Enjoy the Spring, 2010 issue of the AFA Fountain!  You can find it here.

The AFA newsletter shares some of the good stories of the alumni, teachers and students at Ad Fontes.

Coach Cuffee shared his thoughts on joining Ad Fontes, “I’m excited about the opportunity to build the Basketball Program at Ad Fontes.  I believe we have an opportunity to do something really special here.  We have alot of young players and alot of work to do.  Expectations will be set high.  I’m confident with the commitment of the players, school, and supporters, and the Lord’s blessing we will be successful and build a high caliber program.  We will adopt the motto “Play Like A Falcon” which means our teams will have a set of characteristics and core values that stand out — like strong character, fundamental and disciplined play, teamwork, intensity, and toughness.  I look forward to becoming a part of the Ad Fontes family.”

“As a young team against experienced competition, it was an honor to win the title last year. The reality that we are back-to-back state champs is still settling in on us. With a year’s experience at nationals, we look forward to competing well against the best schools in the nation,” said faculty coach Jeanette Faulkner.    

In only its third year of competition, the team won the final round against Jamestown High School. Sophomore Henry Overos, of Fairfax, won the competition’s Overall Best Attorney Award.  The Competition’s Overall Best Witness Award was won for the second year in a row by sophomore Colin Hughes of Springfield.

The team includes juniors Francesca Mertan of Aldie and Stephanie Lockhart of Purcellville, as well as sophomores Gregory Barton and Addison Smith of Purcellville, Patricia Chenette of Clifton, Danielle Decker of Sterling, Joanna Faulkner of Vienna, Doug Schultz of Potomac, MD and Zachary Solomon. Francesca Mertan won a Best Team Witness award and Stephanie Lockhart won a Best Team Attorney Award.

According to team Attorney Coach, Kerry Lockhart, “As a classical Christian school, our training in formal logic and classical rhetoric is a tangible plus for our students.”  The Virginia State Champions will compete in the National Mock Trial Competition May 6-9 in Philadelphia.

Faculty coaches included Jeanette Faulkner, Kerry Lockhart, and Cheryl Hughes.

This competition is the premier national law-related academic tournament for high school students, encouraging students to explore constitutional concepts, courtroom protocol and basic litigation skills. Every team in the state is presented with the same case, which is adapted from an actual court case. Each team must be prepared to argue as either the prosecution or defense, using the Federal Rules of Evidence, correct courtroom protocol and present opening and closing arguments to a jury of professional attorneys and judges in actual courtrooms.

We appreciate our sponsors and very generous guests whose support will advance the mission of Ad Fontes Academy!  We are already looking forward to next year’s event!

For the past week the kindergarten classes have been studying a science unit on pumpkins. As a culminating activity they opened up a pumpkin and looked at the different parts of it. They learned which parts we cook and use to eat. They examined the different parts and found the white seeds that eventually grow into a pumpkin plant.

They then sampled different foods that are made from pumpkins.

The next day they went to a pumpkin patch where they saw the growth cycle in action and were able to pick out some matured pumpkins to take home. The students saw the tiny green pumpkins that would grow into the mature orange pumpkins that they were picking. They also noticed that some of the pumpkins were rotting and knew that the exposed seeds would grow into a pumpkin plant again.

Our K students will never see a pumpkin or pumpkin pie the same way again.

The day began with visits from His Grace, Sir Thomas and Her Grace, Lady Kimberly from the Foundation for the Preservation of Medieval Arts and History.  Dressed in authentic costumes, they taught the students about knights throughout the Middle Ages and showed them many costumes including casual wear and armor. They talked about weapons and the differences in swords from the Early Middle Ages to the High Middle Ages. Lady Kimberly shared about the dress for women and their roles during the Middle Ages.

Following these presentations, the students enjoyed a Medieval Feast which included a huge assortment of foods-soup, chicken, fruit, bread, cheeses, olives, meat pies–all consumed without utensils using bread for plates. It was messy but delicious!

Then the students went outside for games and activities. They had jousting, archery, a courser horse race, sword fighting, and castle warfare, where the students had to come up with various ways in which to besiege a castle as well as strategies for defending a castle that was under siege. It was great fun!