Sharpshooter

“I dropped my option on low 8, which put me in a shoot off and in my shoot off I ditched my pair on 3 and I feel like a Helen Keller.” What in the world does this random compilation of words mean and more importantly who uses them? I’ll tell you of one person who does. Her name is Logan Brinkley, senior, and she knows her way around a gun.
So what exactly is that phrase? That is shooting talk in its essence. Well, more accurately skeet shooting. Many of you may not know this, but we have a young shooting champion in our school and her name is Logan. She may be too modest to tell you this, but she has accumulated a number of scintillating titles in her short amount of years such as 12 Gauge Junior Lady Champion of the nation at the Junior World Shoot in Mississippi and No. 2 Lady in California (she is ranked number 2 in California for skeet shooting). She has earned these great honors through winning numerous competitions that have taken her as far as Illinois, Mississippi, Texas, and Colorado.
As recently as August, Logan became the 12 Gauge Junior Lady Champion. If you didn’t realize from the title, that puts her in the top echelon of all young shooters. It wasn’t always this way though. A lot of hard work and dedication over the last eight years have gone into her becoming the shooter she is now.
She got interested in shooting through her father. “My dad was a hunter safety instructor, so I was pretty much always around guns.” That love of firearms grew and grew, and she eventually became very serious about shooting shotguns around the age of thirteen. This is where she began to work with coaches including Olympic shooting coach Dan Carlisle.
Shooting is not work for Logan. She still loves playing this sport she has become so deeply entwined with, challenging herself over and over again to get perfect scores. She has met some of the best people she knows through shooting and every experience proves new and exciting.
Some might say though that skeet shooting should be a sport only reserved for males. Logan confidently and succinctly begs to differ, saying, “It is proven that women have the ability to be better shooters. You will never know until you try.” If you need any more proof than that, just come and watch her shoot.
As for the future, Logan is keeping her options open, but her aspirations high. While the Olympics are definitely a possibility, she is taking things one step at a time starting with college. She will be attending Schreiner University in the fall and become a part of their shooting team.
By Mark Medina, 9th grade

Elementary Corner-Jan.

Spelling Bee-
Congratulations to the AVC students who represented our school at at the ACSI District 4 Spelling Bee in Fontana in January.
1st grade- Matti Losch
2nd grade- Haley Richart
3rd grade- Liam Ackerman
4th grade- Brooke Fisher
6th grade- Zach Richart
7th grade- Brittany Richart

Elememntary Honor Roll-
Congratulations to the following students who made the 2nd quarter Honor Roll.

High Honors:
3rd grade- Ryan Boggs, Breck Buccola, Zachary Frye, Jonathan Housatchenko, Sara Richmond
4th grade- Annika Losch, Alex Richart
5th grade- Brooke Fisher

Honors:
3rd Grade- Liam Ackerman, Jacob Cervantes, Hunter Kennedy, Wyatt Myskow, Sydney Ricker, Kamaryn Walker, Xander Witt
4th grade- Madisyn Dondelinger, Sydney Murphy, Ashley huff, Jessica Furia
5th grade- Tyler Belvin, Aubree Conrad, Zak Hodhod, Noah Leslie, Ryan Renfro, Jacob Rice, Valerie Torres, Alexis Zavala

Honorable Mention:
4th grade- Autumn Pickens
5th grade- Josh Berry

A Note From Pastor John

Happy New Year! I trust that you and your family had a great Christmas and a happy New Year and were able to relax and enjoy your break. I don’t know about your family, but my family enjoys taking a little time at the beginning of each New Year and talking about some goals- specifically spiritual goals. We talk about the past year, but really spend time looking forward to the future.

I love that about the New Year; it feels like a fresh start! Perhaps some of you enjoy that as well- a fresh start and focusing in on the future. I’m not talking about your typical New Year’s resolutions- you know, those goals that last only until January 3rd. I’m talking about ideas that you have put thought into and require a plan to accomplish those goals throughout the year.

We, as a staff, are in the midst of this process of setting goals as a school. We have been setting our eyes on the future of AVCS and looking toward what God may have in store for us. I am so excited with what God is doing now and can’t wait to see what He will do in the future. Even as I type this letter, there are four new students planning to enroll in the next couple of weeks! God is good! In October, God provided an opportunity for us to work alongside a consultant who is going to give us a report of possible ways to increase enrollment and donations. He has already interviewed a number of families, and we look forward to the results of this study.

Paul talks about “straining toward what is ahead” in the book of Philippians, and I totally agree with that. We are excited for the future of AVCS and continue to praise God and ask for His continued provision and blessing on our school!