Nine polished medallions with their stiff blue and white Ozark Adventist Academy lanyards hung proudly from the chalkboard. Each circular orb with Abraham Lincoln’s outline etched into its face hid a five, ten, or twenty-dollar bill behind its back. Each shimmering medal would be a prize for one of the participants in Storie Giddings’ geography bee during the We Are One event on Ozark’s campus on February 27 – March 3, 2024.
The medallions were made of wood, but once they were painted, they resembled bronze, silver, and gold Olympic-sized medals. Enoch, a ninth-grade student at Ozark, designed and made them. In the Makerspace, a glassed-in room in the library, he used the Glowforge to design, cut, and etch each circle. Enoch said Mrs. Giddings did the painting part.
On Friday, March 1st, Mrs. Giddings awarded a first, second, and third place medal to the winners in the 5th -6th grade group. Three more medals were given to the top three students in the 7th grade, and the final three prizes were awarded to students in grades 8th -10th. But this was not the only contest during the We Are One event. Down in the basement of the Administration Building, Robert Fetters, Ozark’s principal, was leading a trebuchet building competition. One after another, pennies whizzed through the air as they headed toward their intended target, Mr. Fetters’ outstretched measuring tape. In the art classroom, Mrs. Esquer, Ozark’s art teacher, guided the students through multiple art projects, including designing a logo for next year’s We Are One event. The lucky winner not only received $100, but his design will find its way onto next year’s t-shirt.
The We Are One event is new, but its roots came from a combination of the Arkansas-Louisiana Conference’s Outdoor School and Ozark Adventist Academy’s Music Festival. In the past, elementary schools in the conference wanting to participate in both events often had to choose between the two. So this year, the Arkansas-Louisiana Conference, along with Ozark’s administration, put them together and made We Are One. The We Are One name, however, is not about the combining of the two events. It's about building friendships and bonds between students. So whether they go to school in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Bentonville or Gentry, students will know they are one in Adventist education, and they are one in Christ.
The program is designed for students in grades five through ten in Adventist schools around the conference. Mr. Fetters said this year, around one hundred students attended, some from as far away as Greater New Orleans Christian Academy. Mr. Fetters also said that only three Adventist schools in the conference were not on Ozark’s campus that week. Ozark Adventist Academy didn’t charge any fees for students or schools to attend. The Arkansas-Louisiana Conference subsidized the event and helped with the cost of food and supplies, enabling more students and schools to participate.
The program ran from Tuesday to Sunday. Each day was packed. During the week, there were geography and art lessons, Mr. Fetters’ trebuchets, multiple choir practices, worship talks by Ozark students, meals in the cafeteria, and a lot of fun just hanging out with friends on campus and in the dormitories. Each night, Coach Gil, Ozark’s athletic director, had a different activity in the gym. Tuesday was dodgeball. Wednesday was a modified Junk Scramble, and Thursday was Nerf guns. On Wednesday afternoon, there was even a trip to Bentonville to watch a Lego robotics competition.
During the Sabbath hours, there were seminars with Ozark students teaching Christian drama, Bible journaling, and how to use a Bible concordance. There was a vespers program, Prayer Glow, Sabbath school, church, and sunset meditation. But the highlight of that Sabbath had to be the afternoon concert. Under guest clinician Marc Elysee, Director of Orchestral Studies at Andrews University, all the We Are One participants joined with Ozark’s choir and orchestra to make one amazing concert!
The Arkansas-Louisiana Conference and OAA’s administration are planning for We Are One to be an annual event on Ozark’s campus. Just like OAA’s Music Festival in years past, there will be choir practices and a concert each year. But to keep the event new and fresh for students, Mr. Fetters said the other activities will be different. In 2025, the program will be centered around lost treasure, complete with a trip to a Spanish treasure cave.