Spirit Week

Every year, during the week of Homecoming, the school is turned upside down with the infamous Spirit Week. Spirit Week is a week in which class unity is promoted as the students battle for the Spirit Sword and bragging rights at having the most school spirit. On paper, it seems that this would be a simply fun week for everyone to relax. However, anyone who has endured this week would quickly learn that for many students this is a week full of stress as students strive to prove that their class is the most spirited.

This year was no different. Dressed as the classic toys of years past, the seniors walked on campus all but sure that they, like many senior classes before them would take home the sword and bragging rights. The seniors were surprised as the first day, Toy Day, went to the freshmen. This drove the seniors and the other classes to be better prepared and push hard to beat the lowly freshmen the next day during Compound Word Day. The competition was on among high school students. Commercial Day and Blue and Gold Day quickly followed with the students bringing out all the stops, including a gigantic moving elephant, a stomp routine, and an homage to the Roaring 20s. Everything that could be done was done.

The points were close and every class secretly or not so secretly thought that they would be taking the sword home from the Homecoming game Friday night. The games ended and the time had come to reveal which class proved to be victorious. The seniors fairly certain that they had won like many of the senior classes before them. As the places were announced, the sophomore class humbly accepted their fourth place finish to no one’s surprise. Next, to the surprise of the class came the juniors. The tension was building. The second place team was revealed as the seniors. To the shock of many of the people in the room, the freshmen class won. The smallest and youngest class in the high school had done what no freshman class had done before them…they won Spirit Week and the Spirit Sword. Their win was one for the books, but had been solidified since their first day’s win on Toy Day. They had never let up and never placed below second overall on any day of the week. The underdog took down the bigger and older classes by shear creativity, determination, and consistency.

Secondary News Feb. 2010

Things are really beginning to gear up around here for next year as we look with excitement and anticipation as to what God has in store for us; next year’s schedule of classes is coming together and registration will begin soon!

As the senior class also begins to look towards next year they have a whole different focus. Here are some reminders;

• FAFSA deadline is March 2nd –get started today!
• College Application deadlines
• Request transcripts to go to colleges
• Scholarship applications
• Senior picture frames past due to the front office
• Senior pictures
• Senior graduation announcements will arrive soon if you ordered through Jostens
• Also Cap and Gown orders will arrive from Jostens as well
• Senior trip (for some)

If you have any questions regarding any of your students academic needs or questions I can help you with regarding the FAFSA or college applications please do not hesitate to call me at school.

As the junior class also begins to wind down the year they should also be mindful of events to come. It is my recommendation that juniors who plan on attending a four year college begin to prepare for the college entrance SAT test by taking it at least one time by the end of their junior year. To register for this test go to collegeboard.com and follow the links to register for the SATs. When the results come the student is usually very motivated to begin studying and preparing for the next round of testing in October and November of their senior year. One way to prepare is to purchase an SAT prep book from your local book store or online, also on collegeboard.com the student can sign up for a ‘question of the day’. Also puzzle and brain-teaser books are excellent ways to develop skills in problem solving which are helpful on the math portion of the test. As for the reading comprehension – what can I say but read, read, read! This will develop vocabulary and sentence structure.
This summer for the juniors should also be a time to visit and have a tour of any colleges of interest. Their senior year will be here before you know it!

Sincerely,

Jean Huff

Elementary Corner Feb.

It has been a whirlwind in the elementary department since we returned from Christmas vacation.

First of all a big congratulations goes out to the students who represented us in the ACSI Spelling Bee! Students first qualify by being the top spellers in their individual classes. Then, they are required to study an extensive list of words ranging from easy to difficult to prepare for the spelling bee. This year our students competed against an average of 25 students or more in their grade level. Because the competition was so close this time around, the judges were quickly forced to move to a list of unpublished words to eliminate contestants.

We want to honor and recognize this year's participants - Faith Vandenberg (1st Grade), Ethan Boggs (2nd Grade) who placed 3rd in his category, Brooklyn McCormack (3rd Grade), Liam Ackerman (4th Grade), and Alex Richart (5th Grade.) Way to go students!

Next, Spirit Week was held during the last week of January and ended with all classes celebrating "Crazy Spirit Day." On that day anything blue and gold goes! Warriors really know how to have fun!

Finally, on February 10th, the 3rd through 5th grade students participated in the annual Science Fair. Students pose a question, formulate a hypothesis, and then go through the scientific method to prove or disprove their hypothesis. Each student was required to display their project for judging and for all the elementary student to see.

The third graders received participation ribbons while the 4th and 5th Graders were judged by Mrs. Patag and Mr. Vlodica. Blue ribbons in 5th grade were awarded to Annika Losch, Grant Lyles, and Alex Richart. Red ribbons in 5th grade were awarded to Ashley Huff, Sydney Murphy, and Autumn Pickens. In 4th grade the blue ribbon winners were Ryan Boggs, Sara Richmond, Sydney Ricker, and Kamaryn Walker. Red ribbons were earned by Breck Buccola, Jacob Cervantes, Sophia Torres, and Zachary Frye. Congratulation to all our up and coming scientists!

As we come near the end of the 3rd quarter, please encourage your students to stay diligent and finish strong! On behalf of all the elementary teachers, thank you for all you do to support our classrooms and our school.

Pastor John's Feb. Letter

Don’t you just love spring?! I know that it’s not spring yet, but in the desert spring seems to come early. I love looking around and seeing the new signs of life, flowers beginning to bloom, trees are getting their leaves, and tumbleweeds blowing!

I’m excited about spring for a couple of other reasons as well. Spring is when we begin the process of looking forward to the next school year. It’s hard to believe that we are already looking at next year’s school calendar, schedule, and registration packet. This has been an amazing year thus far, and I am thrilled to see what God will do throughout the rest of this year, but I am just as thrilled to see what He is going to do next year. So, on March 7th stop by and get your registration packet and sign up early. As a quick sneak peek, there is no increase in tuition!

Finally, the thing I love the most about spring is Easter! Taking time to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! That is really why we do what we do around here; it’s all about Jesus! I hope that you and your family will take time to celebrate that fact.