05/12/06 - San Marcos Academy

Page 14 The Laurel May 12, 2006
NHS helps local church with African mission
By Adelita Ayala
The National Honor Society
ended a year of successful
activity in the community by
giving a banquet with a Hawaiian
theme in which the main
purpose was to recognize its
outstanding members and install
new officers to continue
with the work for next year. The
banquet took place April 24
and about 75 people attended.
The outgoing NHS officers
welcomed the new NHS officers.
The new positions are
Daniel Wyman, president; Ed
Estrada, vice president; Min-
Ju Hong, secretary; Aaron
Abugaber, treasurer; and David
Yu, historian.
Followed by the NHS, the
outgoing NJHS officers welcomed
the new NJHS officers.
Co-presidents will be Kristi
Allison and Chloe Rocha; secretary
is Taylor Teis; treasurer is
Lainey Godwin; and historian
will be Alyssa Shallenberger.
The recipients for the awards
were Barbara Ho and Sidsel
Rasmussen for Bible; Min-Ju
Hong and David Abubager
for Math; Nicole Mebane and
Francis Hwang for Science;
Rachel LeDoux and Kelsey
Henry for English; Kameron
Allison, Anastasia Parish and
Sarah Brown for Art; Aaron
Abugaber and Michael Rho
for Music; Adelita Ayala and
Sidsel Rasmussen for Foreign
Language; Rachel LeDoux,
Lainey Godwin and Morgan
Martin for History/Government;
Michelle Deschner and
Morgan Martin for Business;
and finally Rachel LeDoux and
Anastasia Parish for Drama.
Dr. Arlis Hiebert, Mr. Don
Rollins, Mrs. Barbara Peters,
Mrs. Shirley Johnson, Mrs.
Shelley Henry, Dr. Byron Robinson,
COL Max Smith, Mr.
Robert McMillan and Mr. Mike
Fleming gave the awards.
Rachel LeDoux, the current
President of NHS, was
the moderator of the program,
and there was also some entertainment
provided by several
members. They included Daniel
Wyman, who shared his piano
talent with everyone and helped
make the evening more pleasant;
Michel Rho, who played
the saxophone, accompanied
by Francis Hwang; and finally
David Yu sharing some of his
Taiwanese culture by showing
the attendants his diabolo
skills.
The most recent activity for
the NHS has been assisting Kameron
Allison and his church
with their mission project to
Mozambique. Some members
helped pack and count medical
supplies during LEAD Weekend
and the organization also
gave a $200 check to Kameron
for the mission project.
With fellow NHS members in the storage area behind him, Kameron
Allison cuts apart some syringes that will be sent to Africa for a
medical mission project. This was the NHS’s LEAD project.
Academy to celebrate Centennial in 2007
By Raji Gullapalli
Very soon San Marcos Baptist
Academy will be celebrating
its 100 th year anniversary. Some
are beginning to wonder what
that will look like and when it
is taking place.
The Academy was chartered
as a school on July 10, 1907.
Doors were opened to students
in September 1908 and the first
class of 11 was graduated in
May 1909.
Although July 2007 would
be the actual month to celebrate
the 100 th anniversary of
the founding of the school, it
isn’t a very convenient time to
do so, President Vic Schmidt
said. Obviously students and
most of the staff would not
be around in the summer, and
July is also one of the hottest
months to have outdoor activities.
So, administrators decided
to delay the celebration until
Homecoming of 2007.
To prepare for that time, a
lot of planning will take place
during the 2006-07 school
year. “Over the next year, we
will start involving students,
trustees, alumni, teachers in
forming a Centennial Committee
to brainstorm ideas for our
celebration,” President Schmidt
said. Among the activities that
might be considered would be
the filling of a time capsule and
inviting distinguished guests
to speak.
Additionally, Mr. Schmidt
said that research is going on
even now to create a guest list
of former commandants, Corps
commanders, President’s Cup
winners and other key administrators,
staff and students
from the past. “We’d like to
send out a card this summer
to acknowledge when our celebration
will be so people can
plan ahead and attend,” Mr.
Schmidt said.
As a kickoff to the Founders’
Celebration, some centennial
events will also take place
at the spring Alumni Reunion
April 14, 2007. “This will be
our regular spring reunion, but
hopefully it will be bigger,” Mr.
Schmidt said. The 50-year reunion
class is already planning
to have a number of people in
attendance.
The Academy story began
back in December of 1905,
when some local pastors began
discussing the need for a Baptist
school in the southwestern
area of the state. Dr. J.M. Carroll
was instrumental in selecting
San Marcos for the site of
the school.
Dr. Carroll was asked in the
summer of 1906 to visit San
Marcos to make a speech and
counsel with the citizens on
ways to raise their promised
funds for the school. At a mass
meeting on the courthouse
lawn, Dr. Carroll pointed out
the advantages of a properly
financed Baptist Academy. He
estimated the cost would be at
least $50,000. At his suggestion,
the $13,000 pledged by the citizens
of San Marcos was raised
to $25,000, and the denomination
agreed to match that
amount. The Business Men’s
Club of San Marcos adopted
Dr. Carroll’s plan and elected
him president of the proposed
school and the leader of the
forces to raise funds.
On September 19, 1906,
trustees were elected by the
Conference of Southwest Texas
Baptists. In their first meeting
they ratified the action of the
San Marcos Business Men’s
Club by electing Dr. J. M.
Carroll as the first president
Old Carroll Hall
of the San Marcos Baptist
Academy.
On January 22, 1907, Dr.
Carroll submitted general plans
and specifications for the first
building, which was approved
on April 9 of that same year.
On July 10, 1907, the cornerstone
of the first building
was eventually named Carroll
Hall.