Eagle Eye 9-9-2016

September 9, 2016

Strength in Numbers

When we opened the doors of our upper school campus in August 2014, we welcomed nine students. Just two years later, that number has grown nearly tenfold to an enrollment of 80 and, for the past few days, I have been on retreat with them and our faculty at Alpine Camp in Mentone, AL. One of the greatest challenges in growing a young school is maintaining identity and missional focus. So, it was especially gratifying to see how well these students, now larger in number than ever, are coming together to extend the Mt. Bethel experience while maintaining its distinctives. Even a casual observer can see they are enjoying each other, their teachers, and their school. Sure, there have been a few bumps along the way, but these pale in comparison to the bountiful blessings we see every day. Over the last three days we have rappelled cliffs, jumped from tall trees, roasted marshmallows, and followed the camp dog, George, from cabin to cabin. Without a doubt, it has been time well spent.

Thinking back on those early conversations with prospective donors for the new campus, I am now reminded of the passage in Malachi where God issues a challenge. “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” Malachi 3:10. The Lord has indeed poured out a blessing in the form of many new students and we are delighted for the challenge of finding places to “store” them. Hallways are filling up, many classrooms are full, the dining hall is at capacity, and we will exhaust our supply of student lockers with the addition of next year’s class. By God’s grace and the faithful stewardship of many, we have built it and they have come. And they keep coming. I don’t believe it is coincidence that the first three applications for 2017-2018 have already been received and every one of them is for upper school.

When mission guides our hard work and we place our faith in Him, incredible results are guaranteed. For nearly two decades, that has been true of our school and, I am more certain than ever, that it will be true for many more. On behalf of the nearly one hundred faculty, staff and students on our North Campus, thank you for your prayers and partnership as we continue to grow together.

Blessings,

Jim R. Callis

Head of School

Dates to Remember

Saturday, September 17, 2016: East Cobber Parade & Festival

Monday, September 26 - Friday, September 30, 2016: Fall Break

Friday, October 7, 2016: Grandparent's Day

Development

Georgia GOAL Update
GOAL tax credit applications for 2017 are up to 59! This is wonderful news for our deserving students seeking need-based financial assistance. Thank you to everyone who has signed on to partner with MBCA through GOAL.

Please take a minute to visit goalscholarship.org. It’s so easy! With no extra cost to you, you are simply reallocating a portion of YOUR state income tax to Mt. Bethel Christian Academy.

If you are a tax-paying Georgian, you can participate in this free program. You do NOT have to be a MBCA parent, so tell your friends!
Individuals filing jointly can claim up to $2,500.
Owners of S-Corps, LLCs and Partnerships can contribute up to $10,000.

If you have questions, please contact the Development Office at 678-202-4056 or email Alison Stephens at alison.stephens@mtbethelchristian.org.

Save the Date

James and the Giant Peach JR. Auditions

All middle school students are welcome to audition for this year's musical production of James and the Giant Peach JR.

Beginning Monday, September 12, students will
need to stop by Ms. Miller’s room (F002) to sign up for an audition time and pick up an audition packet.

Parents are invited to an information session on Friday, September 16 at 3:30 p.m in F011.

Auditions will be held September 19-21 after school starting at 3:30 p.m.

If you have questions, please email Michelle Miller at michelle.miller@mtbethelchristian.org

21st Annual East Cobber Parade
Saturday, September 17

The Admission Office is seeking adult and student volunteers to distribute MBCA promotional items along the parade route from 9 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. on September 17. If you are a middle school student and interested in earning 2 service hours , please email Hannah Arch in the Admission Office to sign-up to help spread the word about MBCA.

We will also need chaperones for our student volunteers. If you are a parent and can volunteer two hours, we would greatly appreciate your help!

Grandparent's Day!

Friday, October 7
Grandparent's Day for Lower School and Middle School is Friday, October 7 . Please mark your calendars and inform your families, as this is such a special day for our students.

Parents, please log-in to My BackPack, go to My Profile under settings, and update grandparent address information before Wednesday, September 7. We want to make sure that your child’s grandparents receive an invitation.

We encourage you to think of reaching out to a special visitor if a child does not have a grandparent that can attend. Please let your child's teacher know if your child will have a special visitor attending instead of a grandparent.

Announcements

Student Directories

The Family/Student Directories have arrived!

The 2016/2017 Student Directories were sent home this week with students. The school supplies a directory to each family. If you would like to purchase an additional directory, please check with the school receptionist. Additional directories are $5.00 each.

School Photos

2016 - 2017 school photos are available for purchase at Studio 7 .

Prayers for Grace!
Every Thursday at 8:15 a.m., a prayer group meets in Room B-112 at the church to lift up the Detling Family in prayer as Grace (3rd grade) continues her cancer treatments. All are welcome!

To stay updated, please read Grace’s Caring Bridge blog, which shares information regarding Grace’s health, progress and treatment.

Class News

Third Grade

T hird grade students have been studying Economics for the past few weeks. On Wednesday, the students participated in a Third Grade Market Day. The students were given a budget, made a product, set a price, and showcased their products to the other classes. The students learned about money and what all is involved when producing a product. They learned about saving money, tithing, and budgeting for capital and human resources. It was a great way to wrap up this unit!

5th Grade

Fifth graders in Mrs. Dickerson’s Social Studies classes have been learning about the election process. Shelby Gamis was hard at work Thursday night, studying for her upcoming assessment!

Earlier in the week, students played an election vocabulary matching game as practice.

8th Grade

PEMDAS - Tired of using the same old “Please excuse my dear Aunt Sally” to remember the order of operations (parentheses, exponents, multiply, divide, addition, and subtraction)? Eighth grade math students created some of their own and added a couple of old favorites. Voting took place in each individual class and the top 2 or 3 from each were voted on by the entire grade. The top three mnemonic sentences were:

1. Please End My Day At School
2. Pancake Explosion - Many Deaths Are Expected
3. Palicia Enjoys Math Daily At School.

Middle School

This week, the National Junior Honor Society elected a new leadership team for the 2016-2017 school year. Addison Seaborn was elected president, Brenna Sculac, vice president, Caitlin Foster, secretary, and Emily Johnston, chaplain. Membership in NJHS is based on scholastic achievement, leadership, service, citizenship, and character. Members must maintain a 95 percent average in academic subjects and exemplify the high behavioral standards of NJHS.

Congratulations to our newly elected leaders!

Left to right:

Addison Seaborn - 8th grade (president)

Emily Johnston - 8th grade (chaplain)

Brenna Sculac - 8th grade (vice president)

Caitlin Foster - 7th grade (secretary)

Here is a complete list of our outstanding members.

Eighth Grade
Mayah Bourne
Elisa Burba
Catherine Cheney
Madison Contrucci
Elizabeth Ebhogiaye
Julia Ferris
Madison Gant
Alex Garrot
Raleigh George
Garrett Hauenstein
Caroline Hayes
Michael Herrmann
Briley Holder
Adair Hutchinson
Emily Johnston, Chaplain
Amanda Lako
Charlotte Morgan
Katie Morgan
Chandler Parker
Cristina Puy Arena
Lucy Rickers
Brenna Sculac, Vice President
Addison Seaborn, President
Patrick Villarreal
Caroline York

Seventh Grade
Lexy Faklaris
Caitlin Foster, Secretary
Caitlin Garcia
Kyle Hampton
Riley Harvin
Katherine Kim
Joseph Lillis
Virginia Miller
Tate Papenhagen
Caden Virant

House Points

Veritas: 747

Fortes: 636

Fidelitas: 619

Humilitas: 611

Integritas: 570

Servimus: 563

Sports

Middle and Upper School Swim Team

The MBCA Swim Team is forming its' 2016/17 roster. All swimmers in 6th – 11th grade are welcome. Prior swim experience (summer recreation leagues and/or year-round club team) is strongly recommended. Fifth grade swimmers must be currently enrolled in a year-round program and meet minimum time requirements to be considered eligible.

Dual sport athletes: participants in basketball, clay shooting, year-round swimming, and other club sports are welcome. Every effort will be made to accommodate scheduling conflicts.

Parent/swimmer meeting: scheduled for Wednesday, September 14 at 6:30 p.m. at the Upper School Campus. Meet Coach Sherry Morgan, get the schedule for the season and share information about your preferred strokes.

Tryouts: tryout practices will be on Tuesdays & Thursdays starting October 4 at the North Campus Pool. US student tryout is 3:15 - 4:30 p.m; MS student tryout is 3:45 - 5:00 p.m.

MBCA Time Trial Meet: North Campus on Saturday, October 8. Warm-ups are at 12:00 p.m. and the meet begins at 12:30 p.m.

Final Roster will be determined by Friday, October 14.

Questions? Contact Coach Sherry Morgan at Gorm7590@me.com

Middle School

Volleyball

Tuesday evening, the B girls went on the road to The Galloway School for a (provisional) MAAC tri-match with Galloway and Davis. The ladies showed these MAAC schools a taste of MBCA volleyball, taking care of business with both opponents 2 - 0. Galloway scores were 25-16, 25-17. Davis scores were 25-17, 25-17.

On Wednesday, the B girls travelled to The Epstein School across the Hooch in Sandy Springs. This was an unusual (provisional) MAAC match because the ladies split in half to go against the Epstein C team followed by the B team. Our “C team” roster consisted of our less experienced ladies on the B team. They gave a nice effort, but came up short in two games (12-25, 20-25). The B team rolled out another 2 - 0 win (25-17, 25-14).

Cross-country

The Mt. Bethel Cross-country Invit ational was a smashing success on September 8! We hosted eight schools on the main campus that included close to 100 lady runners along with 160+ boys. Both teams came away with a first place finish.

This makes two wins for the boys this season with three (2 consecutive) coming from the ladies. Scoring run s for the girls came from Addison Seaborn (2nd), Madison Contrucci (4th), Caroline York (6th), Maggie York (8th), and Lilla Kate Tucker (9th), all of whom scored in the top 10. Scoring runs from the boys came from Andrew Herrman (2nd), Garret Hauenstein (3rd), Daniel Lathem (4th), Alex Garrot (12th), and Bryce Horton (19th).