Education

Statement from the Pennsylvania Conference

Thursday night at approximately 9:15 pm a fire was spotted in one of the barns that a local farmer uses to store his equipment and some bales of hay on the campus of Blue Mountain Academy (BMA), Hamburg, Pa. Due to the dry summer and a recent heat wave that made matters worse, it appears a spontaneous combustion occurred, causing the fire.

Very quickly local volunteer fire departments were dispatched and brought the fire under control. At no time were any of our students at risk, as the barn is a one quarter mile from campus. A special thank you goes out the men and women of the local fire departments that braved extreme heat to extinguish the fire.

Story and photos by LaTasha Hewitt

In the 1940s, Elder John H. Wagner, Sr., former Allegheny Conference president, envisioned a boarding school in the North where African-American high school students could attend without the racial issues of schools in the South. After purchasing the 575-acre Rutter Estate near Pottstown, Pa., the conference opened Pine Forge Institute on September 9, 1946, with 90 students.

Last weekend the school, now Pine Forge Academy (PFA), celebrated Alumni Weekend and 70 years of existence during the weekend themed “Legacy of Excellence.”

Story by Ricardo Bacchus

Two teachers recently received the Columbia Union Conference Office of Education Outstanding Educator Award: Carla Thrower, the principal of Potomac Conference’s Takoma Academy in Takoma Park, Md.; and Vail Bigelow Mason, 1st and 2nd grade teacher at Chesapeake Conference’s Mt. Aetna Adventist School in Hagerstown, Md.

By presenting this award, the union’s education officials “seek to promote the recognition and appreciation of outstanding educators who have demonstrated consistent excellence,” they say.

Nine students from Columbia Union Conference academies recently received the Office of Education's annual Caring Heart Award.  See the winners below.

Blue Mountain Academy: Victoria Emilaire

Highland View Academy: Alissa Tanguay

Pine Forge Academy: Mesha Lewis

Richmond Academy: Vivian Riamundo

Spencerville Adventist Academy: Franshesca Sequeira

Shenandoah Valley Acadeny: Samuel Alberto Renderos

Story by WAU Staff

Washington Adventist University (WAU) has entered into a partnership agreement with Radians College that will help qualified graduates further their nursing education through an accelerated evening program offered by the WAU School of Graduate and Professional Studies.

“We are very pleased to partner with Radians College, and happy that we can provide their nursing graduates with a convenient and affordable path to a master’s degree,” says Weymouth Spence, Washington Adventist University president. “Hospital requirements are changing, and this university is in an excellent position to support those students who need to further their education in order to meet the new requirements.”