Homecoming 2020 was a virtual event for Dock this year—a Stay-at-Home Coming, if you will, highlighted by our second Alumni Challenge, Zoom workshops for kids, a sidewalk chalk contest, and a virtual coffeehouse that was a showcase for current students from both campuses as well as accomplished alumni musicians and singers.

In the Alumni Challenge that ran all day Friday, Dock achieved its goal of 100 new donors, which meant that a quartet of teachers—Middle School teacher Mr. Nathaniel Freed, and High School teachers Mr. Zach Bower, Mr. Caleb Benner, and Mrs. Darla Bergey—all took a chilly plunge into Groff Pond.

Other Stay-at-Homecoming highlights included students creating magical designs on their sidewalk or driveway as part of the Sidewalk Chalk creativity contest; A Zoom workshop on how to build a terrarium hosted by Dock junior Madelyn Lewis; Senior Isabella Benner's virtual culinary workshop in which participants baked pumpkin chocolate chip pudding cookies; and a ZOOM workshop led by junior Laurel Latt demonstrating how to make your own lava lamp.

Winners of the Sidewalk Chalk Contest:

·       Best Fall Theme - Jessica LoRusso (2^nd Grade)

·       Most Creative - Averie Ryan (2^nd Grade)

·       Most Colorful - Macy Youssef and Zoey Fisher (7^th Grade)

The Virtual Coffeehouse was a perfect way to spend a cozy Saturday evening at home and featured a wide variety of performances by current students and ensembles from both campuses, as well as Dock alumni scattered across the country. Participants demonstrated both musical skill and creativity in their recordings. We are grateful to Dock Director of Technology Mr. Darwin Zehr and especially to Assistant Director of Technology Mr. Jason Sprunger for their roles in assembling the videos for the coffeehouse and getting the production livestreamed.

See more photos of the Alumni Challenge/Faculty Plunge

Watch the Faculty Plunge video by Mike Landis

See more photos of the Terrarium Workshop

See more photos of the Lava Lamp Workshop

See more photos of the Culinary Workshop

See more photos of the Sidewalk Chalk Contest

See the complete Virtual Coffeehouse musician lineup

Watch the Virtual Coffeehouse recording

Dock welcomed 40 new students to its chapter of the National Honor Society during a virtual induction ceremony on Tuesday, October 13. The NHS seeks to create enthusiasm for academics, to promote leadership, and to develop character in students, and is open to upperclassmen who have a cumulative GPA of 3.3 or higher.

Mrs. Rose Lambright, faculty advisor to the National Honor Society, said that NHS membership is granted to students who are selected by a 5-member faculty committee. That committee reviews each eligible student's Profile Form to help them objectively assess the student, helping to focus the service, leadership, character, and spiritual components of each student’s application. Faculty members are rotated yearly both to share the task and to help assure fairness. 

NHS Inductees for the 2020-21 school year include:

10^th grade (22 candidates)

Anthony Bernardo

Emma Celenza

Sarah Curry

Mikaela Davis

Tyler Derstein

Celeste Dertine

Mackenzie Derstine

Zach Frederick

Marlyse Giesbrecht

Haley Harper

Emily Irwin

Katherine Kardos

Sophia Lacher

Trinity Landis

Micah Mast

Ainsely Moyer

Tiffany Oponski

Ashley Park

Nolan Vaszily

Megan Wenzel

Owen Yuan

Olivia Zaskoda

11^th grade  (11 candidates)

Jonah Chavez

Rachel Christian

Braden Churches

Kirsten Fleming

Summer Hondros

Elle Loux

Sheldon Myers

Jordanna Naidoo

Ali Scorsone

Ellie Supplee

Victor Wei*

12th grade (7 candidates)

Sam Alderfer

Rebecca Crissman

Jesse Detweiler

Samantha Osborn

Sean Robinson

Adrian Suter

Madison Youssef

* Not pictured

 

NHS Officers for 2020-21 include:

Jocelyn Pfleiger – President

Kolson Hunsberger – Vice President

Isabella Benner - Secretary

Mirabel Fizzano – Communications

 

See photos of all NHS inductees here

Watch video of the NHS Induction Ceremony

 

Congratulations to Dock senior Nathan Smeland, who earned his Private Glider Pilot certification on September 1. He took his father, Jason, for a ride as his first passenger, but more recently he took Dock Grades 9-12 Principal Mr. Martin Wiens up for a spin. Pretty awesome—congratulations Nathan!

See more photos

See videos on our YouTube channel

Third Grade students in Mrs. Amy Rodriguez's class earned a "Read with Milo" Day together. Milo just happens to be Mrs. Rodriguez's adorable pup, who just loves coming to class! In addition to reading with Milo, each student also adopted his/her very own furry friend to take home so that they can read even more to these "low maintenance" pets! Thanks to Milo and Mrs. Rodriguez for encouraging students to read!

See more photos

Mennonite College Day

The Mennonite Colleges and Universities will be visiting us virtually this year! Dock's annual Mennonite College Day is Monday, October 5. A chapel video will provide students with more information about our Mennonite colleges and universities (MCU) and there will be opportunity to register to speak to a representative virtually. Students receive a free t-shirt from the school when they visit! Click here for more information and to register for a virtual visit. See below for MCU contact information.

Parents and students are invited to join MCU admissions representatives for a virtual evening information session at 7:30 pm.

College                      E-mail addresses                 Websites                        Phone numbers

Bluffton University  admissions@bluffton.edu  http://www.bluffton.edu/   1-800-488-3257

Eastern Mennonite Univ.   admiss@emu.edu   http://www.emu.edu/        1-800-368-2665

Goshen College     admissions@goshen.edu    http://www.goshen.edu/    1-800-348-7422

Hesston College    admissions@hesston.edu   http://www.hesston.edu/   1-800-995-2757

Bethel College      admissions@bethelks.edu   http://www.bethelks.edu/  1-800-522-1887

 

Fall College Fairs

Online and virtual college fairs allow you to explore your options from the comfort and safety of your own home. Most offer live online chats with admissions representatives, virtual tours, and live presentations. Here are a few options:

Christian College Fairs

VirtualChristianCollegeFairs.com

Thursday, November 5, 6:00-11:00 pm

 

NACAC Virtual National College Fairs

nacacfairs.org

Monday, October 12, 1:00-9:00 pm

Sunday, October 18, 12:00-8:00 pm

Sunday, November 8, 2:00-10:00 pm

In addition to the college fairs above, sites like CollegeFairsOnline.com and CollegeWeekLive.com are additional places to look for these types of fairs. For more college fair and open house options, check out the kiosk outside the Guidance Office.

Seniors: College Application Process:

Mrs. Leaman visited your Kingdom Living Class and went over the process, and now she encourages you to come and see her directly for additional support. Last year as a junior, college options were explored. This year, you should be organizing your priority list. The Guidance Office is open and looking forward to helping you in the college application process. It is important that you are registered with SCOIR to help manage this process. Your transcript will be sent to colleges and you will request letters of recommendation from your teachers through SCOIR.

Juniors: Plan Your Education

While all four years in high school are important, the most pivotal year for academic and career decisions is a student's junior year.  During their junior year, students take a more comprehensive look at their future beyond high school. Mr. Kabakjian will be visiting Juniors in their English classes to help students register with SCOIR, a college planning system that will assist you in exploring careers and applying to colleges. Students and their parents are also invited to make an appointment to talk with Mr. Kabakjian about college and career options.

Testing Information

Juniors and Sophomores: The PSAT is scheduled for Wednesday, October 14.  All juniors on campus will report to the cafeteria at 7:45 a.m. to take this exam. Junior remote learners are also welcome! If you live locally and want to take the exam, please contact the Guidance Office to register and receive your PSAT Student Guide. All students taking this exam will need two #2 pencils and an approved calculator.

The PSAT is the first step in entering the scholarship programs conducted by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

SAT Information
Test Date                           Registration Deadline

November 7,2020              October 7, 2020

December 5, 2020             November 5, 2020

March 13, 2021                   February 12, 2021

May 8, 2021                        April 8, 2021

June 5, 2021                       May 6, 2021

The easiest way to register for the SAT is online at www.Collegeboard.com. Students should set up an account with College Board. This will give them access to many tools that are available to support SAT preparation and the college search. There are also helps for parents. This is a recommended site for college bound students and their parents.

AP Test Registration Reminder

Mr. Kabakjian is currently working with AP classes to make sure all students enrolled in an AP class are registered for their AP exam. Students not currently enrolled in an AP class at Dock who want to take an AP Exam must see Mr. Kabakjian by Friday, October 2 to register for the exam.

Report Cards

Quarter One ends on Friday, October 23, and report cards will be issued to students on Thursday, November 5^th at the end of the school day. A students' report card may be held for a variety of reasons such as overdue books, failure to return a sport uniform, etc.  The teacher who holds the report card will issue it when the student has handled their responsibilities to them. If you have questions or concerns, don't hesitate to call the Guidance Office. 

National Honor Society News

The annual induction ceremony to celebrate our new NHS members will be held virtually this year! We will honor our inductees with a certificate of membership and photo taken on the porch of Detweiler House. More information about this virtual event coming soon!

Dock 7th and 8th grade Discover students, are studying life science this year. The students are trying to solve the following question: “How can we redesign/revitalize our campus “Nature Trail” by making it more inviting to both the Dock Community and the local surrounding community?” Dock Director of Advancement Mr. Robert Rutt visited with students in class and shared a bit about the history of the land the EC8 campus sits on and how we arrived at 420 Godshall Rd in Souderton. He discussed the water basin that was built as a requirement from the township. He talked about the trees planted around the property to add barriers to replace those harvested over the years. This week the students are continuing their work by looking for evidence of birds, insects and small animals around the school property. The students are creating slide shows with all the evidence they collect.

See more photos

Mrs. Laura Landes' 3rd grade music students met the brass musical Instrument family today! Dock students loved learning about these bright and bold musical instruments and really enjoyed listening to Grades 9-12 Band Director, Mr. Alan Shughart, play these instruments for them!

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Organized collectively by the Mennonite Church USA colleges and universities, Virtual Family Night events are replacing the in-person visits admissions counselors typically make to Mennonite high schools during the fall.

However, all high school students are invited to take part in any of the sessions, whether or not they attend a Mennonite high school.

The virtual event will feature representatives from five MCUSA colleges and universities—Bethel College, Bluffton University, Eastern Mennonite University, Goshen College and Hesston College.

Topics will include what sophomores, juniors and seniors should do at each stage of their high school career to be a strong applicant; financial aid information; and how to prepare for college visits. The representatives will also be available to speak privately with families afterward or to schedule a more in-depth visit.

The Virtual Family Night evening session for Dock Mennonite Academy will be held on Monday, October 5. To register for a session, visit mennoniteeducation.org/mcd.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dock 4-year old Early Childhood students are learning about Creation during their September Faith Formation/Bible time. This week, they took a walk looking for "God's paintbrushes." Students discovered lots of different plants to use for painting and sorted them in groups. Students experimented with the plants they found and created wonderful "process art" works of art—all while enjoying being outside in God's creation.

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Students in Ms. Valerie Metzler’s Agricultural Connections science elective class spent some time in the Dock Woods gardens, helping residents pull out corn to prepare the gardens for the fall and winter. The corn stalks were shredded and turned under the soil to increase the organic matter and nutrient content of the soil. The class also has their own plot in the garden, where they are growing broccoli, lettuce, carrots, peas, and beets! We are excited to see what kind of produce we will get from the garden, and are grateful for the opportunity to participate in the Dock Woods Garden.