April 15, 2013 Educating in Truth and Righteousness

www.flinthillschristianschool.orgfhcsnews@gmail.com

Volume 10, Issue 6

...the heights and strength of the hills are His...

Missing golf ballby M. Coughlin

To get excited for the coming Green Walk in May, the school hid golf balls all around the campus. After a student found one and brought it to the office, he would receive a prize. The prizes for the secondary students were mainly candy bars and soda bottles. But for elementary there were little toys to choose from.All golf balls were found except one orange one. The

office has not had it turned in and it’s not in the same spot as it was before. There are different possibilities where the golf ball may be. Could the wind have blown it away? Did teenagers take it as a practical joke? Did a small child take it home? The hunt is still on.

On Friday May 3, the Green Walk is taking place. We had a spirit week leading up to the week. Monday was crazy sock day. The kindergartners were very enthused about wearing their craziest socks.

Warrior News

Pep rallyby B. Gober

Thursday April 18, we had our second pep rally in support of the Green Walk for Funds. During the pep rallies, we usually look at how we are doing with everything, get prizes and play games. Every year we have pep rallies that are usually in April and May. Amanda said that she likes the pep rallies and it’s nice

to get a break from school. She also said she likes them but does not like being in them.Shaiann said she also likes the pep rallies. During the pep rally, the whole school played a game

together. We made a big circle, and passed golf balls around and when the music stopped the people who had the golf balls won a prize. There were prizes for both the elementary and secondary students. After the game, they drew names of the ones who have

turned their packets in to get prizes. The elementary side again got to pick off their table and the secondary side got to pick off their table. We have another pep rally coming up soon before the Green Walk.

Beyond Toleranceby E. Irving

Beyond Tolerance director Mrs. Ward has directed the school play for three years. The play Beyond Tolerance is about how tolerance has a level and can be pushed over the lines. She said that she was glad to direct the play because she gets to use a God-given talent.

Spirit Weekby M. Coughlin

On Tuesday it was sports day. Many students were very sporty, wearing their favorite sports team attire. Wednesday was crazy hair day. Lily Linville went

totally crazy with her her hair. She put flowers, ribbons, and clips in her hair. On Thursday, it was

inside out day. Ryan and Bethany went all out, turning everything they wore wearing inside out. The pep rally on

Thursday was in the gym. There were two prize tables, one for the secondary side, and one for the elementary side. All students gathered around and played a game similar to hot potato. The students that ended up with the golf ball won and picked a prize.

photo by Kelsey N.

photo by Kelsey N.Josh and Ashyln in BeyondTolerance.

Lily, Elizabeth, and Kia’s crazy hair.

Flashback to fiveby S. Wyatt

Most people know that sitting through a class with little kids can often be chaotic, but somehow the kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Davis does it. During an activity called “Writing Centers” the kindergartners split up and practiced the basics of writing. One station is called “Special Project” which is where

a few students will do an activity specific to that week. Sometimes it’s art or maybe writing a story. This week they were writing a letter to one of their friends. At another station called “Write and Chat” they

visit with Mrs. Davis about their writing and work on sentence structure as they write. At the end of the sentence instead of there being a period, there is a “stopper.” They will also write stories here. Often the subject of their writing is based on what they are studying in science. Most of the kids were working on butterfly stories and described what they liked about them, what they would do as a butterfly, or about their project that they grew caterpillars for. At the next station they decide what they are going to

publish the next day. Sometimes they practice drawing or edit their stories. Then at the last station, they work on little booklets and a drawing or two to go with their story. Then Mrs. Davis will type them up and print it out so they have a little booklet. At the end of the year each student will get their stories back. Each student has a folder that has the levels the students

go through as they progress. They have little sheets with the alphabet written out on them and practice sounding them out first, but then go on to start writing out the letters together to form sentences. “It’s really nice with these centers, because the kids can work on their own level,” commented Mrs. Davis. All throughout this though, the kindergartners are using

the sounds of the letters instead of actually writing out all of the word, unless it is one that they know how to spell. For example, one little boy was good at spelling the color “yellow.” “It is more important to me for them to understand

the basics first, I know that it is spelled wrong, but they need to know how to work things out,” said Mrs. Davis, “After a while you become great at kindergarten spelling and grammar. I actually keep a notebook at home full of the silly things they say everyday.” A lot may have changed since you were there, but the kindergarten room will always represent one of the first steps in learning.

Fourth grade field tripby E. Irving

The fourth graders went to the Goodnow house April 22 on a field trip and learned about the history of Manhattan. They said that the first house they went to came on a boat. The owner of the house, Isaac Goodnow, was a science teacher from Boston and his wife, Ellen, was a fancy lady. During the field trip it rained, and they would have

preferred that it did not rain, but they had fun getting wet. They said that they received lemon drops and that they liked them. They would like to go back soon. They said that they would not like to live there because of the fact that there was no electricity, no games, and because there was no privacy in the bathroom. They got to see two houses, and at one of the bedrooms,

there were people killed. Over all the fourth graders were very excited. They said that they were grateful of the era that they live in.

Fifth gradeby C. Linville

The fifth grade class has fifteen students. While I was observing them, there was only eight of them in the classroom. Some of them had gone to the sixth grade room to be in another math class. They were taking a quiz on graphs. Their desks were organized into six divisions of two, and one of three. In science the fifth graders are studying electricity,

and one of the walls was decorated with pictures of light bulbs, and there is a cart with batteries and light bulbs, because they were experimenting with them. They are memorizing Proverbs 4:5-7, and they wrote

about Psalm 23. One fifth of the room was tile, and four fifths of the room was carpet. There are poetry books in the back of the room, next to a bookshelf with other books. At the front of the room there is a second book shelf, which holds dictionaries and reference books. Next to the door is a list of “Mrs. Chapman’s, the

teacher, Expectations.” They go as follows: Love God and others first. Be ready to grow and learn. Be nice. And the it was signed by all of the students. The students would go to Mrs. Chapman’s desk to

ask questions during the quiz, and when they were done they would go to the back of the room and do a puzzle, checkers, or would build with some toys. Around the room were posters encouraging reading

and Bible verses hung on the wall. On the white marker board there was a schedule that told what the class would do all day.

Classrooms�

Sixth grade math by Kelsey N.

The sixth grade math class is learning the basics of geometry. They are learning about congruent shapes and how to find perimeter and area of shapes such as the triangle. This math class only has two sixth graders, the rest are fifth graders. The class took a quiz on Tuesday, April 23.The schedule for the sixth graders on Tuesday was as

follows; Bible, Vocabulary, Grammar, Writing, Reading, Lunch, Recess, History, Physical Education, Math, Band, then Library. In grammar they were working on adverbs. In history they were working on map skills, many students like history. The majority of the fifth and sixth grade students play

a sport after school or outside of school. As a whole, the combined class enjoys history the most. They have gone on a few field trips throughout the year one in particular was visiting the capital building. The kids in this class were hard at work like good students.

photo by Kelsey N.

An hour in American Lit by M. Coughlin

On April 23, I had the opportunity to sit in the classroom and observe the school’s American Literature class. The class is provided as an option for 11th and 12th grade students. The class is taught by the English teacher Mrs. Wilson and takes place sixth period.When I first arrived to the class, the teacher was

passing around sheets of paper with random splotches of black ink on it. She explained to me that the students had to write what they thought the blots looked like. Some of the students had more difficulties in doing this than others, but they all managed to write something down. In the end, none of them saw the same thing.After they did this, I was extremely confused. I thought

that it was random to do this in English class until Mrs. Wilson explained to the class why they did this. The class was about to start their new book To Kill a Mockingbird and she used the ink blot activity to show how everyone has a different perspective and that we need to be able to see other people’s reasoning and differences.I thought that this was a very interesting way to prove a

point to her students. And creative too! During my time in the American Literature class I got

to see how each of the juniors and the seniors interact with each other. They all get along very well and seemed very respectful to one another. They all joked with each other and all seemed to be good friends which shows how everyone at our school should act toward all of their peers. So I think that that our school’s juniors and seniors are very good role models for our school to follow.In the end of the class, each student got assigned a

copy of the book they had to read and were assigned a vocabulary sheet to complete.

Noah works on sixth-grade math.

Seventh grade math classby B. Gober

On Tuesday April 23, I went to Mrs. Evans seventh grade math class. There are four people in her class. Three of them are sixth graders and one a seventh grader. When I came in they were working a problem on the board. They were solving for the probability of what the numerator and denominator would be. After, they did that they did speed drills number 34 and

35. Mrs. Evans said, “They don’t do them all the time, only sometimes.” They all did good on them. Finally, they started on what they are working on—

positive and negative numbers. They did adding and

subtracting positive and negative numbers. But now they are working on multiplying them. All of them worked problems like that on the board. After they did that they started playing a variation of the card game called War. The red were negative and the black were positive. The

jacks were eleven, queens twelve, kings thirteen, ace one and the joker was zero. The point of the game was to get your opponents cards all out. They got to play for a long time. For the rest of the five minutes they did their next homework assignment. In this math class, they do a lot of working the

problems on the board and playing games to get you ready for it.

Classrooms �

Features�Play cast: John Proctor

by C. LinvilleJonathan Proctor is in

the play Beyond Tolerance which is being performed April 26 and 27.He plays a “wanna-be”

cultist, who tries to be like the other cultists because they are more experienced in the trade of being in a cult, so he looks to them for inspiration. He says it is a pretty minor part, so he has not had very much trouble memorizing his lines. Despite being a small part, he is in nearly every scene.

The play crew has been practicing for the past two weeks from 3:45 to 8.

Find the Fun FactApril Answer: A snail can sleep 3 years without eating.April 15 Issue Question: How many possible ways are

there to play the first move in chess?

Senior Feature: Courtney Cranfordby A. DillonCourtney Cranford has been

going to this school for 14 years and has been attending since preschool. She said, “The best part about this school is that you can get to know the teachers on a personal level and you can make your class your family and the

school your community.”Her two favorite classes are Understanding the Times

(UTT) because “It shocks your perspective,” and Spanish 4 “because it is so much fun.” For college, she plans on going to Emporia State University, but she is going without knowing her major.Her favorite verse is 1 John 4:18, which says, “There is

no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” Her favorite quote is by Marianne Williamson, which is, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our Light, not our Darkness, that most frightens us.” Something that is unique about her is that “I probably go against the grain with what is normal for teenagers my age.”

photo by A. Dillon

Gun debate continuesby J. Proctor

Recent shootings in Colorado and in Newtown have brought the gun control debate in the news. A few teachers weighed in on the debate.Mr. Woods, one of the teachers, said that the gun control

subject was irrelevant because criminals and others of the sort would somehow get their hands on a gun either way. He said that a more relevant thing to do is to keep a closer eye on the mentally unstable because they seem to make up the majority of people who are out of control with firearms. Mrs. Ward, our librarian, came to a similar conclusion

on the matter. She said that the criminals would just have a gun anyway when the people that use them responsibly would be helpless to defend themselves.Miss Kemler, our sports director, said that she wasn’t

entirely in agreement with gun control, but she wasn’t against it.

Amanda Dillonby J. Proctor

Amanda Dillon is an eighth grader who is 14 right now. She has been here since first grade when she was six and doesn’t plan on moving. Her favorite subject in school is either English or math.

Her favorite hobby is reading, and another thing she does is sketching. One of her favorite books is called The End by Lemony Snicket, the 13th in A Series of Unfortunate Events. She found the books interesting and liked how Lemony Snicket used the English language. Peewee music class

by B. PetriTuesday I spent some time in the first and second grade

music classes where they picked what song they were going to perform for their Veggie Tale themed concert. All the children were very enthusiastic to choose which song they would perform. The original songs up for vote were “Bellybutton,”

“His Cheeseburger,” and “The Hairbrush Song.” While “Bellybutton” was what they wanted to sing, it just wasn’t working out, so Mr. Bowker made the decision for them to sing “God is bigger than the boogie man,” adding claps in some of the pauses for emphasis. The second graders chose “His Cheeseburger.” They

got through half the song by the end, and Mr. Bowker raised the pitch of the song to match their tone. He will also be playing guitar for them at the concert.

photo by Kelsey N.

Spiritual �

I Peter 3:3-5by B. Petri

“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves.” 1 Peter 3:3-5 I think this is something we should all remember when

we get up in the morning. It’s not about what you wear or what you look like, it’s about who you are as a person.

You always hear adults saying that TV portrays skinny, well dressed, wealthy people as being the ones who are beautiful. However, to God none of that matters. It matters that you put your faith in him. So when you wake up and think about what to wear or how you should style your hair, it’s really not that important to God.We shouldn’t worry about what we wear or what brand

our shoes are but how we act towards others and how we live to please God.

Weakness by. S. Wyatt

In ancient Greek mythology, there is a myth about a hero named Achilles, whose only weakness was a small spot upon his ankle. It was here that his mother had held onto him when he was an infant as she dipped him into the River Styx. This is the same river that, as the myth goes, lies in the Underworld and all have to pass to either reach life or death. By doing this, Achilles’ mother made him practically invincible. Achilles was a great war hero when he grew up. But one day as he was running into a battle when conquering the city of Troy in the Trojan war, a lucky archer managed to hit him in the ankle, and Achilles bled to death from one small wound. Superman was born on the planet Krypton and was

sent away as infant, moments before the destruction of the planet, to live on earth. He was then raised in Kansas by the family that had found him. At a young age he displayed superhuman abilities and as he grew up decided to use them for the benefit of mankind. Yet, despite being nearly indestructible, he had a few weaknesses to kryptonite and magic. Finally, Samson in the Bible was immeasurably

strong and did a lot of things against the Philistines. His strength came from God alone, and as long as he didn’t cut his hair, he would still have that strength. But, when tempted by Delilah, he gave up his secret and was betrayed. Later, ashamed and blind, he did one last thing to fight against the Philistines and brought the temple down, killing himself in the process. What are the connections in these stories? Even though

a person might be practically invincible, super good, or super strong, they have a weakness. As Christians, we all have weaknesses along with the normal human ones like

bullets. Sin is a big thing, and we are susceptible to that because

of our human nature, wanting to do what we want to do when we want to do it, no matter who it hurts. But there are little things too; sometimes we aren’t as committed to God as we want to put off. Almost everyone has a problem reading the Bible. Who really wants to dig into Leviticus instead of reading the next book in the series they are working on or watching TV? Hardly anybody does. And praying is often “can I have this?” and “will you do this” or “please, please, please let this happen.” Does anybody thank God for the weather, food, their day, and family without actually thinking about it? Does anybody really mean “thank you God for my day” when they have had a horrible, rotten, no-good day? After hearing a great speech at a youth conference, many people are just ecstatic to get home and start their relationship freshly with God. But right when they get back, they slink back to their old ways after a few days and the speech has worn off.

As Christians, we need to arm ourselves against our weakness in God. At first we have to force ourselves to do things until it becomes a habit, and then we can’t slack off. Everyone has a weakness in something, it may be math or science, or maybe it’s that cute girl/boy that they can’t get their mind off of.

But Satan wants to dig into our spiritual weaknesses and use them against us, so we must fight to improve ourselves to prevent him from doing so. There is nothing to be ashamed of, and nothing to worry about. Everyone has one, everyone will need to try hard. But if you join with someone else you can make each other stronger. And that is something great when Christians come together in God.

The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

Isaiah 35:1

Grief by S. Wyatt

Grief is a storm, a battle within, a monster lurking. Can you feel it rising?

Ever changing, ever constant.Painful, but comforting.Controls and drives.

Happiness seems bleak, unclear,But it’s there, hidden somewhere down deep.Shadowing every tear,Is love stronger than most.

Why? Why do you cry?For it is your care that you have, yet you didn’t once,Let hope make them dry.You don’t know what you have until it is lost, until it is gone, vanished.

So, don’t fight, it flows freely, always naturally,Shed one more, uncontrolled. Now you aren’t blind, now you see,Now you care, now you love, now you grieve.

Backpack Problemsby B. Petri and B. Gober

The teachers have been saying the students’ backpacks are “too heavy.” Most students agreeAmanda Dillon said, “Our campus is so spread out we

need all our books in one central area (the backpack), so we aren’t late.” Some of the things we have to take for just the first three classes are, three notebooks (science, math, Bible,) Bible work book, science book, math text book , pencils, compass, protractor, calculator, ruler, pens, lead, Bible verse, Bible, laptop (if desired,) extra work (may include textbook and notebooks)Our faculty members say it will cause back problems

later in life, but “they’re our backs we will decide how much we want to carry,” said Jonathan Proctor.The average time it takes to walk from the main

building to the science building is two minutes and fifty-eight seconds (without traffic.) Our passing periods are three minutes long. So it does make sense to carry all of our books with us, but at the same time they are heavy

and can slow us down.Mrs. Linville said, “It doesn’t bother me that backpacks

are heavy.”Jonathan Proctor said, “Either way my backpack is

going to be heavy.”Mr. McDonald also commented on the issue by

saying, “Over the past few years parents and faculty are becoming increasingly concerned, so the school is looking into other options such as online textbooks. We are also going to recommend students also look into backpacks on wheels.”While there are scientific studies to back up what the

faculty has to say, the students don’t care about the studies. The average backpack weight of junior high students was 18 pounds and 38 ounces on April 18, most pediatric centers recommend a student’s back pack be less than fifteen percent of their body weight. The average student weighs about 105 pounds so they should only be carrying about 15 pounds. The reality is most students are carrying more then they should.

James 2:14-17by A. Dillon

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes or daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. James 2:14-17These verses are talking about faith and deeds. They

are saying that if someone has faith, but does not act accordingly, then their faith is “dead.” If you have faith, you need to show it by what you do. In these verses, if someone is without clothes, food, or a home, then someone who has faith but does not show it by what they do would simply wish good things for that person, but not much else. However,, if someone who acted according to their faith saw the poor person, not only would they wish good things for them, but they would also help them and give them what they need. Faith is not complete without deeds to support it and act according to their faith.

Warrior News is a monthly newsletter for students, families, and friends of Flint Hills Christian School. The purpose of this newsletter is to enable students to develop and enhance their gifts and abilities while helping to build the Christian community within our school. Comments or suggestions for improvement may be emailed to fhcsnews@gmail.com. Warrior News is online at www.my.hsj.org/fhcsnews

Spring 2013 Newspaper Staff—Caleb, Jon, Elijah, Marin, Shaiann, Kelsey, Bella, Amanda and Brittany

Hearts and Minds�