Cougar Commotion 2008-09

The Calvary Christian Kids' Tennis Camp will be held July 27-31 from 5:00-6:30 at Richardson Park. This camp for boys and girls entering grades 4-8 provides the opportunity to learn and improve their skills in tennis. Learning experiences are enhanced through the use of drills, games and contests. This camp is for beginners with a focus on fundamentals.

Instructing the kids will be the coaches and players from Calvary Christian and Simon Kenton. The cost is only $40 and includes a camp t-shirt, snack and water. If you've always liked tennis or wanted to see what tennis is like, then come out and join us for a great time of making new friends and playing tennis. Download the brochure for additional information and registration. You can call Eric at 859-630-2651 or email him at e.hogarth@insightbb.com for more information.

Congratulations to our Cougar Award winners:
Girls Softball-Jamie Rust
Boys Baseball-Jerry Kalfrat Sr.
Girls Tennis-Liz Myers
Boys Tennis-Namaan Mian
1st Ever Track & Field-Rachel Madden

Also a special congratulations to the first Calvary Christian All-State Player - Pierce Kohls.

The CCS Athletic Department would like to say thank you for an awesome year and for being a part of T.E.A.M. Calvary. Colossians 3:23: "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men."

On Thursday, May 21, the sixth graders and their parents spent the morning washing cars for faculty and staff. It was a service project where they gave back to the people who have given so much to Calvary Christian School. Thank you, faculty and staff, for your contribution to our school, and thank you, sixth graders, for your example of service to others! See more pictures here.

This year, the Girl Scouts at CCS have been focusing on healthy living. They have learned that in order to be healthy, they must exercise and eat three balanced meals per day. They also discovered that in order for a meal to be considered balanced, they must have at least three of the five food groups on their plate. The girls were surprised to find that there are people right here in Kenton County that cannot afford food at all, much less worry about whether or not their meals are balanced. The truth is that the most affordable foods are often the ones that offer the least amount of nutritional value. But the journey did not end there. In fact, it had just begun.

The girls followed the Girl Scouts guide to leadership and DISCOVERED a problem in their community, CONNECTED as a team to help solve the problem, and FLEW INTO ACTION to make the world a better place. First, they took a field trip to Action Ministries and learned how food banks help needy families in Kenton County by providing them with nutritious meals. Then, they helped label canned goods. Finally, the troop organized a food drive at school for K-4th grades. The Hungry Cougar Cubs Food Drive Fiesta lasted just 1 week and was a success! Over 190 non-perishable food items were collected and donated to Action Ministries, living up to the biblical principle found in John 13:35, "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another."

By participating in this community service project, the girls learned three valuable lessons. First, everyone who sits down to eat three square meals a day is blessed beyond measure. Second, you are never too small to do something big for God. Third, the only way to make this world a better place is to make yourself available to be God's hands, mouth, and feet. When you are in His will, He will make a way.

The CCS Brownie Girl Scouts would like to thank the teachers that joined us in this effort to help families in Kenton County, the children who brought in the food, and Mrs. Taylor for being such a strong supporter. Without all of these people working together, none of this would have been possible.

The National Beta Club announced that Kayla Wright has been named a Beta Scholar which entitles her to a scholarship award of $1,000.00.

Kayla, a senior, competed against more than 1,000 candidates nationwide for this honor. Two hundred fifteen scholarship recipients were chosen. Kayla plans to attend Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA. She was recommended for this award by the Calvary Beta Club sponsors, Mrs. Kristen Miller, and CCS High School Principal, Mr. Jerry Sewell.

“This outstanding young person represents the true spirit of National Beta, having excelled not only academically, but in leadership and service to school and community as well,” said Mr. Ken Cline, Executive Director of the National Beta Club.

Kayla is the daughter of Lori and Tim Wright of Covington. Her grandparents are Bonnie Wright and Jacob S. Salm. When Kayla’s parents were asked how they felt about Kayla’s accomplishment they said, “We are very proud of Kayla. We are so grateful that she has not only excelled in the classroom, but also in other areas of life. We are thankful for this honor and scholarship that she has received from the National Beta Club.”

The CCS Middle School Band and Junior High Choir recently traveled to Sandusky, Ohio to participate in the annual Music in the Parks Festival at Cedar Point. Both groups had amazing performances! The choir placed first in their division with a good rating and the band placed second in their division with an excellent rating! Congrats to both groups!! See more pictures here.

Brooke Duty (7th grade) and Hailey Ison (5th grade) were both winners in the "Attitudes" Disability Awareness Essay Contest sponsored by United Cerebral Palsy. They were picked up at school by limousine on Wednesday, May 13, and taken to a Celebration Lunch at PF Chang's in Norwood. Cammy Dierking, Local 12 anchor, was the celebrity judge of the event and joined them for lunch. Congratulations, girls!

It was a GREAT match against our Pierce Kohls and Covington Catholic's Jimmy Roebker on May 14 as over a hundred fans cheered at Five Seasons Country Club. Up 3-0 games in the first set, Pierce fought hard, but came in second with a final score of 6-4, 6-2. He represented Calvary Christian again so well with his hard work, Christian ethics and attitude.

Thank you to all who attended! Pierce now goes on to the state tournament scheduled for May 21-23 in Lexington.

On Friday, April 17, Calvary Christian fourth graders welcomed Channel 12 Meteorologist John Gumm to their classroom. To culminate their weather unit, students in Mrs. Peters’ and Mrs. Edwards’ fourth grades listened intently as Gumm shared his passion for weather through stories and experiments. While explaining weather processes, he formed a cloud, demonstrated cloud saturation, and made a tornado in a bottle. He also explained the process of hail formation through the use of a ping pong ball and a hair dryer. During his weather presentation, Gumm read a journal entry that he wrote when he was in the sixth grade. In it, he wrote that one day he hoped to be a meteorologist and save many people from a hurricane. He did just that several years ago working in New Orleans during hurricane Katrina. Gumm shared with the students that it is possible for their dreams to become realities. He definitely inspired one student. Nathan Meade, age 9, said of John Gumm, “When I was younger, I wanted to be a meteorologist. Now he has extended that interest!” Gumm’s presentation was one that the fourth graders from Calvary Christian School will long remember.

Annie Oakley, Lou Gehrig, Harriet Tubman, Geromino, Steven Spielburg, and Christopher Columbus, to name a few, made special appearances at Calvary Christian School on Thursday, April 16th. Third grade students from Mrs. Bartholomew’s and Mrs. Taylor’s reading classes gave oral presentations dressed as the main character for their biography book report project. Students were asked to read a 100-page book, write a summary, give a book talk, and dress as the character from their book.

Jacqueline McWhorter (2nd Place at the Regional Fair - $50.00)
- Able to Advance to the State Fair at Eastern University
- US Army Certificate of Achievement

Kelsey Curry (3rd Place at the Regional Fair - $20.00)
- Able to Advance to the State Fair at Eastern University

Tucker Glass
3rd Place at the Regional Fair - $20.00
- Able to Advance to the State Fair at Eastern University

Liz Myers
-US Air Force Certificate of Achievement
-US Army Certificate of Achievement

David Helton
-US Air Force Certificate of Achievement

Well done, students!!!

“Let’s go fly a kite” were the enthusiastic words uttered by our second and third graders on Friday, March 20. The sight was a beautiful one as students and parents gathered together on the soccer field and hillside to fly kites across the clear blue spring sky. Organized by second teacher and Lower Elementary Coordinator, Mrs. Joyce McQueen, this fun-filled event welcomed the first day of spring and promoted teambuilding among our students.

On Saturday, March 7, over one hundred students from four area Christian schools gathered at Calvary Christian School for the annual Elementary Speech Meet. In preparation for this event, students from grades 1-6 memorized and recited selections from a variety of genres including: Poetry, Patriotic Oration, Original Speech, Fable and Folklore, Dramatic Bible Prose, and Bible Memorization. Twenty-three students from Calvary Christian School were selected to represent CCS at this event. Of those twenty-three CCS students, fifteen received Superior ribbons and eight received Excellent ribbons for their efforts. Congratulations to the following CCS students:

Grade 1: Kenzie Skaats, Mason Rusch, McKenzie Clary, Julia Bottoms
Grade 2: Max Borden, Holly Stewart, Grace Ousley, Hannah Herald
Grade 3: Ellie Ison, Kaelin Clemens, Rachel Watkins, Blake Newberry
Grade 4: Sam Roberts, Leah Swinford, Skyler Petty, Kyle Casson
Grade 5: Ashely Stonis, Sara Lee, Amanda Sheppard, Camden Rusch
Grade 6: Jonathan Nerz, Natalie Thomson, Hannah Coppes

Pictured below, Rachel Watkins, Allison Clary, and Blake Newberry have fun while waiting to receive their ribbons along with Max Borden and his mother Jenny Borden.

In February, CCS hosted its bi-annual high school science fair for students in grades 10-12. Led by CCS Science Teacher, Mr. Jeff Bowers, the projects helped students develop experimental and research skills. This year’s Grand Champion was 10th grader, Andrew Moran for his project titled, “Does Water Make a Bottle Rocket Go Higher?” Six students have qualified to take their winning project to the Regional Science Fair at Northern Kentucky University on Saturday, March 21.

On Wednesday, March 11, the high school band at Calvary Christian School attended the Kentucky Music Educators Association (KMEA) District Concert Festival at Northern Kentucky University. Led by CCS Band Director, Mr. Joshua Mallory, the CCS high school band received an overall distinguished rating and has qualified for the KMEA State Concert Festival at the University of Louisville on Saturday, April 25.

The Spanish II students at Calvary Christian School visited Abuelo’s Restaurant in Crestview Hills Towne Center on Friday, March 6. They enjoyed a great lunch and enjoyed seeing the reproduction of Diego Rivera’s mural, “Sueno de una tarde dominical en la Alameda Central” that has been reproduced on several walls at Abuelo’s. The CCS students enjoyed finding their favorite characters in the mural. They also completed compositions on several different Hispanic artists and their field trip completed their study with a first-hand, visual experience.

It was a great night at CCS on Monday night as we reflected back on this past winter season of sports. Special congratulations to the first CCS swim team who did a great job this year representing CCS in Northern Kentucky.

Congratulations to the Cougar Award winners:
Varsity Cheerleading-Abbey Bridges
Varsity Boys Basketball-Ethan Glass

Also mentioned on Monday evening were three of our players that were recognized on Sunday at the Northern Kentucky Coaches Association:
Joe Flanigan was named the Division III player of the year and an all conference player.
Chase O'Keefe was named the Division III Defensive Player of the year.
Ethan Glass was named as an all-star and all conference player.

Lastly, Coach John VanderMeer was named the 10th Region All A Coach of the Year where he will be honored at a banquet next week.

Brittany Bowers – Hometown: Taylor Mill, KY
Maddie Moss – Hometown: Covington, KY,
Lindsey Tackett – Hometown: Covington, KY
Myrle Shelton – Hometown: Independence, KY
Kirsten Larson – Hometown: Taylor Mill, KY
Hannah Ungerecht – Hometown: Covington, KY

The Jr. Beta Club at Calvary Christian School recently collected over 800 stuffed animals to send to West Africa. Coordinated by Calvary freshman, Lindsey Tackett and CCS Science Teacher/Jr. Beta Club sponsor, Mr. Jeff Bowers, the stuffed animals will be shipped to Brenda Masten in Togo, West Africa. Miss Masten is a nurse in a West African hospital and she uses the animals in her ministry to help break the ice with her patients. She witnesses to the children and gives them a free stuffed animal telling them of the free gift Christ has for them. The West African children have so little to call their own that when they are given something, they really hold on to it so no one else will take it from them. Calvary students hope that their gift of a small stuffed animal will be a constant reminder of Christ's free gift of salvation to the children in West Africa.

It was a fabulous day for scrapping on March 14 as 130 ladies attended the 2009 PTCA Cougar Crop in the CCS gym. Thank you to all parents/teachers/students and even one grandparent for volunteering their time and for donating soups, chilis, desserts and scrapbook items. Thanks to the PTCA officers for working so hard throughout the day and a special thank you to the elementary classrooms that donated gift baskets that were very popular! Thank you to the 13 businesses that came and set-up their shops for our Cougar Crop guests. This was clearly the best Cougar Crop ever! Over $3,000 was raised and all profits will go to the CCS PTCA Fund which works all year to help our CCS Faculty and Staff. The most special THANK YOU goes to CCS school parents, Mike and Ellen Williams (Project Managers) and Gordon and Beth Wilkinson for working for months and months in planning, organizing, implementing new ideas, gathering items, inviting vendors, scheduling volunteers, setting-up and cleaning up until 11:00 pm! Without anything in return, they worked diligently to make the 2009 Cougar Crop fundraiser a great success for Calvary Christian School, always giving credit to God our Father for His blessings throughout. Thank you to these loyal and dedicated parents.

Earlier in March our MS (pictured at right) and HS Bands attended the Kentucky Music Educators Association (KMEA) District Concert Festival at Northern Kentucky University. Both bands had an excellent performance and represented our school very well. Each judge gave our MS Band a distinguished rating which is the highest rating possible! Our MS Band was one out of ten to receive straight distinguished ratings.

Our HS Band received an overall distinguished rating and has qualified for the KMEA State Concert Festival at the University of Louisville! They received two distinguished ratings, a proficient rating on stage, and a distinguished rating in sight reading. Our HS Band will now travel to Louisville on Saturday, April 25, to compete in the State competition. Details on our performance time will be given when available. Thank you to all parents who attended these competitions and a huge thank you to our band students for working so hard. Come and support our HS Band when we travel to Louisville on April 25 and also please support our CCS Music Department at our Spring Concert on Friday, May 8, at 7:00 pm.

Thank you to all the students, parents and CCS Faculty and Staff who supported our recent PTCA Fundraiser at LaRosa's on Tuesday, February 17. You raised $338.00 for Calvary and these funds will go directly to our PTCA fund that helps our CCS teachers in various ways all year long. Thanks again!

On Tuesday, February 24, 44 students and teachers from Calvary Christian School rolled up their sleeves and donated blood during their school day. Calvary was contacted by Dixie High School Senior, Heather Willoughby, who invited many area northern Kentucky high schools to donate blood and help relieve the local hospitals’ burden of keeping adequate blood supplies. As part of the Hoxworth Blood Center’s High School Blood Program, Calvary students learned firsthand that they can make a difference in the lives of people around them by contributing to their community. Over 11% of Hoxworth’s total yearly blood collections come from on-campus high school blood drives.

Pictured left to right: CCS High School students, Parker Brown and Sarah Schock

Our six member MS Academic Team attended the Governor's Cup at Tichenor Middle School on Saturday, Feb. 14. Led by CCS MS teacher, Miss Erwin, and parent volunteer, Suzanne Wadsworth, our team won against Twenhofel Middle, but lost to Beechwood and St. Agnes. CCS 8th grader, William Wadsworth, came in third in the written assessment testing in Science and History and will advance to the State finals in March. Congratulations!

Limo and Pizza Winners

On Thursday, February 12, 16 CCS students enjoyed a Hummer Limousine ride and LaRosa's pizza lunch for bringing in many orders in the 2009 CCS Magazine Drive. After the delicious lunch, students and chaperones sang praise songs as they indulged in a 30 minute limousine ride through northern Kentucky. Thank you to all students and parents who helped make our 2009 Magazine Drive such a great success!

From left to right: Adam Woods and Liz Rillo, Chase Vandermeer and Sarah Schock, Christina Sandberg and Ethan Glass, Michael Vaughn and Kayla Wright, Queen Rachel Madden and King Nick Ackerson, Tucker Glass and Liz Niehaus.

Every year in February at Calvary Christian School, students, teachers and parents alike enjoy the ever-popular Spirit Week. Each day is dedicated to a spiritual purpose and a fun purpose. To encourage the development of spiritual discipline, the following 2009 themes were chosen: Prayer/Meditation Day, Serve One Another Day, Give God the Glory Day, Be a Friend Day and Encourage Others Day. To encourage team unity and school spirit, the following fun theme days were enjoyed: Pajama Day, Light It Up Day, TV/Movie Theme Day, Retro Day and Red/Gold School Spirit Day. Grades 7-12 competed in various competitions including dodgeball, obstacle course, lip sync contest, banner/wall activity and cheerleading. To show their faithful, unyielding support of Spirit Week, the CCS Administration and Office Staff performed a condensed version of Wizard of Oz during the infamous Lip Sync Contest and received a roaring applause.

Pictured left to right: Jerry Sewell (MS/HS Principal), Patti Brown (Receptionist),
Laurie Switzer (Registrar), Don James (CCS Administrator), Kim Taylor (Elementary Principal),
Melody Dickens (Guidance Counselor), Barbara Smith (Marketing/Promotion) and
Kim Dean (School Nurse)

Kayla Durden recently signed with Tusculum College in Greenville, Tennessee. Kayla has been a 4-year varsity starter and has set school records for season goals with 18 and career goals with 57. She was the Division III NKAC player of the year and was selected to the Northern Kentucky 1st team All-Region and 2nd team all State. Coach Bowers quotes, "Kayla is one of those players you are blessed to have on your team, she makes everyone better around her."

Pictured: (L to R) Kayla Durden-signing
Coach Jeff Bowers, Karl Durden, Kelly Durden, Coach Shawna Lankheit

Thank you to all CCS students and parents for making our 2009 Magazine Drive a complete success! Almost 950 orders and $30,000 was raised with CCS profiting 40% toward the “Bridge the Difference” Campaign. Seventeen students earned our fabulous LaRosa’s lunch and Hummer Limousine ride which will be scheduled asap. Mrs. Bartholomew’s 3rd Grade won TOP WINNING CLASS by submitting 132 orders totaling $2,815.00 and Amanda Sheppard (5-Dunlap) won TOP SELLING STUDENT for bringing in 24 orders! In a very loud photo finish at final assembly on Friday, Jan. 23rd, Mrs. Harding’s 2nd Grade Class won the popular Pig Race beating Mr. Dunlap’s 6th Grade pig by a toe. Extra special thanks to Vonna Drake, Carla Cain, Tina Davis, Jana Theaderman, Linda Lentz, Karen Clemens and Hazle Letcher for volunteering their time in delivering prizes to our children. Great job to everyone and thanks again! See pictures here.

Congratulations to the CCS Varsity Boys Basketball team on their participation in the All A State Tournament representing the 10th Region.

Special thanks to all of the CCS fans, teachers, students, pep band, cheerleaders, and families, who made the trip to support the boys. It was awesome to see the great turnout and crowd cheering for our school.

It was an exciting game in which the boys never quit. After battling back from trailing Pineville in the 1st half, the game was close throughout the second half. With just seconds to go, CCS had a one point lead and a chance to win the game. As the point guard from Pineville drove down the court, his last second shot went in defeating CCS by the score of 37-36. Pineville advanced to Saturday's contest and was defeated by Elliott County.

Cougar Council Members recently had the unique opportunity to visit and tour Fair Haven Rescue Mission in Covington. The tour, led by Executive Director Mr. Dave Hammers, was both educational and inspirational. The students learned firsthand about the work of the mission and how God is transforming lives as a result of this ministry. As a result of their visit, the Cougar Council Members and their parents were challenged to serve and love others following Christ's example. See more pictures here.