Advent. Advent is a time set aside by the Church to focus on waiting and preparing our hearts for the celebration of the incarnation on Christmas Day. As we observe Advent on Episcopal's campus, we remind the community to slow down, wait, and pray as a way of preparing ourselves spiritually for Christmas.

Episcopal students and families donated new and gently used twin or full sized bed sheets for City Rescue Mission this week. Students helped donate sheets by wearing them over their spirit dress as togas. First Coast News was on campus to cover the project. Thank you to all who participated!

Middle School students participated in Junior Thespian Districts this past weekend and received many accolades. Three pieces were selected as "Critic's Choice," which is the best of the best for the county. Episcopal students performed in front of judges and 16 area schools.

Episcopal Boys Varsity and Junior Varsity soccer teams volunteered with the Down Syndrome Association of Jacksonville's (DSAJ) soccer program at Patton Park this weekend. The Eagle soccer players organized warm-ups, skill training sessions, and games for the 60 children in attendance.

Congratulations to Episcopal, voted as the BEST high school in Jacksonville by North Florida parents in the Jax4Kids 3rd Annual "Best of for Families" survey. Results will be published in the December issue of Jax4Kids.

Episcopal students and families are donating new and gently used twin or full sized bed sheets for City Rescue Mission! Episcopal is helping First Coast News kick-off this community-wide donation effort. The sheets are permanently given to those who spend to the night at the Rescue Mission. The City Rescue Mission provides more than 500 sheets a day. Sheets may have caring messages written on them, messages of hope or Bible verses or well wishes for the holiday. The Mission will wash the sheets before distribution. Boxes are at both Middle and Upper School drop offs and in the Buck Student Center for your donations! Please donate by Dec. 6.

Dance Instructor James Morrow has received great reviews in two publications for his recent work in "Four Mad Humours." The dance performance incorporates technology to show four dancers in different parts of the world performing at the same time. Mr. Morrow is one of the dancers.

by The Rev. Hopie Welles Jernagan.

My husband and I were watching a movie on the ABC Family Channel a few nights ago. During a commercial break, the network advertised that this movie was a part of their “Countdown to the 25 Days of Christmas.” It was a countdown to a countdown. Here we were, in mid-November, watching a movie on TV and unknowingly participating in a countdown to the countdown for Christmas. What happened to Thanksgiving?

Two Episcopal students will perform in the famed Macy’s Day parade in New York City on Thanksgiving Day! Joshua Johnson '17 and Asiyah Rasheed '17 both will appear on the ZhuZhu Pets Zhu-niverse float and perform an original song during the parade. The two are among 11 students from Jacksonville performing. The two left for New York Friday. Read the Full Story.

River Region’s Outreach Department teamed up with Episcopal School of Jacksonville’s chapter of the National Honor Society (NHS) for this year’s food drive to benefit agency clients and their families. Students collected 850 cans of food!

Helen C. Rowan, vice president for Strategic Planning and Communications at Rayonier, has joined the Episcopal Board of Trustees. At Rayonier, Helen is responsible for all corporate long-range planning efforts and communications. She has an extensive background in strategic planning and new business assessment. Helen attended the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and Cornell University.

Honors Science students had first-hand experienced at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology over the long weekend. Episcopal graduate Nathan Monroe ‘09, now a junior at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, guided Episcopal students around the MIT campus as part of a three-day experience for students enrolled in the Honors Science Seminar. Read the Full Story.

Episcopal’s Youth Against Cancer club had 90 pumpkins donated by Lake Shore United Methodist Church last week, and students paid $3 to use a sledge hammer, $2 to use a bat, and $1 to throw a pumpkin. The event, held to raise money for Relay for Life, was held on the River Field on Friday during lunch and after school. Read the Full Story.

Episcopal celebrates French Week Nov. 7-10, as Episcopal French instructors, Mesdames Sara Merrill and Christine Ditzel, have organized a series of mini-festivals, or "fetes." Students will celebrate the food, culture and history and literature of France during this special week.

Episcopal Boys and Girls Swimming are headed to states after an exciting run at Regionals on Thursday! Highlights from the Regional meet were Jaimee Gilmore ’12 breaking her own School 100 Free Record by a single second, 52.73. The Girls 200 Medley Relay Team (Caroline Bateh ’13, Tori Thompson ’14, Jaimee Gilmore ’12, Christi Riley ’15) broke a 34 year old School record! The girls placed second and the boys sixth in the region, out of 48 teams.

Episcopal’s theatre students travelled to Gainesville on Thursday, Oct. 27 to take part in the annual Florida Theatre Conference. This conference brings together children's theaters, community theaters, as well as high school and college theater programs in one place over one packed weekend. The theatre students performed two one act plays. The first was Infection, by Chicago playwright Brittany Bookbinder, directed by student Brigitte Wittmer '12. The second play that the students performed was a play entitled War Paint, written and directed by Kelby Siddons ’06.

The Cross Country boys team was runner-up at the FHSAA 2A District 3 Championships meet at Bishop Kenny yesterday. The Episcopal girls team earned third place and also had the individual District champion and runner-up. The teams will advance to Regionals which are next Saturday at Alligator Park in Lake City.

Swimming heads to Regionals at Bolles today. Cross Country will compete in Districts tonight at Bishop Kenny. The Cross Country girls race is at 4:30 and the boys race is at 5 p.m. The top four cross country teams from district advance to regionals in Lake City next Saturday. Go Eagles!

Earlier this fall, students in Episcopal art instructor Michelle Krueger's Draw, Paint, Print I classes began a project where they created sculpture from old books using scissors, glue, tape and scalpels. The lesson was a partnership with the Downtown Library. Tonight at First Wednesday Art Walk, the students' work will be displayed at the Downtown Library, and will be available for viewing the month of November.

Harrison Tool '12 was one of 57 seniors nationwide to be named to the USRowing 2011-2012 Scholastic Honor Roll. The USRowing Scholastic Honor Roll recognizes high school seniors who have excelled in both academics and rowing.

Al Letson, host of National Public Radio’s “State of the Re: Union,” performed poems and shared his career experiences with Episcopal students Monday. Mr. Letson, a Jacksonville native, is a nationally-renowned playwright, poet, actor and radio host. Sponsored by FANS, students in Episcopal’s speech classes were treated to Mr. Letson’s enthusiasm and story-telling talents. While at Episcopal, he performed two original poems in the Florence Sikes Theatre. He also performed a narrative of his volunteer work at Sanctuary on 8th Street.