Lansing Christian School 2016-2017 Annual Report

LANSING CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

ANNUAL REPORT

2016-2017

DEAR LCS COMMUNITY, Equipping our graduates to engage and transform the world for Jesus Christ is the vision of Lansing Christian School. While our vision is about preparing young people for the future, it also defines our every day work with students. We are continually striving to do this work with excellence in order to equip our graduates to be people of influence for Christ in their relationships, in their careers, in their churches, and in their communities. This is a high calling worthy of our very best resources.

GRATEFUL FOR GOD’S FAITHFULNESS AND PROVISION IN 20162017

ANNUAL REPORT 2

STATE OF THE SCHOOL Wendy Hofman

Providing families in our community greater access to a Lansing Christian education is a priority as we plan for the future of LCS. We give thanks to God that with the introduction of the Variable Tuition program in 2016, we saw a 20% increase in new students during the 2016-17 school year.

In 2016-17, pursuing excellence at LCS involved successful re-accreditation with Christian Schools International. This quality assurance process involves external evaluation of our school’s programs, services, and operations. When we claim that LCS is a school that embraces a culture of continuous improvement, we want to be able to back that up with external evaluation. For the first time this year,

Lansing Christian School was ranked #1 Best Christian High School in Michigan by the Niche organization. As a school we were honored and we were humbled to be acknowledged for the quality Christ-centered Christian education we provide Christian families in our community.

In our PreK-12 classrooms we are equipping students with skills and capacities that will prepare them for a future of influence and impact. As we continue to cultivate programming in STEM, LCS is developing a PreK-12 curriculum that promotes science and engineering practices and engages students in learning beyond content knowledge to investigation and creative application.

The introduction of a new 7th and 8th grade STEM class, a Career Day for middle and high school students, an all-school STEAM Night, and STEM summer camps for elementary students are just some of the ways we have begun to engage students in cultivating interest and skills in the areas of STEM. We are also in the process of outfitting an Innovation Lab to provide students a place to design, create, collaborate, and explore how they can participate in transforming and engaging the world for Jesus Christ through science, technology, engineering and math.

Each year, we rely on generous donors from our community to help support the people and programs that allow us to deliver a high quality Christian education to more than 500 students at LCS. Included in the 2016-17 Annual Report are the stories of LCS alumni who have benefited from a Lansing Christian education and are now engaging and transforming the world for Jesus Christ in varied and exciting ways.

During this past year we have worked to grow our communication and connection with LCS alumni through a monthly Eletter and featured stories in the Pilgrim Journey, and by inviting alumni back to LCS to share with students how God is using their lives for His purpose and glory. I hope you take a few minutes to read their stories.

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, we express sincere gratitude to our donors and the many other people who help make LCS a school where God honored through excellence and where students lives are impacted by the transforming power of Jesus Christ.

With hope in God, Wendy Hofman ‘81

ANNUAL REPORT 3

New this year, a Pilgrim Play program was implemented to engage elementary students in skill development, participation, and play as we seek to develop a comprehensive PreK-12 athletic program at LCS. Central to the success of Pilgrim Play, involving more than 100 elementary students in the first year, is the leadership of varsity coaches assisted by high school student athletes.

Recruiting varsity coaches to lead their respective programs, and engaging high school athletes in mentoring and developing relationships with elementary students is an important priority in advancing the LCS athletic program.

While the spiritual development of our students is integral to learning in every subject and classroom, corporate worship in our school community continues to play a vital role in the education of our students. At each grade level student leadership is cultivated in developmentally appropriate ways. This year, nearly 50 high school students participated in chapel leadership teams.

In 2016-17 we were also able to involve more than 10 different senior and youth pastors in the chapel program. Pastor connection with students is important in our ongoing efforts to cultivate relationships with local churches. .

GRATEFUL FOR OUR DONOR SUPPORT

2016-2017

BY THE NUMBERS

#1

LCS NAMED BEST

CHRISTIAN

HIGH SCHOOL

IN MICHIGAN

BY THE NICHE

ORGANIZATION

20%

INCREASE ANNUAL REPORT 4

IN NEW

STUDENTS

4800 MINUTES OF CHEERING FROM THE

PILGRIM NATION STUDENT SECTION DURING

THE BOYS BASKETBALL

STATE SEMI-FINAL

GAME AT THE BRESLIN CENTER

113 STUDENTS& HIGH SCHOOL 50 ELEMENTARY

STUDENT-MENTORS PARTICIPATED IN THE FIRST

YEAR OF PILGRIM PLAY

880 BAGS OF FOOD

$21,630 68,760

STUDENTS

EACH 2017 LCS

STUDENTS

SCHOLARSHIPS

PACKED BY LCS

FOR LOCAL

AVERAGE AMOUNT

GRADUATE RECEIVED IN ANNUAL COLLEGE

100% OF

HOURS OF PLAY ON THE NEW ELEMENTARY

PLAY STRUCTURE

TEACHERS

27 GAMES

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING TEAMS TO

SOCCER STATE

STUDENT CENTERED

WINNING SEASON

PARTICIPATED IN

IMPLEMENT STRATEGIES FOR

CHAMPIONSHIP ANNUAL REPORT 5

LEARNING

IN THE 2017 GIRLS

ALUMNI PROFILES At Lansing Christian School our vision is to equip young men and women to engage and transform the world for Jesus Christ. It is inspiring to see how our alumni are living out this vision in their careers, churches, and communities post-graduation. In cities around the country, and internationally, our alumni are accomplishing amazing things as leaders and innovators in a variety of fields and areas while living out their faith in powerful ways.

Led by her passion for language and other cultures, Mercedes Cowper has traveled the world and is now working with International Students on the campus of George Washington University.

As co-pastor of Boston Square Church in Grand Rapids, MI and co-author of Teach Us to Pray: Scripture-Centered Family Worship through the Year, Elizabeth VanderHaagen is helping families nurture their faith and engage with scripture throughout the liturgical calendar.

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Patrick Bisher is a former Navy SEAL, Lansing Christian School alumni, and current LCS parent who is now sharing his story of faith and perseverance in his personal memoir, No Surrender: Faith, Family, and Finding Your Way.

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CALLED TO COMMUNITY Mercedes Cowper

When Mercedes Cowper ‘04 began studying at Hope College she intended to major in Theater, but “God had other plans,” according to Cowper. Instead, God led her to a major in Japanese and a career working with international students.

Cowper’s interest in different cultures and the Japanese language began while spending time with an exchange student who was studying at Lansing Christian School. “She was from Japan and I remember talking to her about her home, culture, and asking her to teach me some Japanese words/spelling.

It was so intriguing to me back then.”

When it became time to select a language class for her foreign language requirement in college Cowper enrolled in a Japanese language class. “Why Japanese?” she asks rhetorically,” Why not?!”

After she began to study Japanese, Cowper fell in love with learning about different languages and cultures and decided to take the opportunity to study in Tokyo during her junior year. That experience ultimately led to her majoring in Japanese Language with a minor in communications. Upon graduation Cowper again decided to study internationally and enrolled in a niche program at the University of Brighton in International Event Management.

Cowper soon saw a job posting for a Program Associate to help coordinate events and provide services for International students at George Washington University in Washington D.C. that “sounded too good to be true.” The position proved to be the perfect fit for her interests in language and culture. Cowper is now settling into her new job. While the position and city may be new, Cowper has confidence that this step was the right move for her. “Looking at my current living and work situation, as well as all of the milestones I’ve experienced, I’m blown away at where God has led me and all of the challenges and victories that have taken place along the way. My faith is what allowed me to have peace through making the decision to move out of state for a new job in higher education.”

“

Looking at my current living and work situation, as well as all of the milestones I’ve experienced, I’m blown away at where God has led me and all of the challenges and victories that have taken place along the way.

Whether it is while studying abroad or in her work with international students, Cowper says her faith shapes everything in her life. It is that faith and Cowper’s experiences and passion for other cultures that has allowed her to develop her unique gifts and abilities to engage and transform the world for Jesus Christ in exciting and wonderful ways.

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According to Cowper, “the idea of event planning took root after many conversations with one of my close friends I had met while studying in Japan. She was from Germany and studying Diplomacy Studies in hopes of working at international conferences with dignitaries. That certainly piqued my interest! So I applied and was accepted to the University of Brighton in England.”

From there Cowper returned to Michigan to put her master’s to use, and she spent time working in event management for organizations and businesses. Cowper says that after a few years she was ready

for a “new challenge, preferably in the international sector.”

CALLED TO MINISTER Elizabeth Vander Haagen Elizabeth Vander Haagen (’93) remembers sitting in Mrs. Peterson and Mrs. Decke’s typing class as a freshman. It was the first day, and Mrs. Decke told them, “’some of you are going to have a great year – you’ll have good friendships, study well, enjoy yourselves.

And some of you, for whatever reason, are going to have a really bad year – whether it’s trouble at home or with friends or with grades – whatever it is.” And then she said, “but whatever sort of year you have, I want you to know this: God delights in you.”’ Mrs. Decke followed these words with a reading of Zephaniah 3:17.

According to Vander Haagen this left a lasting impression on her, “I have carried her words about God delighting in us and that passage in my heart ever since. “ For VanderHaagen, these words have carried her far--through college and graduate school, to her current position as Co-Pastor of Boston Square Church in Grand Rapids, MI.

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“

Those summers in Detroit deepened an interest in urban ministry that had started with Spring Service weeks at Lansing Christian, where I had worked at the Lansing City Rescue Mission.

After graduating LCS, Vander Haagen attended Calvin College where she spent two summers in Detroit with an Intervarsity Urban Project. It was during these experiences, working in urban missions, that VanderHaagen first felt the call to ministry.

“Those summers in Detroit deepened an interest in urban ministry that had started with Spring Service weeks at Lansing Christian, where I had worked at the Lansing

City Rescue Mission. Reading the Bible in inner-city Detroit opened my eyes to the way Scripture speaks to social and economic issues, and I wanted to learn more.”

Although already accepted into Princeton Theological Seminary, Vander Haagen spent the year following her graduation from Calvin pursuing urban ministries in North Philadelphia where she worked with Mission Year, an organization devoted to helping people serve God’s people and the church in urban areas. Following her year of service, Vander Haagen began her coursework and God’s direction for her life became even clearer, “it was during my time at Princeton, in preaching classes and an internship at Madison Ave Christian Reformed Church in Paterson, NJ, that I began to hear God’s calling to be a pastor more clearly.”

Today, Vander Haagen is living out that calling as Co-Pastor of Boston Square Church along with her husband Jay Blankespoor.

Her responsibilities at Boston Square include preaching, worship planning, pastoral care and discipleship. VanderHaagen also recently published, Teach Us to Pray: ScriptureCentered Family Worship through the Year, a book she co-authored with Rev Lora A. Copley. It is a daily prayer book and guide for families in “both listening to and speaking to God through songs, Scripture readings, guided action, and quiet contemplation, organized to follow the life of Jesus through each season of the Christian calendar.”

According to VanderHaagen, this year long devotional was a major undertaking. But as a parent of three small children she was very interested in how best to nurture her own family’s faith and was inspired to write a book that uses different methods to help children engage with the whole canon of Scripture.

VanderHaagen and her co-author have used their own children as testers and, although she says it has not always gone as planned, “we continue to be amazed at the ways we get to see our children encountering God in scripture and prayer with this book.”

TEACH US TO PRAY:

BY LORA A COPLEY AND ELIZABETH VANDER HAAGEN

ANNUAL REPORT 11

SCRIPTURE-CENTERED FAMILY WORSHIP THROUGH THE YEARS

CALLED TO SERVE Patrick Bisher For Patrick Bisher (’02), a childhood marked by surgeries and pain as a result of a rare hip disease made him an unlikely candidate to become a Navy SEAL. In his book No Surrender: Faith, Family and Finding Your Way, Bisher chronicles his experiences as a young boy who went from an energetic and promising athlete to being told at the age of nine he would never walk again.

After being diagnosed with a congenital hip disorder, Bisher endured a nearly eighteen month ordeal which included leg braces, crutches, multiple surgeries and countless hours of physical therapy. After a year of limited mobility, Bisher was left with severe pain when performing simple tasks like walking and sitting. But Bisher was determined not only to walk but to run.

Pushing himself through, what was at times, agonizing pain, he was able to regain his physical ability and ultimately to excel as a high school athlete.

Bisher faced his physical adversities head-on but he struggled to understand why as a young child he was faced with so much pain and so many obstacles. As a teenager he found himself associating with the wrong people and made the decision to transfer to Lansing Christian School to make a fresh start and put some of his childhood struggles behind him. At LCS he met a young teacher name Layton De Vries who made an immediate impact on Bisher’s life. “I saw in him not just an adult who believed in me, but also a role model. Someone I could emulate and who came to exemplify the fresh start I was after, even more so because his presence was what steered me toward God and my own faith.”

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Later that year, Layton De Vries was tragically killed in a car accident. “When he died that year I was hit so hard my soul was rocked and broke. I had been through so much pain up to that point, and that crushed me.

But what he was and who he was to me never left me.”

For Bisher, De Vries’ death was another source of pain in a life already marked by suffering. But according to Bisher, facing these struggles made him seek to do and be more—to use his life to serve others. “I wanted to be somebody better, somebody more, the best in my own eyes and everyone else’s; I wanted to make a difference for

people who couldn’t defend themselves. My boyhood experiences, all that I’d had to overcome, left me with a keen appreciation of what it was like to feel helpless, to need to rely on others.”

Heeding a call to serve, Bisher enlisted in the Navy and entered training to become a SEAL. Bisher pushed himself to his physical limit and exceeded any prognosis doctors had given him years earlier, and he found himself fulfilling a bigger calling for his life. As Bisher writes in his book, “I wanted to make a difference in the best way I knew of, and that would be by becoming a warrior defending this great nation and trying to follow the route that God had set in motion for me.”

“

I wanted to be somebody better, somebody more, the best in my own eyes and everyone else’s; I wanted to make a difference for people who couldn’t defend themselves.

Despite needing a full hip-replacement following a parachuting accident during his naval training, Bisher continued to overcome pain and injury to succeed in achieving his goal of becoming a Navy SEAL. While rehabbing his hip, Bisher also began learning Arabic which allowed his to uniquely serve his team as a language specialist when he deployed to Iraq in 2011.

Today Bisher is living in the Lansing area where he is father to two young sons who attend Lansing Christian School. As a former Navy SEAL, he is pulling from his personal and professional experiences to help motivate and train others. Working as a consultant, Bisher mentors people in a variety of fields to face their challenges head on, push through failure, and to achieve their goals despite adversity.

NO SURRENDER:

FAITH, FAMILY, AND FINDING YOUR WAY

BY PATRICK BISHER AND JON LAND

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““

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

-Isaiah 6:8 2017 2017 Class Verse

2017 GRADUATES Following is a list of colleges and universities that the 2017 graduates were accepted into for the 2016-2017 academic year. Those in bold reflect the colleges students plan to attend.

Adrian College Albion College Alma College Anderson University Arizona State University Aurora University Baylor University Belmont University Bethel College Bluffton University Calvin College Case Western Reserve University Cedarville University Chapman University Coe College College of Saint Scholastica Colorado Christian University Concordia University Ann Arbor Cornerstone University Covenant College Eastern Michigan University Ferris State University Florida Atlantic University Grace College Grand Valley State University Grove City College Heidelberg University Hope College Huntington University IMG Academy Indiana Wesleyan University IPFW Kalamazoo College Kennesaw State University Kettering University Lansing Community College

Lee University Mercer University Miami of Ohio Michigan State University Michigan Technological University MidAmerica Nazarene University Millikin University Missouri Science and Technology Missouri Valley College Monmouth College Mount Vernon Nazarene University New England College Northern Michigan University Ohio University Olivet Nazarene University Pepperdine University Purdue University Spring Arbor University Suffolk University Taylor University Union University Universidad Internacional Menendez Pelayo University of Arkansas University of Detroit Mercy University of Findlay University of Indianapolis University of Michigan University of Michigan Flint University of Minnesota University of New England Valparaiso University Wayne State University Western Michigan University Wheaton College

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2016-2017 FINANCIAL REPORT OPERATING INCOME: $4,274,000 TUITION

1%

CONTRIBUTIONS

22%

OTHER 77%

OPERATING EXPENSES*: $4,049,000

6%

FACULTY & STAFF

1%

STUDENT PROGRAMS

8% 9%

FACILITY 76%

ADMIN MATERIAL FUNDRAISING

ANNUAL REPORT 16

GIVING AT A GLANCE TOTAL DONORS UNRESTRICTED ANNUAL GIVING BLACK AND GOLD CELEBRATION RESTRICTED ANNUAL GIVING ENDOWMENT THIRD PARTY TUITION ASSISTANCE

2016-2017 383 $618,000 $151,000 $97,000 $28,000 $150,000

2015-2016 260 $567,000 $133,000 $56,000 $80,000 $62,000

TOTAL CASH GIVING

$1,044,000

$898,000

WHO ARE OUR DONORS? 2016-2017

2015-2016

100% BOARD PARTICIPATION

100% BOARD PARTICIPATION

40% PARENT PARTICIPATION

25% PARENT PARTICIPATION

PERCENTAGE OF ALL DONORS BY CATEGORY PARENTS

39%

ALUMNI PARENTS/GRANDPARENTS

27%

FRIENDS OF LCS

19%

GRANDPARENTS

15%

ORGANIZATIONS

11%

STAFF

8%

ALUMNI

7%

NUMBER OF DONORS BY DOLLAR AMOUNT

3 4 12 70

$100,000+ $50,000 to $99,999 $10,000 to $49,999 $1,000 to $9,999 $100 to $999

148

$0 to $99

ANNUAL REPORT 17

146

HOW CAN I MAKE A DIFFERENCE? ANNUAL FUND Your contribution to the Annual Fund helps support the immediate needs of the school while creating a lasting legacy through our students. Your gift will be used to support exceptional programs and resources in a faith based learning environment that is preparing students for life now, and postgraduation. Since no one at LCS pays more than 85% of the cost to educate a student, receiving financial support from the LCS community is key to keeping a quality Christian education accessible for more families in the great Lansing area—allowing us to graduate more young men and women equipped to engage and transform the world for Jesus Christ.

The financial support of the LCS community to the Annual Fund is an expression of faith and support in God’s work at the school and an investment in the future of our students. Your gift, big of small makes a difference!

ENDOWMENT Since 1951 Lansing Christian School has been a source for quality Christian education to the greater Lansing area. Thousands of students have graduated from our school equipped to engage and transform the world for Jesus Christ. A gift to the LCS Endowment helps to ensure a Lansing Christian School education will be accessible for generations of students to come.

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All gifts designated for the endowment are invested in a restricted fund through the Barnabas Foundation. Building our endowment now will allow us to utilize the interest as a source of income in the future and help us work towards long-term financial sustainability, ensuring a lasting legacy of quality Christian education in the Lansing area.

PLANNED GIVING Naming Lansing Christian School in your will or trust exemplifies a life-time passion and on-going commitment to the mission of our school. Receiving a gift to the Annual Fund or the LCS Endowment from an individual’s estate is a huge blessing to the school and will help us graduate more young men and women equipped to engage and transform the world for Jesus Christ.

In addition to naming LCS in your will or trust, you can designate Lansing Christian School as a beneficiary of your retirement plan or life insurance policy, or you can create a charitable gift annuity which provides immediate support to the school during your lifetime.

To discuss how to include LCS in your will, or to make a planned gift please contact the Development Office.

MEMORIAL GIFTS Providing a gift to Lansing Christian School in memory of a friend or relative is a way to honor their commitment to LCS while helping to equip more young people to engage and transform the world for Jesus Christ. When an honoree or family has requested that gifts be given to Lansing Christian School in lieu of flowers, the donations are made to the LCS Endowment unless otherwise specified.

Donations to the LCS Endowment help create a legacy of quality Christian Education im the greater Lansing area for generations to come. In recognition of the individual in whose name a memorial gift was made, a brick will be placed outside the main entrance to commemorate their legacy at Lansing Christian School.

To make a memorial gift please contact the development office.

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Equipping young men and women to engage and transform the world for Jesus Christ.