The past couple months have been an eventful time for Virginia Christian schools as they worked hard to prepare for the regional and state Old Dominion Association of Church Schools (ODACS) and the national American Association of Christian Schools (AACS) competitions of 2013. Twenty-eight students from Fairfax Baptist Temple Academy were able to participate in these competitions all the way to the national level.

The National AACS competition was held at Bob Jones University in South Carolina. Four FBTA students placed first and two placed third in the nation. First place awards went to Hannah Zakaria, junior, for watercolor painting; Jenneth Dyck, sophomore, for polychromatic drawing; Camille Gullotta, senior, for physical science fair project; and Dan Austin, sophomore, for expository preaching. The third place awards went to Annie Castilla, freshman, for oil painting, and the choral group class AA, which is made up of 22 students.

“It was amazing to have the support of my entire school, and for that matter, the state of Virginia. I would have to say that the hundreds of hours of work paid off in the end,” said Zakaria.

The regional ODACS competitions began on Feb. 28 for the Level I elementary schools and continued on March 14 with the Level II and III Jr./Sr. High regional competitions, which were hosted at FBTA. March 22 was the mark of the state competition in Richmond.

The Fine Art categories consisted of Academic Testing, Music, Speech, Art and Bible. Specific competitions under these five categories were English, Spanish and history testing, small vocal ensemble, orchestra, humorous interpretation, duet acting, monochromatic drawing and oil painting, expository preaching and Bible memory, to name a few.

“During ODACS, I was impressed with many of the students at FBTA and the high level at which they performed,” said Gary Boyd, first time expository preaching judge for FBTA.

Those who surpassed the trials of Richmond moved on to Bob Jones University in Greenville, S.C., for the national competition the week of April 9-12. The high school students roomed with college students for the week and not only got to see competitions from all the way from California, but also explore the campus.

FBTA returned triumphantly after months of preparation, and was proud to have had a part in Virginia taking first place in the nation for the 11th year in a row.