Oak Hill Academy is excited to introduce the theme for the 2022-23 school year: #connect. With this theme in mind, we will expand opportunities for our students to foster deeper connections to themselves, each other, and the Oak Hill community.
How can students connect to themselves?
Critical to this year’s theme is our continued partnership with the JED Foundation. Thanks to this partnership, Oak Hill students have access to extra support and resources to help them understand who they are and how to thrive. Adolescence is a formative time period, and as teenagers, our students are in the middle of learning so much about themselves and how they fit into the world around them.
On top of that normal social and emotional growth, COVID-19 reshaped our world. In responding to the challenges of the pandemic, many teenagers lost a sense of connection to the non-virtual world. Here at Oak Hill, we are committed to countering the effects of online fatigue and isolation with our renewed commitment to connection this year. The responsible use of technology is already integral to our core values, but this year we are being even more intentional about face-to-face connection as a tool to self-understanding.
How can students connect to each other?
The student body at Oak Hill Academy is a community within itself. Students eat meals, attend sporting events, experience off-campus trips, and do many other bonding exercises together all while seeing each other in the learning atmosphere during school and study hours.
Much of a student’s sense of community comes from their feeling of a successful social life. Oak Hill nurtures and fosters these connections by engaging all students in campus events and ensuring students have others actively engaged in their lives who want the best for them. Our Residential Life program is central to these efforts, providing the structure and support for students to build community and thrive socially.
How can students connect to the Oak Hill community?
Oak Hill prides itself on being located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Southwestern Virginia, and our students are embedded into the local community. Every Sunday, students attend church through our partnership with Young’s Chapel Baptist Church, where students of all faiths and backgrounds have been warmly welcomed by the community ever since we opened our doors in Mouth of Wilson.
Our students also regularly participate in community service, connecting with and giving back to the folks who make up the fabric of small town. And beyond Virginia, Oak Hill has connections among communities around the world, thanks to our thousands of alumni. Oak Hill encourages growth among our students by teaching them how to access and use the resources put in place for them to build connections to strengthen them for a lifetime.
This year, we look forward to expanding our commitment to holistic growth and building community through our partnership with JED and our theme of #connect!
