Celebrating Grandchildren

Celebrating Grandchildren

By James Hill

 Part III

Faith Angellica Hill is the daughter of Dr. James O. and Antionet Hill. The family resides in North Palm Beach. Faith is in the eighth grade at The Pine School, located in Hobe Sound, Florida. Faith grew up in a military family. Her dad was a U.S. Army Major who served in the Green Zone in Baghdad during the Iraqi War. Quite often students who grow up in military families face many challenges as their parents must relocate to different military bases from time to time. Children are forced to live in different cities and countries, attend new schools, and make new friends.

Faith has experienced all the above but, through it all, she has managed to distinguish herself as a phenomenal young lady capable of meeting the challenges with which she has been faced.

Academically, Faith has been a straight-A student since kindergarten. In 2016, she was inducted into the National Junior Honors Society. She has been selected to participate in MATHlete competitions for the past two years. She has received Head Master and Honor Roll Awards for her accomplishments.

Artistically, Faith really enjoys art. She has made videos, paintings, ceramics, and mosaics, just to name a few. In third grade, her art picture was chosen to be judged in the Sarasota, Florida Fair. In fourth grade, her art picture was chosen to be judged by the Muscle Shoals, Alabama  local newspaper. In sixth grade, her art sketch was chosen to be a poster board for a school event at Liberty Baptist Church and Academy in Fort Pierce, Fla. In seventh grade, Faith received an award for her artwork from The Pine School and participated in a chalk art festival with the art club. She participated in different art camps during the summer. Over the years, she also took tap, ballet, hip-hop, and jazz classes.

Faith has had to work very hard at athletics. She is trying to learn as much as she can in a variety of sports. She has participated in sports since she was three years old. She has played T -ball, softball, and basketball. She was on a swim team one summer. Faith ran cross-country. She participated in gymnastics for two years, and she has a red belt in Taekwondo. Faith enjoys surfing at surf camp in the summer. She will be taking scuba diving lessons this summer. Athletics have made Faith feel more confident in the things she does.

Faith considers herself to be a leader but a leader who can follow as well. She has led small groups in school, and she is a Student Council representative this year. She received the Knight of Character Award (The Pine School Principal’s A-ward, and Citizen’s Award (Liberty Baptist Church and Academy).

Faith volunteered to help set up a booth at the Martin County Fair for her church. She has helped to set up a female recovery residence for Bright Star Landings, located in Palm Beach Gardens, owned and operated by Dr. and Mrs. Hill. Faith helped to pull weeds at the Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound. She helped Bright Star Landings move its location from Jupiter to Palm Beach Gardens.

Finally, the biggest and most exciting thing that happened to Faith this school year was that she was granted The Pine School Scholarship in the amount of $24,945 for the 2017-2018 school year. Wow!! Her Mom and Dad just love that!

As their proud granddad, I would like to congratulate Bianca and Faith, two cousins belonging to the seventh generation of our very large family for raising the bar of achievement a bit higher for the younger members of their generation, such as Randall and others to follow.

Additionally, I hasten to acknowledge and express my sincere appreciation to all the parents, educational aides, security staff, teachers, and preachers for all they do each day to help develop thousands of outstanding young people like mine here in South Florida.