SUMMER/FALL 2016
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Cheer YOUR CAVALIERS
ON TO A CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE! Wear your Cavalier Gear for FREE admission to home games all season long! Update to date game schedules are available on the Covenant website: www.covenantfw.org/student life/athletics
One of the blessings of being in the rhythm of a school year is the opportunity for fresh beginnings. Of course, students get to start a new school year with clean slates, new challenges, and a new set of texts and coursework. However, students are not the only ones who benefit from the break. Every year, the administration is able to prayerfully reflect on the
CONTENTS
areas of growth that are most needed and then build improvement efforts into the new year.
CLASS OF 2016
That may seem like an obvious observation, but it actually makes a profound
Class of 2016, Senior Gift
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impact on the quality of education Covenant is able to provide. For example, this year Covenant has made a major step towards articulating and modifying our approach
S P I R I T UA L F O R M AT I O N
Gratitude
to homework. We believe the steps we have taken are a much better expression of our mission. We also believe that the changes will better define and manage the students’ academic experience, which will have a deep and lasting impact on their learning. Students, we hope, will be more equipped, more attentive, more engaged, and will enjoy their work. Ultimately, we want them to learn in a worshipful way,
DEVELOPMENT
Fundraising Year In Review AT H L E T I C S
Track, Baseball,Tennis & Field Day
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one that is prayerful, thoughtful, and transformative. In addition to adjusting the workload for students, we also hired a Student
F I N E A RT S
Wizard of Oz, Of Mice and Men
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Support Director to oversee our entire student support program and provide instructional assistance to both our excelling and struggling students. By better defining the students’ academic experience, balancing the workload, and providing
F I N E A RT S
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Gallery Walk
better support, Covenant has made substantial improvements to the quality of
CAMPUS LIFE
education we deliver to our families. I am very excited about these improvements
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and I hope your experience of them will be positive. As we start the year, we are continuing our capital campaign and working toward expanding our facilities to meet our growing enrollment and classroom needs. We continue to see God’s faithfulness and blessing in bringing more families and students into our community. However, with each one of these additions we must steward the resources we have in ways that are wise, efficient, and responsible. We ask that you prayerfully partner with us to complete The Campaign for Covenant.
Eric Cook, Headmaster
1701 Wind Star Way, Fort Worth, TX 76108 OFFICE HOURS MONDAY-THURSDAY 8:00 A.M. – 4:30 P.M. FRIDAY 8:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. 817.820.0884 ph | 817.246.5027 fax info@covenantfw.org covenantfw.org
f/covenantfw
Victor Fontenot
Kelly McConnell
Tommy Benke
Macy Hotchkiss
Jacob Salter
Rachel Capper
Hannah Humphreys
Will Scheffrahn
Collin Fredricks
David McCarty
Charis Watt
class of 2016
UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS
SAMFORD UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
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TARLETON STATE UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS
BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
SCREENWRITING/GAP YEAR
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
CLASS OF 2016
Covenant Goes
Gaga! The gift was a hit.
The Class of 2016 put a lot of thought
near the playground in May, just before
and sweat into their Senior Gift. Many of
graduation. They constructed a wooden
"We really wanted to give the school
the students in the class grew up playing
octagon (the "Pit") from a kit that was
a gift that would have a lasting impact on
a game called Gaga Ball (also known as
designed to last through many years of
the school and the students," said Collin
Slap Dodgeball) at youth groups and
play. They threw in a volleyball and the
Fredricks '16. "When we saw the smiles
summer camps and they decided it would
rest is history. Within minutes of school
on the faces of the 30 or so kids playing
be the perfect present to leave behind for
letting out, the Pit was full of kids from
in the Gaga Pit the day we finished
the next generation of Cavaliers.
kindergarten to 12th grade, jumping and
building it, we knew we had made the
parents
weaving to avoid being the next one hit
right choice."
purchased and installed a "Gaga Pit"
by the ball and knocked out of the game.
The
seniors
and
their
A TEACHER'S INFLUENCE LASTS A LIFETIME Out of the 11 graduates in the class of 2016, eight started school together as kindergarten students at Covenant, with Mrs. Snead as their teacher. Laura Snead, who now teaches kindergarten at a classical school in North Carolina, said she could not miss the opportunity to see her first CCS class graduate.
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SPIRITUAL FORMATION
Gratitude
It is good to give thanks to the Lord (Ps. 92:1) In the short story The Necklace, a young woman named Mathilde wants desperately to be something in the world. She longs to be sought after, to be recognized, and to be seen as important, affluent and influential. Because of her incessant yearning for more, Mathilde is discontented with the life she is resigned to live. The author, Guy de Maupassant, writes that “she would weep whole days, with grief, regret, despair and misery.� One day her husband offers her an opportunity to attend a luxurious ball. Although she initially rejects the idea because of her meager clothes and accessories, she eventually finds a way to fulfill her dream. Of course, she cannot
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attend the ball in the tattered rags she owns. Her husband promises her a new dress and a wealthy friend allows Mathilde to choose one piece of jewelry from her extensive collection. Mathilde selects the most expensive diamond necklace with anticipation of heads turning at her beauty and elegance. After the ball, Mathilde returns home only to realize the diamond necklace is missing. Mathilde and her husband agree they must borrow the enormous sum of money -- 35,000 francs -- to buy a replacement. For 10 years, the couple works slavishly to pay the money back. All the while, Mathilde is miserable and exasperated at her haste and impropriety.
One day on the street, Mathilde sees the friend who had loaned her the necklace. Mathilde decides she has nothing to lose by telling her friend about the mix-up and the toil she endured to pay the debts. Shocked and aghast, her friend says, "Oh, my poor Mathilde! But mine was imitation. It was worth at the very most 500 francs!" As I prepared to introduce the theme of gratitude to our school community this year, the story of the necklace came to mind. It is a jarring and sober reminder about the temptations of discontentment, entitlement, ingratitude and pride. It is also a window into the heart of man which in its most sinister expression
SPIRITUAL FORMATION
“You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.” GK Chesterton
craves things that are not rightfully his. Rather than recognizing that all of life is a gift from a loving Creator and that anything short of eternal punishment is a mercy, we all have the proclivity to miss the beauty and glory of God all around us (much less see it as a gift to be received with thanksgiving). Therefore, a truly great Christian school would be a place where children are continually growing in their ability and desire to see and give thanks for the wonder of God’s holiness, the beauty of creation, and the depths of God’s love. Yet, schools are places where the struggle to maintain a grateful attitude can be all too easily observed. Young people tend to be short-sighted and selfabsorbed. They need constant reminders and models of what it means to give thanks in everything (I Th. 5:18). It is so encouraging as a Covenant parent to see my children’s teachers teaching
my children to practice the simplest acts of gratitude. Praying before meals, thanking one’s teachers, remembering to acknowledge the work of the support staff, and thanking God for His abundant blessings are simple, but profoundly formative practices. In fact, virtually everything about a classical Christian education at Covenant is forming students to reject the narrow, selfish, Mathilde-like attitudes that are so prevalent in American culture. A classical Christian education aims at cultivating wisdom and virtue in students. Wisdom means fearing God and acknowledging His authority, sovereignty and preeminence in our lives. When we stop to acknowledge God, we see our deep need of grace and His abundant love and mercy. That tends to keep us humble and grateful rather than demanding and entitled. Also, as students peer deeply into the classical tradition they tend to develop
a sense of reverence and gratitude (it does take time, of course) by encountering the greatest ideas and minds of the West. It is very difficult to read Augustine or Milton and be flippant or dismissive. A classical education allows one to receive wisdom and knowledge from a place of humility, knowing that we are indeed “standing on the shoulders of giants.” The 2016-2017 school year will focus on teaching our students to think about and practice lives of gratitude toward God. We will consider the source of gratitude, the habits and practices of gratitude, and the fruit of gratitude. In doing so, we hope to encourage our students to have eyes to see how truly blessed they are. Rather than chasing the empty and vain pursuits of having more, our prayer is that they would be content with all that God has for them in Christ now. Eric Cook, Headmaster Tis Areté
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DEVELOPMENT ATHLETICS
2015-16 FUNDRAISING YEAR IN REVIEW GIVING DAY, NET:
$57,043 “A NIGHT IN THE GARDEN” AUCTION:
$126,000 THE COVENANT FUND:
$41,179 COVENANT GOLF SCRAMBLE:
$41,640 Dear Covenant families, The 2016-2017 school is year off and running! It’s amazing how summer flew by and we’re already back together greeting dear friends and meeting new ones. As we reflect back on the previous school year, we enjoyed so many things and are so thankful for this opportunity to serve Covenant Classical School on The Campaign for Covenant.
PARKING FOR COLONIAL GOLF TOURNAMENT:
$8,000 GROWING TOGETHER CAMPAIGN:
$747,293
We’ve thoroughly enjoyed getting to meet many incredible Covenant families, parents, and grandparents through these Campaign events. The common denominator through all the events has been how much everyone attending enjoys just talking and spending time with one another. Usually everyone is still talking long after the presentations are over! We’ve had so many great conversations, asked and answered really good questions, listened and shared concerns and drawn great hope and encouragement for the future of our school. The goal for this roll out phase of the Campaign was to inform our community about the Campaign. It has been a very rewarding and busy time, as we hosted dozens of presentations about the project, timeline, campus master plan and the future of our campus. This fall, work will continue with conversations about the campaign and the receiving of gifts and pledges. This next phase will allow for clarity about the project scope and construction time-frames.
NORTH TEXAS GIVING DAY SEPTEMBER 22, 2016
As a community, we are stepping into a new school year together. Will you join us in doing so with gratitude for what God has already done for our school, in our school, and through our school? He has done so much!! But don’t just stop there—pray and then step out and give in partnership with all of us to continue the work at Covenant Classical School through the Campaign for Covenant. We are asking families to return their commitment cards for The Campaign for Covenant by November 1.
Monies raised on Giving Day will be used
“Watch to see where God is working and join Him in His work.” —from Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby
ANONYMOUS DONORS HAVE PLEDGED $7,000
to fund Covenant's 2016 Student Success Initiative. This initiative marks an exciting development for Covenant which includes additional Student Support faculty, curriculum adoptions in mathematics and faculty training on these changes in the curriculum. IF WE RAISE $50,000 BY MIDNIGHT. PLEASE VISIT NORTHTEXASGIVINGDAY.ORG
Gratefully Yours, Andrea and Brooks Danley
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AND DONATE TO OUR SCHOOL. EACH GIFT OF $25 OR MORE WILL RECEIVE BONUS FUNDS.
DEVELOPMENT
UPDATED FAQs REGARDING
THE CAPITAL CAMPAIGN PLEASE VISIT www.covenantfw.org/growing-togetherfrequently-asked-questions for a complete listing of frequently asked questions regarding the campaign. The following are some questions that came up repeatedly at our presentations this year. We have added those to the website, and we wanted to answer these for the Covenant community here. Why did we build an Upper School first?
COVENANT WOULD LIKE TO SAY THANK TO OUR 2015 AUCTION SPONSORS
YOU
Frost Bank; Arlington Heights Animal Hospital; Trinity Transcon LLC; Sedalco; Hahnfeld Hoffer Stanford; Glendarroch Homes; Southwestern Roofing & Metal, Inc; Covenant Care; Katie and Stephen Howard; Worth Commercial Real Estate; Baird, Hampton & Brown; Abundant Life Wellness Center; Briggs Freeman Sotheby's Realty; Lone Star Ag Credit; Best Facility Services; Gary White, DDS; HJ&P Group; Purselley & Associates; Ruston Building Company LP
The 7-12 grade classes and students have specific needs in terms of classroom space, including science labs. This is also the time when, historically, students have left Covenant in search of a different scholastic experience. It was important to make the needs of these students a priority. We have experienced steady growth and are now in need of additional classroom space for grades 3-12. How much will we have to raise before we can break ground? $5.5m Can the project be phased? Yes. The first priorities include parking, driveways and the first wing of classrooms. The total cost of the first phase is $6m.
THIS YEAR COLONIAL TOURNAMENT PARKING RAISED $8,000! COVENANT WOULD LIKE TO SAY THANK YOU TO OUR 2016 GOLF SCRAMBLE SPONSORS Leonard Golf Links; Best Facility Services; Abundant Life Wellness Center; Ben Dyess and Associates; Southwestern Roofing & Metal; Arlington Heights Animal Hospital; Hahnfeld Hoffer Stanford; Sparks Law Firm; Frost Bank; Baird Hampton & Brown; Idea Ranch Promotions; Indian Motorcycle; Kelby Pope; Payless Power; Sedalco Construction Services; Builders Equipment & Supply; Legacy Bank; Restoration Counseling; Trinity Bank; Warren Douglas; Whitley Penn
Parents and students get together over Memorial Weekend each year to sell prime parking spaces during the PGA Crowne Plaza Invitational tournament at Colonial Country Club. All monies raised go toward the operating budget. Thank you to Clay & Opitz, LLP and O'Brien Realty Advisors for supporting our fundraising efforts during the 2016 Dean & Deluca Invitational at Colonial Country Club. Tis AretĂŠ
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ATHLETICS
Logic Track Team
WINS STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
THE LOGIC BOYS AND GIRLS TRACK TEAMS TOOK HOME THE 1ST PLACE TROPHY AT THE 2016 CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS ATHLETIC FELLOWSHIP REGIONAL TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS. The Cavaliers joined 26 other schools at the meet, held at Central Junior High School in Euless. The Lady Cavaliers won the girls' crown while the boys finished in 5th place with a team consisting of only six boys.
Cavalier Champions
TO FORM RHETORIC TEAM IN 2016-17 The CCS Logic baseball team claimed the championship title at the CSAF Regional Championship tournament in April. The tournament, held at Fort Worth Academy, hosted 10 area teams.
The 2016-17 school year will mark the first season of Rhetoric baseball at Covenant, and Pope will move up to coach that team. “I’m looking forward to continuing the
Volunteer coaches Kelby Pope and Rob
success we’ve enjoyed at the Logic level, and
Opitz took last year’s inaugural team to the
translating that success to the Rhetoric level
runner-up position in the tournament. Pope
as well,” Pope said. “Baseball at CCS has been a
said the program could not have gotten off to
resounding success, and the future of Cavalier
a better start.
baseball is bright!”
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Cavaliers Advance AT STATE COMPETITION
The Rhetoric Cavalier Tennis team competed in the TAPPS 1A State Tournament in Waco for the third year in a row. Junior Bryce McDonald advanced to the Round of 16, and junior Cameron Crow advanced to Semi-Finals.
FIELD DAY FIELD DAY 2016 2016
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WIZARD
W OZ
Cavalier Thespians Follow the Yellow-Brick Road Our 2016 spring musical was a journey over the rainbow. We were swept away by the tornado into the very colorful and fun munchkin land and on into the merry old land of Oz. Of course we ended right back where we started as we all realize there really is, “no place like home.” This well known fantasy show was both challenging and fun to direct and create! Everyone involved was dedicated to making sure the audience was enchanted with the production. When presenting such an iconic story we have to be careful not to disturb the memories so many people already have of such a well known show, and at the same time allow the actors to feel the characters are their own. It is a very fine line, which I feel we balanced with ease.
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Kate Hicks, Theatre Director
FINE ARTS
O
e and M c i M en f
A dinner theatre production presented in the round was a new concept. Choosing a more mature show was also something we hadn't done before. It was a tremendous success. These upper level rhetoric students embraced the challenge to stage a story with such deep meaning. I've been asked how I choose the shows. There are many considerations from who the students are in the class, to the set, to the length, to the costumes and the list goes on. But I also look at what can be learned by the students as they step into these characters. Can this show be a platform that enhances their need and desire for God? Many will have a character that at the end will cause them to say,
AN AFTERNOON OF
"What a sad life. I would never want to be like them." Or a character that has shown such
Shakespeare
courage that they hope and pray they can reach that level if called upon. I truly believe that theatre teaches a deeper understanding and empathy of humanity. The smaller dinner theatre atmosphere is the perfect venue for exploring the more challenging plays. Kate Hicks, Theatre Director
When: Saturday, November 12 Where: CCS Courtyard "Love's Labour’s Lost"
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FINE ARTS
GALLERY WALK Covenant Becomes a Multi-Venue Art Gallery The first Gallery Walk at Covenant Classical School was held on the evening of April 14, 2016. The event included art, music and awards. The Fine Arts teachers collaborated last fall to plan the art show. We found a way to have an art show using our beautiful campus and create an environment that would highlight the work of the art and music students. The idea of walking the campus, making each building a separate gallery space for student work display and combining musical performances at special times during the walk seemed exciting to us. Student docents guiding groups of family and friends, refreshments and finally the awards ceremony was what we envisioned as the perfect evening of art and music. As the Gallery Walk drew near, the art teachers selected the best work from each student. The work was hung according to grade level and art class. Music students were invited to perform for the event. The resulting displays and performances gave our parents and friends an overview of what was created during the 2015-2016 school year at Covenant Classical School. On the evening of April 14, many people came to see art and hear music. The campus was alive with people, adults and children, walking the grounds, enjoying conversation and going into each gallery space to see the student work. We hope for next year’s Gallery Walk to be just as wonderful, if not better. We give thanks to God for the opportunity to enjoy creativity, music, and to celebrate His goodness to us through the gift of art and one another. Charlotte Seifert, CCS Fine Arts Chair
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CAMPUS LIFE
2ND GRADE EGYPTIAN FEAST
2ND GRADE PUTT-PUTT WITH TEACHERS AUCTION PRIZE EVENT
“WONDERFUL WORLD OF WATER” KINDERGARTEN SUMMER CAMP
KINDERGARTEN ART PARTY
SENIOR THESIS PRESENTATIONS
1ST GRADE RECITATION
5TH GRADE DALLAS AQUARIUM FIELD TRIP
5TH GRADE STATE PROJECT PRESENTATIONS
ATHLETICS SENIOR NIGHT
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1701 Wind Star Way, Fort Worth, Texas 76108 www.covenantfw.org | 817.820.0884