CCS Carnival 2012

      This past Friday was the CCS School Carnival. Many different games were set up and played throughout the night. Some of these games were bowling, ring toss, the maze, basketball shoot, face painting, and silly string. The high school students at Calvary helped to set up games, work games, and serve food in order to raise money for their senior trip. Tons of Calvary students and their friends and families attended the carnival and had lots of fun.

      During the carnival one game that had many people come to play was the silly string. Lots of kids came to shoot and throw silly string at one another. Many of the kids that played returned to play it again. Another game that was doing well was the sponge game. This game is where the kids got to throw a wet sponge at a board with a hole cut out for someone to put their face through. Even though the kids got wet, they still kept offering to get sponges thrown at them by other students. The kids really enjoyed the games that were at the carnival.

      While working the silly string game, Annie VanTine and Emma Rudd got a whole giant can of silly string sprayed at them by elementary student Ben Zelenka. Ben had kindly asked for a big can of silly string. Then he politely asked if the girls could help him open it. Then immediately after the girls handed him back his can silly string started to spray all over Annie and Emma. Finally, after what seemed like at least ten minuets, the can ran out of string. As Ben went running away laughing Annie and Emma just sat there trying to understand what had just happened. They had been silly stringed by a elementary student.

      In the end the carnival was a very fun and exciting day for all the students, friends, and families that attended. After all the hard work setting up, the hard work doing the games, and getting a can of silly string sprayed all over, the CCS Carnival had a very good outcome and all the students enjoyed it very much.

            - Emma Rudd, Freshman

An Exciting Month at CCS

Juniors at Meijer Garden

The last week of April at Calvary has been a very busy and exciting. The juniors and seniors went to Fredrick Meyer Gardens with Mr. Langdon, The Middle School and Varsity Girls soccer teams had multiple games, the Eagle Excellence Dinner occurred, and the annual carnival to support our seniors was Friday night. We also found our that Mrs. Borgeson is not going to be teaching at Calvary next year. She will be teaching at Muskegon Community Collage and Baker Collage. Everybody agrees that she will be greatly missed.

Butterfly at Meijer Gardens

      In terms of the soccer games, the varsity girls are playing very well with a conference record of 4 wins and 1 loss. The loss was to the unbeaten Black River. Black river beat almost all of the other conference teams eight to zero. Our Calvary girls only lost two to zero. They have been playing very well despite the fact that Alyson Rosema, one of their starting defenders, is out for the season because of knee surgery and Hayley Mohr, the starting keeper, was out for a short time from a minor injury and is back to playing in goal. The leading scorer is Brianna Zehr averaging about two goals a game.

The middle school girls team has a record of two wins and two losses in their conference. Their leading scorer is Lauren Meyers.

      The Varsity Track and Field team is also doing quite well. Team captain Patrick Stewart is running very well averaging 1^st or 2^nd place in his races and getting a lot of metals. There are being a lot of school and personal records being beaten this year. Patrick Asdell has beaten his previous shot put and discus school records this year, Patrick Stewart had beaten his previous school records for the 300m hurtles, the 110m hurtles, and the 100m dash. Brendan Hamilton has beaten the school record for the 1,600m run and they 3,200m run. Guthrie Collins has beaten the school record for long jump and is getting close to the record for high jump. The record for the 4 by 100m relay was beaten by the relay team of Jacob Kuyt, Bradley Tripp, Harry Gruen, and Aaron Ebeling.

            - Brendan Hamilton, Freshman

2nd Annual Eagle Excellent Event

This past week was another big week at Calvary.  The Eagle Excellence Banquet was an amazing event showcasing our school.  It was a night full of entertainment, memories and food.  It was surely a night to remember.

                The evening began, as guests visited the Student Art Gallery.  Hors d’oeuvres of fresh grapes, cheese and crackers were served.  There was a variety of artwork displayed, ranging from linoleum block printing to chalk drawings.

                The guests then made their way to the tables in the auditorium.   After Adam and Amanda Montambo opened and gave thanks for the food, there was a black light/white glove performance.  “Who am I” was performed by Annie VanTine, Morgan Rude, Brook Sigler, Alyson Rosema, Gabrielle Kuszewski, Elise Maine, Anna Swanson, Michelle Postiff, Min Joo Choi and Emma Rudd.  They were led by Judy Henry.   

Dinner was then served by high school students.  The meal consisted of a Caesar salad, beef medallions with mushroom sauce, smashed redskin potatoes, a garden blend of vegetables and a dinner roll.   Apple pie drizzled with caramel sauce was served for dessert.  The dinner music was provided by the CCS Jazz Band under the direction of Rob Finn.

                Ruth Collins gave an academic overview of CCS and Rick Maine recognized the athletics.  There was also a video introducing our teachers and another one highlighting some of the athletic events.        

The “He Will Carry Me” skit, presented earlier at Showcase, was performed for the guests. It was a skit illustrating Bible stories, without using props.  Sydni Clark, Guthrie Collins, David Borgeson, Natalie Kapanka, Patrick Asdell, Michelle Postiff, Mike Warren, Brianna Zehr, Hayley Mohr and Taylor Richards were in this performance.

                The CCS school board spoke about expected changes as the school becomes independent by the fall.  They also recognized Mr. Kapanka for his many years of excellence in Christian education.  As the evening concluded, Jeff and Samantha Anhalt sang “Speak, O Lord.”  Mr. Kapanka closed with prayer.

                The Eagle Excellence Evening was great event.  It showcased some of the wonderful things about Calvary.   Everyone really enjoyed the evening.

            - Michelle Postiff, Freshman

The Civil War in our classroom!

In History class on Friday Pastor Wally from Forest Park Church came into our class, dressed as a confederate soldier, and talked about the Civil War. He even had Cory come up to the front of the class and wear some of the things the Yankees would have worn. We all learned a lot about the Civil War. Like how the rebels weren’t as nice as the Yankees. When a rebel killed a Yankee he would take the Yankees belt and turn it upside down so the belt buckle said SN for southern Nation instead of U.S.

Also the Civil war had more American deaths than any other war the U.S has ever had. In fact if you were to add up all of the deaths from all the other wars in America’s history it would equal the amount of total deaths from the Civil war.

The first hand grenade, along with the submarine and other weapons were first used in the Civil war. The Yankees guns were a lot more accurate than the Rebels guns because the Rebels had a round bullet unlike the Yankees whose bullets could go farther distances. Although the bayonet was not used to kill very often, it was used very often for pitching a tent, cutting up food, even a candle holder. During the Civil war they started using trenches, before that they would just fight toe to toe, killing many people that way.

In war men carried very few things with them. They were lucky if they even had an extra shirt. Quite often, the typical soldier had a mini bible, a canteen, blanket, a small ration of food and a bag to hold some of these things.

Pastor Willy taught us a lot and we had lots of fun.

            - Lauren McGahan, Freshman

Cornerstone Track Meet

This past week at Calvary the Varsity track team went to a Cornerstone Invitational track meet at Forest Hills Northern track. The track meet was supposed to start at four o’clock but it didn't end up starting until 5 o’clock. That was fine because it was raining before it started.

There were quite a few broken school records and personal records at this meet. Brendan Hamilton broke two school records. He broke the two mile run and the one mile run. Patrick Stewart broke his hurdle record which is also the school record by almost a full second. Sophia Zelenka broke her personal record in the long jump. Elise Maine Broke her personal record in the hurdles.

The girls 4 by 200 team broke their personal Record, which was Alex broke his personal record. The Boys 4 by 100 team broke their personal record, there team was Bradley, Jacob, Aaron, and David. Josh Hatfield broke his personal record in the 400 m relay along with Bryce. Bradley trip broke his 200 record.

Dalton Hatfield broke his personal record in the 2 mile run. Drew Maine broke his personal record in the boys long jump. Patrick Asdell broke his personal record in the Discus. Patrick Asdell, Caleb Ahumaeh, and Cory Greeno all broke their personal records in the Shot put.

All together this was a successful meet, in the end both girls and boys teams ended up getting 2^nd place over all out of 6 teams. The first place winners were from a class A school, so in our hearts we got first! The Varsity Track and Field team is looking forward to the upcoming meets. Wish us good sprinting, running, jumping, and throwing. Hopefully more school and personal records will be broken in the upcoming meets!

- Sophia Zelenka, Sophomore

Trip to DC

I just returned from a weeklong trip to Baltimore and Washington D.C. It was a change of pace from the grueling school schedule. I got to experience the differences of being in a big city.

Over the course of the week I went to two baseball games; Baltimore vs New York Yankees, and Washington vs Cincinatti. Both games went to extra innings. It was a great experience, but I went to D.C. for more than simply fun. I got to spend time in Anacostia a neighborhood where my brother did an internship almost 3 years ago. I also got to do some sight-seeing. You can see the Washington monument from anywhere and the capitol from most of the city. All the streets even count down as you approach the capitol.

 Another great experience was the chance to walk through the Holocaust Museum. The museum itself was very intentional in its design and layout. When you walk in to start the exhibit you are given a “passport” from a Jew telling their story from the Holocaust and the persecution that they saw. You then enter into an old elevator and are taken to the 4^th floor.

The floors all have different themes and represent a different time. The 4^th floor starts with the rise of Hitler to power and the Nazi party and the beginnings of racism and segregation against the Jews. The 3^rd floor went through the beginnings of persecution of the Jews and the way they were confined to the slums of the cities and their treatment. The end of the 3^rd and beginning of the 2^nd floor takes you through the death camps and the gas chambers. 

The sad thing is when they were brought to the death camps they were told they could work and survive and maybe live their lives again, but 90% were killed within minutes of arriving and the other 10% were worked till they were useless again and then would die from exhaustion or just killed in the gas chambers. It was a very moving exhibit and I’m glad I had the chance to experience it. It has changed my perspective.

            - Patrick Asdell, Senior

Black Light at Eagle Excellence Event

For the Eagle Excellence Banquet tonight, a group of 10 girls, Elise Maine, Michelle Postiff, Anna Swanson, Min Joo Choi, Emma Rudd, Annie VanTine, Morgan Rude, Brook Sigler, Allison Rosema and Gabrielle Kuszewski are doing a black light performance to the song “Who Am I” by Casting Crowns.

Judy Henry had the idea to do this and is helping us with the performance. We have been practicing though March and the performance is on the April 26^th. What we do is wear white gloves and all black clothes and we make shapes and words with our hands.

Some things that we make are a star, heart, circle for the earth, a person, butterflies, cross, wave, the word “sin”, the word “God”, the word “Jesus”, the word “yours”, the words “I am yours”, wind, rain and a flower. It's really cool and it is fun to be a part of.

 We almost have the whole performance perfected. There are just a few things here and there that we need to work on but I think it is going to look awesome and the audience is going to love it! I am excited to perform.

We are also going to do this black light performance Judy Henry's church sometime in May. I am really excited to show people this performance and I have enjoyed doing this with the other girls. It is also great to serve the Lord in this way. It just shows that you can have so much fun with your friends and serve the Lord at the same time! Thanks Mrs. Henry for taking the time to help us learn this!

            - Morgan Rude, Sophomore

Highway Cleanup!

On April 18, 2012 the high school of Calvary Christian Schools in Fruitport went on their annual highway clean-up for the community. On these clean-ups there are many things found, from cigarettes to vodka bottles to ruined tires to dead deer, and more. Occasionally a student may find a very peculiar article or object, like a stainless steel wrench, or car emblem. On this day the junior class received the privilege of cleaning the westbound part of i-96, across the way from the school. 

The day started out as a normal day for the school, but after lunch every high school student had to report to the lunchroom to watch a video on highway safety. After the video was finished every student was required to obtain a yellow vest and gloves to protect their hands.

After the mayhem in the lunchroom was complete chaperones were assigned to each class and everyone made their way to the bus. After Mr. Maine finished assigning classes to different parts of the highway the bus was off to drop its cargo of workers. The junior class was the first to be dropped off on the side of the highway to begin their work.

During this time the class of ’13 picked up trash, and debris from the side of the highway. But even though they worked hard to clean their side of the highway they did have fun, which isn’t very hard for this particular class at Calvary.  Bradley Tripp even found and named his own bridge while on the job. In the end the highway looked much cleaner than we found it. Refrigerator.

            - Josh Hatfield, Junior

Calvary Eagles vs. Algoma Knights

The girls varsity soccer team recently finished their fourth game of the season, Their record currently is 3-1 (2 of which are non-conference games). On Tuesday the girls played a well-known rival team, the Algoma Knights.

The first 12 minutes of the game the ball was played mostly on the opposing teams side of the field and the Eagles just couldn't manage to get the ball in the back of the net, Until the 13th minute Sophia Zelenka (Sophomore) scored the teams first goal of the game against the Knights. It was nicely placed to the lower right corner of the net, passed by an unplanned header given by Sydni Clark (Senior); who then scored the second goal for the Eagles. Following Clark's goal was a beautiful pass to the back of the net by Brianna Zehr (Sophomore). By half time the lady Eagles were up 3-0.

During the second half of the game, the offense still struggled to get the ball in the goal, but the defense did a great job holding off the opposing team’s offense away from the 18 yard line. Samantha Rasmussen (Junior) did a fantastic job using her speed to keep up with the other team’s offensive passes, and then clearing them to the open wings, as well as Elise Maine (Freshmen).

Then throughout the rest of the game three more goals were scored by Brea Hinken (Junior), Hope Hinken (Senior), and Brianna Zehr. The final score was 6-0. It was a great win, and a very nice feeling to have a shutout! Congrats to the girls and good the rest of their season! Their next home game is Friday, 27th, against the Potter's House Pumas. Come and support the varsity girls and enjoy the wonderful CCS School Carnival afterwards!

            - Sydni Clark, Senior

Law Day Speeches

Every year, the seniors at Calvary Christian Schools participate in the annual Law Day Speech competition of the Muskegon County Bar Association. Two students from each of the participating schools go and give their speech to a panel of judges and the top four contestants receive a scholarship. This year the contest will be held on May 4. At Calvary, every senior gives a speech as a World History requirement and the two best of the class are chosen to participate.

                The theme this year was "No Courts, No Justice, No Freedom" and the topic was on" A Michigan Legal Milestone, Public Access to Public Water" The case that was chosen as a topic for the speeches was about a dispute between two men who disagreed about public water access. One man thought that he had private access to the public river on his private land. Another man disagreed and felt that the public river was free for all to use for fishing and other recreation. The dispute led to a court case on trespassing and the use of public water. The court ruled that the private landowner did have private access to the public river and anyone else who used the river was trespassing. However, the dilemma reached the Supreme Court and in 1926 the Supreme Court ruled that all public water was free for anyone to use.

                 Each student took the theme and topic and created an original speech to present to the class. The students gave their speeches in History class on April 13. The speeches were being judged by Mrs. Meyer, Mrs. Collins, and Mr. Kapanka. All the seniors gave great speeches, but the two students who will be participating in the contest are Joelle Byers and Jade Kroening. The Law Day competition is a great opportunity for the seniors to polish their speaking skills and a way to potentially earn a scholarship.  It is yet another opportunity that encourages Calvary students to excel.

            - Katie VanderVelde, Senior

A Promising Golf Season

Golf season started early this year because of all of the warm, and beautiful weather we've been having here in West Michigan. Golf season this year started the week before Spring Break. This year, because of the increased interest in golf, we had to split of the teams into J.V, and Varsity. The Varsity team has around 8 guys on the team, and the J.V has about the same number of guys.

The Varsity team practices at Grand Haven Golf Club on Mondays, and Thursdays. Grand Haven is a beautiful and challenging course.

We have around 11 matches this season. We play other local class D schools. For our golf matches we usually get to take six guys, and take the top four scores to see who wins against the other schools.

The Golf team has a few very talented golfers that have made it to State, and can comepete with some of the best golfers from class A and B schools from all around the state of Michigan. Mr. Collins (the head golf coach) says he is very proud of his team, and hopes they can go even father this season, than what they have in years before.

The boys varsity golf team had their season opening match last Friday. They had an away match at Golden Sands Golf and Grill against Pentwater. The golfers consisted of Guthrie Collins (1) Drew Rosencrants (2) Mark Carlson (3) Drew Maine (4) and Randy Ortquist (5). It was a close match, with Guthrie and Drew tying their group and the other remaining groups staying close also.

When the match was over Pentwater had won with just a 7 stroke lead. It was a disappointment, but it is just motivating them to keep practicing and getting ready for Monday’s match against Hesperia, and Providence on the home course of the Eagles, Grand Haven Country Club.

The team has been practicing almost everyday, they are trying hard to make another appearance at regional s as a team again, and hopefully sending a couple of the golfers to state this year.

It is looking to be a promising year, with a lot of talent and a lot of dedication there is a lot of potential, so watch out for the team who never gets recognition, because this year a lot is going to happen. With today’s match being a home match the team is hoping to take advantage of knowing the course. It will be a good match but the Eagles are expecting to take a big win at home. There is a lot of season left and we are expecting another winning season.

- Drew Rosencrants and Randy Ortquist, Seniors

Spring Sports Off to a Fast Start

This week was an exciting week for Calvary’s spring sports. It opened up with the girls soccer team as they opened up their conference season against their rivals, the Calvary Holland Crusaders. The girls won in decisive fashion as they ran away with a 4-0 win. Goals were scored by sophomore Brianna Zehr who scored two, senior Sydni Clark and eight grader Britney Zehr both added a goal a piece.

Then the golf team had their first match of the season at Grand Haven and they all did very well for their first match. Senior, Guthrie Collins led the eagles with a score of 36. The gold team is led by a strong group of guys who are looking to do some serious damage this upcoming season.

           Finally the track team after having their first meet cancelled due to inclement weather last week opened their season at the Hastings Saxon Relay Meet. It was not your average track meet; instead it was a relay meet, which means that all of the track and field events were scored in pairs of either 2 or 4 depending on what your event was.

It was a great meet for the guys and girls. We had three school records broken; the first broken was long jump when Guthrie out jumped Juwaun Harris’s old record of 18’8.5” with an 18’9.5” jump! Hayley Mohr also broke the school record for shot put with a throw of 26’ 8.5” Lastly, the 4 x 100 relay record was broken by Bradley Tripp, Jacob Kuyt, Aaron Ebeling, and senior David Borgeson with a time of 49.76. 

Overall this was a good week for the spring sports at Calvary Schools!

- Patrick Stewart, Senior

Girls Varsity Defeat the Crusaders!

If you haven't heard, CCS has started up spring sports. The girls varsity soccer team is very excited out about their season. Mr. Jeff Zehr and Ms. Joy Wildfong are the girls' coach this year. Also something new this year is that there are 3 home school girls joining the eagle squad: Brea Hinken, Hope Hinken, and Sam Rassmussen.

On Thursday night, our very own lady Eagles had their first home soccer game of the season. They went up against the famous Calvary Holland Crusaders, one of our arch rivals. The weather was very nice for a soccer game and many fans came out to support the girls.

The intensity was high with the sound of the first whistle and the girls were ready to play. Our girls were very forward towards the goal and ended the half with 18 shots on goal. But, unfortunately the score was only 1-0. They knew they needed to pick it up in the second half. They put all their focus into the game and went out at half time ready to go.

A few minutes into the second half, Britney, an 8^th grader, scored making the score 2-0. Later, Sydni added a sweet cross with her left foot into the goal, making the score 3-0. With only a few minutes left in the game, Brianna scored again, securing the victory. After many shots we ended the game with a shutout: 4-0 CCS with the win!

The ladies have a busy schedule for the rest of the year and would love for as many fans as possible to come out and support them! Their next game is Tuesday, April 17 at 5:45pm at Home. The middle school girls team has a game right before them at 4:30pm. Come out and support your Lady Eagles!

- Natalie Kapanka, Junior

Senior Trip Anticipation

As the end of school approaches, the Calvary Christian School seniors are looking forward to the annual senior trip. For the last few months, we have been eagerly planning for our week-long vacation to Orlando, Florida.

After much discussion about possible places we’d like to visit, we finally decided to make our destination Orlando, Florida. The senior class last year went to Orlando and had a great time, so we are very excited about our trip coming up in only six weeks.

While in Orlando, we plan to spend some time at Disney World and are working hard to plan out exactly which parks we want to go to in Disney. (We want to make the most of our hard-earned money.)We also intend to visit a Disney water park. In addition, we are planning to spend a day at Coco beach enjoying God’s beautiful creation- especially the warm sun, hot sand, and refreshing water. Mrs. Kapanka, our helpful class advisor, found a great deal on a comfortable and charming vacation house for us to stay in while visiting Orlando. It’s very close to Disney World, so it will be a perfect and convenient location for us.

I think that one of the best parts of attending Calvary Christian School, is being able to plan and look forward to senior trip. Initially, the idea may only seem like a waste of money and time, but it is actually a great opportunity to learn responsibility and planning. Throughout high school, each student works hard on various fundraisers to raise money for the trip. We also have opportunities to work at school events to earn senior trip money. For example, students can work at the annual CCS Carnival to earn money toward the trip.

Also, senior trip provides a great motivation during tough weeks at school. Sometimes I’ve thought that I just can’t make it through another exam, but I remember my end of school reward- a luxurious trip to Florida.

            - Joelle Byer, Senior