Dakota Adventist Academy

Annual Fund 2009-2010 Review

Thank you to every single alumnus, relative, church member, and friend who donated to Dakota Adventist Academy this year.  God has blessed us greatly through your generosity.

After 30 years of teaching history, Bruce Kimball has found the benefit of showing movies to enhance classroom learning.  Visual representations of the stories read in textbooks and historical texts can help the students gain an understanding of important events and eras in our history.  However, he also knows that movies shown during regular class time can take valuable instruction away from the students.  Last winter, with the end of school coming quickly, Bruce devised a plan to work around the problem.

Attending Dakota Adventist Academy has not been an easy journey for Derek Keller.  Moving between the Academy and a public school in Ft. Pierre, South Dakota, Derek has struggled with direction and motivation in his school and in his life.  Starting late his freshman year, Derek's focus was a frequent back and forth for the first three years.  Now he is only a couple of days away from graduation at DAA.  While the road to graduation has been a long one, the ending is a happy one. 

 One of the school year highlights for both students and parents is the annual Homeshow Weekend at Dakota Adventist Academy.  The students are excited to share the many talents they have learned over the course of the year, and parents are happy to see them in action.  This year, a special blessing awaited the DAA family.  Surrounded by family and friends, Derek Keller, a senior at DAA, expressed his commitment to Christ by being baptized Sabbath morning! 

 On the rainy Friday morning of April 30, thirty-eight Dakota Adventist Academy students and eight staff loaded the bus for a community service day at the Lovingly Used Thrift Store in Carrington, ND.  Invited to participate alongside conference workers, a pastor, and many church members, the students helped to clean, straighten, and organize this community ministry.  The students worked as faculty families with their staff leader in order to tackle the entire store.

Skills USA
 Dakota Adventist Academy seniors, Chris Tastad and Breighton Engelhart, enjoy the Auto Body program offered at school.  Taking the upper division course from teacher, Russell Haveman, they benefit from one-on-one training in the small class and learn real-life techniques used in professional shops.  The personalized help has given both students an advantage not only in their class work but in state-wide competitions, such as Skills USA. 

On a Friday afternoon in early December, an unsuspecting Breann Coughlin quickly checked DAA's calendar online to see what time sundown was that evening.  That simple search turned into a life-changing experience for herself and the forty-two students at Dakota Adventist Academy. 

On Thursday, April 1, thirty-five potential academy students arrived for DAA's annual Academy Days, ready for an exciting weekend filled with friends, a chance to make new friends, and to experience the DAA school life.  Thursday evening was filled with introductions, games, and a swimming pool for our students and visitors.  The schedule was in place for Friday but little did the academy staff know what was planned for the next day.

During a conference-wide Men's Retreat, many men came to Dakota Adventist Academy to bond and discuss the meaning of being a Godly man.  However, there was one slight problem.  The dorm was filled with the female students attending DAA!  What were these ladies supposed to do?  Well, on March 5-7, they packed up, headed to a hotel in Bismarck, and enjoyed their very own Girls' Retreat, sponsored by the Women's Ministry department!

Music has become a part of the everyday life of a Dakota Adventist Academy student.  Daily classes include choir, bells, band and DAK, not to mention private lessons and personal practice.  Opportunities to share their music with churches and community members come frequently, providing performance outlets for their talents.  Mr. Way even plays classical music in his classes!  Yes, music plays an important role in the students' education at DAA.

Eleven competitors, the top two from each class and three runners-up, participated February 11 in the school-wide Poetry Outloud competition at DAA.  The top three winners are Leanna Quaile (11th) in first, David Chapman (12th) in second, and Matthew Boyko (11th) in third. 

The annual Student Association Talent Show was held on Saturday night, following National Honor Society Induction vespers.  There were twelve acts in total, falling into either the category of comedy or serious.