A couple of months ago (February, I think), the Alabama Christian Education Association held its annual academics competition for state Christian schools. The Fine Arts competition was in March. Several categories of fine arts such as painting, photography, calligraphy, and the like, are also judged during the academic competition, as is the preaching.
Ben won 1st place in the state for algebra. He also entered the photography competition, submitting both a digital and a color film photograph. The digital photo was taken in Rockford over Christmas and showed a cherry encased in clear ice hanging from a tree branch. That photo won 2nd place in the state, missing a perfect score by 1 point. The photo that beat it was a shot of a coffee cup that was laughed at during the national competition.
Ben’s color film photo was an elaborate setup of chemistry beakers and test tubes filled with colored water and arranged on a black background. He went through 2 rolls of film before he got something that we thought was acceptable. He hated it. He didn’t want to submit it, but we made sure that he did.
It won 1st place in the state.
So last week Ben took his photo to Bob Jones University in Greenville for the national competition. He took an algebra test (he said it was virtually impossible) and competed with the others in our school’s choric speaking ensemble (1st place in Alabama for 10 straight years!). The choric group made the final round of 6 but did not place in the top 3 nationwide. Ben’s color photo?
2nd place nationwide.
Not bad for something he considered “horrible”!
Congratulations, Ben!
Oh, and while on campus, Ben talked his way into a guaranteed position on the stage crew for next year. Way to go!
I’m one proud papa!
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