Al Parker Delivers Keynote at Pinewood’s 6th Annual Fund Dinner
By: Hannah Rice, PCA sophomore
Pinewood Christian Academy held its Annual Fund dinner on March 22nd in the gymnasium. Guests were invited to arrive at 6:00 for a walkthrough of the school led by Mr. L.W. Bush, director of alumni affairs, and the banquet began at 7:00 with a welcome by Mr. Steve Rogers, PCA’s board chairman. Dr. Tab Smith blessed the food and students and faculty began serving dinner catered by Rusty Pig. The tables were simple yet elegantly decorated with candles and baby pine trees wrapped in burlap as gifts for each guest to take home.
The keynote speaker for the evening was alumnus Al Parker. Parker, PCA’s 1987 valedictorian, is commonly recognized as the most accomplished junior tennis player in history. Parker shared with guests what Pinewood has meant to him and how the education he received helped him in college and in his career. Parker later said the night contained two firsts for him: delivering his first key note speech and having a tennis complex named after him, because Pinewood has named the newly resurfaced tennis complex in his honor.
The PCA annual fund began a few years ago in order to raise money for the school to take care of items tuition doesn’t cover such as the new technology for the journalism classrooms, new lower school playground equipment, the basketball court where the PCA’s youngest students learn to ride bikes, and new tables and chairs for the art room to name a few. Money is raised through donations from the patrons, alumni, friends and corporations within the community. The fund has greatly benefitted the school over the past five years and continues to strive towards bettering Pinewood. A few of the projects on the wish list for the 2017-2018 school year are: replacing the stage curtain in the high school gymnasium, installing a commercial oven for cafeteria use, and putting chemical proof counter tops in the high school chemistry lab. PCA’s annual fund is a crucial part of the school’s process to better itself one step at a time.
