Alumni Weekend - Convocation & Career Seminars

Friday, October 14, 2022, was the beginning of Andrews Academy’s alumni weekend, when hundreds of alumni returned to remember the fun times at AA and to renew friendships with each other and with our God.

The weekend started with Convocation in the chapel for the current Academy students. The senior class, the class of 2023, led in the school song and the pledge of allegiance. Pastor Mario Ferguson, AA Principal, welcomed everyone to convocation. Mrs. Christiana (Atkins) Howell (class of ’12) presented the convocation. She is a counselor practicing in St. Joseph, and in a few months, she will complete her PhD program in psychology. She shared “five observations about Mental Health,” practical applications for our daily lives.

After Convocation, students went to various classrooms to participate in Career Seminars. Based on their interests, students were able to attend two career presentations of their choice. It was a great opportunity for students to explore possible career choices as Andrews Academy alumni shared insights about their careers. For example, Julia Locklear (’97) presented on entrepreneurship, while Kyle Whiteside (’12) presented on dentistry.

This is the fourth year of also having a Career Fair as part of the events of the day. Booths were set up in the gymnasium to help explain more about various careers. Many had interactive activities. Booths were represented by various departments from AU, the community, and alumni. Thank you all for making this a successful opportunity for students to learn more about careers.

Please go out of your way to thank Mrs. Tonya Snyder, our volunteer alumni coordinator, and Mrs. Gina Meekma for an excellent program on Friday and for planning the entire weekend. And thank you to a whole host of volunteers for stepping in and helping make this weekend possible.

• In color
• Picture from waist up (not entire body)
• Portrait/vertical mode (not landscape/horizontal)
• Attire per AA guidelines—no sleeveless shirts or bare shoulders, no low cut or cropped tops, no jewelry
• High-resolution JPEG (at least 4x6, 300 ppi resolution)

Junior Preview

Sunday, November 6, & Monday, November 7, at Andrews University

All juniors are required to attend. If everyone attends, then the class will receive $700, which is a good  fundraiser.

Juniors will register at lunch at the cafeteria at 12:00 PM on Sunday or at the welcome program at the Howard Performing Arts Center at 1:30 on Sunday. Don't be late. Attendance will be taken. Find Mr. Wright or Ms. Ivonne for attendance.

FACTS or Andrews Username Log In Help

If you need help logging in to FACTS or help with your Andrews user name/email and password, please contact Mrs. Meekma (ginam@andrews.edu) in the front office.

Alumni Weekend - Sabbath School & Church

Alumni Sabbath School began at 10:00 AM Sabbath morning (October 15, 2022) in the chapel. It was an inspirational time of sharing seeing how God has blessed both alumni and current students. Through their tributes, presenters shared how Jesus used the faculty and experiences of Andrews Academy to change their lives.

Alumni proceedings were also interspersed throughout the Sabbath School program. Honor classes were recognized by having each class stand. The honored class of 1972 was asked to come to the front of the chapel to be recognized since they were celebrating their 50 year reunion. They were presented with a gift and medallion. Pastor Glenn Russell, who taught religion at AA from 1985-1999, was honored with the Teacher Legacy Award. Mr. Robert Fuste ('97) was honored as the alumnus of the year.  

Mrs. Pellegrini, Mrs. "May," and a number of Andrews Academy students led in children’s church. After singing, the leaders acted out a Bible story. Squeals of delight could be heard from they children as they not only learned the story but also experienced the story! Before and after the story, the children worked on craft projects. A big thank you to many students who helped with children’s church.

While the children were in the library, the Worship Service occurred in the Academy chapel. A powerful sermon was presented by Rahel (Davidson) Wells & Olen Netteburg from the class of '97. Numerous alumni from the class of 1997 participated with scripture, prayers, etc. The current Silhouettes invited alumni to join them in singing “When I Survey The Wondrous Cross.” It was great to see a number of families with two generations of alumni singing together. 

Following worship service, lunch was provided for the alumni. We thank the NHS officers, PPI, and many other volunteers for organizing the haystack meal. It was another good opportunity for classmates to reunite and share what has happened in their lives since graduation and remember experiences from Academy years. Many shared about the positive impact Andrews Academy had on their lives. During lunch, each of the honored classes had their photo taken.

For a video of the church service, please go the Academy YouTube channel.

Alumni Weekend - Shydepoke

The traditional Shydepoke flag football game of alumni weekend occurred at the AU field on Saturday evening, October 15, 2022. The female alumni vs students game was won by the alumni, 28 to 0. The alumni took an early lead in the game and kept the lead. In the male alumni vs students game, the alumni took an early lead, but the school team narrowed that lead to 19 to 14, with the alumni winning. Everyone had a lot of fun on a perfect but rather cold evening for a football game. 

The Doug Newberry most valuable player award went to Seth Shelly, and the Lydia Chong most valuable player award went to Alexia Gayle. These awards are named after two PE teachers from the 1980s.

Some Shydepoke history: In 1960, the Andrews Academy Shydepoke tradition began during the principalship of Knobby Mauro. At that point, there was only one game for the males. In the 1980s, the female and then male games became a tradition. The name “Shydpoke” was chosen, which is a term from the south meaning a “get together social event.” Also during Mauro's principalship, a challenge was presented to the students to come up with a name for the school teams. Gordon Johns, from the class of 1966, came up with the name “Acumen.” His goal was to scan the dictionary for a unique and meaningful name and only go to the “ac” of the dictionary when he came up with this name. The word acumen means “the ability to make good judgments and quick decisions, typically in a particular domain.” He won the $10 prize for this.

Thank you coaches, referees, announcers, concession stand volunteers, and fans for making this a fun and successful alumni event.

Mondays - Thursdays:
7:40 AM - 4:00 PM

Fridays: 7:40 AM - 2:00 PM

academy@andrews.edu