Friday, August 27, three buses filled with 130 excited seventh and eighth graders left The King’s Academy‘s West Palm Beach campus headed for TKA’s Junior High Bash at Boomers-Ft. Lauderdale.  While most of the students were focused on the fun ahead, the School had an additional goal for the trip.  Michelle Kolar, Director of Student Life, explained, “This year, we are looking for ways to introduce students from our West Palm Beach campus to those at our new Clewiston campus.  We really want them to have opportunities to become friends and to realize that King’s is one school with two locations.”

Today The King’s Academy announces the release of “TKA 2 Go,” a new iPhone app available in the Apple iTunes store. This app has been created to provide TKA families and friends with on-demand updates on the latest TKA information.

The TKA 2 Go app is another step toward proving The King’s Academy’s commitment to being on the cutting edge of technology.  Randy Martin, CFO at The King’s Academy, explained, “We believe that the best schools are built on great communication, so we are excited that TKA 2 GO allows TKA parents, students, alumni, and friends to interact with their School anywhere and at any time.”

TKA 2 GO is a free download and offers numerous user-friendly features including:

• TKA News provides up-to-date articles about what’s happening at The King’s Academy.
• My TKA is powered by Renweb and provides parents and students with secure, personalized lesson plans, homework assignments, and grades as well as school calendars, announcements, and account information.
• Help TKA facilitates two-way communication as TKA families and friends can provide useful feedback about their School experiences.
• Find TKA provides maps and real-time driving directions to all six of TKA’s school and preschool campuses.
• TKA TV houses downloadable video clips about The King’s Academy and TKA Preschool.

Links to The King’s Academy’s websites (www.TKA.net, www.TKAClewiston.net, and www.TKALions.net, www.TKAOnline.net), School and alumni Facebook pages, and multiple Twitter feeds are also available using the TKA Links feature of TKA 2 GO.

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.

On August 28th, approximately 240 runners participated in The King’s Academy’s second annual 5K Off-Road Lion Run, an increase from the 200 participants for the race’s inaugural running.  This growth pleased TKA race director Tracy Bussey.  “We were so excited to see the additional registrations this year and pleased to hear that participants rated the course as interesting and challenging for both novice and experienced runners,” she said.

Awards were given to Morgan Hull of Wellington (19:06.8) and Nicholas Palermo of Coconut Creek (17:09.0) as overall female and male winners, respectively.  Deanna Drolet of West Palm Beach (23:20.9) and Keneth Bonenberger of West Palm Beach (18:53.4) were the race’s overall masters winners.  TKA students also performed well in the race with senior Michael Miller and junior Scott Simpson finishing second and third in the male open division.  King’s juniors Chip Corley and Andrew Albert also finished fifth and eighth overall.

Prior to the 5K, race organizers held a kid’s fun run.  This race was won by King’s fourth grader Christopher Pappas (1:59.1) with Andres Castillo-Lares and TKA’s Kyle Martin finishing second and third.  Maria Ramirez (2:18.7) was the girls’ fun run winner.

The Lion Run was held on TKA’s multi-surface, off-road, USATF certified course located on the grounds the School’s 60-acre West Palm Beach campus.  One of the participants described the race as, “. . . really well organized and fun. It was a wonderful family race.  I was concerned about running ‘off-road’, but the event organizers did an excellent job of marking obstacles and clearing a very clean path.  I will definitely run it again next year.”  Supported by title sponsor, Braman Honda of Palm Beach, proceeds from the Run benefited The King’s Academy’s Annual Fund.

The King’s Academy is pleased to announce that it will host its fall 2010 Christian College Fair
at its West Palm Beach campus on September 14, 2010, from 8:30 am to 10:30 am. The event
is open to the public. Approximately 40 Christian universities and colleges from around the
country are scheduled to attend including: Cedarville University, Gardner-Webb University,
Liberty University, Palm Beach Atlantic University, Regent University, Southeastern University,
Taylor University, and Warner University. College representatives will be available to provide
information about their respective institutions and to answer questions about applying for
financial assistance.

For more than 40 years, The King’s Academy has prepared student leaders to succeed in higher
education. Led by Mrs. Heather Najmabadi, King’s College Counseling Department assists
TKA parents and students in making application to institutions of higher learning and securing
financial aid. The King’s Academy’s Class of 2010 boasted a 99 percent acceptance rate into
some of America’s finest institutions of higher learning including Auburn University, Clemson
University, Duke University, Florida State University, New York University, Ohio State
University, Oklahoma State University, Tulane University, University of Alabama, University
of Florida, University of Georgia, University of Miami, University of Michigan, University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of South Carolina, University of Virginia,
Pennsylvania State University, Purdue University, Rice University, Vanderbilt University, and
Wake Forest University. The class also received more than $8.2 million in scholarships and had
an impressive average scholarship award of $68,000 per graduate.

The 2010 High School Volleyball season is here and The King’s Academy Lady Lions have been working hard all summer to step up their game. It started in June with open gyms on Tuesdays and Thursdays every week. In July they added to that by heading up to University of Tampa for a summer camp. This was a great experience to bond as a team and to improve their game. From the midnight alarms to coming back from down by nine in the championship game, the girls had an awesome time.

Losing two power hitting seniors will be tough for this team, but Coach Haine says they are ready for the challenge.  Their district is a very tough one but with seven varsity players returning from last year they know what to expect.  “Our defense will be tough against any strong hitters that we face in the district”, says Emily Cardinal about the teams strengths. The team is led by: Emily Cardinal (the new middle blocker), Mikah Adams (the libero), Annie Blackwood (right-side hitter), Sam Evans (setter) Jessica Perry (outside hitter), Briana Whalin (middle blocker), and Kathleen Wiggs (outside hitter). The coaching staff that will lead the team includes Rebecca Haine (head coach), April Hughes (assistant), and Leigh Ann Powers (assistant). Robin Seitz says about the team chemistry, “This team is fun to be around and even more fun to play with.”

So come out and support our Lady Lions in their season home opener at the Nelson Loveland Sports and Fine Arts Center on Tuesday August 31st at they face off against Pine Crest. They will be ready to fight and win, but they need you, their fans, to come out and cheer them on.