Congratulations to students in Dr. Annabella SilverMoon's Spanish 3 and AP Spanish classes, who recently "published" their Spanish language version of Dock's Lamplighter magazine—El Farolero en Espanol—to the Dielman Hall display case. Be sure to stop by and have a look!

Felicitaciones a los estudiantes de las clases de Español 3 y AP de la Dra. Annabella SilverMoon, quienes recientemente "publicaron" su versión en español de la revista Lamplighter de Dock—El Farolero en Español—en la vitrina de Dielman Hall. ¡Asegúrate de pasar y echar un vistazo!

Dock 5th grade writers triumph! Even though it is late May, 5th graders and their teacher, Ms. Alice Wolfgang, are still excited about the writing process. Students recently researched chocolate milk, conducted surveys, and also interviewed their parents about strawberry milk and lemonade. They strategized and wrote letters to Chef Bill Lorah in the hopes of bringing back the strawberry milk that they remember from their early school years, and/or possibly even lemonade. Chef Bill graciously read the letters, and the hall was filled with excitement when word got out that lemonade was in the cafeteria for the end of the school year! Students “ran” all the way back from the cafeteria to report this excellent news to Ms. Wolfgang! Congratulations, students, for finding yet another way to make learning fun! #persuasivewritingrocks 

Dock Mennonite Academy's 61^st Annual Country Fair and Auction was held on Friday, May 13. The rain held off, and this much-anticipated community event delivered lots of good food, fun, and entertainment for the entire family. Thanks for helping us make some memories!

Visit the Country Fair & Auction web page for more photos!

Two Dock alumni—Isaac Martin ('05, above) and retired faculty member Jerry Yoder (below)—dropped by Mrs. Michelle Sensenig's Guitar class on different days recently to share their love of music and give students some tips for improving their guitar playing. More photos on our Facebook page!

Dock 8th grade student Trace Scavetti led a Middle School Chapel recently, encouraging his fellow students to have faith in God and not to "sit on the fence" (Matthew 12:30) with their faith. Trace is obviously not sitting on the fence—he did an amazing job using his God-given gifts to tell others about Jesus and to encourage them to use their unique God-given gifts. Trace hopes to become a pastor someday! #TheFutureLooksBright

Dock 8^th grade students (l to r) Madison Afanador, Amy Muhlfeld, Gretchen German, and Matthew Mast pose with their musical achievement awards that they received at this week’s Middle School Spring Concert. These students showed exceptional leadership, skill, and musicianship, and have shown tremendous growth throughout their time in the music program at Dock. Congratulations to these young musicians!

“A single conversation with a wise man is better than 10 years of study.” – Chinese Proverb

Seniors in Mr. Zach Bower’s  Family Living class had the special privilege of hosting Frieda Bailey and Ann Sheasley, both residents at Dock Woods who also participated in the Family Living Pen Pal Project.  Frieda and Ann acted as wise elders as they graciously shared about their life experiences and offered a treasure trove of advice and wisdom for these students who are preparing to graduate in less than a month.  

See videos of Frieda and Ann sharing

Your student's senior year at Dock Mennonite Academy is quickly coming to a close! For your planning purposes, please see the senior activities listed below.  

Senior Recital – If your son or daughter, or their friends, are involved in the Arts at Dock, plan on supporting them Tuesday, May 31, beginning at 7 PM.

Senior Presentations – Graduation week begins with your son's or daughter's senior presentation.  These 15-20 minute speeches will be held June 6-8, from 3 PM – 9 PM, and are open to the public. Click here to view the schedule. 

Baccalaureate Refreshments (Please note the change in time) – Beginning at 6:30 PM on Friday, June 10, we will have light refreshments served on the Detweiler lawn. All family members and seniors are welcome between 6:30 - 7:15 PM. 

Baccalaureate – Beginning at 7:30 PM on Friday, June 10, this one-hour, faith-centered service is planned by the Senior class officers and is a highlight for many and part of the Dock difference. The Baccalaureate service will be held on the turf field, but moved inside the Clemens Center in the event of inclement weather. Baccalaureate is open to the public, 

Commencement – Come celebrate your child's graduation from Dock on Saturday, June 11, at 6:00 PM sharp! Commencement will be held outside on the turf field. This event will be moved inside the Clemens Center in the event of inclement weather. Each graduate will be given 6 tickets (in addition to the graduate) to sit directly on the turf field. The bleachers will be open for additional seating. Please note: "Spikey" heels are not permitted on the turf field, but wedges are safe to wear  Please help us spread the word to your family members.  

Students learn by doing, and Mrs. Jane Mast's Physics students learned about several principles of physics by doing an Egg Drop experiment in class recently. The Egg Drop is a classic Physics experiment in which students are given an egg to drop from a high point onto a hard surface. They must design a carrier or landing device for the egg to protect it from breaking upon impact. The students form hypotheses about which of the egg carriers/devices will effectively protect the egg and then test those hypotheses—in the process, learning about physics concepts such as inertia, force, velocity, motion and momentum.

Inertia

Newton's Laws of Motion are the basic principles illustrated in the egg drop experiment. Sir Isaac Newton published his Laws of Motion in 1687 and fundamentally altered scientists' understanding of the world by describing the relationship between force and motion. The first of these laws is referred to as The Law of Inertia, which states that an object that is in motion will stay in motion unless an external force acts upon it, and an object at rest will stay at rest unless an external force acts upon it.

Velocity

In Newton's Second Law, he discusses the direct relationship between the external forces acting upon an object and the object's change in momentum. The force increases as the time required for the change decreases. If a train is moving along at a steady pace and needs to decelerate, the force experienced by the passengers will be greater as the time for deceleration is shorter.

The Egg

The objective of the egg drop experiment is to keep the egg from breaking as it decelerates. It becomes clear from Newton's Laws that in order to minimize the force experienced by the egg at impact, students designing the egg carriers must increase the time over which the egg is brought to rest or decrease the egg's velocity at the time of the crash.

The Carrier/Landing Device

In order to decrease the egg's velocity upon impact, students must design their egg carriers to have increased air resistance. An increased surface area on the carrier, such as a flying disc shape or a parachute, will cause the egg to hit the ground at a lower speed. To increase the time over which the egg comes to rest, students must provide their egg with something to absorb some of the force of impact. A sponge or other cushion in their carrier will keep the egg from stopping instantly when it hits the ground; the egg will continue its motion for a few nanoseconds, decreasing the force. From this experiment, students also learn to form and test hypotheses and write up their observations in an organized way.

Watch the Egg Drop results

Our very own Dock high school science teacher, Mrs. Kellena Smith and her family competed on a recent episode of The ClassHroom: Family Edition! Their episode aired on Fox29 Wednesday, May 4, but you can catch the re-broadcast on Thursday, May 5, at 1 p.m., and again on Sunday, May 8, at 7 a.m. We can't thank the Smith family enough for jumping in and representing our Dock community. They represented us well!

Below: The Smith family—(l to r) Kellena, Eric and sophomore Anna—on the set of Fox29's ClassHroom and (above) with the show's host, Richard Curtis.