School Internet Outage
As students are likely painfully aware, the orderly flow of data throughout the PAA campus network was interrupted on Friday. The culprit seems to be a failed network switch, which our IT contractor cannot immediately replace. That means that teachers may not be able to provide Zoom access to classes on Tuesday for students who are at home because of illness or Covid exposure. Please check Google Classroom for each of your classes to find the creative ways your teachers will handle this difficulty with you.

Letter from the Principal

Dear Members of the PAA Community:

I hope it is not too late for me to wish each of you a happy new year. I would also like to wish you a happy end of the first semester, and a most happy and meaningful Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration weekend.

During our chapel service on Friday, I encouraged our students to spend some time with MLK during this long weekend. Since there is no school on Monday, I hope that many parents will make an opportunity to listen to at least one MLK speech with their children and discuss it with them. I would recommend any of the following MLK presentations:

I Have a Dream
The Other America
The Drum Major Instinct
What Is Your Life’s Blueprint?
Letter from a Birmingham Jail

We have a new class schedule for the second semester which can be viewed below. I anticipate that the next semester will go by even more rapidly than the last one.

We are in the process of making plans for the next school year. I hope to hear from each of you soon regarding your plans for enrollment at PAA next year. I hope that each of our students will return and bring at least one new friend with them. I also hope that each of the eight grade students at PAE, COAS, OCS, and FRAS (actually, there aren’t any eighth grade students at FRAS this year, but I want to include them in the list) will join us at PAA next year.

I am grateful for all of you who encourage other families to enroll their students at PAA. That is one of the most effective ways to grow a school.

I am grateful for the opportunity to partner with you to provide excellent Christian education in our region. I wish you God’s richest blessings.

Sincerely,

Monte Nystrom

Our Mission:
To develop well-educated citizens who do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.

PAA Art Club Workshops
The PAA Art Club is offering TWO afternoon workshops for students to explore their unique creative abilities and work with acrylic paint on canvas with Mrs. Lori Phillips. The workshops will be on January 27th, 2022, at 4p.m. on PAA's campus and February 11th, 2022, at 1 p.m. on the Chico Oaks campus. Workshops are FREE; however, you must register ahead of time by emailing wweems@mypaa.net with your name, dates you plan to attend, and phone number. Workshops are limited to 20 students. All materials will be provided; just bring an attitude of creativity and fun!

Freshman-Sophomore Retreat—February 4–6
This spiritual retreat will be at Pacific Union College. The cost is normally $125 per student. If students register by Friday, January 21, an early registration discount combined with a PAA subsidy will reduce the cost to $50 per student, billed via FACTS. Students who plan to attend this retreat are invited to notify Pastor Larry, Mr. Ratter, or Mr. Goymer, and if they want the reduced cost, they must notify them by January 21.

Colors of Jazz Music Fundraiser
The PAA music department presents Colors of Jazz: A Music Fundraiser on Sunday, February 27th, 2022 at 6pm. Save the date! Spread the word! Invite your friends, colleagues, and community! The music department is abuzz and working hard to prepare a completely new show featuring all things jazz and bright. Don't miss this chance to see what PAA is up to next! Tickets go on sale next week. Can't wait to see you there!

Online Programming Class
La Sierra University is offering a course on coding in the Python programming language:

Scholarship Opportunities
Here are four scholarship opportunities students may be interested in:

Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship—seniors planning to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in computer science
Technology Addiction Awareness Scholarship—seniors
Vegetarian Resource Group Scholarship—seniors who are vegetarians or vegans (No joke; you’d be surprised at the highly specific scholarships out there.)
Visionary Scholarship—open to all high school students

College Financial Aid Workshop—February 15, 6:00-7:30P.M.
Attend a walkthrough of the financial aid process, with guidance for completing the FAFSA, provided by Pacific Union College. Open to all students and parents:

March 13—Next SAT Date
See this information from Mrs. Muth regarding test dates and instructions to sign-up for Sunday testing.

Photo of the Week

Tanner drives past a defender during Tuesday’s game against Westwood. Photo by Maddie Carlson

Submissions for Photo of the Week
If you take a photo during this next week that captures a PAA-related moment and you’d like it to be considered for use as the next Cougar Tracks Photo of the Week, please send it to CougarTracks@mypaa.net.