Shen-Val-Lore The Student Voice of Shenandoah Valley Academy
Shenandoah Valley Academy
October 13,2021
Volume 91, Edition 1
Upcoming Events MARCH 6
End of 3rd Term
8
Sunday School
11-23
Argentina Music/Mission Tour
12-23
Spring Break
APRIL 2 2-4
Potomac Elementary School Music Festival
5
ACT / Junior-Senior Banquet
RA Week
ETTIENNE RODRIGUEZ
RA week at SVA was, to sum it all up, tiring in the moment, but fun in retrospect because the male RAs had had morning motivation with Dean Santos, weeding around the dorm, and other tasks that needed to be done before move in day. We had also had icebreakers, fire safety, and conflict resolution training among other things, but my favorite thing that at least the male RAs did was, before every meal, we would talk while waiting maybe 10 or 15 minutes until lunch or supper began. That was not something that we had to do, but it really helped us bond and grow closer together since we all knew one another from last year. It was nice talking to the guys or
watching a short chess match play out or having our RA meetings. When there was a task, such as weeding and trimming around the dorm, we had idle chatter to help pass the time so that, in the end, it was not so bad and we discussed what we all did this summer and joked around among other things. I had arrived relatively early on August 10, and when I finished what I needed to do in the administration building, I went to the dorm to bring in my bags. Later in the evening, we made our collective way to the café after a short talk for supper with the SVA faculty and the female RAs. Then we had an orientation of sorts which
was mixed with worship and our first official RA meeting. The next day was our first morning motivation, which I remember explicitly as being 1,100 pushups between the 11 of us in six minutes. I had only reached 75 while only a few passed one hundred and even fewer got in range of 200. The next event, conflict resolution and mental health training, was very informative as we were instructed by the deans what to do if something in that regard happens and how to properly address mental health among the students that we RA for. Next was bathroom boot camp, which was where we were instructed how to clean the bathrooms, which we did do on our respec-
tive halls, spot checked the rooms, and made sure that the halls were ready for the students. After supper, we took our team pictures and filled out a questionnaire so that the new guys could learn a couple of things about us. In short, the first, or, in a way, second day, just like the rest of RA week, was pretty tiring, but we got stuff done and bonded a bit. Thursday was definitely a bit faster paced than the day before, especially morning motivation. That morning, we ran. A lot. After breakfast, we had fire safety training where we learned what to do in case of a fire from firefighters who came to the boys’ dorm to teach us all. After that we had supper,
then made the outside of the dorm look good for our guys who would be coming in a couple of days. Next was early registration, although we had gotten most of our registration requirements done already, and beyond that, it was much of the same when it comes to the things that I had liked. On Friday, we all went to Sherando Lake and relaxed there after a few fun games such as charades and sharks and minnows. After we returned, we had supper and later, vespers, which was supposed to be outside with a campfire, but since we got rained out, we had had it in the student center instead.
AU Visit
6-10
Week of Prayer
13
Sophmore Field Trip
16
Senior Tree Planting
17-18
Alumni Weekend
19
School Picnic
22-26
Homeleave
30
US History Tour
MAY 1-4
US History Tour
5
AP Calculus Exam
6
AP English Exam
8ROK International Vespers 9 14-15
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 RA Week 2 Class Parties 3 Senior Dedication 4 Week of Prayer 5 Music Retreats
7 Senior Survival
Final Music Concerts Senior Exams
15
Baptisms
16
Best of Everything
17-20
Senior Class Trip
19-20
Final Exams
22
Consecration
23
Baccalaureate / Class Night
24
Class Night