Clubs & Activities at St. Andrew's Day School

St. Andrew's teachers and parents offer a variety of extracurricular activities to round out the experiences of the children who have extended days here at school. Some of the clubs that run throughout the year are:

Chess Club	Showstoppers	Cooking Club
Cheerleading	Stock Market Club
Outdoor Games	Journeys
Instrumental Music	Seasonal Sports

SHOWSTOPPERS CLUB

When Ms. Tiffany Shannon decided to begin teaching youth drama classes in 1999, she had a dream of providing safe, non-competitive performance opportunities for young people through live theatre. A pilot program conducted in a private school in Bowie, MD was an enormous success and led “Miss Tiffany” to begin developing programs for all ages. Today the original dream continues as Ms. Shannon holds our Showstoppers program here at St. Andrew’s. Showstoppers offers young people the opportunity to explore theatre through the study of acting, choreography, and music/voice. Although a number of Miss Tiffany's former students have gone on to be seen on stage, film and television, many of them are active in local theatre and are “stars” in their own communities. Following the belief that positive, safe exposure and experiences for youth through acting is a strong self-esteem builder, every student has the opportunity to become a “star.” Our program encourages students to go beyond their perceived limitations to find that place of play and magic that resides in all of us.

JOURNEYS CLUB

Journeys is an after school experience offered to 5th through 8th graders with the purpose of cultivating a better understanding of the interdependency that is created between animals and the garden. While involved in hands-on activities, members will discover, first-hand, how food can be produced without depleting or polluting the earth’s resources or environment. They will learn how animals and plants can be nurtured and cultivated side-by-side contributing to a successful agricultural ecosystem. Journeys offers experiences for all members by offering hands-on, dirty-fingernail chores and the opportunity to explore agriculture through literature, art, construction, photography and projects. By working to design projects to improve the garden, the pastures and the immediate ecosystem surrounding the agriculture center, members will be immersed in Journeys

Journeys has been designed to take full advantage of St. Andrew’s agriculture center which currently is home to two Nigerian Dwarf goats, Lily, white and round, and Penny, brown, black and petite. Penny and Lily are eventually destined to contribute their milk for the centuries-old art of cheese-making. With the much anticipated arrival of the chickens in the spring, student responsibilities for the animals will include feeding, watering, cleaning the coops and the goat shed, changing bedding, eventually collecting milk and gathering eggs, along with any other necessary chores. Garden responsibilities will include planting and nurturing the seedlings and plants, using and maintaining the cistern and irrigation ditches, and managing the compost. Journeys will meet on Thursdays from 4:00 – 5:00pm. Members will have the chance to join across grade levels and be responsible for chores at the agricultural center as well as designing projects to benefit the garden, pastures, goats and chickens.

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PROGRAM

St. Andrew's is excited to be able to work with Ms. Mary McClelland, band director and instrumental music teacher with the Instrumental Music Program, to provide our students with some of the best in group and private instrumental music instruction available.

At St. Andrew's we provide the best possible education that addresses more than the vocational aspects. In keeping with our mission, we provide extracurricular opportunities in music for students wishing to expand their experiences beyond our traditional music classes by foraying into the realm of instrumental music. The cultural and character-building advantages to be gained from early exposure to music and the mental and physical disciplines involved in learning to read and play music can be of immeasurable value to the students.

Through a rotating schedule, the students are able to learn their instruments during the day and experience a full-band opportunity during afternoon carpool. We welcome your interest and questions. For more information, please call: Mr. Gregory Pitta, Instrumental Music Program, at (410) 442-5804.

Information about this program is provided to all eligible students early in the year.

CHESS CLUB

Our team practices weekly and competes in nationally ranked chess tournaments that are held on Saturdays. The season ends with the Maryland State Championships. In addition, our top players may participate in the National Championships.

To participate in the practices a child only needs to know how the pieces move. Participation in tournaments is based upon the maturity of the child, their ability to focus for an extended period of time, and the interest of the child.

In practice and in most tournaments, chess is divided by grade: K-3rd grade, 4th-5th grade and 6th-8th grade. Occasionally, a child will be moved up a grade level for a practice to give them stronger competition.