FALL 2017
Maranatha
MATTERS Sixth graders celebrating the start of the school year with a Fun Run.
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Biblical Principles Influence MCA Motto
his is a year of new beginnings! As our theme states, this year is about having a fresh start, a renewed passion for the educational strength and spiritual foundation of our school, and a rekindled emphasis on communication and family/community building. Isaiah 43:19 says, “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” In the elementary school, new Biblical standards for behavior have been instituted through the SOAR program. Each letter of the positive expectation plan stands for a specific trait; R stands for Respect Others. The SOAR expectations are listed in a table so students know what the expectations are for them in the classroom, hallways, lunch room, Chapel, and playground. 1 Corinthians 14:40 says, “Everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.” Students are expected to act in an orderly manner and follow school and classroom rules. A SOAR store has been instituted to allow students to use their SOAR bucks to earn fun items or privileges. The students have embraced this new program with enthusiasm. As a complement to our 24 credit hours of dual credit classes that students can take, which allows them to potentially enter college as a sophomore, we have added a second level of graduation requirements called MCA Honors Graduation that aligns with the Kansas Regents Scholars program. This program requires a fourth year of high school mathematics and two years of a foreign language. One advantage is that students who meet the Regents Scholars program are eligible for scholarships for college. Spiritually, we are working to enhance our climate of Christian discipleship through expanding the responsibilities of our student chaplains, hosting a Missions conference for student leadership in January, and a new program for prayer emphasis called FOCUS, which stands for Faithful, Obedient, Christ-
like, United, and Serving. It’s exciting to see all the great things that the Lord is doing here at Maranatha Christian Academy. MCA’s motto is Wisdom Character Service. I introduced a second motto to the MCA community, which originated from Lt. Gen. Garrison H. Davidson, a former Superintendent of West Point. This motto has become a guiding force in my personal life and my leadership in the Air Force and in education. We are currently using this motto as the basis for staff development, character development, and even recognition. So many Biblical principles are embraced in these 12 words:
This message was introduced to the staff during orientation and to the students during Chapels. In the military, commander and unit coins are given to recognize outstanding accomplishments or to show deep respect or appreciation. In a similar manner, our new MCA Motto Coins with the 12 words have been given to staff members, board members, and students who have exemplified one or more of the principles of this motto. One teacher has embraced this motto as her classroom expectations. As decisions regarding our school are made, we look at the Mission Statement and our Core Values. As we teach character and leadership, we reflect upon the Biblical truths conveyed through these 12 words. I am looking forward to the privilege of presenting many more coins in the future and seeing God move mightily in our awesome school. Janet Fogh Head of School
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ANNUAL APPEALS IMPACT MARANATHA
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here are many different ways to give back to Maranatha Christian Academy. Whether you purchase tickets to our Gala next spring, volunteer with service projects, or make yearly monetary contributions, we are grateful for every dollar and fraction of time parents, friends, and alumni dedicate to our school. This spring, MCA launched a new direct-mail solicitation program, consisting of appeals sent directly to our constituents’ mailboxes. The purpose of these appeals is to increase our actual revenue to better provide vital resources that help sustain our school and assist with future growth.
MCA seniors dressed as figures from the Constitutional era.
MCA Focuses on Academic Advancement
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CA is a dually accredited, KinderPrep through 12th grade school. We went through the reaccreditation process last spring, again earning a full five-year accreditation through AdvancEd (secular seal/stamp of approval) and the Association of Christian Schools International (the Christian “Good Housekeeping” seal of approval for educational institutions). We are making great strides on the Academic pillar this school year. Teachers and administration in the elementary school have been working on using assessment to inform instruction, collaboration, and instructional strategies and a complete audit of instructional time was completed. Changes were also made to increase instructional minutes in the classroom as well as enhance consistency and flow within the school day. Additionally, the IT department has introduced a collaborative software that supports the academic environment. This year, our sophomores joined the juniors in taking the PSAT, a preparatory test for the college readiness test, the SAT. Providing students an extra year of practice for this important test will benefit them in the long run. Cooperative learning strategies have been emphasized in staff training time with the goal of increasing engagement in the classroom across the curricular disciplines. MCA Honors Graduation aligns with the Kansas Regents Scholars program for our high school students and we are happy to say we had two students who were recognized as Commended Students by the National Merit Scholarship program: Ty Caffery and Samuel McGowan.
KU ENGINEERING DESIGN COMPETITION
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wenty-four students competed at KU on October 25 under the direction of their science teacher, David Cox. Congratulations to all who participated and represented MCA! Meggie Abebe Ty Caffrey Jason Friesen Oscar Gerdes David He Phoebe Hines Jax Holland Mariah Karley
Will Knight Samuel McGowen Jacob Meigs Zac Oster Stephanie Pang Mitchell Peacher Zack Pelham Kyler Reinhardt
Steven She Daniel Sun Armani Walker Greyson Wiley Grace Wojcik Abby Wright Kevin Zhang Joey Zhou
Our first appeal has raised $15,250. To every donor who contributed—thank you! Every dollar is greatly needed and deeply appreciated. This fall, we’ll send our second appeal, which will help us fund several essential projects, including: • Purchasing updated security doors (approximately $1,000 each). The total project, which includes an enhanced security protocol for the north campus, will be $20,000-$30,000. • Upgrading the HVAC units, estimated at $30,000-$40,000. • Purchasing ASPIRE standardized test booklets and resources for grades 3–12, helping students to measure academic growth aligned with our standards and prepare students for higher level testing. Cost is approximately $1,700 per grade level, for a total of $17,000. These are just three items from our list of future improvement projects, and as you can see, our needs are great. We need alumni and parents like you to help us make these essential initiatives a reality. All gifts to MCA are 100% tax deductible, and many are eligible for matching opportunities through employer programs, so check with your company to see if your next gift could have twice the impact! We hope you will consider joining the ranks of those who have already become donors and prayerfully consider contributing to our next appeal. Your gifts are truly a reflection of the value you place on the education MCA provides.
Left: Students dressed up for Homecoming in September. Right: Maranatha started out the school year with a Color Battle for secondary students.
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ark your calendars and plan to attend MCA’s spring auction dinner on Friday, March 23, 2018, in the gym on the north campus.
Our co-leaders of our spring dinner are elementary parents, Kim Ciston and Stephanie Marks, and they are working with a group of parents to plan an awesome auction to raise money toward meeting the operational needs of our school. If you are interested in getting involved, we need you! When it’s time to purchase tickets for the spring auction dinner, we are going to be encouraging each family to buy tickets for themselves and for their pastor and their spouse, or friends they know who do not yet have their children at Maranatha. We want to introduce the community to the great things going on at Maranatha. Word of mouth is the best way to share the story of Maranatha! We are hoping to involve our awesome students in this event as much as possible: • Inviting one of the choirs or the band to perform • Having athletic teams serve the tables in their jerseys • Having a class run a babysitting service in our classrooms as a fundraiser for the class and a convenience for our families with young children • Having a class run a soda/pop concession • Having them help with the silent auction and live auction items • Having the film class design and produce a video about Maranatha as a promotional video We are planning for the following categories of auction items: CLASS BASKET RAFFLE Each class will choose a theme and donate a basket for a raffle auction. Basket theme ideas include: family game night, couples night out, I love books, dinner and a movie, tea party, Chiefs, Royals, KC Sporting, all things Maranatha, heading to college, the ultimate baker, spa, coffee, gift card, travel, gardening, and picnic basket.
In KinderPrep and elementary, each classroom is asked to donate a basket; in secondary school, each grade level will be asked to donate a basket. Once your child’s class has chosen their theme, you’ll hear from your child’s teacher what type of donations they are looking for and they’ll be looking for a parent to spearhead this activity and then to assemble the basket and wrap it in cellophane for the auction dinner. The classes will receive 25 percent of the value of the tickets that are placed in their class basket, to be used for items to benefit that classroom. Thanks for contacting your child’s teacher and helping with this class project! DESSERT AUCTION Calling all bakers! We are looking for tasty and creative dessert dishes to be donated for our dessert auction. These desserts will be auctioned off at the dinner. Every person who attends the auction dinner will receive a voting token. The baker of the dessert that receives the most voting tokens will receive the honor of being the Eagle Baker of the Year! SILENT AND LIVE AUCTION We need your help soliciting businesses to donate items that we can auction off in the silent auction and via our live auction at the spring auction dinner. Who do you know who you can approach and ask for a donation? Think of the businesses you frequent and ask if they’d be willing to donate items to benefit Christian education. We have tax-exempt donation letters we can provide to you when asking businesses. We’re looking for donations of merchandise, trips, lift tickets, sports memorabilia and athletic game opportunities, cars, service industry services, homemade items, items the students help to make, quilts made of MCA T-shirts, a sports team to provide a service like prepare a three-course meal in your home or do yard work, lessons of many kinds (shooting, fishing, piloting), plane tickets or plane rides, and much, much more! Please consider who you can reach out to and ask for a donation!
MARANATHA FAMILY NEWS
Andrea House ’01 and her husband, Dustin, have two children, Melina and Cameron, and live in Shawnee, Kan. She is a stay-at-home mom and temps from time to time as a dental hygienist. Email: andreahouse10@gmail.com Kimberly Conner ’03 is an OB/GYN physician for the Air Force. She received a scholarship from USAF for medical school and now serves them. Her first station is Aviano Air Base in Italy, and she hopes to be stationed in Germany in 2018. Kim
and her husband, Daniel, welcomed Eliana Iris in December 2016. Krystle Barnett Peinado ’11 and her husband, Jon, were married in February 2016. Krystle graduated from Haskell Indian Nations University in 2015 with a teaching degree and is working on her master’s degree in special education at KU. She teaches kindergarten on base at Ft. Leavenworth, where her husband is stationed.
Emerald Barnett ’13 graduated from Central Christian College in May with a business degree in organization leadership. Email: barnett.emerald@gmail.com Caleb Henderson ’13 graduated in May from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga., with a bachelor’s degree in political science and minor in economics. He has been accepted to George Washington Law School and was admitted to Georgia Tech for their master’s program. (Continued on page 4)
SAVE THE DATE FIFTH TRIENNIAL KANSAS CITY MISSION CONFERENCE January 12, 2018 MidAmerica Nazarene University
The purpose of the day is to exhort and encourage students who are already spiritually and scripturally grounded toward a global responsibility for the Gospel. The day will involve more than just lecture and will include a variety of media. The conference is designed for students 9-12th grade and is $10 per student.
MARANATHA
MATTERS
MARANATHA CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 6826 LACKMAN ROAD SHAWNEE, KS 66217 Address Service Requested
For more details, contact Steve Gordon at (913) 631-0637.
SPRING AUCTION DINNER March 23, 2018 North campus gym
For more details on the auction, see page 2.
Stay Connected Online mca-eagles.org
FAMILY NEWS (Continued from page 3)
Megan Bowlin ’14 is studying pre-physical therapy at Oklahoma Baptist University. Email: meganleebowlin@gmail.com Xavier Armon Henderson ’16 is a sophomore at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga., studying physical therapy. He is thankful to Maranatha faculty for their support, especially Coach Travis. Email: xavier.henderson@morehouse.edu Lorene Bethell is the proud grandparent of students Addie and Zach Pelham. She retired as a registered nurse from Hutchinson Regional Hospital in 2012, and her husband was the Kansas state representative of District 113. After his death in 2012, Lorene donated a portion of his campaign account to Maranatha. She says, “I think they used it to purchase new football uniforms. We love the school!” Larry and Tammy Hartig are the proud parents of Caleb ’12 and live in Kansas City. Email: tlhartig4@sbcglobal.net Brownie Simpson and her husband are grandparents of Emma and Henry Fehr and enjoy attending their celebrations and activities. Brownie is the owner/operator of Kansas City Catering and lives in Shawnee.
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Brooke Bowlin ’16 Continues Christian-Based Education at John Brown University
or Brooke Bowlin ’16, Maranatha was more than just a school. It was where she met her best friends and formed lasting relationships with her teachers and mentors, but mostly, it was a place that molded her into the person she is today. “I went to Maranatha from Pre-K all the way through high school and I wouldn’t have had it any other way,” she said. “I loved the fact that while I’m young and learning and making all my major decisions in life that I could do that under Christian guidance and under people who love the Lord and are searching for similar things as me.”
great. I’m a lot better of a person because of who Maranatha surrounded me with.”
Brooke has fond memories of her time at Maranatha, specifically of her art and English classes and the friends and teachers she was surrounded by. Additionally, she was involved in numerous extracurricular activities, including the tennis team, student council, and NHS. “It’s really the people, I think, who made my experience so
Brooke has an older sister, Megan ’14, and a younger brother, Aaron, who is a senior at Maranatha. In her free time, she enjoys reading classic literature, making art, and is an avid music listener and concert goer. Brooke is from Shawnee, Kansas, and can be reached at brooke98morgan@gmail.com.
In 2016, Brooke began her collegiate career at John Brown University, a private Christian college in Northwest Arkansas. Brooke chose the university based off of the combination of majors she could earn. Studying art and business, Brooke is hoping to establish her own creative style and find a good path toward opening her own business and establishing herself as an artist. “Both programs are awesome. It’s the best decision I’ve ever made and I’m learning a lot.”