Congratulations to Anna Katherine Ray, Carter Elliot, and Miles Johnson, who have been named STAR students for the 2019-2020 school year by the Mississippi Economic Council M.B. Swayze Foundation, sponsor of the Student Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR) program. This is a prestigious recognition, and a reflection of the focus and passion that each of the selected students has demonstrated in their academic pursuits.

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The University of Mississippi Medical Center Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine Dr. Alan Jones will be on the Raider Network answering questions about coronavirus (COVID-19) Wednesday, April 1 at 6:00 p.m. This interactive session with Dr. Jones will allow our JA community to get a medical professional’s perspective on coronavirus as well as ask Dr. Jones questions. Families can submit questions ahead of time by filling out this form. Questions will also be taken live on Facebook Live. Watch this event on Facebook Live on Jackson Academy’s Facebook page, or at RaiderNetwork.org.

Dr. Jones is leading UMMC's clinical response efforts for the COVID-19 pandemic and also serves as UMMC’s Chief Operations Physician. He is a JA parent and JA alumnus.

Spring break was one hour away as third graders made their way into the activities building to watch three teams compete in the final round of the third grade coding competition. Lower School STEM Teacher Cliff Powers welcomed family members who joined the audience of students and described the rules of the competition before announcing the beginning of the race for first place.

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This Week on Raider Network Replay

Check out what we're airing this week on RaiderNetwork.org . If you have any suggestions on what we should air next, email [email protected] . We will do our best to include it in future programming.

Online Bible Study Available for JA Girls

JA parent Amy Bates regularly offers a Bible study on Fridays for girls in ninth through twelfth grades. This Friday at noon, she will start the Bible study online! For more information or join in, text 601-927-9983. She will add you to the GroupMe message. Zoom will be used, and students will be communicated with by grade using GroupMe.

Read more from Amy Bates in a devotional she wrote especially for Tuesday Raider readers!

Cast and Resist by Amy Bates

Don't you just love it when the words of scripture seem to jump off the page at you and suddenly you see them in an entirely different light? That's just what 1 Peter 5:7-9 recently did for me. "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings." The Word of God is alive! How true is this passage for the difficult time we are living in! Most of us have experienced some level of fear and anxiety over being in the midst of a global pandemic—and understandably so. But our God is asking us, through this verse, to give it to Him. We can day by day, hour by hour, and even minute to minute if need be, cast it ALL on Him.

During these times of heightened anxiety, I literally visualize throwing darts up to Jesus one by one and naming aloud the fear, problem or concern each of them represents. And as each of them hits His immense dart board, I imagine him saying, "I've got it. I've got that one, too, my child. Keep them coming because I've got them all." The ultimate benefit to continually bringing our cares to Jesus and casting them onto Him is that it draws us in and keeps us close to His heart.

The passage also contains a warning. We have an enemy whose pursuit is relentless. But we are commanded to resist him and to stand firm in Christ. We are not alone, and God will never ask us to do something He won't empower us to do. The placement of those verses one after the other is no accident or coincidence. Our Father knew that even if we threw our cares to Him, the enemy would be waiting and would waste no time in trying to convince us to take them back. Psalm 55:23 also instructs us to give our burdens over to the Lord. " Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall."

Scripture makes it clear that our part is to CAST and RESIST. The rest is God's part. He can teach us so much during this season about who He is as our Sustainer if we will only let Him. Sometimes, He wants us to know him as Sustainer before we can know him as Healer. I pray when this time of uncertainty and fear is behind us and our lives go back to "normal" that we can each say we know God a little deeper than we did before. That is after all, His heart for us.

Message from the Counseling Office

Lessons We Are Learning at a Distance

My favorite time of the day is when I get to walk around campus and listen to the interaction between our teachers and students. The bond that exists at Jackson Academy is truly a blessing to observe, and I miss it so badly. While our teachers continue to show their dedication and our students are working hard during this period of distance learning, let’s face it…it’s not the same.

Unfortunately one of the keys to life is learning how to manage the disruptions. This isn’t the first time we’ve faced interruptions, and it won’t be the last. Yes, our students are still learning math, science, English, and history virtually, but they are learning so much more on how we are handling the disruption and disappointment in our school and at our home. While we can’t always control the circumstances that create the disruption, we can control our attitude and actions.

James chapter 1 says: “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, and it will be given to you.” Often some of us look to this verse when we need to make a major decision, but we need to remember the context of this letter. James was writing to Christians who had been scattered due to persecution. James was encouraging his audience to ask for wisdom so that something good could come of the circumstance they were in.

As I pray from my students by name each day, my prayer is that something good will come out of this disruption that is so much more than learning how to take a virtual class. Maybe they will learn to keep going when they feel like quitting; give thanks when they feel like complaining; pray when they feel like worrying; think of others more than themselves; and choose to encourage others daily.

Paula Pratt

Director of Counseling

The new issue of True Blue is available online! JA's True Blue magazine is now being published two times a year. The current winter issue highlights alumni and friends of the school, giving, and our community . The summer issue will focus on students, faculty, and happenings on campus.

Please check out the new publication here .