Horse Creek Academy

🎬✨ Lights, Camera, VICTORY! ✨🎬 Horse Creek Media is once again making headlines—this time with a season full of awards, accolades, and even an Emmy nomination for HCA Today! 🏆📺 Our incredible team of student journalists has received Exemplary Ratings from both the Southern Interscholastic Press Association (SIPA) and the South Carolina Scholastic Press Association (SCSPA)—and that’s just the beginning! This year’s honors include: 🥇 BEST IN STATE BROADCAST – the highest honor in SC for student media! 🏅 Nominated for an Emmy – yes, you read that right! 🥈 Human Interest – Eryn Fox, Evan Fulmer, Abigail Turner 🥈 PSA – Eryn Fox, Kaylee Hooker 🥈 Sports Story – Evan Fulmer, Wyatt Berube 🥈 Videography – Wyatt Berube 🥈 Best Anchor – Eryn Fox 🥈 Feature Story – Eryn Fox, Evan Fulmer 🥈 Man on the Street – Abigail Turner, Wyatt Berube 🥈 News Story – Eryn Fox, Wyatt Berube, Abigail Turner 🥈 Short Film – Ava Alvanos These awards reflect the drive, talent, and heart our student journalists bring to every story they tell. Their voices matter—and they’re being heard loud and clear across the state and beyond. 🎤📰🎥 👏 Special thanks to our incredible staff advisors who guide and inspire this award-winning team every day. And to our loyal viewers and supporters, thank you for believing in the power of student media. 💛🖤 We are HCA. We are storytellers. We are the Village.

🎉 Village Volunteer Raffle – 3rd Quarter Winners! 🎉 No joke—this announcement is 100% real, even if it is April 1st! 😉 We’re thrilled to celebrate the amazing families who logged volunteer hours and donations during Quarter 3. Your service helps make Horse Creek Academy the vibrant, connected Village we’re proud to call home. 💛 👏 Let’s give a big round of applause to our 3rd Quarter Village Volunteer Raffle Winners: 🥇 1st Prize ($100 Village Shoppe Gift Card): Dale Fisher 🥈 2nd Prize ($75 Village Shoppe Gift Card): Rebecca Shaw 🥉 3rd Prize ($50 Village Shoppe Gift Card): Amanda Setters 🛍️ Winners can pick up their gift cards in the Middle/High Front Office between 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM. 💡 Don’t forget: the final raffle of the year is coming in just a few months! Keep logging your volunteer hours and donations—your impact matters, and every entry counts. 👋Ready to add your hours/donations now? Head to https://forms.office.com/r/a1jrPR3uz6

👋 It's weekly update time! Check it all out at https://5il.co/3c2xd 👀 (Spoiler Alert: End of Year Programs/Events are posted in it!)

🚨 Weather Alert: All After-School Events Cancelled 🚨 ⛈️ Due to projected severe weather in our area, as reported by the National Weather Service out of Columbia, SC, ALL after-school events and activities are cancelled today for the safety of our students and staff. This includes: ❌ After Care ❌ Athletic practices & games ❌ Clubs ❌ Play practice ❌ All other after-school activities 👉 All students must be picked up in the regular car line at their normal dismissal times. Thank you for your understanding as we work to keep our HCA Village safe. Stay weather aware and take care! 💛 Read full release at https://5il.co/3c145

🎨 A huge thank you to Art Nook Aiken for joining us on campus this past Friday, March 28th! ✨ They spent time with Mrs. Winn’s kindergarten class, helping our young learners bring their fairy tales unit to life through creativity and color. Each student created their very own masterpiece — and the joy on their faces said it all! 🖌️ We’re so grateful for community partners like Art Nook Aiken who help us inspire imagination and celebrate the arts at HCA. 💙 #WeAreTheVillage #HCACreates

🎉 HCA DECA is on a roll 🎉 🤩 Our DECA chapter has been named one of only TWO schools in South Carolina to receive the 2025 DECA Advocacy Campaign Award! This honor celebrates our students’ incredible efforts to promote DECA and Career & Technical Education within our school and community. ✈️ And there's more—several of our DECA members are headed to Orlando, FL next month to compete at the International Career Development Conference (ICDC) with 23,000+ students from around the world! 🌍💼 💙 We can't wait to see what they accomplish on the international stage! Let's give a big HCA shout out to our DECA sponsor, Mrs. Lisa Skinner, and all of our DECA members: -Sofia Akut -Wyatt Berube -Brian Broadnax -Lejhorne Brown -Wyatt Burns -Lily Cameron -Bryce Campbell -Landon Decker -Raynie Doolittle -Evan Fulmer -Zachary Groseclose -Isabella Hardee -Dominic James -Zachary James -Aiden Jenkins -Adriyanna Mack -Luisiana Martinez -Carrie McDougal -Aaron Meza -Aiyana Meza -Eli Morrison -Lucas Seigler -Lincoln Shackleton -Tristen Strother -Gunnar Tibbs -Barrett Tripp -Adalyn Wilson -Avery Wren -Brooklyn Youngblood Way to go, scholars! 💙

🎉 More big news from the HCA Village! 🎉 👏 Congratulations to Lauren Rose, a 5th grader in Mrs. Bryant's class, whose book Don’t Touch the Outlet, Megan! was named the local winner of Aiken Electric Cooperative’s 2025 Children’s Book Challenge! 🌟📚 🌴 Lauren’s story will now compete at the state level through EnlightenSC’s statewide writing contest, and we couldn’t be prouder of her creativity and voice. 💚 A special thank you to Jamacia McCray, Marketing & Communications Coordinator at Aiken Electric, who surprised Lauren’s class with the exciting news and celebrated alongside Mrs. Bryant, Mrs. Rose, Dr. Taylor, Mrs. Goodwin, and our 4th/5th grade GT students! 💡 Lauren success is a shining example of how student voices can spark learning—and light the way for others.

📚🐭 Did your child participate in the Read-a-thon? Don’t forget — today is the LAST DAY to spend those hard-earned Rat Bucks in the Read-a-thon Store! 🎉 🛍️ Head to your reader’s dashboard to shop before it closes, and be sure to check your email for reminders from Read-a-thon (they've sent a lot!) Let’s celebrate our readers and their efforts — happy shopping! 🧡📖

👑🏇🏻 We’re still glowing from the incredible success of this weekend’s Miss Horse Creek Pageant! ✨ To our incredible contestants: thank you for showing up with such grace, courage, and joy. You lit up the stage and gave us all a reason to cheer! 💐And to our families and audience—you brought the energy, the love, and the support. Thank you for helping make the night so memorable for our participants. 💙 This event reminded us—yet again—that it takes a Village, and we’re so proud of ours! 🎉 Congratulations to our 2025 Titleholders: -Tiny Miss Horse Creek – Coraline Busbee -Petite Miss Horse Creek – Rowan Dabbs -Little Miss Horse Creek – Anniston Johnson -Elementary Miss Horse Creek – Harper Price -Miss 6th Grade Horse Creek – Paisley Grice -Miss 7th Grade Horse Creek – Maeline Lambert -Miss 8th Grade Horse Creek – Kadence Brock -Junior Miss Horse Creek – Lucy Taylor -Miss Freshman Horse Creek – Madison Morris -Miss Sophomore Horse Creek – Lily Cameron -Miss Junior Horse Creek – Kaylee Fulghum -Miss Senior Horse Creek – Addison Fail -Miss Horse Creek – Brooklyn Youngblood ⭐️ We also want to give a big shoutout to our volunteers, sponsors, judges, auditors, and coordinators: your dedication was on full display. From decorating and organizing to keeping things smooth behind the scenes, you made magic happen. 👑 We’re already looking forward to next year. Thank you again for helping make this event one to remember! 💐 #WeAreTheVillage #MissHorseCreek2025

Happy Monday HCA Village! Check out our weekly update https://5il.co/3bbr2. Have a great week!

👋 IMMEDIATE OPENING: After Care Worker at HCA! 💙 Horse Creek Academy is hiring immediately for a part-time After Care Worker to support our students after school hours. 📩 Apply today and help make a difference in our Village! Interested? Email Sharon Bircmore at sbirchmore@hcacs.net

💙 Thank you to Nothing Bundt Cakes for sweetening up our Friday afternoon! 🧁The delicious Bundt cakes are the perfect treat to wrap up our teacher workday and head into the weekend with a smile. 💛 We’re so grateful for your sponsorship and support—it means so much to our hardworking team! #WeAreTheVillage #ThankfulForOurPartners #NothingBundtGrateful

❗️Horse Creek Academy readers need to make sure to spend their RAT Bucks by Wednesday, March 26th, 2025. Any RAT Bucks not spent by Wednesday, March 26th, 2025 will no longer be available. The prize store cannot be reopened once it is closed. All prizes will be shipped to the school. Thanks HCA Village! 📲 https://www.read-a-thon.com/readers/login/

For the first time ever, our HCA Elementary School (4K-5th grade) will be participating in a Boosterthon Fun Run later this spring! 🏃‍♂️💨 🎉 👏 We’ll be sharing all the details—including fundraiser goals, awesome prizes, and special events—after Spring Break, but mark your calendars because the big Fun Run event is happening on May 1st on our soccer field! 👕 Get Your HCA Fun Run Shirt! 👕 To celebrate, we’re offering a special pre-order for blue tie-dye Fun Run shirts! These can also be worn as spirit shirts on Fridays! 💲 Cost: $20 🛒 Order Here: https://tinyurl.com/hcafunrun25 📅 Deadline to Order: Sunday, March 30th 📦 Delivery: After Spring Break 👉 Note: The actual shirt will say “2025” (we originally were going to have this event in October, but had to switch it to May due to Hurricane Helene) 💙 Even if your student is in an older grade or you're an adult, you're welcome to grab a shirt and show your support! Let’s make this first Elementary Fun Run one to remember! 🏅🎽 #HCAFunRun #WeAreTheVillage #Boosterthon

🏆🐝 Our very own Kolin Schuler was featured on the news in Charlotte today, celebrating his incredible victory and sharing his excitement about heading to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. this May! Check out this feature and join us in cheering him on as he prepares for this amazing opportunity! 📺👏 https://www.wcnc.com/article/entertainment/television/charlotte-today/scripps-national-spelling-bee-in-washington-dc-may-27th-to-29th/275-778a7d22-25cd-4987-b5b0-0551b48946e8

🍀 Top o' the evening, HCA Village! 🍀 We feel extra lucky to have such an amazing village! Stay in the know with all the latest updates—check out our Weekly Update at https://5il.co/3apq7

🍀 This St. Patrick’s Day, we’re feeling extra lucky to have such an amazing Village of students, families, and staff. Together, we make HCA a place full of kindness, connection, and opportunity. 🌈 Here’s to spreading good vibes and a little bit of Irish luck today!

📚🎉 Readathon Winners Announced! 🎉📚 A huge congratulations to our Readathon champions! 🏆 👏 You all did an amazing job raising funds and logging minutes, and we are so proud of your dedication! 🎉 🏅 Elementary Most Raised: Mrs. S. Kelly - $3,535 📖 Elementary Most Minutes: Mrs. Reed - 14,555 minutes 🏅 MS/HS Most Raised: 6th Grade - $410 📖 MS/HS Most Minutes: 8th Grade - 21,263 minutes ⭐ Student Most Raised: Ethan Smith (5K) - $3,070 (woah!) ⭐ Student Most Minutes: Banx Cincotta (2nd Grade) - 6,577 minutes (wow!) 🎁 Prizes coming for these students/classes soon! And remember, all HCA readers need to make sure to spend their RAT Bucks by Wednesday, March 26th, 2025 through your Readathon Dashboard. ❗️Any RAT Bucks not spent by Wednesday, March 26th, 2025 will no longer be available. The prize store cannot be reopened once it is closed. All prizes will be shipped to the school. 📢 It's not too late to support the cause! Even though the competition is over, families can still make donations through March 26th to help us reach our goal of renovating the back playground! 🛝💙 Thanks HCA Village!

🕸️ They're Creepy and They're Kooky... And They're Coming to HCA! 🫳🎶 The HCA Theatre Department is thrilled to present “The Addams Family”—a spooktacular performance you won’t want to miss! 🗓 One Night Only! April 4th ⏰ Doors Open: 6:00 PM | Show Starts: 6:30 PM 🎟 Tickets must be purchased in advance! Sales close on April 3rd at noon, and no tickets will be sold at the door. Get your tickets now before they vanish! 👇 🔗 https://tinyurl.com/AddamsFamilyHCA

✨🎟️ PROM 2025: NIGHT ON THE RED CARPET 🎟️✨ Get ready to walk the red carpet at Horse Creek Academy’s Junior/Senior Prom! 🌟 Join us for a glamorous evening filled with music, dancing, and unforgettable memories. 📅 Date: Saturday, April 26, 2025 📍 Location: Houndslake Country Club (901 Houndslake Dr, Aiken, SC) ⏰ Time: 7:00 PM - 11:00 PM 🎟️ Tickets Available Now! 🎫 Single Ticket: $40 🎫 Couple’s Ticket: $75 🔗 Purchase your tickets here: tinyurl.com/hcaprom25 (Tickets will be available at the Prom Table for pickup at least one day a week during high school lunches) ⭐️ Bringing a date from another high school? Fill out the form at this link: https://5il.co/36z67 then turn it in at the Prom table next week during lunch. Don’t miss your chance to celebrate in style! Dress to impress, hit the dance floor, and make this a night to remember! 💃🕺