The Grades 9-12 Campus Honor Roll for the 3rd quarter of the 2018-19 school year has been posted on Dock's website. 

View the 3Q Honor Roll

Children in Dock Mennonite Academy's Early Childhood program—3- and 4-year-olds and Developmental Kindergarten—performed their spring program on Wednesday, April 10. Photos and video of the program have been posted to Dock's web site. Students in Mrs. Mast's, Mrs. Kehs', and Mrs. Nelson's classes participated.

Go to the EC Spring Program page

Congratulations to Dock senior Olivia Yates, who was selected the 2019 winner of the Souderton-Telford Rotary Club's STEM Scholarship. Olivia (center) received the $1,750 award from Rotary President Suzi Berry and Charles Amuso, chairperson of the Rotary Club's Scholarship Committee. Congratulations Olivia!

The Spring 2019 issue of Lamplighter will be on its way to you in a few days, but the content is now available online, including:

• A story about Dock's new Project-Based Learning initiative, which will impact curriculum at both campuses.
• Coverage of Arts Day 2019, with the theme, "Harmony"
• A look at some of the key happenings from both the EC-Grade 8 and Grades 9-12 campuses
• Links to spring golf tournament registration, 2019 Country Fair & Auction page, and more!

There is additional online content available on many pages, which you can link to by scrolling over the page.

Spring 2019 Lamplighter

A BIG thank you to all of our 2nd grade grandparents who came out to enjoy a special time with their grandchildren! On Grandparents Day, it's always hard to tell who is having more fun, but everyone enjoys this special bonding time together. The highlight of the morning was a preview of the 2nd grade musical, Joseph, just for grandparents!

See ALL the Grandparents Day photos

See photos and more from Joseph

SAT and ACT College Exams

Juniors are encouraged take at least one SAT or ACT exam in the Spring. When registering, remember to use Dock's CEEB code, 392149. Register by mail or online at collegeboard.com or actstudent.org for a test at the public high school nearest to you.

                    SAT Exam                                                                                                                                

Testing Date               Registration Deadline                        

May 4, 2019                 April 5, 2019                                       

June 1, 2019                 May 3, 2019                                        

                    ACT Exam    

Testing Date               Registration Deadline

June 8, 2019                 May 3, 2019    

July 13, 2019                June 14, 2019

            

Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD)

Students with the proper current documentation (within 3 years) for a learning disability, may qualify for accommodations for the SAT or ACT test. An SSD Student Eligibility Form must be submitted for each student requesting accommodations. The College Board recommends that Dock submit SSD Student Eligibility Forms at the conclusion of the student's 9th grade year. If you feel your child would qualify for SAT or ACT accommodations, please contact Mrs. Leaman for a request form or additional information.  SAT accommodations and ACT accommodations are two separate applications. After the student has been approved for accommodations, it follows him/her through high school.

 

Scholarships are out there . . . You just have to search for them!

There is still time to apply for scholarships! More information, including a list of specific scholarships and their application deadlines, is available in the Guidance Office. This Scholarship List is also available on the website.  Remember to check your local newspaper and library for scholarship opportunities. Talking to the financial director at the student's college of choice may also uncover other options. It takes work, but there is money to help support higher education.

 

Below are some helpful online resources to assist you in scholarship searches.

College Board - www.collegeboard.com 

FastWeb - www.fastweb.com 

Scholarship Page - www.scholarship-page.com/ 

Sallie Mae - www.salliemae.com/college-planning/college-scholarships/

Going Merry - www.goingmerry.com

Student Award Search Aid - www.studentawardsearch.com/scholarships.htm

Student Scholarships - www.studentscholarships.org/scholarship.php

 

Parents, remember to check Collegeboard.com or ACT.org for information to support your student. Along with college information, there is also a timeline, registration and practice tests, and other helpful tips. Guidance encourages you to take time and search this site for helpful information.

 

AP Testing

Beginning the week of May 6^th through May 17^th the Guidance Office will be administering AP tests. There will be approximately 154 tests administered to students who have registered for 21 various AP tests.     

 

Upcoming Local College Fairs
 

Souderton Area High School                                                
Thursday, April 11, 2019                                                      

625 Lower Road                                                                     

Souderton, PA  18964                                                             

Phone: 215-72-2808                                                              

6:00 pm to 7:30 pm

 

Quakertown Community High School

Thursday, April 11, 2019

600 Park Avenue

Quakertown, PA  18951

215-529-2000

 

Mennonite College 2019 Spring Open Houses

Bethel College  www.bethelks.edu

April 26, 2019 – Junior Jumpstart: Liberal Arts in Action

Bluffton College www.bluffton.edu

April 12, 2019 – Discovery Day for Juniors

Hesston College www.hesston.edu

April 6, 2019 – Sophomore and Junior Day     

 

Summer Enrichment

Looking for things to do this summer? Check out the kiosk in Rosenberger Center for ideas! Enrichment activities look impressive on the college resume. See your Guidance Counselor if you have questions.

 

Academic Recognitions

As we have done in the past, we will honor students at graduation with three categories:

Cum laude—Cumulative GPA of 3.70 – 3.84

Magna cum laude—Cumulative GPA of 3.85 - 3.99

Summa cum laude—Cumulative GPA of 4.00 and above

 

Save the Date: Senior Recital

A Senior Recital will be held in the Longacre Theater on Tuesday, May 28, beginning at 7 p.m. Seniors will showcase their gifts in music, art, and design. 

The Dock community will have two important opportunities to see school-related artwork on public display during the months of April and May at the Indian Valley Public Library.

• Back in October 2018, Dock parents Kimberly and Jonathan Stemler made a unique contribution to a community-wide art project that celebrated a century of growth and progress in the borough of Souderton. Using a 100-year-old window taken from the original offices of Univest—and provided by Univest executive and Dock parent John Duerksen—the Stemlers created a layered, topographical map of the Indian Valley area (photo, above).

A number of other artists also created windows for the project, entitled Windows of History: Souderton Past, Present and Future, and all the windows will be on display during the month of April at the Indian Valley Public Library. This is a great opportunity to see these unique works of art! 

See the original Newsroom story about Dock's Window of History

• Speaking of unique works of art, Dock's Elementary Art Show will be held at the IVPL during the month of May, featuring works by our EC to Grade 8 students (below). There will be an Art Show reception at the library on Monday, May 13, at 6:30 pm. Mark your calendars now and plan to attend the reception and support our young artists!

 

Eighty Dock students in Kindergarten through middle school experienced an after-school STEM adventure, diving into the world of computer science and coding! Younger students visited hands-on stations creating and launching "Peeps" parachutes and making hovercraft out of paper plates, feathers and other materials to test for flight in an awesome wind tunnel. A special thanks to teachers Mrs. Trish Landis and Mrs. Kathleen Taylor for bringing STEM to life, and to Microsoft for an awesome adventure in coding!

See more photos

Four Dock students competed recently in the Harleysville Rotary Club's 4-Way Speech Contest. For the contest, which is open to students in grades 9 to 12, contestants choose a topic for their speech and try to persuade others by applying the principles of the 4-Way Speech:

• Is it the truth?
• Is it fair to all concerned?
• Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
• Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

Congratulations to Dock students Ashley Mellinger, Madalyn Bergin, Aya Berry, and Mirabel Fizzano for their success in the Harleysville contest. They will now move on to compete at the district level.

What effect do war and conflict have on the human condition? Students in Mrs. Becca Nagy's Literature of War and Conflict class are having their understanding enriched with a series of guest speakers this quarter—most of which are able to speak from personal experience. Students submitted summaries of the presentations, and some of those excerpts are included below.

"I hope that students have been able to think about the decisions they would make if we were to have a draft again in the United States and what they believe is the best decision for them personally," said Mrs. Nagy. "By hearing from different perspectives from 10 different speakers, students were able to question their own beliefs and ask many important questions."

Ray Scherfel was a man who worked hard and truly believed in protecting our country. He would go undercover to see how some army installations would respond to threats. He loved his job because he could be superior over generals and other officers, depending on his assignment. He loved working in Philadelphia because he was close to his wife and kids. He now lives at Dock Woods. (by Jonathan Nash)

• Captain Gordon L. Bell (left) shared about his experience as a former captain in the U.S.Coast Guard. He entered the Coast Guard during the Korean War era and was assigned to Sea Air Rescue and Weather Reconnaissance in the North Atlantic. He received the Coast Guard Commandant's Letter of Commendation with Gold Star, as well as Rifle and Pistol medals, and a Bronze star. (by Antanas Tamulis)
•  
• Dr. Robert Hinks (below) came to our class to share about his 24-year career with the Navy. Dr. Hinks' family military history goes all the way back to the Civil War. He even passed around some Civil war memorabilia during his presentation. He told us how, as a young adult, he didn't know what he wanted to do. He found himself pursuing a medical degree, which eventually landed him in the Navy as a surgeon. Dr. Hinks served a total of 24 years in the Navy, which included the Persian Gulf War, Iraq, and Afghanistan wars. He is a true American hero, and I am thankful for the opportunity to hear his story. (by Lukah Zehr)

 

 

One of our Korean students at Dock, Seohyun Park (below, right), talked about her parents' experiences during the Korean War era. She began her speech with some basic history about Korea. Russia and Japan were fighting for control of the country, and when the Japanese empire was dismantled at the end of World War II, Korea was divided into two spheres of influence along the 38th parallel. Both of Seohyun's parents' families lived in South Korea, and at that time South Korea was poorer than North Korea. During the Korean War, many South Koreans fled to countries nearby, including North Korea or China. She talked about how her great grandmother carried her grandfather for about 75 miles. The rugged path was hard, but not as tough as the hunger they experienced. She also talked about how her great grandfather was beaten so badly that he had to limp through the rest of his life because he took care of refugees. It was great to have someone from Korea telling us the real stories behind the news. (by Wenjing Cai)

On February 14, we went to Dock Manor to meet Gwen Eagleson, a black woman who grew up in the segregated South. It was a really open discussion. She lived in Georgia, then moved to the Philippines, where she met her husband. Together they moved to California, "the weirdest place to live," she said.  

During the open discussion we talked about discrimination in the U.S. and in other parts of the world. A student from our class, Seohyun Park, said that this problem is present also here at Dock, and that American students sometimes prefer to avoid having relations with an international student. At that point, I joined the conversation saying that I didn't agree with that, especially here at Dock. Her answer was, "You know why? Because you are a white woman, a privileged woman." I was confused and a little bit shocked, honestly. This opened me up [to realize that], during the first days of school, the American students preferred to talk with me (I'm from Italy) more than with other international students.

I personally enjoyed meeting Mrs. Eagleson. She is an amazing woman. She is happy and full of life, and she managed to entertain 20 students for almost an hour and a half—and we all know that is not easy! After this presentation,, I believe that a lot of my classmates will try to make a small change in this society. (by Anna Zanetti)

Mr. Cliff Heizmann (photo, top) was a Vietnam War veteran who worked in computer diagnostics for the U.S. Military. He talked to our class about his training and some of the hardships of being moved around the United States to different bases. He did a wonderful job explaining the life of a soldier on a foreign military base. He accompanied his speech with a slide show of pictures from his time there. He talked about the brotherhood that was formed between him and his comrades and that he wouldn't trade that feeling for anything in the world. Mr. Heizmann did a great job of depicting the life of a soldier in Vietnam and made the war come to life for us. His time with our class was a valuable experience. (by Camron Good)

Mr. Edgar Stoesz share about his time as a conscientious objector during the Korean conflict. Hearing about his reasons for becoming a conscientious objector and how his faith as a Mennonite impacted his decision was important for us to hear. He gave us background information, statistics, quotes, and described alternative assignments available at that time. Students were engaged during his presentation and asked many thoughtful questions. Edgar left us with a quote: "God is directing your steps in a future you cannot predict."

Mr. Sam Lapp (right) grew up in this area and graduated from Dock in 1957. His father was a pastor. Growing up, Mr. Lapp was taught that he must be a Conscientious Objector instead of enlisting because he was a pacifist. He told us many stories about his experiences as a CO. He explained what Conscientious Objector is and what it means. To become a CO you had to sign up for the draft and take a placement test. He placed the fourth highest out of everyone in his class. Once he was approved to become a CO, it was his responsibility to find a job through the Selective Service.

Mr. Lapp chose to serve in Honduras. He was stationed in Tocoa, a small town where he lived for one year. Then he traveled around Honduras doing service—helping out in health clinics, teaching in classrooms, and helping lost kids find their families safely. Mr. Lapp said that becoming a CO was one of the best decisions he had made in his life; the opportunity led him to travel the world and learn about other cultures. (by Josh Detweiler)

Mrs. Kathleen Roberts told the story of her grandparents, who came to America and became citizens. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the U.S. declared war on  Japan and took all the Japanese-American citizens and sent them to internment camps. Her grandparents, and many other Japanese-Americans, were kept there until the war the over. I really appreciated her sharing her grandparents' story. I’ve had relatives who experienced internment camps and it’s interesting to hear stories from both sides of the world, and how the experiences stick with people. Since our generation hasn’t experienced war yet, it is important for us to know about the past so the same mistakes don’t happen in the future. (by Emanuel Lekaj)