English Speeches

English class is a difficult class.  In it we learn many different rules for when writing stories and speaking.  We also learn how to write papers on books and articles.  This past week though, was a little different. 

For the past 6 weeks the freshman and sophomore class have had Mrs. Collins as a substitute teacher while Ms. White is going on vacation with one of her best friends.   While she has been gone Mrs. Collins has been teaching a speech unit to us.   Since this was Mrs. Collins last week teaching us we had to use what we had learned and give a speech to our class. 

The different kinds of speeches that we learned about are Informational, Persuasive, Testimony, and Demonstrative.  For my speech I chose to do a Demonstrative Speech.  The others that did demonstrative were Gabrielle, Caleb, Lyssa, and Tereza.  Gabrielle taught us how to make puppy chow, Lyssa taught us how to make healthy granola bars, Caleb taught us how to make an origami cube, and Tereza taught us how to crochet.  I chose to teach my class how to make donuts and a glaze for the donuts. 

Some other things that others talked to us about in the Informational category was why facebook is addicting, the history of basketball, some strange machines, and skin cancer.  Some things that people talked about in the persuasive category was why students shouldn’t have as much homework, and why waste time on making stupid laws?  The stories in the testimony category ranged from the traditional in our school where we have always grown up in a Christian home and got saved at a young age to, ones where they just recently got saved after having a more difficult time at school. 

Overall, the speeches went pretty well for everyone, considering we were all super nervous.  I know that this was a great learning experience for us and who knows.  We might even end up using this sometime in our life!

- Alyson Rosema, Freshman

Middle School Basketball Tournament

On Friday, February 26, the middle school girls basketball team hosted a conference tournament. The tournament included four teams, Algoma Christian, Calvary of Holland, Black River Public and Fruitport Calvary Christian.

            The tournament had four games. Two pool play games, a consolation game, and a championship game. Algoma Christian and Black River played the first game. Algoma won which sent them up to play in the championship game, moving Black River to the consolation game. Next, Fruitport Calvary Christian played Calvary of Holland. Fruitport Calvary Christian crushed Holland 58-2 setting them up to play Algoma in the championship game while Calvary of Holland would play Black River in the consolation game.

            Calvary Holland played Black River Academy in the consolation game. Black River won 28-6 putting them in 3^rd place and dropping Holland down to 4^th place. Then for the championship game Fruitport Calvary Christian played Algoma Christian. Both teams fought hard and played a good game, but Fruitport Calvary Christian made it out with a win beating Algoma Christian 30-17.

            The girls host this tournament every year at the end of their basketball season, so come on in and support your fellow Eagles!

            - Joel Fullmer, Freshman

Senior Night 2012

This past Thursday, February 23, a very special occasion occurred at Calvary Christian Schools. We had Senior Night where we recognized all the sports-playing seniors of 2012. Senior Night was especially special for the girl’s basketball team this year because Sydni Clark is our only senior on the team.

            To make this night special, each senior walks down the center of the gym to stand in front of the crowd with his or her parents. The cheerleaders gave each mother and girl senior a beautiful rose. As the seniors walked into the gym there were childhood pictures of each person all the way up to their senior picture. It was a very fun night and each team played their hardest so that they could pull out a win for their graduating teammates.

            Here are this year’s seniors each with all their sports. First of all, the only girl this year, Sydni Clark. She played five years of soccer, four years of volleyball, four years of basketball, and she may even do track this year as well!

Drew Rosencrantz played four years of soccer and five years of golf.

Matt Newton has been on the soccer team for two years and golf team for five years.

Randy Orquist has played soccer for two years as well and golf for two years.

Patrick Asdell played one year of soccer and four years of basketball. He also has done two years of track.

Patrick Stewart has played four years of soccer and has done track for five years. He also played basketball for four whole years.

Guthrie Collins played four years of soccer and four years of basketball as well. He also has done track for one year and may do it this year too.

David Borgeson has played soccer for four years and basketball for four years.

Lastly, Jade Kroning has played soccer for three years and golf for two years.      

            All in all, this was a night to remember and very fun for everyone. One senior I talked to said, “It was fun sharing this night with the other seniors and their parents. I appreciate all Calvary Christian Schools has done for me.” This year’s seniors are very special to CCS and we all will miss them on the court, field, green, and track!

            - Taylor Richards, Freshman

Swing Dancing

Recently I went to a swing dance “class” (I wouldn’t really call it a class as much as a club) that really showed me that I didn’t have to care about how I walk or looked.   It is one of the extracurricular activities staged here at Calvary. It is mostly a student run program (with a couple of adults thrown in to make sure that we don’t kill anyone) that was plainly begun solely so that students can feel  free to express themselves through the great art of swing dance.

Personally swing dance was really hard for me to learn because of some complications with my physical abilities. I just had to learn to look past that and just move to the motions. After about a half an hour of grueling and frustrating failure I finally got the knack for it. At this class I feel that everyone is so easygoing.

I would HIGHLY recommend you attend this program. The kids are so nice and the music is hip and fast.  Even if you come to utterly release some energy I know after one time you would be hooked. There is also food and water. Oh, yeah TONS of water.  Some of the dance moves we do consist of the guy turn, the simple spin, the bow and arrow, and my favorite the pretzel.

But this isn’t just swing dancing, we also do some line dances. I promise if you come you will be hooked.

- Gage Berg, Freshman

Away Games at Zion Christian

On Thursday February 16, 2012, Calvary Christian’s basketball teams went to Zion Christian in Byron Center to play a big conference matchup. The J.V. team lost 45-31. Zion’s J.V played a really good game on offense and defense.  We played well even though they did not win the game. The J.V. has improved so much throughout the season. Isaac Burns and Jeff Britton each had 13 points. Joel Fullmer also had 5 points.

The Varsity Girls played a tough and gritty game.  It was very physical game which some of that is to blame on the referees. The girls blocked out very well throughout the game. It may have not been the most glamorous win, but you are not there to put on a show. You are out there to win the game. The individual scoring was very balanced for both teams. We won the game 42 to 36.

The Varsity Guys had a hyped up conference game. Zion is a very tall team mixed many shooters. They also have a transfer that was there high scorer since he has played for them. Zion started off scoring some easy buckets in the first quarter. We ended the first quarter up 16 to 9. Then using some full court press and their two big guys struggling with foul trouble, the halftime score was 39 to 15. We came out of halftime knowing that they were going to play better in the second half. Throughout the second half, the lead basically stayed around the same. We ended up winning the game 67 42. Mark Carlson, Mike Warren, Patrick Asdell, and Guthrie Collins all scored in double figures. Guthrie scored the most with 18. Patrick had 18 rebounds and Guthrie Collins had 15. Drew Maine also had 6 nice assists.

Mike Warren, Sophomore

Lady Eagles beat River Rats

The lady Eagles recently took a big win over Holland Black River. It has been their 14th win of the season breaking the schools previous records of wins in a season. It was a tough game but, the girls fought back until the final buzzer. The girls knew they would have to play hard because the River Rats have a few quick guards and very good athletes.

The lady Eagles had their work cut out for them. The River Rats have been one of the faster teams in the conference so they had to back off them to prevent the blow by the basket. They also had girls who were strong, drove the bucket, and went for every rebound. Hence, the girls had a lot of boxing out to do if they wanted to win.

 The girls struggled at first with taking care of the ball which put them in a hole but soon snapped out of it. Holland Black River pressed us the whole game so we had to quickly figure how to break the press efficiently, when we did so we got some easy lay ups for the Eagles. The game was back and forth for 3 quarters.  Calvary knew that this was the time to dig deep from the heart to get another W.

In the fourth quarter Calvary went on a 15-3 run to win the game. It took a lot of heart and intensity, but they got the job done. Briana Zehr really sparked the team when she drew 2 offensive fouls in a row against Holland’s best player. The offense was led by Amish HJ with 15 points and 5 assist with Taylor Richards chipping 13 points and pulling down a crazy 23 rebounds.  Even with a struggle the final score was 35-45. Coach Brad Richards says, " It's always better to win ugly than lose pretty."

- Shymari Harris, Junior

2012 Band Festival

This past Thursday, February 16, the middle school and high school bands went to a festival held at Covenant Christian Schools.

Both went as a combined band, making us one of the biggest there, which is different for us. Usually, the bands from other schools at the festivals we’ve gone to in the past have been huge in comparison.

Before we performed, we watched a junior high band play. They were pretty good, and it was interesting to see a different band play.

We played three songs, a march called The Earl of Oxford’s March, which is an English march, and much more slow and stately than the marches that we are used to in America. The second was On A Hymnsong of Philip Bliss, which is as arrangement of the hymn It Is Well With My Soul. It is a very beautiful and flowing piece, and it contrasted well with the third song. Wood County Celebration is a fast song, and it does really sound like a celebration. I think that one was my favorite of the three, though I do really like the other ones.

After the performance, the band went into a separate room to have a sort of workshop with one of the judges, who helped us perfect some of the parts on each song. Some of the things he mentioned were the same things our director, Mr. Finn, had been telling us all along.

The rating system for these competitions ranges from one to five, one being the absolute best, and five being the absolute worst. This year we received straight twos from all three judges. The judges are directors and musicians from around the area, actually some of the best in it.

After we were all done, we got back on the bus and went to the school, where we helped unload and then were able to go home.

- Anna Swanson, Sophomore

February Valentines

This month at Calvary we celebrated Valentines Day! Valentines Day is very exciting time for the kids at Calvary. We get to send valentines to our friends and the ones we admire. We can buy valentines from the school they offer us the option of sending a candy gram, a balloon with sucker, a rose, 6 roses, or 1 dozen roses, or a singing gram.

On the morning of Valentines Day there were so many different floating heart, and cupcake balloons it looked like a carnival in the hallway. A lot of people were caring around roses and vases of roses which made it smell good every where. A lot of the teachers handed out candy to make every one hyper, which is always good. In the elementary many of the children handed out valentines to there friends and had valentine festivities all day. In the middle school there were also many valentine Festivities that were going on, like in Mrs. Mann’s class they usually watch Charlie brown and eat candy and Mrs. Stenburg handed out some delicious candy to all of the Middleschoolers, I’m sure Mrs. Borgeson did something fun with all of her classes also. Holidays at Calvary are always really fun because every one gets so into them and tries to make them special for every body. I am sure that everyone at Calvary are excited for the upcoming Holidays, such as Saint Patrick’s day where everyone will surly be dressed out in green. Thank you so much for reading and Happy Valentines to all, Love, Hugs, and no kisses that’s not Calvary appropriate, and I will see you all later…

- Sophia Zelenka, Sophomore

3rd Quarter Tuesday Electives

Recently a new quarter started, which means signing up for new Tuesday electives! Tuesday electives are meant to be more relaxing classes with no test or quizzes. For this quarter, the new classes are Weight Training, from Trash to Treasures, and Acting.

Heather Denger’s class is weight training. In the weight training class, they learn about all of the different types of muscles and where they are in the body. They also learn how to work each type of muscle when you are working out. Guthrie Collins, a senior in the class said, “It is as intense as I wanted it to be and more. I can already see my muscles bulging!” It will be exciting to see how much you can lift in the beginning of the class, and then compare it at the end of the quarter to see how much stronger you have gotten.

Kristen Price and Mrs. Rude are teaching the class, from trash to treasures. This class is basically taking simple things and making them come alive. The first week we tye-died socks. Just this past Tuesday we finished a project taking pictures from magazines, children’s books, scrabble pieces, onion paper, and lace ribbon to make our own gift bags. Then we made bows out of newspaper. Filling the bags with homemade cookie mix they were ready to be given as gifts! Sydni Clark, a senior said, “It brings back memories of arts and craft time.” It is so interesting to see peoples personalities come through there projects. It will be exciting to see what people will keep making in the class!

Lastly, Mrs. Collins is teaching an acting class. In this class they are being taught different things about acting. Bradley Tripp, a junior said, “It is fun and a great experience. There are a lot of things that you do not know about acting that you learn. My favorite thing is doing improv!” Right now, they are mostly studying improv, but later in the class they will be taught on how to find there inner character. What a great way to let your personality shine!

Tuesday electives are something that everyone looks forward to. Who wouldn’t like a class that was stress, quiz, and test free? It’s a fun way to start off the beginning of the week, and to take it with your friends, as well as other people who have the same interest in it as you!

            - Megan Beals, Junior

St. Valentine's Day!

February has long been celebrated as the month of romance. Every year on February 14th, many gifts of cards, roses, and chocolates are exchanged between couples. But just where did this popular tradition come from?

          Unfortunately, there is no exact historical record of the origin of Valentine’s Day. Since it’s been celebrated in one form or another for centuries, it’s even more difficult to trace as the truth has been clouded over time. Accordingly, there are a few popular legends as to what started Valentine’s Day. Here is the most widely accepted…

        Around 270 A.D., the Roman Emperor Claudius II put a ban on marriage for all young men in his kingdom. He believed that marriage would inevitably lead to families and familial sentiment which would make his soldiers weak. In order to keep his army strong, he forbid marriage and dashed the hopes of many young lovers under his rule. At this time, St. Valentine was a Catholic priest who realized the trauma this was causing many people who dared not protest Claudius. Because of this he planned to counter the new rule by secretly performing weddings for anyone who asked. Sadly, the news about this “Friend of Lovers” was quickly spread and he was arrested. While awaiting his sentencing, it is said that Valentine somehow helped his jailor’s blind daughter. After this they shared a special Christian love for each other, and she was devastated by the news of his sentenced execution. Before he was killed, he left a note for his new friend signed, “From Your Valentine.” It is believed he was then executed on February 14, 270 A.D. After his death, many Romans began to annually celebrate this day with special notes to each other. Eventually with the coming of Christianity, this holiday began to be called St. Valentine’s Day.

          Now that we see why this holiday is so special, we need to remember to celebrate it in the special way! A great way to do this is to buy gifts from the senior class. On Valentine’s Day they will be handing out roses, candy, balloons, and singing telegrams to anyone in the school you select. Thank you to everyone who helps brighten someone’s day and supports the Senior Trip with these gifts!

            - Hayley Mohr, Junior

Basketball Games at Algoma

Last Friday night, the Eagles loaded up the bus and headed to Algoma. The JV Boys started us off at 4:30 and it was a close game in the beginning. But, they got done to business and ended with the win. They one by 18. Isaac Burns had 22 points and Joel Fulmer had 14.

The Varsity Girls came out and started off a little weak in the first quarter. But, we ended the game 68-18, a 50 point victory over the Knights.  Hayley Mohr had 28 points and was 12 for 14 at the free throw line. Taylor Richards at 20 points and 11 rebounds. This game made our record 13-3 for the season, tying for the best Varsity Girls record! The best record for Varsity Girls Basketball at Calvary is 13-7 back in the 2007-2008 basketball season. 

                  "Every player scored for us and we tied a team record,” said Calvary Christian coach Brad Richards. "I'd say that's a pretty good night."

After the girls game, the mighty varsity boys took the floor. Patrick Asdell led with 22 points and 18 rebounds. Mike Warren finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds and Guthrie Collins added 16 points and 13 rebounds. Mark Carlson also scored 13 points. Throughout the third quarter, we were ahead by six but couldn’t seem to get any bigger of a lead on the Knights. At the end of the third quarter, the boys were still only ahead by six. But, in the fourth quarter the boys outscored the Knights 25-12. Our boys came away with a BIG win with the final score of 81-62. 

                  "We were able to just pound it inside tonight," Fruitport Calvary coach Jim Warren said. "They ran out of gas in the fourth and we were able to break their press and get lay-ups."

            This was a very fun night and a great way to end the week! 

            - Natalie Kapanka, Junior

Field Trip to Rykes

Last Wednesday the applied math class and sophomore math class went on a field trip to Rykes bakery. We went there to ask questions about running a small business and to see what it takes to run a successful business such as Rykes.

We learned that there is so much more to a small business that what the costumer just sees when he walks through the front door to buy a doughnut. The owners told us about ways that they try and cut the “unneeded” costs during the slow time of the year for them(usually the winter time).

They gave us a couple examples of how they saved some money, one example was, their electric bill was very expensive for heating and cooling so they put in a new door and a new breeze way which cost them around $6,000 dollars but in the long run will save them money. Another example was their oven would be running for close to twenty hours a day and they were able to rearrange the scheduling for their employees and now the oven is on for only twelve hours a day which they said they saw an immediate savings in their energy bill.

There are so many little details that I never thought of that a owner has to deal with on a regular basis when he has a business to run. Going through Rykes really was an eye opening experience for me to see how a successful business is ran.

The owners that took us around their business were very nice to us, and gracious enough to give us all a tour of their establishment and letting us eat some cake scraps and butter cookies. It is something that I would do again and encourage someone who is interested into studying business at college.

- Patrick Stewart, Senior

Fetal Pig Dissections

As students walked into Mr. Langdon’s classroom at the end of January, they were greeted with the sweet smell of fetal pigs.  Scalpels, scissors, pins, and pans sat on the counter, along side buckets each designated with a fetal pig and two ‘parents.’  Sam was the daughter of proud parents, Drew Ros and Matt Newton, and Aphrodite was the daughter of Asdell and I.  It was interesting to hear the different names chosen- Aphrodite, Porky, and Mimi, just to name a few.

Finally, it was time to make the first cut. After making a some precise incisions, we were able to examine the stomach, small intestine, large intestine, liver, kidneys, inferior vena cava, aorta, and many other parts. Next, we examined the heart and lungs. A cut along the fetal pig’s neck revealed the larynx, trachea, lungs, thymus gland, diaphragm, and heart. We were then able to identify all the atrium and ventricles of the heart. We had just finished a chapter on the heart in Biology, so it was extremely interesting to be able to see all the parts in real life.

Lastly, we observed the head and throat. The parts of the brain were very unique. It was exciting to be able to identify the cerebrum, cerebellum, and medulla, which we have learned about previously in  Biology class.

            Although the dissections were very fun and enjoyable, they were also very educational – which was probably the purpose of ever doing them in the first place.  We got to see first hand what the inside of a pig looks like and how each function works together.  Surprisingly to some, the anatomy of a pig is very similar to that of a human.  We did not dissect them out of pure curiosity of pigs.  We were able to take our knowledge of human anatomy and apply it to the dissections.

After looking at the intricacy of the structure of these fetal pigs, I began to see once again the detail that God puts into each and every one of His creations. Just looking at the complexity of the inside of a pig’s kidney reminded me of God’s power. If God cared so much about pigs, I can’t imagine how much He cares about His children.

                - Joelle Byers and Jade Kroening, Seniors

The Kindergarteners Learn About Community Helpers

The Kindergarteners have been spending their social studies time learning about community helpers. They have been learning how important it is that we have workers who keep us safe, provide important services, and make sacrifices to keep our communities going. On Friday, January 27^th, the Kindergarteners finished up their unit by going to two places where they could see community helpers hard at work.

 Their first stop was Clarke Animal Hospital. At Clarke they met Megan, a vet assistant who helps take care of our pets. She taught the Kindergarteners how she weighs each animal, assists the vet with surgeries, and passes out important medicines to help the animals feel better. The Kindergartners got to see where all the medicines were kept, how lab tests are conducted, where animals are prepped for surgery, and even see a dog on the table getting sedated for an operation. Their favorite part of the tour was meeting a ten day old goat that was being cared for because he had a crooked walk.

After the Kindergarteners said good-bye to Megan, they rode the bus across the street to the Norton Shores Fire Department and met fireman Casey. They loved seeing where the firemen cook; watch TV when they are not working, and where they sleep. They even got to “pretend” they were firemen and were woken up by the lights and alarms just like the real firefighters in the middle of the night! They ended the tour at the fire station, by taking turns sitting in the driver’s seat of the biggest fire truck. That was exciting!

The biggest thing the Kindergarteners learned from vets assistant Megan and from Fireman Casey and from their Community helper unit was how hard our community helpers work. They must be extra thankful for the many people that help to make our communities a great place to live.   

- Annie Van Tine

Victory, Victory, Defeat

This past week was a tough week for our girls varsity basketball team. We had three huge games scheduled. Monday was Muskegon Catholic, Tuesday was Freedom Providence, and Friday was West Michigan Lutheran.  We knew that all three of these teams were very good, but definitely beatable.

Muskegon Catholic was the first team we need to beat this week. Our team decided we needed to pull it together the week before for the game, by focusing and working hard in practice, in order to beat this team. Turns out, our hard work paid off & we beat Catholic 52-35. We won this game by keeping their 3 main scorers to the least amount of points possible. In all of Calvary’s history of girls varsity basketball, there has never been a team to beat Catholic. We were thrilled to beat this team!

Providence Christian was the second team to beat.  Two years ago Providence beat us 46-9; it was embarrassing. This year we were going to make sure that wasn’t even a possibility. We guarded 2 of their best three-point shooters and their best post player. By the end of the third quarter, their post player fouled out & that was a key component in our win. The final score was 58-39. Again, no girl’s basketball team in Calvary’s history has ever beaten this team.  This was an amazing accomplishment!

West Michigan Lutheran was our third and final game of the week. To win this game, we needed to box out on every play, guard their best player Tiny Hunter, and prevent Alexis Harvey (their best rebounder) from getting too many rebounds. This game did not begin well. We were doing all the wrong things and our team was falling apart. Ending the first half the score was 22-7, and we were so embarrassed. Our team has never played this terrible, and we chose the most important game of the season to do so. It was disappointing. But, we came out in the third quarter and played a great rest of the game. If we wouldn’t have “dug ourselves a hole” (coach Brad said) in the first half, we could’ve won. We ended up losing, with a final score of 58-40. Even though there is nothing we can do about this game now, we are going to push forward as a team and hold our heads high. We can still win a District Championship, and that is what we’re aiming to do!

           

            - Sydni Clark, Senior

Flame Tests - Physical Science

On Tuesday, January 25, the freshman class performed a chemistry lab with Mr. Langdon. We got to do an experiment with different metals and burning them to change the color of the flame because we are learning about the periodic tables and the elements right now. We tested calcium, strontium, potassium, sodium, copper, and lithium.

            The flame that comes out of the Bunsen burners was a light blue, almost see-through, but once we dipped a wooden stick into some water, then dip it into some metal salt and put the stick in the water, it changed colors. We first tested calcium. Calcium salt didn’t look like your average cooking salt, it was in bigger flakes. When we put calcium into the fire, it turned a bright red. That one was my favorite because of the cool bright red color.

            Next we tried copper. Copper had more of a fine salt like cooking salt. It burned a bright blue-green color, this was Bryce Strickler’s favorite because he likes blue and green, so that turned out good.

            Then we tried potassium. Potassium was a little rougher and bigger than calcium and strontium, but still burnt the same. Potassium burned a bright orange. That one was pretty cool too.

            The last one we tried was lithium, which was fine like potassium and strontium. Lithium was interesting because it burned pink, and none of us expected it to be pink. We didn’t even know metal could burn pink, so it was really cool and interesting.

            Chemistry is one of my favorite classes because it is interesting and we do cool experiments like this one.

            - Joel Fullmer, Freshman

Homecoming Banquet 2012

           Last week on Saturday, January 28, the high school students had Homecoming Banquet. This year’s homecoming was very very fun!!

            We loaded the bus and went to Fricano’s Pizza in Muskegon. Unlimited pizza, salad, and soda were served to the good-looking group! Everyone I talked to had a great time. After we finished the pizza, they served us desserts that were fabulous. The Wilsons, Kapankas, Maines, Mr. Langdon, Colton Wilson, and Brooke Swanson were very kind and chaperoned this event.

            After we ate, we drove to the Youth Center which is located off

Seaway Drive

. Once we got to the Youth Center we checked out the building and its many rooms. Much to our excitement, there was a room with TVs and game systems! There was also a room with a pool table, air hockey, and foosball. In the main room, there was a ton of floor space where we did line dancing with professional swing dancing instructor, Steve. He was a neat guy who made everything really fun. He taught us a lot of line and swing dance moves! It was a blast because everyone did it with a great attitude. There were some hilarious moments that I will never forget!!!

           

            When the night was over, everyone was tired, but joyful. We drove the bus home, then unloaded with parting good byes and farewells.

            Thanks everyone for a great homecoming Calvary Christian Schools!  

            - Taylor Richards

Spirit Week Pep Rally

This past week at Calvary was Spirit Week.  One of the highlights of Spirit Week is the Pep Rally that took place on Thursday night.  Students, teachers, staff and many parents and other family members gathered for the excitement. The evening included the class lip syncs, the shooting competitions (alumni, parents, and high school students), introductions of the teams, and a several cheers from the cheerleaders. At the end of the evening, the

Homecoming Court

was announced.

The lip syncs showed a lot of creativity. The freshmen started with a mash up of “Eye of the Tiger” and “Cruella DeVille”. Then the sophomores did “Beat It” with Mike Warren as Michael Jackson. Later in the evening, the junior class performed “Hit Me with Your Best Shot/ One Way or Another”. Finally the senior class performed their lip sync to “Anything You Can Do”.   All four classes did a great job.

                 The classes, alumni, and parents competed in many basketball shooting competitions. The competitions included 3-point, free throw and half court shots.  Alumni won candy and seat cushions for their efforts.  The high school classes received points toward their overall Spirit week competition.

                During the pep rally, all of the basketball teams and the cheerleading squad were announced. The players were all recognized for their hard work and the crowd was reminded of the games Friday night. The cheerleaders also got the crowd more excited for the big Homecoming games.

                Finally the

Homecoming Court

was announced. The freshmen class was represented by Joel Fullmer and Michelle Postiff. The sophomore representatives were Mike Warren and Sophia Zelenka. Karl Kuszewski and Megan Beals represented the junior class.  Finally, the six senior representatives were announced. The boy representatives were Guthrie Collins, Randy Ortquist and Patrick Stewart. The girl representatives were Sydni Clark, Joelle Byers and Katie Vander Velde. The Homecoming king and queen would be announced between the varsity girls and guys games.

                Every year the school comes together for this pep rally.  The basketball shooting contest, introductions, cheers and team introductions and especially the lip syncs make it an evening to remember.

- Michelle Postiff

Spirit Week Overview

Every year the middle school and high school students at Calvary Christian Schools celebrate school spirit by having a spirit week!  Every year there is a different theme.  This year the theme was Great Rivalries.  Some examples of this theme are Cowboys versus Indians, Geeks versus Jocks, and Hero’s versus Villains.  Last year the theme was games where we dressed up as things like video games and sports. 

                This year was extra exciting for our class because this was the first year that we got to participate in the poster and lip sync portion of the week.  For the posters we create a poster that goes along with the theme of the week.   Our class decided to take our team, the Eagles, and Heritage Kalamazoo’s team, which is also the Eagles, and work from there.  When we were done we had a mighty eagle standing on top of a mountain and then some dead eagles under us to show that we beat Heritage! 

                For the lip sync each class decides on a song that goes with the theme of the week and then makes up some choreography to go with the song.  We were torn between trying to do Cruella DeVil by Selena Gomez or Eye of the Tiger by Survivor.  In the end we decided to actually make a mash up of the two songs because our class couldn’t decide which song we wanted.  It ended up working out great to because it really helped us get the theme of great rivalries across.

                Another thing that we got to participate in this year was the lunchroom competitions.  Every day each class had 1 or 2 people go to do the games.  On Tuesday the game was an M&M Relay.   On Wednesday the competition was the Marshmallow Toss.  On Thursday the competition was the Balloon Stomp. 

                I really enjoyed spirit week this year!!!  It was so much fun!!!  I really enjoyed the bonding time I had with my class and how well we all worked together.  I was very proud of us for getting second place in the poster competition.  And we took what we got when we tied for 3^rd in the lip syncs with the juniors.  Overall for the whole week we got last place, which wasn’t the happiest ending to the week but we can always do better next year!!! 

- Alyson Rosema