By: Gavin Atos

With the majority of Guam’s tourists coming from Japan, it was an easy decision to select Japanese as the second foreign language to be offered at Guam Adventist Academy. Mrs. Yumiko Imazu has answered the call and is now offering the course to GAA’s secondary students. She is excited about her classes saying, “[My students] have already learned phrases in Japanese in such a short time!” She also believes it is always fun to teach those who are eager to learn.

Now the school offers two languages. Aside from Japanese, Spanish is also an elective. Many colleges require at least 2 years of foreign language. The School Principal, Mrs. Torres, felt students would benefit twice over by offering the foreign language options: 1) It would help students prepare for college, and 2) It also allows them to practice a language that will help them in obtaining better jobs in Guam’s tourism industry.

By: Cody Crisostomo and News Staff

One of the missions of Guam Adventist Academy is “to actively pursue a healthy lifestyle.” This year, the Physical Education department is basing their program goals and methods on NEWSTART principles. This will allow them to provide students a holistic approach to health. The NEWSTART program has proven time and time again to be effective in changing lives and lifestyles for the better. NEWSTART is an acronym which stands for Nutrition, Exercise, water, Sunlight, Temperance, Air, Rest, and Trust in God – a Biblical method of achieving physical, mental, and spiritual health and fitness.

Students will also participate in the President’s Challenge which requires students to meet measured standards of fitness ability. Blood pressure, weight, waist size, pulse rate, and body fat percentage will be recorded throughout the year to assess their progress. Genesis 1:26 states that God created man in His image. I Corinthians 6:19 tells us that our body is the temple of God. GAA PE teachers, Mr. Larrazabal and Mr. Roa, believe physical education is not only a requirement but a responsibility as stewards of God’s temple.

They hope that parents will help their PE students apply the concepts they’ll learn in school into their daily lives.

By: Jonathan Powers and News Staff

New and returning students should remember that there’s a uniform code at Guam Adventist Academy. Students are encouraged to strive to look not only presentable, but professional. Remember that hair should also be neatly and conservatively groomed.

Boys should always walk onto and around campus with shirts neatly tucked. Belts should be dark in color, such as navy blue, black or dark brown. Elementary boys – kindergarten through 6th grades – have the option to wear GAA issued pants or shorts. On Fridays, boys should be in full uniform which includes the GAA issued neckties. Boys’ hair should be short and should not fall below the ear or the nape of the neck (where your dress shirt collar usually is). Boys should ensure that their undershirts are plain white; this means no prints.

Ladies should also arrive to campus with shirts neatly tucked in. The skirts shouldn’t be shorter than 2 inches above the knee when kneeling. They should, in addition to their blouse and skirts, wear their ties daily. For girls in Pre-K to 6, ties are optional except on Fridays when they are mandatory for chapel. Girls should make sure that their hair is nicely groomed and presentable as well. Jewelry is not allowed at school. Underclothing used by girls should be plain white with no print.

If you find that you get a bit cold at times, warm up with your GAA issued sweater. This is the only type of sweater allowed on campus. All others will be confiscated and students will be warned. For more information on the uniform code, please see our registrar, Mrs. Vega.

“Standards of good grooming are established upon the basic principles of neatness, cleanliness, modesty, and appropriateness for the occasion and place. When the appropriateness or modesty of a student’s personal appearance is in question, the administration’s interpretation will be the determining factor.”

By: Jennie Tomagan and News Staff

Many young people traveled from near and far to be a part of the Pacific Island Youth for Christ Conference. The annual event took place from August 3rd through the 7th and is designed to promote ways the island’s youth can connect and reconnect with Christ as well as educate and train them on the Bible truths and how to spread the “Word.” This year’s event was held at the Agat-Santa Rita Seventh-day Adventist Church and was packed with teenagers and young adults from Guam, Saipan, and Rota. The PYC featured powerful Christian speakers including Robby Teeling from Alaska, and Pastors Godfrey Miranda and Alvin Maragh from California. Pastor Maragh’s sessions touched on the USA and its place in Bible prophecy while Pastor Miranda talked about the need to change our attitudes and lifestyles if we want to be closer to God. Meanwhile, Elder Teeling spoke on the Bible character Joseph and went into detail about Joseph’s dysfunctional family and how we should be Christ-like in all situations, good or bad, just as Joseph was. The youth had the opportunity to go into the village and meet with people, discovering that more than sixty-five of them wanted to learn more about Christ and have Bible studies. The PYC generally takes place toward the end of summer. This year’s PYC proved to be a wonderful way to start off the new school year!

Guam Adventist Academy is beaming. Three of our high school students took the top slots in the recent 2011 Law Day Islandwide Essay Competition.

Senior, Miguel Han, took first place; Junior, Crystal Larrew, took second; and Larrew’s classmate, Hannah Choi, came in third place.
The topic of this year’s Law Day Islandwide Essay Competition was “The Legacy of John Adams, From Boston to Guantanamo. Adams was not only a presi- dent of the United States, he also happened to be the first lawyer-president. Adams took on cases that no one else would, defending those who couldn’t defend themselves. Participants in this year’s competition were required to reflect on John Adams’s legacy and parallel it to our modern day system of laws and rights designed to help the accused.

According to a release from the Judiciary of Guam and the Guam Bar Association, sponsors of the event, “Law Day is a national day set aside to celebrate the rule of law. Law Day underscores how law and the legal process have contributed to the freedoms that we share.” All essays were 1,000 words in length. The compe- tition was open to all 9th through 12th grade students attending schools on Guam.
Last year, GAA took two top slots; second and third place in the competition. Then 9th graders, Ro- setrina Elidok and Liana Quenga, were presented with prizes at the Supreme Court of Guam.

High school English teacher, Mrs. Joanne, Kim said she was very proud of the winners.

Two high school students were inducted into the Guam Adventist Academy Chapter of the National Honor Society this past Wednesday, May 11. Junior, Rachel Onjukka, and sophomore, Julie Lu, both received their stoles and pins, and sat beside the current NHS members in a very special ceremony held in the school’s upper room Eight Students Inducted into National Honor So- ciety and National Junior Honor Society. NHS Secretary Hannah Choi delivered a special testimony of her experience this past year as an NHS member. She shared that the pillars of NHS: character, service, leadership, and scholarship, were challenged, overcome, and reinforced with teamwork and God’s help as the group successfully planned and executed a series of major programs at the school. NHS undertook a school gift drive for the island’s poor, as well as carefully planned Career Week and Chamorro Week activities.

NHS President, Amber McKeever, led her society members in the candle lighting ceremony and then per- formed “Go Light Your World” as an encouragement to not only the newly inducted members, but also for the students watching the ceremony.

GAA also welcomed its first members of the Angels Chapter of the National Junior Honor Society. Eighth graders, Justin Bates, Jana Fukuda, Joelle Kim and Brit- tany Perez; and seventh graders, Tammy Leon Guerrero and Hannah Robinson were also selected by the NHS Council.
Congratulations to all the new inductees! For those of you out there who are interested in being a
member, work hard and remember the four criteria.

By Rosetrina Elidok

After two weeks in the Philippines, five GAA students and two chaperones – Kasondra Reel, Julie Matz, Annie Bae, Trisha Erikmo- mal, Liana Quenga, Cara mays, and Monica Cardenas – returned to Guam full of new memories and experiences, some of which they’ll never forget. No, they didn’t go for a vacation they left on a mission trip to an International Children’s Care orphanage in Pampanga, Central Luzon called the Happy Valley Children’s Village.
There they met many orphans from different backgrounds, each with their own horrifying history and experiences. While there, the group conducted a three-day Vacation Bible School for the children entitled God’s Love, as well as a medical outreach throughout the orphanage and the Batiawan Mountain.

There are still tangible memo- ries from previous mission trips left on the orphanage’s property. The building that was built by the first group of missionary students from GAA two years ago still stands and is almost completed.There is also a tree on the property with a student’s name engraved on one of its branches – “Folling.”

The students may have left the children behind but they brought back with them their amazing stories of faith and perse- verance. Blanch, an eight-year-old girl, could be seen puttering around the gardens early in the morning tending to the flowers and smiling tranquilly. What you may not know about her is that she had raised her three younger siblings on her own for awhile.

There are many other children who were taken off the streets, from abusive homes, or even from government orphanages where they didn’t have houseparents.

There are many orphans who need sponsorship at the ICC Or- phanage in Pampanga. “ICC takes in children with good faith that they will be provided for,” said Cara Flores Mays, the chaperone as well as the director of the an- nual mission trips. In an effort to raise awareness and arouse the compassion of those more fotur- nate, a website, FreeChildMovement.Org, is avail- able for those who are interested in sponsoring a child. If you have further questions, contact Cara Flores Mays at 929-8400.

By Newsletter Staff

Way up in the hills of Pampanga, Central Luzon, there is an orphanage called the Happy Valley Children’s Village, a branch of the International Children’s Care in Australia. They house children from all backgrounds, whether they’ve been aban- doned or rescued from an abusive home.

Since the beginning of the year, volunteers for the third annual Philippine Mission Trip have been campaigning for funds to support this orphanage. They’ve held an array of fundraisers, such as a letter-writing campaign, a raffle sponsored by other businesses, and a benefit concert entitled Notes of Hope.

For some, this will be their first time head- ing out, and for others, who al- ready possess memories of the place, they’ll just be reawakening them and creating more. Liana Quenga, a partici- pant of last year’s trip, said, “When you go you don’t think you’ll change, but once you go, you come back a different person and it’s refreshing.”

By Ethan Hoffman

The middle school portion of GAA can debate! On April 12th, the 7th and 8th graders had their an- nual debate, with one grade challenging the other. Students put all of their hard work and their skills to the test as they challenged their designated opponents. Judge Larrazabal says “It was a very enthusiastic experience.”

“The students who participated in the debates did an excellent job. They were very professional,” said 7th grader Tammy Leon Guerrero, a partici- pant in the debate session. Debate topics ranged from the legal driving age, to the internet’s pros and cons.
A particularly heated debate between Jacelynn Remoket and Britanny Perez over the internet’s assets had students on the edge of their seats, awaiting the outcome. Remoket, seventh grade stated, “It was pretty nerve-wracking yet fun!”
“I had a great time debating about an interesting topic!” says 8th grader Derek Onjukka, who argued for the morally correct path to take regarding animal testing. “Even though the debates were difficult, I learned a lot. It benefitted me because I was better able to identify with real-world issues.”