Chris Hahn, Head of
Joe Hesman, Secondary Principal & Director of Operations
Anthony Mickelson, Secondary Assistant Principal
Julie Madsen, Upper Elementary Principal
Charissa Sanders, Early Ed & Lower Elementary Principal
Lance Quessenberry, A.D.
Rocco DeFelice, International Program Director
Sarah Coats, Dir. of Development
Cordell Dick, Dir. of Access & Affordability
Alivia Addleman
Emma Albrecht
Noah Bartley
Nathan Bausback
Matthew Bird
Daniel Black
Grace Bowlin
Allie Brown
Madison Brown
Katie Coats
Liv Collum
Lydia Conner
Abby Cooke
Ryan Cooper
Ezekiel Cordell
Carrie Crouch
Lizzy D’Angelo
Jacob Davis
Joshua Ellison
Vega Gastaldo
Preston Goffinet
Trevon Hildebrand
Avary Hill
Longview
Columbia College
Road Builders
Longview
Electrician Trade School
Ottawa U
U of Kansas
State Fair CC
Longview
Abilene Christian U
U of Central Missouri
U of Missouri
James River College
MCC
U of Central Missouri
Oral Roberts U
U of Central Missouri
Internship-Restaurant
Repair/HVAC
Gap year
UV (Spain)
Mechanical Trade College of the Ozarks
Grand Canyon U & Paul Mitchell School
Memphis Hinton
Ben Kemper
Gavin Lage
Jolee Lunn
Joshua Madsen
Dalton McBroom
Cameron McClain
Will McConaughey
Navi McFarland
Ellie McFarland
Adriana McGregor
Caleb Means
Zoey Medsker
Elizabeth Miller
Emma Miller-Fox
Andrew Mishriky
Brandon Moore
Mia Murkin
Mick Nicholson
Trent Osgood
McKinzie Parks
April Phillips
Drew Pierce
Noah Porter
Grand Canyon U
Evangel U
U of Missouri
Cosmetology
Eden Prather
Keyler Quessenberry
Mara Reasoner
Adelyne Redman
Union U
Southeastern U
Lindenwood U
YWAM
Sheet Metal Trade School
Benedictine College
US Air Force Reserve
U of Arkansas
Longview
Southwest Baptist U
Evangel U
Military
MidAmerica Nazarene U U of Missouri
Johnson County CC UMKC
PM Contracting
House
Heavilin
Shea Rider
Emirson Schooley
Grant Self
Emery Shores
Jeramiah Smith
Morgan Sparks
Jackson Staley
Jillian Steller
Cason Stone
Jake Sutton
Lilly Teilborg
Olivia Truesdale
Tate Turner
Elise Welch
Gabe Wesselschmidt
Grace Wilson
Hope Woodall
Elizabeth Wyssmann
Makenzie Zimmerman
Southwest Baptist U
Dordt U
MCC
U of Missouri
U of Central Missouri
Evangel
Undecided
Creighton U
PM Contracting
U of Arkansas
Photography
Penn Valley CC
MCC
Gap year-Costa Rica
Missouri State U
Longview
Southwest Baptist U
Longview
Southwest Baptist U
Longview
What’s New at SCA
• The 2022-23 school year at Summit Christian Academy was the school’s 33rd year and had a record enrollment of nearly 1200 preschool-12th grade students. The school expanded to five sections of Kindergarten and four sections of many other elementary and secondary classes, and had a graduating class of 70.
• In February 2023, SCA opened the Fieldhouse and Activity Center, the third building on the 38-acre campus. All students, teachers, alumni, covenant church pastors, and donors were invited in the months leading up to the grand opening to sign their name, favorite Bible verse, and prayers on the gymnasium floor. The school celebrated the inaugural basketball games playing Barstow with the “Blue Bash” on February 7 where the Eagles swept all four games. The official ribbon cutting was on February 9. The 43,000 ft² Fieldhouse and Activity Center includes an official NCAA sized gymnasium, locker rooms, weight room, multipurpose room, meeting rooms, concession stand, and restrooms.
• The Board of Education approved a new position for the 2023-24 school year titled the Dean of Improvement, Integration, and Innovation (DI3). This position will join the leadership team at the school. SCA hired seasoned faculty member Mrs. Kelly Montgomery to fulfill this position.
• The elementary building was emptied for a total renovation project in the summer of 2023. The “Elementary Eagle Refresh” will include new paint and flooring throughout, including hardwood floors in the gymnasium. The elementary playground will also get a refresh, with new equipment and turf.
• SCA was ranked first in the Kansas City Metro area top private schools list by the Kansas City Business Journal. This is up from last year’s second place ranking. This is the ninth consecutive year that SCA has been ranked as a top five private school in the Kansas City Metropolitan area.
Alumni Highlights
• Class of 2009 - Kara Totzke (Hansen) is SCA Varsity Volleyball Head Coach, and during the 2022-23 season took her 100th win! Coach K has been head coach since 2015.
• Class of 2009 - Ian Kearney and Kristen Campbell (Withrow) have a tradition with Mrs. Verna Green (their previous sixth grade teacher and current resource teacher) called “April Fools’ Pizza.” On April 1, 2002, students in their sixth grade class ordered pizza as an April Fools’ prank. The pizza was delivered and the class got an impromptu pizza party! Every year since, Ian and Kristen have ordered Mrs. Green a pizza on April Fools’ Day and they hand delivered it to her at SCA this year, 21 years later.
• Class of 2012 - Shannah Maser (Withrow) joined NASA in 2018 through the NASA Pathways Internship Program and is now working for Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. She is the Vehicle Systems Lead for Mars Science Helicopter, and the Aeronautics System Lead for Mars Sample Recovery Helicopter. Shannah was recently selected as a member of the 2023 Forbes 30 Under 30 class which allowed her to participate in the Forbes 30/50 Summit in Abu Dhabi, UAE. While there, she spoke at a local high school for International Women’s Day.
• Class of 2022 - Garrett Ferguson earned Collegiate Baseball Freshmen AllAmerican honors with Missouri State University! Ferguson’s 1.88 ERA led the Missouri Valley Conference and he was 2nd among freshmen in RBI’s with 61. He is ranked 5th nationally among freshmen on the full season.
• We love hiring alumni! Fourteen alumni are on staff at SCA including Kelsey Branch (Brown)-2007, Faith Hodges (Wilson)-2007, Michael Mayor-2008, Elizabeth Schmidt-2008, Kellsi Gibbs (Spalding)-2009, Kara Totzke (Hansen)-2009, Patrick Love-2012, Abigail Woodall-2017, Sabrina Etheridge-2017, Kassi Ginther-2017, Jonny Schneeberger-2017, Kaylee Lynch (Lunn)-2018, Savanna Sallas-2018, and Cade Zucca-2021.
• Last summer, 18 alumni came to the annual Alec Rush Alumni soccer game—our biggest crowd yet for this event! The 6th annual Alec Rush Alumni Game was held on Friday, August 11, 2023.
• Over 60 alumni came back to SCA for Homecoming 2022! All are invited to Homecoming 2023 at 7 p.m. on September 22. Alumni get in free and get complimentary T-Shirts and snacks for the game!
• Twenty-seven students for the upcoming school year are second-generation Eagles!
Congratulations to...
• Michael Millam (2007) and his wife Reba welcomed Beasley May in November 2022!
• Matt Webb (2009) and his wife Kayla welcomed their second daughter Mya Kate in October 2022! Matt’s oldest daughter is a student at SCA.
• Toshaun Avery (2010) and his wife Marissa welcomed their third child Jayci Ruth in July 2022! Toshaun is a pastor at Abundant Life and is a member of the SCA Board of Education. His oldest son attends SCA.
• Olivia Mueller (Blumer) (2014) and her husband Ryan welcomed Nora Mae in December 2022!
• SCA Alumni Samuel Huckabee (2017) and Madyson (Harmon) Huckabee (2016) were married last summer! Sam is currently in UMKC dental school and Mady is working sales for her family’s business and SCA Corporate Partner, Harmon Floor Covering.
• Chloe Willmeth (Woodall) (2019) and Dawson Willmeth were married in May 2022!
Highlights from the 2022-23 School Year
Academics
• The Class of 2023 had 70 graduates who were awarded approximately $3.5 million in scholarship offers. In addition, SCA had three seniors receive Missouri Bright Flight scholarships with a 30 or higher on the ACT, and one student received a perfect 36 ACT score.
• Senior Andrew Mishriky, son of Farid & Nermeen Mishriky, was named the 2022-23 Student of the Year. Andrew attended SCA for six years and will attend the six-year medical program at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
• Class of 2023 Summa Cum Laude recipients were Lydia Conner, Andrew Mishriky, Eden Prather, and Olivia Truesdale. To achieve SCA’s highest academic honor, students must have been at SCA for four consecutive semesters, demonstrate a transcript of 30 credit hours, have taken four years of high school science and four years of high school math, attend school at least seven hours during their senior year, and have no academic modifications in achieving a cumulative percentage that is in the top 5% of their class.
• In the past two years, nine students have earned the Missouri Seal of Biliteracy award, with two students receiving the Distinguished Seal of Biliteracy, in conjunction with the Missouri Department of Education. SCA American World Language Students received the Seal of Biliteracy in Spanish or French. Students receiving the Seal of Biliteracy in 2022 were senior Olivia Truesdale in French and senior McKinzie Parks in Spanish. Students receiving the Seal of Biliteracy in Spanish in 2023 are sophomore George Hoelzel, junior Virginia Baxter, seniors Grace Bowlin, Elise Welch, and Makenzie Zimmerman. In addition, junior David Beltran and senior Anna Hammond received the Distinguished Seal of Biliteracy in Spanish.
SCA hosted two international students: senior Vega Gastaldo (Spain) and eighth grade student Emma Bao (China).
• Mrs. Stringfellow’s Calculus class received the first place medal at the Midwest Christian School Academic and Fine Arts festival for the third year in a row.
• Long-time Secondary American Government, Geography, World History, and American History teacher Mr. Greg Finch was honored as one of the top 10 Christian Teachers of the Year for 2022 by the Herzog Foundation. He was honored at the Herzog Foundation Excellence in Christian Education Awards Gala in Washington, DC.
Athletics
• Seventy-four percent of junior high/high school students are part of the SCA athletic program.
• Seven graduates committed to compete in collegiate level sports: Daniel Black, soccer at Ottawa University; Allie Brown, cheerleading at State Fair Community College; Adriana McGregor, Track & Field at Evangel University; Zoey Medsker, softball at MidAmerica Nazarene University; April Phillips, Track & Field at Evangel University; Mara Reasoner, Track & Field at Lindenwood University; and Hope Woodall, Track & Field at Southwest Baptist University.
• All high school teams earned the MSHSAA Scholastic Achievement Award. Eleven teams earned the Outstanding Award, averaging an unweighted team GPA of 3.5 or higher, with the other six teams earning the Distinguished Award, averaging 3.4 or higher. The highest team average GPA was 3.73 by the varsity girls swim team.
STATE
• Varsity Boys’ Golf (Class 2): The team won the State Championship! This accomplishment marks the first time an SCA team has placed first in MSHSAA State Competition! In addition, freshman Peyton Smith was individual champion and freshman Ben Wheeler finished third.
• Varsity Boys’ Track (Class 2): The team won SCA’s second-ever State Championship! In addition, junior Marcus Jones was the state champion in the 200 and 400 meter dashes, as well as joined sophomore Marcus Verbrugge and seniors Drew Pierce and Jake Sutton to win the state championship in the 4x400 relay. The four young men also comprised the 4x200 meter relay team which placed second.
• Varsity Girls’ Track (Class 3): Senior April Phillips was the State Champion in Long Jump, Triple Jump, and High Jump. She was the first Missouri Class 3 athlete to win three state titles in three jumping events in a single year.
• Varsity Boys’ Soccer (Class 1): The team second in State.
• Varsity Girls’ Cross Country (Class 3): The team won third in State.
• Fifteen athletes were awarded All-State honors.
• Eagle Award recipients were Keyler Quessenberry (cross country, basketball, track & field) and Matthew Bird (football). Each coach selects an athlete who displays a passion for developing their God-given talent to bring God glory through athletics as well as displays excellence in academics and leadership.
• The Alec Rush Dash Award recipient was eighth grade student Charlee Pollard. In honor of 2016 graduate Alec Rush, each JH/HS soccer, football, and track coach selects an athlete who displays qualities of a fearless warrior, faithful follower, and forever friend.
• This spring, the athletic department established the Eagle Elite Award to recognize the hard work and perseverance of athletes who earn nine or more varsity letters in their high school career. This year’s recipients were Memphis Hinton with ten varsity letters, along with Adriana McGregor, Drew Pierce, and Hope Woodall who earned nine varsity letters each.
• In addition to the four honorees from the Class of 2023, we are honored to recognize the following alumni who will be recognized as Eagle Elite athletes moving forward, including as part of their personal profile in the upcoming virtual trophy case to be featured in the new fieldhouse: with nine varsity letters: Riley Painter (2020), Luke Poppen (2022), and Emma Smith (2022); with ten varsity letters: Kaylee Lunn (2018), Alyssa Pemberton (2019), Zeke Oppriecht (2020), Emma Jeffries (2022), and Lauren McCoy (2022); with thirteen varsity letters: Rylee Lunn (2020). We know more athletes would have undoubtedly qualified for this award. We truly wish we could honor all of them. However, records of varsity letter recipients are only available going back to 2015. We apologize to those for whom we don’t have complete records. If you would like to submit an athlete for consideration for this award, please email Kathi Woodall at kwoodall@sca-kc.org.
Fine Arts
• Three vocal soloists received the top rating (1) at the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) State Music Festival. Soloists earning a gold medal included sophomore Addison Davies, junior Hannah Wyssmann, and senior Shea Rider.
• Junior Charlotte Brownlee’s painting was selected by Senator Mike Cierpiot to represent District 8 in the Missouri Senate Hall Student Art Exhibit. A copy of her artwork will hang in the Senate hallway gallery from March 2023 through February 2024. Look for Charlotte’s original winning artwork, an acrylic painting titled “A Warm Embrace” on display by the Summit Christian Academy Administrative Conference Room.
• Senior Will McConaughey committed and is on scholarship to join the College of Music at the University of Arkansas and the Marching Band. He will major in Musical Performance.
• The SCA Theatre department put on productions of Hello, Dolly! and Peter Pan
• Senior Olivia Truesdale was awarded a Cappie for her performance in a supporting female role as Tinkerbell in the SCA Theatre production of Peter Pan by the Kansas City Cappies.
• Other Cappies nominees include: Choreography Nominee junior Abbie Cook for Hello, Dolly!; Creativity Nominee junior Hannah Wyssmann for Peter Pan; Ensemble in a Play Nominees of “The Lost Boys” (including seventh grade student Junius Yancik, freshman Addison Welch, and juniors Charlotte Brownlee, Ella Jones, Savannah Topping, and Abbie Cook) for Peter Pan; Featured Actor in a Female Role in a Play Nominee sophomore Emma Coats for Peter Pan; Comic Actor in a Female Role in a Play Nominee junior Charlotte Brownlee for Peter Pan; and Lead Actor in a Female Role in a Play Nominee senior Shea Rider for Peter Pan
• The Junior High Speech & Debate team competed at the National Speech and Debate Association Middle School tournament in Phoenix. All SCA teams had wins in preliminaries and one student made it to quarterfinals in impromptu. The team was the first Junior High team in SCA history to compete at the national championship.
Community Service
• The Class of 2023 spent the final days of their summer vacation away from home and serving on the 19th annual senior mission trip in Memphis. Partnering with the Praying Pelican Missions, seniors were able to divide into multiple small groups and impact several different organizations each day including the Calvary Rescue Mission, Knowledge Quest Food Stability Center, and Feed the Kingdom. The students prepared 2,000 backpacks for local children returning to school, and did manual work including landscaping, preparing and serving food, and beautifying local churches and schools.
• SCA continued the 24-year tradition of Solemn Assembly to set aside a full day to go before the Lord in prayer. Our Guest Speaker was Keith McCurdy, Family and Parenting Educator and Consultant, and Founder and President of Live Sturdy LLC.
• Elementary school students united to give almost 10,000 food items to bless families with a meal for Thanksgiving through the annual Thanksgiving Food Drive.
• Students in 7-12 grade took time away from the classroom to serve in nonprofits across the KC Metro area including Rotary Youth Camps, Hope City, and SOAR Special Needs Camp for Secondary Service Week.
• SCA hosted nearly 80 pastors and corporate partners at the annual Community Partnership Breakfast.
SCA 2023 Teacher of the Year
SCA named secondary science teacher Mr. Tim Schwab as the SCA 2023 Teacher of the Year during a school-wide assembly. Thirty teachers were nominated, from which six finalists were selected. Finalists included sixth grade teacher Chandra Brownlee, secondary Science teacher Diane Ferguson, secondary Social Studies teacher Kelly Montgomery, second grade teacher Julie Ray, secondary Science teacher Tim Schwab, and third grade teacher Kristen Tschida.
Mr. Schwab has a B.S. in Mathematics from Colorado State University and two minors–one in chemistry and one in philosophy. He served in the Marine Corps and worked in healthcare information technology prior to joining the SCA faculty in 2016.
Mr. Schwab was presented with a plaque, an SCA designated parking space, and a monetary award. As SCA’s Teacher of the Year, heis also a candidate for the Great Plains Alliance of Christian Schools (GPACS) Teacher of the Year. The GPACS Teacher of the Year will be announced in January 2024.
SPLAT youth adventure trips are still going strong! The mission of SPLAT is to disciple young adults through mystery road trips with Servanthood, Prayer, Leadership, Adventure, and Teamwork. Founded in 2006 by Mr. Wayne Stam, the trips have progressed to include an Amazing Race style trip for college students, mystery road trips for youth groups and senior class mission trips, and teambuilding and leadership retreats. Through the past 18 years, the SPLAT board and staff have included SCA teachers and staff members, and over 20 previous SCA students! The current staff includes (L-R) SPLAT Executive Director Kristen Campbell (Withrow) (2009), Marresa Ross (2016), Pastor Taylor Shippy (2014), SPLAT Assistant Director Michael Mayor (2008), Carolyn Herrera (2016), Adysen Harris (2022),
