“Our senior class didn’t want to do just any class trip; we wanted to serve,” shares Catarina Falcao, a Blue Mountain Academy (BMA) 2021 graduate. “Since we couldn’t go out of the country because of COVID-19, we decided to serve in Florida.”
As I prepared for a final exam during my senior year of college, I became overwhelmed with worry about how I would do. My degree would be
in Early Childhood Education, so I sought my grandmother Helen’s guidance, since she was a retired teacher. She comforted me with this Bible verse and spoke of the many times she turned to it in times of fear. It’s been more than 20 years since this conversation, and I still hide these words in my heart.
Blue Mountain Academy (BMA) alumnus Jim Slater (’85) had already completed three IRONMAN events. But this year, when IRONMAN Chattanooga was scheduled on the anniversary of when he broke his neck, became paralyzed, stopped breathing and almost died while a freshman at BMA, he was especially excited to participate.
Many dedicated Seventh-day Adventists at Highland View Academy had the foresight to build a place where generations of young people could obtain an Adventist Christian education.
To be kind to someone who treats us badly is probably the hardest thing to do. When someone hurts you, the first thing you think of is to plan out your revenge. It takes self-control to honor God by learning to “turn the other cheek.”
In 2020, I performed with Takoma Academy’s chorale at the Capitol Hill church in Washington, D.C. Earlier that week, I had celebrated my 16th birthday. But sadly, I lost a family member the next day. I walked into church that Sabbath with intense emotions.
