The journey continues for the TKA Boys Varsity Soccer
Team. The boys came out Friday night and faced a talented
Clewiston squad for the 3A Regional Semi Finals. Clewiston
scored first just before the first water break. King’s fought back,
but the score remained 1-0 at the half. When the second half
started it was all Kings. With under 20 minutes left in the game
Bobby Pappas ripped a direct free kick from about thirty yards out
hitting the crossbar. John Mattessich cleaned up to tie the match
at 1-1. Kings had two great opportunities to finish off the Tigers
in regulation, but could not put the ball in the net. The game then
went into a golden goal overtime that tested both teams and
ended without a result. Finally, Bobby Pappas, Lucas DaSilva,
Paul Schumacher, Luke Mayer, and Austin Masi all hit high
pressured pks, while goalkeeper, Nick Bates, made a key save to
secure the Lion’s victory.

Kings now advances to the Regional Final which will be
played this Tuesday evening at 7:00 p.m. versus Berkley Prep at
our very own Kahlert Stadium. Come on out and support the
boys as they attempt to secure their first trip to the state final four
in school history.

Richie Leber calls this year’s King’s Academy girls’ varsity basketball team one of his “most gratifying.”

Leber, in his seventh season as head coach, said junior guard Cat Urso typifies the toughness of the Lions.

Urso received 15 stitches under her eye after a collision while diving for a loose ball during a win against Berean Christian on Jan. 17. She played three days later—still bruised and swollen—to help the Lions defeat Benjamin.

“Cat is the engine that drives everything,” Leber said of Urso, the team’s top scorer and assists leader. “She gutted it out. That’s our team. We don’t have a player who scores 25 points a game. We have four players who can score double figures. We have to play ugly, play defense, rebound and be physical.”

Leber was hopeful that style would remain successful heading into the district playoffs, which began yesterday.

After a dismal 2-8 start that coincided with three starters—Kathleen Wiggs, Victoria Crocetti and Morgan Jacobson—out with injuries, the Lions have won 10 of their last 14 games. They punctuated that comeback with a 64-32 win over Wellington Christian on Senior Night last Thursday.

Even though the three players returned by the third week of the season, it took some time for the King Academy ballers to regroup.

“There was a lack of chemistry [in the beginning] and re-integrating injured players is a challenge,” said Leber. “By Game 11, we were [meshing] a little better. From then on, we went 5-0 in district play and moved from a No. 6 seed to a No. 3 seed and averaged about 50 points a game.”

Leber noticed the growth of the team’s cohesiveness not only as the regular season progressed but also as the team prepared for districts.

“I don’t take anything for granted. It’s getting the maximum of what you have, what you do with what you have,” Leber said. “The chemistry is better. The girls are working hard. The girls bought into it. Early in the season there were doubts. Now, we’re sort of hitting our stride.”

One of the Lions’ goals is to win the district championship, but it doesn’t end there.

“They’re not going to be satisfied if we don’t win,” Leber said. “Our season starts in June when they’re in the weight room at 7 a.m. We have been going to a team camp in North Carolina and Georgia and we do a lot of life-long memories. They’ll remember feeding the homeless at a church in Blairsville, Ga. and a whitewater rafting trip when a tornado came through.”

King’s Academy won its third consecutive state cheerleading championship, taking the title this week at Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee.

King’s Academy scored 85.6 points, ahead of state runner-up Trinity Catholic (73.4) in the Class 1A Large Non-Tumbling Division Thursday. Pahokee had reached the semifinals.

Seminole Ridge placed third in the finals of the Class 2A Large Non-Tumbling Division Thursday. Seminole Ridge had 74.25, behind runner-up Pompano Beach-Ely (79.175) and champion West Broward (90.825). Treasure Coast and John I. Leonard reached the semifinals.

In the Class 2A Small Non-Tumbling Division, Boca Raton reached the semifinals. The state champion was Coral Gables.

In the Class 2A Small Varsity Division finals Friday, Olympic Heights placed fifth while Palm Beach Gardens placed seventh. Orlando-Dr. Phillips won the championship.

Jupiter finished second in 2A Medium. Suncoast reached the semifinals in the Class 1A Medium Varsity Division.

Benjamin, John Carroll and Glades Central reached the semifinals in the Class 1A Small Non-Tumbling Division. West Nassau won the title.

On Saturday, Wellington placed third in Class 2A Small co-ed.

For more than forty years, The King’s Academy, a Pre-K through 12^th grade college preparatory school located in Palm Beach County, Florida, has partnered with the community, families, and church in creating a strong academic and spiritual foundation for its students. Starting with the first class of only 196 students, The King’s Academy has graduated more than 2,000 alumni. Currently, TKA’s faculty of dedicated professionals provides both spiritual leadership and academic instruction to nearly 1,300 students each day.

The King’s Academy provides a friendly, well-rounded academic experience including 20 Advanced Placement and dual enrollment courses, an award-winning fine arts program led by instructors with Broadway experience, a championship sports program, and innovative, state-of-the-art technology in every classroom, making TKA, an environment of amazing opportunities for every student. As Penny Holm, Director of Admissions, explained, “The King’s Academy has the best of both worlds; we are large enough to have diversity, yet small enough to establish life-long relationships.” With roughly 100 students per grade in high school, The King’s Academy maintains the personal attention to attain academic excellence and Christian values that impact students for life.

Understanding that the learning process and fluidity of communications can be enhanced by technology, The King’s Academy utilizes the most current technology available.  Every classroom is a smart classroom, equipped with smart board computer, laptop, tablet, or other device to deliver a lesson. Robert Danley, Director of IT described how technology plays a large role in classroom education at The King’s Academy; “We look to technology to enable our teachers to instruct kids in an engaging way. Our teachers build great teaching notebooks where they can embed images and videos to present each lesson in a smooth and engaging manner.”

Additionally, The King’s Academy parents and students can access daily announcements, course syllabi, classroom resources, grades, accounting details, and even athletic and fine arts events by accessing the school’s portal. Enabling constant communication between all channels in the education process has been very effective.

When asked about JDL’s role in advancing The King’s Academy’s technology, Danley added, “We are expanding to other campuses; and we knew we needed to head towards virtualization. JDL’s team of engineers assisted in successfully advising and deploying Citrix virtualization. Since the implementation, we have not experienced any issues, glitches, or bugs.”  Danley commented that, “JDL left me with the sense of, ‘that’s my go to’ for future technology projects. I look forward to working with the fantastic engineers of JDL.”

The King’s Academy is proud to announce the signing of three of its student athletes to play college sports at the collegiate level.  Wednesday, February 1st marks the first day of 2012 that high school athletes are able to sign a binding letter of intent to attend a college or university.

TKA girls’ soccer player Danielle Hurme signed a national letter of intent to play at Stetson University in Deland, Florida.  Danielle helped lead the girls’ soccer team to its 6th straight district title and to the regional finals in the 2011-12 season.  Danielle follows in the footsteps of many other TKA girls’ soccer players who have played at Stetson.

TKA football player Brian Grove signed a national letter of intent to play at Dartmouth College, a member of the prestigious Ivy League, in Hanover, New Hampshire.  Grove finished the 2011 football season as the third leading rusher in Palm Beach County.
TKA softball player Aubree Murphy signed a national letter of intent to attend Daytona State University in Daytona Beach, Florida.  Aubree has been one of the top pitchers in Palm Beach County for three years running, garnering numerous awards and all-area nominations.  Aubree will attempt to lead TKA’s girls’ softball team to a district title this year as they begin their season this Saturday.

TKA is proud of these students who have proven themselves on and off the field. The coaches who spoke about each student were in agreement that Danielle, Brian and Aubree all exemplify what it means to be a TKA student athlete because they are not only exceptional athletes, but also driven students, strong citizens, faithful Christians, and wonderful role models.

The King’s Academy is a nationally recognized private Christian school serving approximately 1,200 students from preschool through twelfth grade and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the Association of Christian Schools International, and the Florida Association of Christian Colleges and Schools. The King’s Academy serves students and their families across Palm Beach and Hendry Counties at its main campus at Belvedere Road and Sansbury’s Way in West Palm Beach, its Clewiston campus on Caribbean Avenue, and its satellite preschool campuses in Greenacres, Palm Beach Gardens, and Royal Palm Beach. More information about The King’s Academy is available online at http://www.TKA.net.