DECEMBER 2012
C O L L E G E
CHCS News H E I G H T S
C H R I S T I A N
All School Chapel In the beginning, All School Chapel happened weekly at CHCS, but as our enrollment has increased, it has become a periodic event. Every year on the day we celebrate Grandparent’s Day, our entire school, ranging from the three- year- olds to the eighteen- year- olds, meets in the biggest sanctuary our building has, and we all worship our God together. For the older students, it is fun to look back at the songs we sang when we were little. It is always fun to think about the way chapel has changed over the years. It is strange to think that chapel has changed from upper- grade classmates and Mrs. Blankenship moving slides on an old fashioned projector to one person behind a board of controls and a full band up front. We are fortunate to have a variety speakers during each chapel. So far this year our high school
College Corner
MSU campus visit
MSSU engineering visit
S C H O O L by Michaela Keele
principal, Mr. Lewis and CHCS alumni, Josh Quade have spoken. This year’s chapel theme is: Identity. Please join us for the next All School Chapel on Grandparent’s Day, April 19, 2013.
by Patty Kruse
Whoever dreamed the school year would pass so quickly! Important Information for parents of seniors: The FAFSA forms can be filed no earlier than January 1, 2013 for the fall semester of college, and will be based on the parent’s 2012 tax information. Many colleges require any student receiving scholarship money to file a FAFSA form. This includes academic, athletic and performing arts scholarships. The FAFSA is federally funded and if students file before the Missouri cutoff date of April 1st, he or she may qualify for additional state money. A “FAFSA Frenzy Day” is usually hosted by colleges and universities each year in early February. Missouri Southern will be one of the hosting universities and anyone who has questions can go to the campus on that day and the staff will assist with the application and filing process. This will be available for any parent regardless of which college or university their student is planning to attend. The FAFSA worksheet is available at www. fafsa.gov and will greatly assist in preparation for the actual filing process.
Tomorrow’s Leaders Today Tomorrows Leaders Today is a youth leadership program sponsored by the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce. The participants are high-school seniors with a wide range of experiences, talents, and interests. TLT provides an opportunity for selected students to learn more about the community and the importance of community service. Forty-five area students were chosen from seven area high schools. CHCS is proud to have Kristen Crumpacker, Ryan Cummins, William Estep, Patrick Holman, Adam Lewis, Kayte Peters, and Allison Strawn representing our school.
CHCS News
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Getting to Know KAYE GRIFFITH
by Haley Hembree
Have you ever wanted to know more about the staff employed here at CHCS? Here is a little information about our Secondary Assistant, Kaye Griffith. Kaye does a variety of jobs throughout the entire day, never running out of things to do. Her day consists of tracking daily attendance; answering or directing phone calls; checking students in or out; scheduling substitute teachers; coordinating locker assignments; writing daily announcements; assigning detentions; ordering supplies; distributing mail; and other miscellaneous things. “There are few dull moments in the office, and it can get really crazy when the phone is ringing, the intercom is buzzing, visitors need the door opened, parents are waiting at the window, a teacher needs you at the counter, and a student wants help at the copier...all at the same time! Thank goodness for student office aides!” explains Kaye. Kaye has worked at CHCS for fourteen years and has held several different jobs throughout her employment from being a parent volunteer, and even a teacher! Always dear to her heart are the 6th graders. Did you know she used teach 6th grade and she loves getting visits from her former students. Along with contributing her time, effort and talents, she is also the mother of two daughters that are both graduates of CHCS. Tess, who graduated in 2003, is currently a 4th grade teacher in Kansas City and Tara who graduated in 2006 is now a hair stylist in Pairie Villiage, KS. Kaye orginally grew up in Carthage but now currently lives in Webb City. She has been married to her husband, Harel, for 35 years. “I love to come to school every day because it is like family here,” Kaye says, “Students and staff are friendly and caring and you have a real sense that we as a school are truly working toward our mission statement.” She enjoys even the little things about her job like visiting with parents at her window; helping a teacher with a task, or even just extending mercy to a student by issuing an excused tardy and seeing the smile on their face. “This is an awesome place to be and when I think that God has not only allowed me to work in this school, but in ‘His House’, I feel really blessed!”
PITSCO Educator of the Game Congratulations to CHCS Middle School history teacher Nancy Ohmart. She was recently named the PITSCO Educator of the Game at a Pittsburg State University football game. Mrs. Ohmart was awarded $500 for her to use in her classroom. Way to go, Ms. Ohmart!
CHRISTIAN SERVICE Thanksgiving Food Drive Thank you to all who participated in this year’s Thanksgiving Food Drive. Many families were blessed with food baskets because of your generosity! The students beat the faculty in the number of items brought and won a dress-down day. Additionally, all 4th graders, 6th graders, and seniors were treated with a doughnut party for their efforts. Because the students collected more items than the faculty, Coach Johnson will be dressing like a banana for one whole day!
Living Well Project For the past five years, CHCS students and faculty have provided the Living Water Project of Operation Blessing International funds to dig wells in villages where little or no water is available. Three wells have been built in India and one in Cambodia. Recently at an All School Chapel, students were asked to bring just $3 each and it totaled $1947, enough to provide another well on the other side of the world. CHCS is making a difference not only by providing water but also by spreading the word about Jesus and His living water.
Operation Christmas Child
by Tim Casey
Operation Christmas Child went very well this year. As a school we collected moreshoeboxes than any year previous: 151. Focus on the Family made a video available of a young Bosnian girl named Lejla (pronounced Layla). She recieved a shoe box gift when she was 10 years old and still suffering the aftermath of the war in the Balkans. Because of that gift and, more importantly, the message of the Gospel that came with it, Lejla met Jesus and has become a part of the Kingdom Kingdom of God. We were able to play the interview for our classes and get a better perspective of what we were trying to accomplish. It was an honor to be a part of something so powerful for the Kingdom. Jasmine Johnson wrapping boxes
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Dropping Eggs???
by Michael Endicott
Each year high school students taking Physical Science leave the classroom to participate in The Egg Drop Project. The objective of the project is to build an object that is of the lightest possible mass and yet durable enough to protect a raw egg from breaking when it is dropped from ever increasing heights. Students are to take into account various physics concepts such as forces, acceleration, air resistance (friction), and compression. Rules vary from year to year with this year’s projects being made primarily of plastic drinking straws. A contest follows project completion with bonus points awarded to the projects most successful at protecting the egg. In the case of a tie the lightest project wins. The students look forward to and enjoy this activity.
Scholars Bowl Season Begins
by Jean Miller
Each year we open our Scholar Bowl season with a competition at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in Miami, OK. NEO had over 20 teams participate in this year’s Academic Quiz Bowl Competition. We participated in the small- school division and had both our teams do well in the preliminary rounds, with both ending up facing off against each other in the finals, vying for 1st and 2nd place. Our 1st place team was Eric Patterson, William Estep, Josh Brehm, Ryan Cummins, Ashley Roberts, and Rachel Laws. Our B team took 2nd place, made up of Adam Lewis, Ethan Bolte, Kolleen Gladden, Brad Copeland, Amy Johnson,and Casey Garman.
History Day CHCS History Day is a semesterlong research project for students in grades 9-12 who are currently enrolled in a history class. History Day teaches students to n Conduct in-depth research n Use primary and secondary sources n Read a variety of texts n Analyze and synthesize information n Write and present historical content Students chose a topic that is related to this year’s theme,” It happened on my Birthday”. They researched the topic and developed their findings into categories: power point, website, display board, diorama, research paper, and monologue. Their work was entered in a school competition that was judged for content, knowledge, and presentation. Congratulations to this year’s winners: Harper Roderick (1st place), Annie White (2nd place), Daniel and Ryan Geary (3rd place), and Hailey Riesenmy (honorable mention).
Geography Bee Congratulations to Mattie Beard, 8th grader who won the school-level competition of the National Geographic Bee today. She will now take a written test; up to 100 of the top scorers on that test in each state will then be eligible to compete in the state Bee on April 5, 2013. Way to go Mattie!
High School Cross Country
High School Soccer Summary
It was a good year in cross country but also a little a difficult. Before our first meet, Savannah Beaver broke a bone in her foot, taking her out of competition for the year. We were also bumped up into class 2, making it harder to get out of districts as a team. However, we were still able to take three individual runners to state. Overall, we had over half of our team set new personal record times this year, which shows how consistently they worked throughout the season. We all enjoyed the presence of our new assistant coach, Matthew Clay, and look forward to gaining more wisdom from him next year. It was also nice to end the regular season winning first place for boys and girls at the Diamond cross country meet. Three members were selected to All District: Kolleen Gladen, Ryan Beaver, and Allison Strawn. We look forward to another great season next year.
We have had a great year in soccer winning more than twice as often as losing, with a 16-6 record. Brantly Gossett broke both our single season goals record with 41 and the career goals record with 120. Furthermore the 2012 soccer team scored more overall goals than any other CHCS team in history with 114 goals on the season, to edge out the 2003 final-four team, which scored 109 times. Brantly Gossett and Dalton Zarrabi were selected 1st team all-district and Josiah Braeckel, Drew Satterfield, and Ryan Cummins were selected 2nd team all-district.
by Tim Casey
by Daniel Lewis
A NOTE FROM SUPERINTENDENT NELSON HORTON…
A CHRIST-CENTERED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
One of the great benefits of serving at CHCS is that I am constantly challenged by the maturity and Christ-like example of our students, faculty, staff, parents, alumni, and friends. Just witnessing the devotion, excellence, and sacrifice of so many sharpens me and increases my own desire to keep serving Jesus. This servant leadership is especially evident this time of year through the response to multiple opportunities to show Christ’s love. Special projects sponsored by student organizations or classes have already provided opportunities for all of us at CHCS to reach beyond our walls and bless others. Examples include the Community Blood Drive, Thanksgiving food baskets, a special chapel offering to provide a well in India, support for Rapha House, and the Christmas shoebox project. In addition to these organized projects, we have seen or heard about random acts of kindness, such as a recent collection by high school students to help a CHCS family and an anonymous offering from faculty, staff, and board members to help meet the financial needs of another family. None of us know how many other kind deeds have been done or how many generous gifts have been given in secret as individuals have been prompted by the Holy Spirit, but from what I know about the CHCS family, there have been many. I am grateful for the privilege of working with the students, staff, and families of CHCS in an environment where each of us is challenged not only to grow in knowledge but to also grow in love.
Junior Class Sponsors Four Square Events The Junior class at CHCS sponsored two four- square events for elementary students during the month on November. The events were fundraisers for the junior class (sponsored by Pam Green). The funds raised ($600) will go toward Junior-Senior Banquet. The elementary students, who were supervised and coached by junior- class members, had a great time.
CHCS Annual Fall Blood Drive On November 14th, the National Honor Society hosted the CHCS annual fall Blood Drive. Seventythree donations were made which exceeded the Community Blood Center of the Ozarks goal of sixty-five. A big Thank You goes out to all those who participated by working and donating.
Annual Fund Report CHCS kicked off the 2012-2013 Annual Fund at the end of October. This year’s effort, Opportunity and Excellence focuses on the three areas of Technology, Tuition Assistance and Furniture and Equipment. To date, we have received donations of $10,000 toward our $80,000 goal. In addition to cash and check donation options, we are now happy to provide an online option. Simply visit the www. collegeheights.org website and choose the Donate Online tab. The process is a simple and convenient way to help reach our goal.
Renweb Parents, don’t forget to take advantage of Renweb, our online school management system. You can check homework assignments, lunch menus, student grades, the school calendar, etc. If you are having problems accessing Renweb or have not set up your account, please contact the school. A Renweb phone application is now available. This is a great tool to use to stay informed about your students’ progress.
ECFA ACCREDITED – On November 12, 2012, the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability announced the accreditation of College
Heights Christian School. Accreditation is based on the ECFA’s Seven Standards of Responsible Stewardship, including financial accountability, transparency, sound board governance, and ethical fundraising. When an organization is accredited by ECFA, it demonstrates its willingness to follow the model of biblical accountability.
MISSION STATEMENT
CHCS glorifies God through excellence as a Christ-centered learning environment that produces servant-leaders with a Biblical worldview.
COLLEGE HEIGHTS CHRISTIAN SCHOOL n 4311 E. NEWMAN ROAD n JOPLIN, MISSOURI 64801 n 471-782-4114 n WWW.COLLEGHEIGHTS.ORG