Chelsea News

Spirit week at Chelsea Academy took place January 8th-12th this year and was filled with fun and school spirit! Traditionally, Chelsea holds spirit week during the first week of school back from Christmas break to give students something fun to look forward to due to the sadness of break being over. This year was no exception! We started out with a combined Twin Day and Sports Team Day on Tuesday, since school was canceled on Monday due to snow. Tuesday gave students the option to display their favorite sports teams and their cool gear, or to test student’s wardrobes to see how well they could match with a friend. It was Wacky Wednesday for the second day of spirit week, and Greta Barvick pulled out her knee socks, while Peter Aronhime shaved his head to match a monk’s tonsure. Decades Day was well done on Thursday with lots of flannel shirts and jeans from the 90s, letter jackets, and side ponytails. Gretchen Klubertanz dressed up with a beautiful dress and coat with heels representing the 60s, and Christopher Foeckler came in suit pants, a collared shirt, a cap, and a vest from the mid-1900s. The final day was School Spirit Day, and the whole school was decked out in blue and white to celebrate. When questioned about spirit week, Joe Akers, whose favorite spirit day is Wacky Wednesday, said “it’s a good way to come back to school,” and Maire McCarthy, along with many other students, said it was fun.

The Lower School students seemed to enjoy it just as much as the Upper School students, especially with a Decades Dance Party on Thursday with music from all the decades, so that they may appreciate the music of the time they represented. The song “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley and His Comets could be heard from the high school locker room, which made many students smile.

A few teachers joined in the fun, including Mrs. Pelczar’s fun hippie outfit on Decades Day, and even Mr. McDonald showing school spirit on Blue and White day. On Wacky Wednesday, Mr. G. showcased mismatching shoes, and Mr. VanderWoude sported his green pants. 

That same week, the French exchange students, who will be attending Chelsea for the semester, arrived and were welcomed into the Junior class. Ivy Akers expressed how she is excited that they are here, and all the students seem to enjoy Maya and Louis very much. 

Spirit week seemed to be a big success and a much needed boost for the first week back to school. Hopefully the spirit continues in this next semester! Go Knights!

The week of January 9th - 13th was Spirit Week at Chelsea Academy! The uniform-free week was an opportunity for students and faculty to show their creativity and enthusiasm in what would otherwise be a bland return to school after Christmas break. Each day, students dressed according to a different theme, with attire varying from Civil War uniforms to 80’s fashion.

In the much-anticipated return to school on Monday, students showed their spirit for Chelsea by wearing their uniform. A hugely popular choice!

The real spirit week began with “Twin Tuesday.”  This was an opportunity for students to practice their communication skills in an attempt to make their teachers think that they were one of their friends. Though that never happened (at least to my knowledge,) the assortment of matching outfits that came in was truly a wonder and a testament to the students’ creativity.

The following day was “Wacky Wednesday”, where people came to school dressed in the craziest and wackiest outfits imaginable. From outfits put on backward to shaved heads, this day was the most shocking and disconcerting day of the week.

Thursday was “Decades Day”, where everyone traveled back in time and wore the outfits of their favorite decade. These outfits made that week’s house activity, “Reindeer Games,” all the more amusing. Slightly concerning (at least for those who grew up in the 80s) however, was the similarity of the outfits on Wednesday and Thursday.      

On Friday, the entire school donned their white attire to show their spirit for the varsity basketball home games that evening. Both varsity teams pulled off huge upsets against Grace Christian School (Staunton) to round out the exciting week. Go Knights!

Thank you to all who participated in the fun! We saw some impressive and crazy outfits this year! Who knows what amusing regalia will dominate next year’s spirit week…
 

Congratulations to Chelsea’s new Chancellor and Secretary, Jude Lagarde and Bea Stanford! 

Our current leaders, Brigid McCarthy and James Schwartz, will pass the torch to Jude and Bea for the 2022-2023 school year!

Though previously these roles were chosen at the discretion of the teachers, this year the student council coordinated an election by the students themselves. Thus implemented, Upper School students were given a formal opportunity to express their choice of the new Chancellor and Secretary. It was up to the candidates to convince the voters of their capability to become the best leaders on the path of success.

Right before Campaign Week began, all of the candidates gave a speech and answered an open Q&A from their peers.The following week, campaigning commenced with posters covering the hallways and mini spiels and skits at morning convocation, not to mention many little treats and party hosting. Last Thursday, 8th-12th grade students enthusiastically lined up and down the hallway to cast their ballots. Shortly after the votes were collected and counted, the tension was broken by Chancellor McCarthy announcing the winners.

Jude Lagarde, a current Fisher House Representative, ran an impressive and successful campaign and has high hopes for next year, with many new ideas to improve and old traditions to bring back to life. To help along the way, Bea Stanford will move on from being a Roper House Representative to becoming the new secretary.

We are all confident in both Jude’s leadership expertise and Bea’s knack for organization, so rest assured we will have a promising Student Government in the coming academic year!

The week of January 24th to 28th was deemed Spirit Week at Chelsea Academy, and each day a new theme was enthusiastically embraced by both students and faculty/staff! This annual uniform-free week was a creative opportunity to express school spirit and camaraderie, as well as to cheer on our basketball teams and celebrate St. Thomas Aquinas’ feast day. This year, a flurry of rival sports jerseys, hippie-attire, 80’s fashion, poodle skirts, princesses, Newsies, and a curiously large assortment of Nappy D characters led the way to a doubleheader of basketball games against Mountain View on Friday. Well, until actual flurries of snow caused the games to be canceled. But even so, this exciting week proved a huge success, ending in a high-stakes House Game of Jeopardy and a celebration of St. Thomas Aquinas’ feast day with cake. Below is a day-by-day of the spontaneity enjoyed by Chelsea Academy and pictures of the terrifically chaotic-yet-lovable memories made by all.

Monday started it all off with “Sports Day,” consisting of students wearing swag of their favorite sports teams. 

“Decades Day” had everyone thinking back to one’s fond memories of the 20’s styles all the way to the ‘90s, with the ‘80s being an obvious favorite. 

On Wednesday, everyone donned their Sunday best for “Dress-Up Day,” and the girls attended Mass graciously offered by Fr. Tom. 

Thursday’s classes were canceled, so on Friday students were allowed to choose either “Character Day” or the school-patriotic “Blue and White Day.” And so a creative collection of story-book/movie character costumes and Spirit-Wear apparel showed up at the cake-party and Jeopardy Competition. 

Thank you for a wonderful turnout all week. This is the kind of pride and spirit that keeps us winning!

St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us!