THE WOODLANDS
THE C H WOODLANDS RISTIAN
A C A D E M ACADEMY Y CHRISTIAN OCTOBER 17, 2014
Head Of School Notes - by Julie Ambler Life is always busy here at Woodlands Christian! Thus, it was a blessing for our entire senior leadership team (Steve Zeal, Stephen Clark, Bruce Hunter, Eve Allen, Randy Hollas and I) to travel to the Atlanta, Georgia area last week for a three day conference presented by the Council on Education Standards and Accountability (CESA). CESA exists to motivate, support, and hold accountable Christian schools that aspire to superlative academic standards, institutional best practices, and collaboration with like-minded schools. While there, we attended workshops and interacted with Christian school leaders from about 40 different schools from across the country. We heard Andy Crouch, the editor of Christianity Today, who spoke from his latest book, Playing God: Redeeming the Gift of Power. We also met Dr. Michael Lindsay, President of Gordon College in Boston, who shared from his book, View from the Top: An Inside Look at How People in Power See and Shape the World, and gave a riveting account of being targeted by the media over the past 90 days for his biblical view of marriage. It was truly inspiring for us to meet and hear from such devoted Christian warriors. We also had the opportunity to visit two wellestablished Christian schools in the greater Atlanta area. Mount Paran Christian School, founded in 1976 and located in Kennesaw serves 1,200 students from PK-3 through 12th grade. One of their distinctives is “taking back the arts for Christ”. We were awed to see their amazing performing arts center where we enjoyed performances by their advanced dance ensemble, choirs, orchestra and string quartet. Mount Paran’s 65-acre campus includes a state-of-the-art performance hall, a black box theater, a soundlab recording studio, three dance studios, and numerous rehearsal and practice rooms. We look forward to the day when Woodlands Christian can offer its students an equally wide range of programs and supporting facilities in which to develop and express their creative gifts for Christ!
Cyndee Farra, our Director of Technology, joined us on the final day of our trip for a visit to Greater Atlanta Christian School (GAC) in Norcross, Georgia. GAC, founded in 1961, is an Apple Distinguished School that serves over 1,800 students from PK-3 through 12th grade on a beautiful 81-acre campus developed with 31 permanent buildings. GAC has a reputation for educational innovation, and we enjoyed visiting prototype and collaborative classrooms, touring outdoor learning centers, observing the seamless integration of digital devices into the classrooms and labs, and dialoguing with their enthusiastic staff about educational best practices and research. We were pleased to observe that our own faculty has already adopted and implemented many of their activities and best practices, and we look forward to bringing enhancements inspired by GAC to our campus soon! Such trips enable us to stretch our vision and learn from schools that are further ahead of Woodlands Christian in their timetable. We were inspired to see large, thriving Christian schools that successfully keep Christ and students at the center of everything. Like Woodlands Christian, these schools offered beautiful campuses, a strong sense of Christ, challenging academics, and an irresistible sense of community. We successfully gleaned best practices, benchmarked our programs, and learned from the experiences of these fine school leaders. We are humbled by the vision, blessings and growth that God has bestowed upon Woodlands Christian in recent years, and we believe that He is calling us to become a future leader among Christian schools. As we continually seek God’s guidance for His school, this trip generated many ideas, much encouragement and tremendous inspiration to further equip and inspire generations of students to become leaders for Christ – spiritually, academically, physically and socially. Thank you for your support of Woodlands Christian and the privilege of serving your family here.
5800 ACADEMY WAY . THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS 77384 . 936-273-2555 . WWW.TWCA.NET
2014 Annual Fund Thank you to all who have supported the Annual Fund this year. One of the main reasons we encourage 100% participation is to enhance our chances of receiving grants and donations from various companies and foundations. Based on strong family participation, this year alone we have received over $35,000 from foundations, matching funds from companies, and grants. Let’s continue this tradition! Your donations make a difference!
! Total School Participation To Date ~ 99% ! The Annual Fund closes FRIDAY, October 17! ! Support the Annual Fund by donating here.
ACT justly . . . LOVE mercy . . . WALK humbly 100%
! 90% ! 80% ! 70% ! 60% ! 50% ! 40% ! 30% ! 20% ! 10%
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Pledges may be made today and fulfilled by January 31, 2015. To make a pledge or receive further information about the Annual Fund, please contact Kellie Armstrong, Director of Development at karmstrong@twca.net. Your gift is tax-deductible. Employer matching gifts are encouraged!
OCTOBER 17, 2014
ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT NEWS
Six And Oh! With their 39-29 victory over Bay Area Christian last Friday, the Warrior varsity football team remains unbeaten and is ranked #1 in TAPPS 3A (MaxPreps). The team’s district record is 3-0, and their overall record stands at 6-0. A road trip is on tap this week as the Warriors travel to Beaumont for a game against Legacy Christian Academy. Kick-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. The team returns for their final home game of the regular season on October 24 against Rosehill Christian. Senior class members of the football and cheerleading teams will be honored in a special halftime ceremony. Scheduled start time is 7:00 p.m. Congratulations to senior running back Luke Hudson on being chosen player of the week by The Courier. In the online voting, Hudson received 879 votes finishing well ahead of the other eight nominees. For the complete story, click here.
Volleyball Holds On To Second Place In District The Warrior varsity volleyball team played host to Logos Prep on Thursday, October 9 and won the match 3-0. On Tuesday, October 14 the team travelled to St. Thomas Episcopal but were unable to overcome the first place team in the district and lost the match 0-3. The Warriors are now in second place in TAPPS 3A, District 6. The final home match of the regular season will be played on Thursday, October 16 when the Warriors host Lutheran North. Members of the Class of 2015 will be honored in a special senior night ceremony. The match is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. The team closes out regular season play with an away match against St. Joseph on Tuesday, October 21.
Cross Country Update Despite very difficult course conditions, our cross country runners did a great job on Saturday at the Faith West Cross Country meet. Out of 17 high schools, our girls’ team finished in third place overall behind two very large schools. Hannah Shearer, Hailey Hanigan and Alyssa Regier medalled by finishing in the top 20. For the boys’ team, Alex Yanochik medalled in 17th place. Grant Galassini, Stephen Milian and Jackson Mulville set personal best times, and Patrick O’Connor set a season best time. (See photo top center.)
During the middle school races, the rain began coming down hard, it got cooler, and the running surface became very muddy. Nevertheless, both the boys’ and girls’
teams finished in fifth place overall out of 31 schools. Elli Catron, Madelyn Rasberry, Joshy Shearer and Ben Shearer all earned medals. (See photo bottom center.) The 3rd Annual Woodlands Christian Cross Country meet will be held on our campus this Saturday, October 18! The meet will be run concurrent with the CASA Super Hero Run. We are expecting nearly 3,000 visitors to our campus as either participants or spectators. Help us show our campus well by volunteering! Please contact Coach Tom Earle at tearle@twca.net or Kellie Armstrong, Director of Development at karmstrong@twca.net. Information and photos submitted by Coach Tom Earle. OCTOBER 17, 2014
All School News
Student Council Blood Drive Tuesday, October 21 8:00 a.m. - 1:45 p.m. SLC
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Give Blood! Give Life! Bring a friend!
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If you are not able to donate on October 21, you may visit The Woodlands Neighborhood Donor Center at 3091 College Park Drive, Suite 130. Please advise the staff that you are donating on behalf of The Woodlands Christian Academy. For more information about the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center click here. Questions? Contact Troy Holiman - tholiman@twca.net
Booster Club Golf Tournament Raffle
3rd Annual Booster Club Golf Tournament Monday, October 27 Noon Augusta Pines
Drawing 1:
Drawing 2:
Big Green Egg Smoker
Astros Diamond Level Tickets
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Only a limited number of openings remain! Information and registration here!
Medium Size – Retail Value: $899.00
2 tickets - Game Next Season Retail Value: $750
Generously Donated by:
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Generously Donated by: The Tudor Family
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1 ticket for $25 or 5 for $100 !
*Drawing will be held on October 27, need not be present to win
Not able to attend the tournament? You can still support the Booster Club by purchasing a ticket for an opportunity to win a Green Egg Smoker (valued at $899) or two (2) diamond level seats for a Houston Astros game (2015-2016 season).
! ! Tickets are available for purchase from any Booster Club board member $25/single ticket or $100/five (5) tickets
or by sending an email to boosterclub@twca.net.
OCTOBER 17, 2014