The Arrow Fall 2023

President’s Paragraph

The following is the text of Dr. Groves’ address to the students, staff, and faculty of Oak Hill Academy at convocation, 28 August 2023. Good morning and welcome to the campus of Oak Hill Academy. For 145 years our school has gathered students from around the world here in this tiny place called Mouth of Wilson, Virginia. Of course, we are a school and yet Oak Hill Academy is so much more. We are a community where students are provided a place to become all that God wants them to be; we are a place

where families live among our students … teachers, staff, administrators, their families, pets, and extended families … we all live here together. We dine together, we work together, we rise and fall together. In this the year of our lord 2023, I believe our school, our community, embodies exactly what the world needs at this moment in time. We value work ethic, citizenship, collegiality, respect for one another, and we care for one another. Know that at OHA you are always close to someone who cares. Today is Convocation Day, the starting of a new year on “The Hill.” I love the sense of newness that accompanies the onset of another academic year. A fresh start, goals, ideas … all abound at the start of school. So, capture this moment; seniors, especially, take note of how I shall reference this day and the tolling of the Academy Bell on your Graduation eve. We sound the Academy Bell three times annually. On Graduation eve—once for each graduating senior; during Alumni Days—for graduates who have passed the previous year. And, we chime it today on Convocation … to signal the start of our academic year. Welcome to Oak Hill Academy. May God bless each of you, and may God continue to bless Oak Hill Academy.

Follow Dr. Groves on Twitter @DrGrovesOHA.