Blog

Mrs. Blue's 5th & 6th grade class has a habit of praying for the fire fighters and the people they serve whenever a siren goes by the school. When someone hears the siren, they exclaim, "Shoot a prayer!" and then they pray silently for God's blessing in the situation.

With the Thanksgiving season approaching and October being Fire Prevention Month, the students decided to show appreciation to the fire fighters across the street in a fun, tangible way. They spent the morning baking pumpkin pies and then that afternoon, delivered the pies and cards to the firemen. That day the students received the blessing that comes from doing good deeds for others.

Following are the students' thoughts on the experience:

"Baking the pies was fun. I like doing nice things for those who do nice things." Austin

"I really felt good about going to the fire fighters, because it was nice to give them something back for protecting us from the many bad things." Laurence

"I thought it was an awesome experience, and it felt good to see their facial expressions." Michael

"Baking pies was fun. It was fun delivering them to the firemen." Kyle

"I enjoyed baking pies because we got to deliver them, and sing 'For he's a jolly good fellow' to the firemen." Bradley

"I really liked baking pies for the firemen, because it was really fun and they deserve it." Joann

"I had a fun time, and I felt good afterwards." Sarah

"We wanted to give the firemen some pies, because they are helping the world by stopping fires and other things." Tyler

"It was a fun time. We sang, 'For he's a jolly good fellow' and got two pictures in front of the fire truck. It was so awesome!" Ramsie

"I felt happy and excited! This was really important to me because they help us and put out fires for us!" Hannah

"Baking pumpkin pies was super fun, expecially with all of your friends. I felt very grateful and honored to deliver those pies to the fire fighters. I felt happy afterwards because I knew that I had done something for someone else." Lissa

Our 2008-2009 school year has gotten off to a wonderful start, with an opening enrollment of 104 students, with 27 new students. While we were not able to begin the year in our new facility, we are seeing progress and hope to be in before the end of 2008!

Following are pictures showing some of the new landscaping, installation of the cabinets, and work on the suspended ceilings. The technology company is also installing speakers, screens, and projectors to enable the teachers to utilize their computers more in their instruction.

This will be the last update before students return to school on Thursday, August 21. The building will not be ready for the start of the school year, but will have a "moving in" date most likely in November.

The following pictures show that the sidewalks are now in and all the outside doors have been installed, lacking door handles for the time being. Work is being done to install new fencing in the lower grades play area to secure the playbround. Landscaping is being worked on also, since it will need to be completed before final approval is given to move in.

The following pictures will give you the most recent look at what is happening on the new construction, which is all on the exterior of the building. Most of the tile is in place on the roof and the school name was just put up today. Some decorative rock work is going in under the large windows in the front. In addition, some of the old sidewalk on the north side is being taken out to get ready for new sidewalk. Forms for sidewalk are going in on the east side, where the new classrooms are located.

The inside work is at a standstill until the inspector gives final approval on a proposal from the contractor regarding fireproof coating on the steel work, which hopefully will be very soon.

This question was asked of the students at our last chapel in May and some said "Christian", who happens to be the tallest student in our school. Fortunately, they were wrong! The right answer was the new baby giraffe born at the Palm Desert Living Desert Zoo and Gardens a little over two weeks ago as of today. The following pictures were taken on Saturday, June 7. The last picture was taken as the baby giraffe was running away.

The 7th & 8th grade class, along with their teacher and other adults, returned from their trip to Washington, DC tired and inspired by all they saw and experienced. Some of the places they visited were Mt. Vernon, Arlington National Cemetery, the Capitol building, a walk through the White House, The Smithsonian Museums, the many Memorials to our armed forces and former Presidents, and a side trip to Gettysburg. A wonderful and safe time was enjoyed by all. Thank you to all who helped make this trip a reality for these students.

The entire new construction now has the color coat of stucco. The existing church structure has also been painted to match the color of the new building.

In the third and fourth pictures below, you see a small group of people checking out the north end of the building, which is the entrance that will be used by the students to enter the building. The people in the pictures are Ted Eichelberger (general contractor), Bert Garland (building committee chairperson), Steve Blue (pastor of the Palm Desert Oasis SDA Church), and Jennifer Johnson and Nedra Young from Social Mosaics. Their nonprofit corporation teaches mosaic art to school students and the elderly. Jennifer and Nedra will be helping our students create several panels of mosaic art based on the theme "Oasis". You can check out their website at www.socialmosaics.org. These panels will then be installed on the exterior wall of the gymnasium, above the north entrance to the school.

The funds for this project will come from money that the Palm Desert Oasis Church was required to pay to the city of Palm Desert for a program called "Art in Public Places". The purpose of this program is to promote public art in conjunction with all new construction. The PDO Church will receive money from the city of Palm Desert upon completion of the children's mosaic.

This will be an exciting school project for next school year!

Beautiful patriotic music was performed by the children's choirs and handbell groups on Thursday evening, May 8. A large audience of parents, grandparents, and community friends responded to the music with resounding applause. Special recognition was given to those in the audience who had served in the different branches of the armed services. The following pictures will give you a little glimpse of what the evening looked like.

Kindergarten

3rd & 4th Grade Handchime Choir

5th and 6th Grade Handbell Choir

DAA Desert Ringers and Ensemble

Grades 1-6 Choir

Progress is still being made on the new construction, with much of it happening inside the building. Most of the sheetrock is on the walls in the hallways and classrooms, as well as having been taped and sanded. Workers have nearly completed installing the syrofoam trim under the roof overhangs. Most of the exterior walls are ready for the color coat of stucco.

The last official word I heard is that the classrooms should be ready for the new school year. We will continue to pray for that to happen!

The Southeastern California Conference sponsored and Redlands Adventist Academy hosted the 2nd Annual Intermediate Handbell Festival last Friday, February 22. Five handbell choirs of 5th to 8th graders came together to rehearse all day and perform an evening concert for family and friends. Mr. James Walters, RAA's music teacher and outstanding handbell director, was the clinician for the day.

The massed handbell choirs performed four pieces and three school choirs played solo numbers. Our choir, the Desert Ringers, performed the beautiful piece, "Let There Be Peace On Earth", arranged by Arnold Sherman.

A wonderful day was experience by all the participants. My personal "comfort zone" was stretched when I was asked to direct the rehearsal and performance of one of the massed handbell choir pieces and play a drum on another number, both "first-time" experiences.

The builders are currently preparing the exterior walls to have the stucco applied. When that's completed, the roofers will be able to install the tile roof. The electricians and internet people are working on the inside of the building, completing their work so the sheet rockers can come in, hopefully in February. We hear the pleasant sounds of construction everyday, which means progress!!

Mr. Robinson and his 7th and 8th graders are in the midst of raising funds for their trip to Washington, D. C. and Gettysburg in May. The class will be traveling with the tour company American Christian Tours (ACTS). Their trip itinerary will include all the major memorial monuments in Washington, D.C., as well as the museums along the Mall. A side trip will be taken to Mt. Vernon and a day will be spent visiting Gettysburg. A highlight will be the laying of a wreath by a couple students at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. Time will be given to visit the Capitol Building, White House, Supreme Court, Library of Congress, Ford’s Theatre, the Petersen House, and the Holocaust Museum. The students are looking forward to a very memorable trip.

To raise money, the students provided "child sitting" and “gift wrapping” on several Saturday nights before Christmas while parents went shopping or had a night out. The handbell ensemble performed at a Christmas concert put on by the Sun City Singers of Palm Desert, for which they received a nice donation towards their trip. In addition, the handbell choir and ensemble was invited to be the "surprise entertainment" for a private Christmas dinner in the home of Lori Sarner, a Palm Springs philanthropist and socialite, who had made a generous donation to the class. Her home was owned at one time by the Hearst family and is known as the "Little San Simeon". Over 75 dinner guests were delighted by the handbell performance of holiday music.

Windows and exterior doors have been installed since the last update on the construction. In addition, the electricians, plumbers, sprinkler system workers, and heating/airconditioning people have been working diligently on the inside of the building, which is not as noticeable to the passerby.

The interior pictures are of the gymnasium, school office, a classroom, and the hallway in front of the gym entrance, which is also the main entrance to the school. You may notice some water on the floor, which is from the heavy rain (for us, nearly 1") that fell last Friday and Saturday. Obviously, we don't have a roof on yet!

Several classrooms, under the direction of Mrs. Trudeau, our kindergarten teacher, participated in the Samaritan's Purse "Operation Christmas Child" shoe box mission project before our Thanksgiving break. Parents and their children filled nearly 60 shoe boxes with small toys, school supplies, and other gifts. These shoe boxes will be given to children around the world who are in need of some joy and hope in their lives. God can use these small gifts to touch a child's heart!

Teachers of Desert Adventist Academy, Boehm Child Connection, and public education were honored during the Palm Desert Oasis SDA Church service this past Sabbath. Our conference superintendent, Don Dudley, and associate superintendent, Bill Keresoma, participated in the service with encouraging comments and prayer.

In addition, Ladd Cameron, who has served as DAA school board chairman for 10 years, was recognized for his positive leadership and support of Christian education. Ladd and his wife, Rene, are moving to Arizona. They will be greatly missed!

The "Fastest and Best Framing Crew in the West" is at work framing and raising the walls for the new classrooms, offices, and all other rooms of the new construction. The steel workers are also working hard to complete the gymnasium structure. The following pictures were taken on Wednesday, so even more walls are up today. I will add some more pictures when I have the opportunity.

Updated pictures from Friday, September 28.

The concrete workers have been working very hard in intense heat in preparation for the final pour of concrete, which is nearly twice as much as was needed for the gymnasium floor. The concrete trucks came yesterday to pour the footings and arrived at 5:00 this morning to pour the remaining pad. Can you tell "who's the boss" in the first two pictures?

Many thanks to Ruben Grijalva and his crew of concrete workers and to Ted Eichelberger, general contractor, for the progress that has been made so far on the new facility. We've all enjoyed watching the process and seeing the progress being made on the new building. Next will be the steel!