CHCS NewsJANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016

C O L L E G E H E I G H T S C H R I S T I A N S C H O O L

CHCS is now a CertifiedBest Christian Workplace! by Nelson Horton

There is important news to share related to an initiative that the administration, faculty, and staff has been working on diligently since October 2014! As you know, our mission statement reads, CHCS glorifies God through excellence as a Christ-centered learning environment that produces servant leaders with a Biblical worldview.

In harmony with our mission, CHCS strives for excellence by seeking continuous improvement in all areas, not only related to student services and academic offerings, but also to grow as a flourishing workplace to strengthen our faculty and staff team. Our desire is that the learning environment here at CHCS will be Christ-centered and consistently characterized by the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) within our faculty and staff for the benefit of our students, staff, and school family as a whole.

To be more intentional about continued growth as a team, we connected with Best Christian Workplaces Institute in 2014 and used their BCWI Staff Engagement Survey tool to determine how we were doing. The first year’s results helped us identify three target areas for growth, and the reports helped us benchmark our results with other Christian schools and Christian organizations, and form an action plan for the following year.

Our staff completed the second annual engagement survey in December 2015 and the resultsare in. The first line of the email we received from BCWI reads, “Congratulations, CollegeHeights Christian School is certified as a 2016 Best Christian Workplace!!!

We are thrilled to achieve this goal as a team! Our consultant was very complimentary andstated that he has not seen such progress before in just one year. You can see our listing amongthe 2016 Certified Best Christian Workplaces at www.bcwinstitute.org by selecting LISTS. I’mpleased to commend our great faculty and staff team.

NOTE FROM THESUPERINTENDENT

Christy Baca Leads SecondFamily Connections Event

On January 13th, College Heights continued its Family Connections Event series with Christy Baca as the guest speaker. Christy has more than ten years of speaking and curriculum writing experience in private schools. She spoke on the subject of Teens and Social Media Awareness. Those who attended were encouraged to be proactive in the ever-changing landscape of social media and the many avenues teens have to express themselves digitally. Christy also spoke toour students the following day in chapel and

special sessions. We appreciateher insights, encouragementand teaching.

If you were unable to attend,you may view a replay of thesession on TheCube.com (searchfor College Heights Christian). Herbook, Saying Yes! To Saying No (aparent’s guide to values basedabstinence), may be purchased onAmazon and other major booksellers.

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Homecoming HighlightsDecember 19th marked the end of the first semester and

the beginning reign of this year’s homecoming king and queen, Hunter Jones and Caitlin Good. The crowning took place during the homecoming basketball games against the McAuley Warriors at Ozark Christian College. The court included Katie Barnett, Danielle Capehart, Caitlin Good, Luke Cummins, Hunter Jones and Paul Sherrod (seniors); Sarah Shaddy and Matt Roberts (juniors); Nyasha Bgoni and Daniel Estep (sophomores); and Carrie Wallace and Garret Lewis (freshmen). Throughout the evening, many alumni enjoyed reuniting during a special reception in their honor. It was wonderful to see many familiar faces and celebrate the Cougar spirit together!

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Concerts!Concerts!Concerts!

December is always filled with music at CHCS. From Preschool through High School and under the direction of Todd Johnson, Glenda Austin, Melissa Belk and Sonya Wilkins, students participated in vocal and instrumental music celebrating the birth of Jesus.

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Geography Bee Champion

Congratulations to all the in-class geography bee winners and special congratulations to Tessa Greathouse on her win. Tessa will go on to the state competition. Nice job students!

Abbi HardyMarchesin DisneyParade

Thanksgiving Day was extra special this year for senior Abbi Hardy who marched in the Festival of Fantasy Parade in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. Abbi was selected as an All American Cheerleader while attending CHCS team camp this past summer. This special opportunity allowed Ms. Hardy to meet other cheerleaders who werealso chosen from across the country at their respected camps. Abbi reports that it was an amazing experience! Great job, Abbi!

Reid Beard WinsHorse Show

Reid Beard recently competed in the Tulsa Holiday Winter Circuit Horse Show in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Reid and her horse, “Only Brown Sugar”, also known as Swazy competed in the Novice Youth Western Pleasure class and in the Youth Western Pleasure Class. In a pleasure class,horses are shown on the rail at the walk, jog, and lope, and in both directions. Being competitive in a western pleasure class necessitates knowing what the judge is looking for and being able to present your horse in that way. Reid showed under three judges and received first under all three judges on two different days, winning the Circuit Champion Title for her class. She also showed in a more advanced Youth Western Pleasure class and received first under one judge and second under the other two winning Reserve Circuit Champion for that class. Reid trains with Duit Performance Horses out of Springfield, Mo. She trains with her horse three times a week and spends many hours of preparation for the shows. In the coming year she will travel and compete in St. Louis, Des Moines, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio and Georgia.

Spring RiverValley Conference Champs

History was made when our Middle School Girls’ Basketball team won the first ever Spring River Valley Conference CHCS conference championship! Well done girls!

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Scholar Bowl Teams ExcelCongratulations to the Middle School’s Scholar Bowl team on

their first place wins at Golden City and Sarcoxie. At Sarcoxie, team Captain Tessa Greathouse also took first place as the individual winner, and JV Captain Lincoln Martin took second place in individual awards. At Golden City, Tessa Greathouse and Pierce Gloyer earned first team All Conference and Makenna Lewis earned Second Team All Conference. Way to go team!

Congratulations to the High School Scholar Bowl team for becoming conference champions at the Spring River Valley’s Scholar Bowl Meet. Additionally, Devon Russell made first place All Conference team! Great job!

Christmas CardContest Winners

Congratulations to our annual Christmas Card decorating contest winners. Brianna Haste, 4th grade, and Jane O’Dell, 1st grade, won their respected age divisions. Their winning designs were featured on this year’s Christmas card to our CHCS family. They were presented their framed original artwork during the last chapel leading up to Christmas break. Congratulations young Cougars and thank you to all the students who participated.

DEVON RUSSELLLINCOLN MARTIN andTESSA GREATHOUSE

MS SCHOLAR BOWL TEAM

HS SCHOLAR BOWL CHAMPS

CHCS Welcomes New StudentsSecond semester brought with it many new faces to the halls of CHCS. Join us in welcoming these new students:

Rigley Brake – Preschool 3~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Vanessa Habrack – PK-3 day~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Noah Stalling – PK-3 day~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Christian Green – PK-5 day~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ruben Brake – Kindergarten half day

Bella Green – Kindergarten full day~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Aldric Arnall – 2nd grade~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Roman Brake – 2nd grade~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Trinity Bagley – 4th grade~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jacob Atkinson – 5th grade

Amber Kimbray – 6th grade~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mikayla Crider – 8th grade~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Olivia Rogers – 9th grade~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hannah Bagley – 9th grade

COLLEGE HEIGHTS CHRISTIAN SCHOOL n 4311 E. NEWMAN ROAD n JOPLIN, MISSOURI 64801 n 471-782-4114 n WWW.COLLEGHEIGHTS.ORG

CHCS glorifies God through excellence as a Christ-centered learningenvironment that produces servant-leaders with a Biblical worldview.MISSION STATEMENT

ECFA ACCREDITED – On November 12, 2012, the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability announced the accreditation of College Heights Christian School. Accreditation is based on the ECFA’s Seven Standards of Responsible Stewardship, including financial accountability, transparency, sound board governance, and ethical fundraising. When an organization is accredited by ECFA, it demonstrates its willingness to follow the model of biblical accountability.

RenwebParents, don’t forget to take advantage

of Renweb, our online school managementsystem. You can check homework assign-ments, lunch menus, student grades, schoolcalendar, etc. If you are having problems accessing Renweb or have not set up your account, please contact the school. A Renweb phone application is now available. This is a great tool to use to stay informed about your students’ progress.

Find us on FACEBOOK… College Heights Christian School – Joplin MOFollow us on TWITTER… https://twitter.com/chcsjoplin

Welcome tothe Family!Congratulations to our CHCS Librarian and Media Specialist Jamie Lorimer, husband Brian, and their family on the birth of Azariah James on New Year’s Day!

February 11 is a big day at College Heights! We open our doors to the community to tour the facilities and enroll for next school year. There will be much to take in throughout the evening. Come early for pizza in the cafeteria to help raise funds for our Missions program. Then stay and take in the Science Fair in the gym and special vocal and instrumental selections in the chapel.

Please invite your friends from the community to tour the school!

Save the Date…FEBRUARY 11 – 6:00-8:00 pm (dinner starts at 5:00)

CHCS Open House • Science Fair • Missions Fundraising Dinner