Shen-Val-Lore
First Day Monday, August 15th
The Student Voice of Shenandoah Valley Academy
Shenandoah Valley Academy
September 5, 2014
Volume 84, Edition 1
Upcoming Events September 6
Shenandoans Sing at New Market Church
8-13
Week of Prayer
13 Music Department Retreat 14
Sunday School
14
SAT for Seniors
17-21
Homeleave
23
Fall Picnic
24-28 Mount Vernon Soccer & Volleyball Tournaments 28-29
WAU Preview Days
October 3-4 Boys’ Dorm Retreat
This once in a lifetime experience will never be forgotten.
International Student Exchange Program with ISAM - Argentina Sarah Lim
May 27th - July 1st Filled with innumerable positive and only few negative experiences, SVA’s 2014 summer’s international exchange program with ISAM, the Instituto Superior Adventista in Misiones, Argentina, proved to be unforgettable. Bright and early, Tuesday, May 27, selected students James Matthews, Reiss Ramirez, River Anderson, and Sarah Lim (all seniors) departed from the parking lot behind SVA’s weight room, ready for the long journey to Argentina. The trip from Dulles to Buenos Aires proved to be a long one. The first leg ended with a layover in El Salvador, the second to Lima, and at last, our destination. Each flight was around four hours long, and each layover was about 1-2 hours. On arrival at the capital city, a tour of the widest avenue in the world (the Avenue de Julio), the Casa Rosada (their equivalent of the White House), and the general downtown was initi-
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ated. These first impressions of the Argentinian lifestyle, culture, and cities proved to be invaluable. After receiving a day’s break from hectic traveling, the group was ready to head over to the school, with whom SVA had set up the exchange program. The school, as mentioned, is located in the province of Misiones, a few hours away from the borders of Brazil and Paraguay, and 13 hours away by bus from where the group was in Buenos Aire. A cultural thing to note is that in South America, the greyhound sort of buses used for long distance traveling have first class airline sort of seats that recline quite comfortably, and depending on the departure times, one can travel to his or her destination overnight. That is exactly what happened. Thursday evening, SVA boarded a bus headed for the station in Leandro N. Alem, a city near ISAM. Upon our arrival at the school Friday afternoon, we
Table of Contents
International Stuednt Exchange Progam with ISAM Senior Survival Kings Dominion Class Officers Principal’s Welcomw New Staff Feeding the Rats Oshkosh Senior Survival Pictures
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Candlelight Vespers First Sabbath Pictures ISAM Pictures SA Handshake SA President’s Welcome Class Parties
were greeted by super-excited roommates and Kevin Utz (if one remembers, he was one of last year’s exchange students to here at SVA). Very different from the living conditions Americans are used to, the school was in a jungle-type of area, very rainy, very wet, with red clay dirt, which may have been a shock to some of us. Also, just coming down from the Virginian summer weather, the winter of South America was an interesting aspect. Unpacking and socializing with the new roommates, who had the privilege of ditching school for that period of time, was the priority before heading out of the dorm to the school area. It was coincidentally break time for the students when we were done unpacking, and as we headed out, a whole bunch of students crowded around, trying to talk to an American, and trying out the minimal English words they had learned over the years. This part was another culture shock which we would have to get accustomed to, because unlike here in the USA, where an international student appears at school and most students are super calm about it, for them, it was like a cultural expectation for them to greet the new people, accept them and try to be their best friend forever. The way people greeted each other, also, was a new thing. Unlike American’s usual high five or hand shake, in the province of Misiones, people greeted each other by kissing on both cheeks, no matter the gender.
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Ladies Chorus Sings at New Market Church
5
Fall Festival
11
Chorale at New Market
14 PSAT
We spent the weekend trying to catch up on a lot, but most obviously, we would learn the most about the school life in school. As we joined their school year on the following Monday, we learned that the classes there were sort of like a block schedule with breaks in the middle of every other class, but also the students did not have to switch classrooms; only the teachers packed their stuff to go to whichever students they were going to teach next. There were five grades in ISAM’s high school, although in Argentina it is generally six years. ISAM started out with the 8th graders as freshmen, with two different classes for each grade. For instance, we were all put in the junior year, the 4th grade. Two of us were placed in 4th A and 2 of us were placed in 4th B. The only thing that differed about these two classes was their homeroom. Otherwise, they are all of the same grade/class. School for the high schoolers started at 7:00 am, with a flag raising and announcements at the courtyard, and ended at 12:30 or 11:50, depending on the day. (The elementary students used the same exact classrooms in the afternoon, starting around 1:00.) After lunch, the academy students could work, “external” students, or the village students, could go home, or they could just chill until the PE classes in the afternoon, twice a week. The students’ spiritual life seemed quite strong at ISAM. Students preached and led out in worship, which occurred at
the church (located right on the school campus, just like SVA) twice a week - Wednesday nights and Friday nights, with daily vespers in the respective dorms on the other days. During the five-week stay, we experienced many new things; new foods, new people, new places, new situations. We had the opportunity to go see Iguazu Falls, the largest waterfall in the world, on the border of Argentina and Brazil. Although we could not go to see the whole view on the Argentinian side due to major flooding weeks before, the idea that Niagara is just a miniscule waterfall in comparison was firmly established. A visit to Las Marias, a famous tea plantation, the first experience of asado, their style of open oven barbeque, the trip to Obera Hot Springs, and the tour of UAP, the Universidad Adventista de Plata, where Melissa from last year’s exchange group and Gabriel or the “tall Brazilian” from last year both attend college, all add to our list of unforgettable experiences. The fellow classmates and friends in the dorm, we will never forget, with all the bonding time we spent, speaking Spanish! This once in a lifetime experience will never be forgotten. It is quite important that students have the chance to go experience life in another country, so they can broaden the spectrum of how they see the world.
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Sunday School
20
Academy Day
22-26
Homeleave
29-2 Ring Fest
November 5
College Fair
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Senior Recognition
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Senior Extravaganza
8 Evensong 8 Shenandoans & Orchestra at New Market Church 9
SAT
9 Parent Teacher Conference 16 Boys’ & Girls’ Club Acticity 23
Sunday School
25-30
Thanksgiving Break
December
Pictures on p.6
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It is quite important that students have the chance to go expe7 rience life in another country, so they can broaden the spectrum of how they see the world. 10
Candlelight Rehearsal SAT Candlelight Rehearsal