THE WOODLANDS THE WOODLANDS
C H R I S T I AACADEMY N CHRISTIAN A C A D E M Y APRIL 17, 2015
Head Of School Notes - by Julie Ambler At The Woodlands Christian Academy, we are committed to providing our students with an exceptional, Christ-centered education. But what, exactly, does that mean? To help define and direct our academic programs for the future, we have recently adopted five key tenets to a Woodlands Christian academic education — • We will teach from an unapologetic Christcentered worldview perspective. • We will continue to offer a rigorous and comprehensive curriculum that is broad and deep. • We will be committed to 21st century learning. • We will be a leader in the use of learning technologies. • We will equip students to be lifelong learners in an everchanging world. In future newsletters and blogs, we will unpack each of these tenets further. We look forward to a continued partnership as together, at home and at school, we equip and inspire our students to sharpen their minds and serve Christ’s kingdom. We are so proud of our seniors! Thus far, the Class of 2015 has received $2,523,034 ($72,087/student) in merit-based college scholarship offers. They have been accepted to universities including Yale, Purdue, George Washington University, The Citadel, Colorado School of Mines, The University of Oregon, The University of Alabama, The University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, The University of Texas, Texas A&M, Southern Methodist University, TCU, Trinity, and Baylor.
Our enrollment for next year already exceeds 2014-2015 levels with most grades reaching maximum capacity. We have already discouraged or formally denied admission to 350 applicants. Since January, we received 372 inquiries, conducted 123 tours, and enrolled 89 new students. We are also interviewing and hiring wonderfully talented faculty to accommodate our growth and increased offerings. After a national search, we are pleased to announce that Mr. Peter Laugen will join us in mid-June as our new Associate Principal of Middle School. (See photo at center.) Mr. Laugen holds a Masters degree in Education and has over 22 years of educational experience. His experience includes the roles of Middle School Principal and Interim Superintendent at Scottsdale Christian Academy in Scottsdale, Arizona, and, most recently, Head of School and Secondary Principal at Washtenaw Christian Academy in Saline, Michigan. Mr. Laugen is a firm believer that schools need to establish an identity for middle school students that addresses the unique social and educational needs of early adolescents. Most importantly, Mr. Laugen, as he puts it, “digs middle school students” and believes in balancing high expectations with humor. We believe that Mr. Laugen will be an outstanding addition to our administrative team, and we look forward to welcoming Pete, his wife, Stefanie, and their two daughters to Texas this summer.
5800 ACADEMY WAY . THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS 77384 . 936-273-2555 . WWW.TWCA.NET
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Auction News
Warrior Derby
Gala
Woodlands Christian| April 25, 2015
ONLINE BIDDING IS NOW OPEN!
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Take advantage of the opportunity to bid on and even purchase some of our Warrior Experiences, Teacher Experiences, and class projects. Buy It Now items are sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Unless an item is purchased as Buy It Now, the highest bid will be transferred over to begin the bidding on the night of the auction.
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Flip Flop Day and Free Dress Day are now available as Buy It Now for $25. The price will be raised to $50 the night of the event and these items will not be available for purchase after the night of the auction.
! ! ! For a sneak peek at some of the incredible trips, jewelry, Click here to begin your bidding!
dining packages, autographed memorabilia, and one of a kind experiences available at our auction click here!
THE FINAL DAY TO PURCHASE TICKETS IS FRIDAY, APRIL 17! Simply click here to secure your tickets to the Warrior Derby today!
APRIL 17, 2015
 
Lower School News
Muffins With Mom Lower school students welcomed their moms, grandmoms and special friends to school on Wednesday, April 15 for Muffins With Mom. Our guests enjoyed fresh baked muffins from the Warrior Cafe and spent special classroom time with their children.
APRIL 17, 2015
Lower School News  
Readers Select Warrior Award Winner For the past ten weeks, students in kindergarten, first and second grades have been reading a group of books from the Warrior Reading List during their library time. This past week they had the opportunity to choose which book should win the Warrior Award by casting their ballots in a voting booth. The voting was followed by a celebration with refreshments! Racing the Iditarod, by Kristen Rajczak was voted the winner of the Warrior Award. This nonfiction book describes the annual Iditarod Trail sled dog race in Alaska.
Information and photos submitted by Gina Lunsford.
Art Students Explore Different Types of Media Students in Mrs. Susan Peterson’s art classes have been creating art in different media. In first grade, students used watercolors to create value study still lifes. In sixth grade, students used ceramics to create various food items. Information and photos submitted by Susan Peterson.
APRIL 17, 2015
Upper School News
Spring Fling On Friday, April 10, Woodlands Christian welcomed special needs students from the Magnolia ISD for Spring Fling. Despite the rainy weather, guests enjoyed a day of Dr. Seuss themed fun. When asked by their teacher to share the best part of the day, members of one group commented as follows: “The crafts, actually making a Cat in the Hat!”, “Throwing that pie in that guy’s face!”, “Dancing!”, “My buddy!”, and “Can we go back tomorrow?” Thanks to all the students and faculty for their efforts in making Spring Fling a great success.
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Photo top left submitted by Magnolia ISD staff. All other photos submitted by Stephen Mawire.
Rotary Club Students Of The Year
Congratulations to the Rotary Club Students of the Year from The Woodlands Christian Academy. This prestigious award is given to students based on their character, leadership skills and academic success. The Students of the Year are as follows: Freshmen Logan Lusk Chris Oglesby
Sophomores Christian Mardaga Darcy Sanford
Juniors Matthew Dew Hailey Hanigan
Seniors Kyle Kontor Samantha Thomas Photo by Stephen Mawire. APRIL 17, 2015
Upper School News
Students Attend The Physics Show On Tuesday April 14th Mrs. Masau’s physics classes attended The Physics Show at Texas A & M University’s Mitchell Institute of Fundamental Physics and Astronomy (MIST). The show was performed by Dr. Tatiana Erukhimova and a senior undergraduate assistant. Several other graduate students assisted in the exhibit room. Dr. Erukhimova is an extremely intelligent and engaging presenter. The students were intrigued, amazed and in awe for the entirety of the show. They met Dr. Erukhimova near the Foucault pendulum in the MIST building. The students first observed the effects of liquid nitrogen (boils at negative 196˚C) on objects like balloons, flowers, racquetballs, erasers and even their fingers! After having been submerged in liquid nitrogen for some time, the rubber racquetballs cracked as if they were made of glass! Some volunteers were allowed to shatter them. Students watched liquid nitrogen condense oxygen in air to a liquid in order to observe the blue liquid oxygen, and the pressure
on the liquid nitrogen was dropped allowing students to see solid-state nitrogen! The students also observed demonstrations on Bernouli’s principle, angular and linear momentum, static charge, and densities of gases. In the physics exhibit hall, students explored mirrors, electricity-generation, a squarewheeled bike, optical illusions, and gravity in a spiral wishing well. The finale was held outdoors and included liquid nitrogen being trapped in a two liter soda bottle. The capped bottle was placed inside a 55-gallon drum containing water. The rapid expansion of the nitrogen gas caused a big and loud water explosion. (See photo bottom center.) Woodlands Christian alumni, who now attend Texas A&M University, visited with the current Warrior students during their time on campus. (See photo center bottom.) Thanks to Mr. Nick Morris for driving us in the bus and Mrs. Melinda Cohea for assisting in chaperoning the field trip.
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Information & photos submitted by Pam Masau.
APRIL 17, 2015
ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT NEWS Warrior Tennis and Golf Teams Advance The Warrior tennis team recently competed in their district tournament where they did quite well and qualified three players for the TAPPS state competition. Thea Coelho was district champion in the singles competition, and Micah Dial and Jessica Robinson placed third in girls doubles. The ladies represented Woodlands Christian at the TAPPS state tennis competition in Waco on April 15. Congratulations for a great season to the other members of the tennis team as follows: Ross Jackson, John Harkins, Katherine Milian, Ivy Fowler, Madison McCormick, Brittany Rogers, and Kennedy Kesterson.
The Warrior golf team participated in their district tournament on Tuesday, April 14. Both the boys’ and the girls’ team advanced to the regional tournament which will be held on Monday, April 20 at the April Sound Country Club in Montgomery, Texas.
Warrior Track Update The Warrior varsity track team had two competitions this past Saturday, their scheduled track meet at Logos Prep and prom! Due to appointments and other prom preparations, the team had only four girls in the competition, and only freshmen and sophomores competing for the boys’ team. Despite all of this, out of 22 schools at the meet, the boys’ team earned first place overall and the girls’ team earned third place overall!
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There were some amazing highlights: • Darcy Sanford improved on her school record discus throw with a new record of 101' 8" winning the silver medal • Morgan Young leaped 9' 6" for a new pole vault school record and won the gold medal • Raul Giorgi tied the school record with a pole vault of 11' • Stephanie Cruz set a personal record in both the triple jump and long jump • Grayson Danner set new school records in the 110m hurdles and 300m hurdle races, winning the bronze and gold medals, respectively. • Kyle Clark and Alex Yanochik set personal records in the 800m • Josh Oglesby and Greg Bunch set personal records in the 1600m • Josh Oglesby also set a personal record time in the 3200m and won the gold medal! • Jackson Mulville set a personal record in the 300m hurdles • Hannah Shearer medaled in all three of her races - 800 (silver), 1600m (bronze) and 3200m (silver) • Gold medals were won by Collin Bonner (shot put), Luke Hudson (discus) and Bradley Fisher (high jump)
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On Saturday, April 18 the team will compete in the Allen Academy Relays in Bryan, Texas. Information submitted by Coach Tom Earle.
Due to inclement weather forecast for Friday, April 17 the Baseball Bar-B-Que Bash has been cancelled. At this time, the varsity baseball game is still scheduled to be played. Please check our website for the latest information regarding the baseball game. APRIL 17, 2015