Summer Office Hours: Tuesday – Thursdays 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM (Appointments by Request)
Office hours: Mon-Thu 7:45 AM-4:00 PM | Fri 7:45 AM-2:00 PM
(916) 481-2300
Summer Office Hours: Tuesday – Thursdays 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM (Appointments by Request)
Office hours: Mon-Thu 7:45 AM-4:00 PM | Fri 7:45 AM-2:00 PM
(916) 481-2300
Day 2 of Student Week of Prayer for 2026 brought three more students to the front of chapel. The theme is Be Real, and this week is one of the clearest reasons why. Research from the Barna Group found that more than three-quarters of teenagers discuss matters of faith with their peers — and at SAA, that conversation happens out loud, in front of the whole school, every single day this week.
| Theme | Be Real: honest with yourself, with others, and with God |
| Day 2 speakers | Naomi (3rd grade), Caroline (sophomore), Tyler (8th grade) |
| What connected all three | God is present in the ordinary moments, the painful ones, and the ones where we have a choice to make |
| Daily practice | Students pause to pray with a partner every day this week |
| Series | Day 2 of 5 days of student-led chapel |
| School year | 2025-2026 |
Naomi opened with a question. Raise your hand if you’re allergic to anything. She is allergic to peanuts, and she knows it the hard way. She had banana split at an ice cream shop when she was little confirmed it fast.
Then she told a second story. Before a family trip to Hawaii, they stopped at a bakery and she picked out a mooncake. Soft on the outside, chewy in the middle. She knew this bakery did not put peanuts in them, so they bought it and left.
Hawaii was busy. She never got around to eating it. Too full, too tired, too much to do. By the time her mom said it had to go, Naomi checked the ingredients one last time, just to see.
The bakery had added peanuts.
“I felt like God protected me that day. I believe God was protecting me, and I want you all to know that God will protect you too.”
Tyler opened with something everyone in the room recognized. Think about the last time someone did something small that got under your skin. A sarcastic comment that cut a bit deeper than intended. A friend who acted like you did not exist for a few minutes. Small things for sure but they add up.
His point was that exclusion, pettiness, and quiet disrespect are becoming normal, and we have started to accept that as just how people are. He pushed back.
He went to Matthew 7:12. Treat others the way you want to be treated because that is how love works. Then he used the story of Joseph in Genesis 37. Joseph’s brothers chose resentment over conversation. Jealousy replaced grace.
“Loving your friends is easy. Loving the difficult, that’s Christlike.”
His challenge for SAA: show love someone who is not easy to love. Include someone outside your circle of friends. Choose communication over resentment. Joseph’s brothers chose resentment. Joseph eventually chose forgiveness. That is the difference.
Caroline started by talking about honest and not-perfect faith.
Her grandma taught her to sew. Her aunt taught her to cook and always ran Thanksgiving dinner. One memory that still makes Caroline laugh: the two of them in Hawaii, teaming up to troll her cousin.
Her freshman year, everything changed.
On September 17th, she lost her aunt suddenly to a drug overdose. Then on May 24th, she lost her grandma to ALS. One was sudden. One she could see coming. Both are tremendous losses for her and her family.
“One wasn’t easier than the other.”
She talked about hiding her emotions and holding anger toward God.
“Brokenness is not a lack of faith. Pain does not mean God has left.”
She pointed to Job, who questioned God out loud and was not punished for it. She pointed to John 11:35, where Jesus knew the full story and still wept. Grief taking time is not weakness, she said. It is love.
The last time she saw her aunt was at the airport in Hawaii, leaving in different directions. She did not know it was goodbye.
“While those goodbyes are hard and sad to think about, I find peace in the thought that our goodbyes are not forever.”
Today she honors her aunt and grandma by cooking, doing her nails, and trolling her cousin every chance she gets.
Each day closes the same way. The whole chapel goes quiet. Students step back from everything else going on in their day and turn to the person next to them with one question: The entire school ends with prayer time.
The point is to practice it every day this week, not to do it perfectly on day one.
Weeks like this give families a clear look at what this school actually values. Students are encouraged to be honest, share real stories, and look out for each other.
Visit our Student Life page to see more of what happens on campus, or browse the Articles hub for more stories. Learn about our mission on the About Us page, and when you are ready to see it in person, reach out to Admissions and we will set something up.
Sacramento Adventist Academy is accredited by WASC and the Adventist Accrediting Association. Our mission is to honor God by preparing students for academic success and a lifetime of service.
