Eagle Excellence Gala

This week Thursday Calvary had a Banquet to raise money for the God Answers Prayers Fund or the Gap Fund. The gym was set up for the elegant evening with tables lit by candles and exquisite flower centerpieces. The Banquet Committee decorated the whole school for the event. During the week they helped work out the details for the performances and speeches that would be going on during the Gala.

The night started out with people congregating in the rotunda for hors d’oeuvres. While this was happing the Banquet Committee was hard at work putting finishing touches on the decorations in the gym. When everything was finished guests were allowed into the gym to be seated. As they were being seated the school jazz band was in the mezzanine playing background music for the evening. After everyone was seated a video played showing pictures of all the staff hard at work serving Christ in the school. Then a video was shown of the Administrator who was in China representing the school. After the short video from Tom Kapanka, Dr. Tom Watkins gave an eloquent speech about the faculty and awards were handed out to the staff who had been at our school for 5 to 25 years. Then the principal Rick Maine prayed over the meal and the dinner began. Background music from the band was continued and the Calvary High School Choir, working as waiters, began serving the guests.

After dinner had ended the entertainment began. A sophomore, Illilo Bisee, performed as well as the High School choir. Then speeches were given by some of the guests. After the speeches the worship band, including freshman Audrey Walker, performed. Next, Dean Price sang You Raise Me Up with the choir as backup. Dr. Tom Watkins finished out the night leading everyone in Great is They Faithfulness and then in prayer.

Jessica Assaad, Freshman

Thursday Chapels

On Thursdays around 9:00 am, the high school students are brought into a God-serving environment to talk and praise our Heavenly Father. During these forty minute services, we interact with a guest speaker that talks about God on a specific topic. Before the services, our talented and amazing worship team sings songs that lift our hands and hearts up to God. 

Our faithful guest speakers come from all churches from as far as Ravenna. These pastors come and talk to us about the Word of God and different stories that people in the Bible who have been faithful and have served Him. 

On Thursday, October 30th, a youth pastor from Ravenna came and talked to us about how God teaches us lessons so that later on in life we will be prepared for what is coming in our lives. He also talked about when we do wrong or things that are dishonorable to God, we should remember what we have done and take it as a learning experience. When something happens and you feel like you are in the same place as you were when you did the wrong thing, don't forget that God is on your side and he will help lead you through your problems.

Every few weeks the high school students break away for a gender specific chapel. The girls and boys are separated for the forty minute service so they each can talk about how to live our lives as a man or woman. The one who leads the breakaway chapel is usually one of our teachers. They try to prepare us for how the world is going to be when we graduate so we won’t have an unexpected journey. 

Rebecca Weipert, Freshman

2014 Regional Cross Country Meet

On Saturday, October 25th, anxious cross country athletes arrived at Allendale High school with one goal in mind: to run their best at their regional meet. We woke up early to face the challenge that we would face. Upon arriving, we were greeted by the coaches and parents and were told to walk the course. Being a freshman, I was interested to see my first regional meet and all the competition that it presented. I was here for two reasons: to praise God by running my best and for the experience.

Although constantly reminded of those reasons, I could not shake off the feelings of fear and nervousness. The students who had run this course previously in the week spoke of the challenges that we would face on the course. They told me where to save my energy. Calvary had four athletes compete: Brendan Hamilton, Matthew Bliss, Jordan Hamilton, and me (Breece Hammond). One thing that I remember of that day was the support of my teammates.

Although not all of them were able to compete that day, they all did their very best to encourage us. Brendan told me, “Breece, although this may seem hard, it will get easier.” He suddenly smiled as though a happy memory had come to him and said, “I remember my first year; I wanted to quit and look at me now!” I think I will always remember that quote so I will never give up on the sport even when it is tough. I certainly will miss Brendan next year when he graduates. Although nervous at first, we all gave our best.

Brendan Hamilton, with a time of 16:16, took first place in the whole region and became the regional champion. He will run in the state meet on Saturday, November 1st.

Breece Hammond, Freshman

Bible Class on Music

Every year at Calvary we have a Bible class each quarter and this quarter I got the Bible class about music in the Bible. It was a course that examined many of the biblical references to the use of music and studies how and why a 21st century believer should use music in his or her expression of faith.

Our course objectives were to understand the historic importance of music in the Old Testament, examine in greater detail David and several of his Psalms, understand principles for the use of music in the church, examine prophesies concerning the use of music in our eternal future, and gain practical insight for the use of music in personal and corporate worship.

In this class we covered a lot of ground since we started in the Old Testament which included many Psalms and we also studied the book of Revelation and that's where we wrapped it up but overall I learned a lot in this Bible class. You don't really realize how much music there is in the Bible until you realize that this is where we get most of our worship songs that we sing today.

Jared Burns, Freshman

The "New" Student

As a new student at Calvary Christian Schools, I really thought that I wouldn’t make friends that fast. But, as the year progresses, I am making more and more friends. When I went to the prospective student day last year, I figured that I could fit in at CCS. Now that I am at the school, I found how easy it is to be friends with a majority of the high school. It makes me feel really good to know that I am accepted.

Probably some of the most hospitable people were Britney Zehr, Alec Cammenga, Maddison Price, and Carson Burgess. These guys are some of my best friends at CCS, and I cannot tell them enough how grateful that they were so hospitable. I can see that there is a lot of love at this school.

With the amount of love I see at this school, I also see a great display of sportsmanship. When the boys varsity soccer team plays a game, they always have great sportsmanship with the other team and each other. I never see a player/players exclude a teammate. I also see this with the varsity volleyball team. The girls always try to do as much as they can to encourage other players on either team. This is a really respectable trait to have when you are part of a team.

I think I have made a great decision in coming to CCS. Still, there is a lot more to discover about everything here. I really like how open everybody is and the environment here.

Nick Roberts, Junior

JV Volleyball Tournament

On Saturday, October 18, the JV girls volleyball tournament took place. It was a cold and windy morning as girls started arriving at 8 o'clock for a busy day. The gym had been split into two courts as the morning started with pool play. This is where you play about four games of two rounds each that only go to twenty points. At the end of our pool we came out second of our side. This was with the help of our two eighth grade girls Kristina, who had awesome digs in every game and Audrey, who made over seventeen aces just in one game.

At this point it was already half way through the day and time for lunch. Mrs. Fullmer made wonderful pulled-pork sandwiches and everyone chipped in with snacks such as fruits, vegetables, and chips. But the day wasn't over yet, bracket play was just about to start and the girls were all hyped up on sugar. Also, it was single elimination, so if we were to lose any of the upcoming games we would be done for the season.

We won our first two games pretty quickly, winning the first two rounds of each, but they were rather close. Our third game was against Zion, a team who had beaten us multiple times in the past. We won the first round, but Zion came back and beat us in the second round. At this point the stands were starting to get a little crazy cheering for the remaining teams. Going into the last round we were very determined and pulled through, going onto the final game.

Our last game was against Potter's House, a team we had never beaten. We won the first round and then they came back and won the second. It was 14-12 our serve and everyone was going nuts. Audrey took the ball and made a perfect ace serve resulting in us winning the tournament. There was a lot of cheering and crying and it seemed like the pictures would never end, but in the end everyone had a great time and a lot of fun.

Christine Meyer, Freshman

Cornerstone Dual-enroll Class

These past two years Calvary has had the exciting opportunity to partner with Cornerstone University in a dual-enrollment class. This year's fall class is taught by Dr. Nicole McDonald and is available to juniors and seniors here at Calvary. The course is Psychology 111 and is taught from 1:45-3:45 every Wednes

day. For those in the class it takes up all of 8th and 9th hour extending till after school. Psych. 111 is worth three college credits and its two text books are provided free for each student. This class is a great opportunity for a high school student to take as it gives you a chance to experience a college class early for free, while earning college credits.
The class is originally taught three separate times a week, but because we only meet once a week for two hours, the third hour is homework. There is assigned reading for each week and all the class power-points and assignments are online. I find it very helpful to print out the power-points ahead of time and follow along making notes in class. Currently we are starting a project with groups of three to four people each. The group must pick a topic in psychology and do a paper and presentation on that topic. Each group must make a survey and interview to gather information from people. The gathered data must be included in the eight to ten page paper. The second part of the project, the presentation, will be about twenty minutes and must include a visual aid presentation or Prezi. This project is a big undertaking, but I am excited to see what my group's final outcome will be. Over all this class is going to be difficult, but if we keep at it and work hard we will see rewards in the end. 

Christi Evans, Junior

Boys Varsity Districts

Tuesday was Game day! The first round of the district match was about to begin. Players were warming up and fans were filling the sideline. Captains were called over to the referees to talk about the game and meet the other captains. The players took the field, and the action was about to begin!

The weather was mild with an occasional burst of rain; and the field became a mud pit. The whistle blew, and the ball was touched forward. Ravenna had a few well-placed shots in the first half, but goal keeper Will Lipscombe shut them down. Ililo Bisee scored the first and only goal for the Calvary Christian Eagles in that same half. The Eagles possessed the ball ell for a long time and then the whistle blew ending the first half. The second half began and the game began to slowly fall apart. Ravenna scored a goal early in the second half, followed by a penalty kick and another goal. The whistle blew and the game was over. It was the end of the soccer season, and the final game for our seniors.

The seniors were great teammates to have on the team. They were all very good leaders, and they all worked very hard. It will be a new experience next year not having them on the team. I will personally miss the soccer tips from Joel, the encouragement from Brendan, the strong left defense from Chris, and the laughs from Harry. Here are a few things about each of them: 

Your Calvary Christian Senior Players:

Brendan Hamilton, Sweeper and Captain

Great leader and always works hard 
 

Joel Fullmer, Attacking Center Midfielder and Captain

Solid leader and a great encourager 

 

Harry Gruen, Right forward or Outside Midfielder

Works hard and never failed to make the team laugh 
 

Chris Chartrand, Left Defense

Great defender and a hard worker


- Will Lipscombe, Junior

Middle School Girls Volleyball Tournament

On Saturday, October 11th, the Calvary Christian Schools Middle School Volleyball team had their end of the season conference tournament. Starting bright and early, the team was hyped up and ready to go, screaming and all.

The girls had started off the day very well by winning all of the pool play in some intense games, advancing to first in their bracket to start off bracket play. The girls played exceptionally well, fighting their way to victory.

After winning most of the bracket play, the girls, yet again, advanced to the finals.

Even though the last few teams the girls had played were quite tough, our girls managed to pull through.

Finally, the championship game rolled around. Zion was to be their opponent. The team had lost the first match, and then won the second match. The third match came along; we won the coin toss and chose to serve. The entire game was a nail biter with neck and neck scores the entire time. With the score 14 to 14, our team served the ball and we got an ace!

Everyone was very impressed with the way the team played in the tournament, and I can’t wait to see how much more they improve next year.

Lauren Hutchison, Junior

Varsity Soccer Win at Hope

The varsity boys soccer team got to play at Hope college on Saturday October 4 th . It was pouring during basically the whole game but it was still fun. The wind and the pouring rain froze us to the bone but we fought hard through the pain. Many of our players got injured but we sucked it up and played to the best of our abilities. Alec Camenga got tripped during the last couple minutes of the game and he got a concussion and Zeri Zelinka got a bloody mouth. Harry Gruen’s legs were in pain and Chris Chartrand got nailed in the chin by an elbow. He also got stepped on many times but he got up, brushed the pain away and kept on the good fight.

Through the blood, sweat and tears the Calvary Eagles came out with a 4 to 0 win against Zion. The defense for the eagles was outstanding, Will Lipscombe (Goalie) did an amazing job at stopping their shots and Zeri (right defense) and Brendan Hamilton (sweeper) did amazing at stopping the other team's attempts on trying to get the ball into our goal. Chris Chartrand (middle defense) had his best game that day, he stayed on number 5 for the Zion team the whole game and they did not give the ball to him that much. He also guarded number 17 when number 5 went to play as the defender for Zion.

Even through the harsh weather and all the injuries the Calvary Christian Eagles came out with a 4 to 0 win. They played their hardest and by doing so they outscored the other team and won the game. It was an amazing experience to play at Hope College because the field was awesome. The field was turf so the ball just kept on rolling and it doesn’t have bumps like regular fields. The field was also wet so you could slide tackle really good. Yes it was painful but it was worth the pain.

Chris Chartrand, Senior

The Marvelous Labs of Mr. Langdon

Mr. Langdon’s science classes are the best ones around!

One of the best parts of all of them is the many fun labs that we do. No matter what class you are in, you will do fun labs at one point in the class. They range from things such as looking at things under a microscope, to dropping things from very high places.

The first lab that we did in Physics was very interesting. We tested objects of different masses and different surface areas would hit the ground at the same time. At first it seemed that mass did not matter but surface area did so we tested them at higher heights. Mr. Langdon proceeded to drop the objects off the four story roof, which yielded different results. One of the folders that were dropped from the roof even flew back onto the roof.

In Biology we did two microscope labs that both yielded many various, yet fascinating finds in the specimens we examined. We tested things from pond water to old cell parts to animal parts to bacteria. It was fun and exciting because we found many different living and nonliving examples of the wonderful world that God has created for us. We found things from cells with visible nuclei to bacteria to microscopic moving slugs.

Some other classes this year have or will participate in some other fun labs and or demonstrations. These things may include making a vacuum out of a pop can, igniting propane bubbles, or dropping neutral lithium, sodium, or potassium in water, because we all know what that does!

Mr. Langdon makes learning very fun in his classroom by doing all of these fun labs with his students. The main thing to remember when doing the lab though is to clean up right, and NO HORSEPLAY IN THE LAB! 

Cory Greeno, Senior

Cross Country Meets

The Cross Country team this year at Calvary has been working hard to prepare for regionals! There are eleven people on the team this year, including Brendan and Jordyn Hamilton, Breece Hammond, Katie Boeve, Hannah and Nick Roberts, Britney Zehr, Maddie Price, Matthew Bliss and Alec and Abbie Cammenga. It has been a super fun season, and we still have 4 more meets to go! Each meet we run is 3.1 miles long, and through all different types of terrain. There is usually a boys and girls varsity race, and sometimes there are also JV races.

Our first meet was at Oakridge High School. Seven of us were able to participate in this meet. This course went all around the school buildings and through the woods for a little while. Brendan Hamilton did really well, coming in with a time of 17:32, and placed 5th overall for the boys’ varsity race.

Our second meet was at Johnson Park in Grandville. This meet was a jamboree, which means that boys and girls all ran together in one race. This course was the toughest course we have run so far. There was a large portion that we had to run in the mud, and there was also a huge hill that we had to run up. Four of us ran this meet. Matthew Bliss ran this course with a time of 22.54.

The third meet we ran was at Rycenga Park in Spring Lake. Seven of us ran this meet. This meet was mostly through the woods. It was a fast course, and Brendan Hamilton set his personal record with a time of 16:51, placing second, missing first by less than one second.
The fourth meet we ran, a jamboree, was at Western Michigan Christian High School. Five of us ran this meet. This course had a large ditch we had to run through, and several sharp turns. It was a tough course, but everyone did very well. Brendan Hamilton did a great job again, and came in second with a time of 17:33.

This year’s cross country team is a great group of people and we have a lot of fun. We will enjoy what is left of the season and give God the glory through it all!

Abbie Cammenga, Senior

GTG Fundraisers

As the school year begins, the G2G missions club begins preparation for the mission trip in the spring. They are very excited to go on this trip to bless our sister school in Guatemala, Communidad de Fe. Their focus this year will be preparing their hearts for the trip in the spring and collecting the funds necessary. These funds will be used to directly assist the school in Guatemala and to pay for individual trip expenses.

They have done and will be doing a variety of fundraisers. Already this year, they put on a hot dog dinner for Eaglemania and did a cardboard village fundraiser. They also started a weekly hot dog lunch on October 6th that will be held on Mondays. The club also plans to work at the Gordon Food Service Christmas Banquet in order to raise more money. They are working hard to pull together the funds!

The cardboard village fundraiser was a hit with the club members. They enjoyed building and living in cardboard houses for a full 24 hours. Sadly, that night it poured and the village was moved inside. But the disappointment did not ruin the night. They had a beautiful worship and prayer time, a productive “business” meeting, and fun team bonding games. It also brought in funds by having donors pledge money for the trip!

The club was excited to start a new fundraiser called Hot Dog Mondays. This is a hot dog lunch that can be purchased every Monday by the students. The profit from these lunches will go towards a project to help the school, Communidad de Fe.

Another opportunity to fundraise will be at the Gordon Food Service Christmas Banquet on December 13th. The members of the club and any friends or family members will be able to earn money towards a member’s tr

Letters from students in Guatemala

ip. They will serve all day at the banquet, setting tables, serving the guests and taking care of clean-up. Each person that works at the banquet will make a set amount of money for someone’s trip. It is not limited how many people a member can bring to help. It is exciting to see the potential in this fundraiser.

These are just a few of the things the G2G Missions Club is doing to make it possible to take a trip to Communidad de Fe. The G2G Missions Club is very excited for this upcoming busy and promising year!

Michelle Postiff, Senior

A Third Grade Adventure to Robinettes

By the time October comes around, school is well under way. Schedules are set, patterns are established, and fall is here. With fall comes so many great things. Some of these are brightly colored trees, fall sports, and apples. School has been going on for over a month, and the students have already learned many things.
In third grade, Mrs. Anderson’s class has been learning about plants and trees and how they are pollinated by bees in science class.

Last Wednesday, the class took a field trip to Robinettes Apple Farm. Here they did a lot of fun things and learned a lot. One of the things they did was go on a wagon ride around the farm and get a tour of the place.

On the tour they learned that the Robinette family has lived on the apple farm for over 100 years. The students even got to meet Mr. Robinette himself. The guide told them that Mr. Robinette often spends some of his time picking up English walnuts that come from the English walnut trees around his house. They also saw the bee hives that Robinette has and saw for themselves how bees are useful for pollinating plants and making honey. Later the third graders each got to pick one apple and put it in an old apple press to see how the Robinettes used to make apple cider.

They also got to go to the main building where the cider press, store, and restaurant are. In the store section, donuts, apple cider, bread, and gourmet caramel apples are for sale. In the restaurant, people can buy soup and lunch. The highlight of the trip was when the class went into a one-room schoolhouse and got to have free apple cider and donuts. Everyone loved the donuts especially. This fun time gave the third graders a chance to get away from school for a day and learn some practical ways that the things they have learned in school apply to the real world.

Megan Mitchell, Junior

New Places. New Faces!

Being a new kid at a school can be scary. Not knowing anyone can at times feels lonely. But at CCS I felt welcomed from the beginning. The girls from the volleyball team were all very nice even though they didn’t know me, they always made me feel like part of the team. The very first day of school, I was very nervous. I hardly ate anything that morning, and while getting ready I thought of the school year ahead of me and hoped for the best. As I walked into the doors of CCS, I saw some new and familiar faces in the crowd of people waiting to get their locker numbers. After putting my stuff in my locker, I made my way to my first class which was History with Mrs. Mann, who makes history very enjoyable.

Later that day at the lunch table, I was able to get to know my fellow classmates better. Jessica Assaad lightened the mood with her jokes and sense of humor. And Erynn Fullmer, with her outgoing personality, made it feel like I’ve known her all my life. Later in English class with Mr. Foutz (Who was also new to CCS) I came to the conclusion that English was going to be my favorite subject this year. Ninth hour was choir with Mrs. Dickson, who has a glowing spirit that can be seen by all. And with her passion for music she is able to teach the students the art of music. After volleyball practice, on my way home I started to think about the events of the day. I thought of the people I had come to know and would be spending the next year with. #allgoodthings!!

- Rebekah Koziki, Freshman

A New School

The first day I came to Calvary Christian I was pretty nervous. I was constantly thinking of how I would fit in and if I would fit in. Also, the thought of "would every one be nice" kept running its course through my mind. I was the new kid and I had never felt that way before in my life! You can just imagine how nervous I was!

I walked through the front doors and after being introduced to a few of the girls in my class, I saw that they were nice and very inviting. After a couple of minutes more girls kept showing up! I didn't realize how many girls were in my ninth grade class! My feelings suddenly changed. I had a feeling I was going to like my new school very much.

During the few days of our retreat, I got to know the girls very well and it felt like we were already like family. It was amazing how that all happened so quickly! I even got to know other people outside of my class and others on my volleyball team.

Now that I have been in school for about a month I have really enjoyed it. I really don't understand why I was so nervous before. I feel like I have been at Calvary all my life and it's kind of scary to think I've been here for such a short amount of time. I thought it was so cool that everyone just accepted me quickly and made me feel right at home. I think I will absolutely love this school year and being with all my new friends. 

Haven Borghi, Freshman

Girls' Night Out

Friday, October 3, the school put on a “Girls’ night out” to raise money for CCS students whose immediate family have been affected by breast cancer. At the girls’ night out, there was a cake walk with beautiful cakes, card making, pedicures, manicures, hand massages, a place where you could get your hair done, facial massages, glamor shots, and more.

There was also a fashion show put on by Rescued Treasures thrift shop. The fashion show represented the clothing that the store had to offer in a wide range of colors, sizes and styles. The models in the show were Natalie Kapanka, Britney Zehr, Madison Price, Elise and Kayla Maine, Lyssa Byers, Taylor and Alison Richards, Tessa Saum, Erynn Fullmer, Jordyn Hamilton, and Kyleah Sutherland.

There were yummy healthy cooking tips and delicious dessert. There were cookie dough balls, chocolate and peanut butter fudge, cupcakes, chocolate and mint cake, and much more. A lot of young girls had fun at the makeup table trying on makeup and seeing what looks good on them.
One of the crafts were that you could decorate a paper bag, punch holes in it, and put a tea light In it and put then around the concrete outside the school doors and they would all glow and look so cool in the dark! There were prizes given away and every girl got a gift bag with goodies inside like mints, a bracelet, chapstick, a rubber duck, and more.

Everything was decorated all pink and it looked very nice, the tablecloths were pink, the balloons were pink, all of the things in the gift bags, and pretty much everything else was pink, red or white. I have never seen so much pink before in my life! I look forward to next year’s girls’ night out, because it is always such a fun time.

Erynn Fullmer, Freshman

Point of View from a New Student

Although I have gone to Calvary in previous years, I was newly introduced to the high school life and thought it would be a great time to share thoughts. I struggled with my middle school life and often felt not

involved with good friends or neglected. In these past few weeks I can already tell that this will be a wonderful year. On my first day of school I was warmly welcomed by my classmates, even though most of them haven’t seen me since third grade. I was involved with their routine immediately and they slowly began to ask me questions about myself and how I was adjusting.

My first retreat was the most exciting for me because it was a chance to meet my class and find out their personalities and similarities to me. The first day I was very excited to go into the new gym and headed that way with many of my freshman friends. As I walked in, there were many older students playing a game of basketball. I realized that they had the only basketball and walked away sadly. But before I could leave, Gage, a senior, asked me to come and join the game. Instead of putting us down, he was complimenting us, showing us what to do, and making sure that whoever wanted to be part of the game would be able to.

I was happy to find out that the school had a choir and got immediately involved in that class. I am able to sing and be recognized for my voice no matter how old I am. The students in choir have been very encouraging and I am very grateful to Mrs. Dickson and the choir for explaining to me how things work at Calvary.

Cross country has been an interest of mine in the past year, so I was also very excited to learn that Calvary had a team and made arrangements to join. I went to my first practice and was immediately taken in by the cross team. They talked to me like I was a person that they had known for a long time. This was amazing to me because I felt like an important person, something I have to say I hadn’t felt in a long time. Special thanks to Jordan, Nick, Alec, Brendan, Abby, and the coaches, for being there on the first day. I will start worship team in the next few weeks and this would not have been possible had it not been for the support of the many people who encouraged me in these times. Thank you to all of the students and teachers who make up this school. You have made this an awesome beginning of the year.

Breece Hammond, Freshman

1st Month of High School

As a freshman this year, I have learned that high school is very different than middle school. This is my fifth year at Calvary and I love it here. As a small school, we do not change schools for elementary, middle school and high school. We have our own hallways; elementary in one and middle and high school in the other.

We have amazing teachers here that love their jobs and love teaching their students. We have small classes from ten to twenty kids. We all go from class to class with each other like in our own little packs.

In high school, our teachers expect more from us now that we are out of middle school because we are more responsible. This year we have more homework assignments and many more notes. Unlike middle school, our teachers would write down the notes with us as we discussed them. This year most of our teachers think we are more than capable by taking them ourselves as they talk to us.

From being an upper-classmen in middle school, to being the lower-classmen in high school is a drastic difference. In eighth grade we were considered the ‘big kids’ and no one called us names; but now we are the freshmen. The upper-classmen call us ‘freshies’ but we don’t mind it.

Overall I really do enjoy high school. From the exciting new songs we do in band and to the crazy spirit week, it will be much more exciting. I love how Calvary brings us so much closer to God than any other school could. I am so thankful to be at this loving and caring environment.

-Rebecca Weipert, freshman