S am's Spotlight
Let's celebrate as a CCS family!

January, 2017
Blessings, CCS families!  The purpose of "Sam's Spotlight" is to communicate the noteworthy accomplishments of our students and staff, so we can celebrate as a CCS family.  

If you have praiseworthy news items to share with the Cincinnati Christian Schools family that involve either CCS students and/or staff, please email 
Kim Smith (Public Relations Assistant) at  kim.smith@cincinnatichristian.org .

SPECIAL THANKS to Leah Murphy for her enthusiastic assistance
with each issue!
 
CCS Alum Named First Team All-America in Soccer for 2016 
Now an Ohio Northern University senior, Matt Kinkopf (CCS Class of 2013) is a four-time All-Ohio Athletic Conference honoree and a two-time All-Great Lakes Region honoree. This is his second All-America accolade! Kinkopf ends his career as the all-time goals leader at ONU, with 57 career goals, ranks second all-time with 147 career points, and ranks tied for second all-time with 33 assists.

Congratulations, Cougar!
 
CCS's Chick-fil-A Leader Academy Students' Outreach "Packs" Function AND Fun

The Chick-fil-A Leader Academy is a national leadership program, which focuses on impact through action. The students' November group meetings centered around work with New Life Baptist Mission and culminated with "Do Good December."  The mission of this project was to provide backpacks filled with winter supplies to homeless children. The students raised the money, bought the supplies, and distributed fifty backpacks!  Go, Cougars! 
 
Our Very Own State Champion Swimmer in Journal News

Senior Payton Keiner is the reigning Ohio state Division II 100 backstroke champ, and plans to swim collegiately at Liberty University, while pursuing a nursing degree.  She was recently interviewed for an article in The Journal News (read article here). 

When asked about how she approached this year, she said,  "This year, since this is my senior year and most of the technique focus is there, my big focus has been on being positive and keeping kind of a relaxed attitude."  It's definitely paid off, given her success this year!  

LaRosas's also recognized Payton as their MVP of the week in January!
Way to represent, Cougar!
 
CCS's Senior High Choir Shines
Their December performance at Fairfield's annual "Light Up Fairfield" event rang-in the Christmas season with joy and celebration. Well done, Cougars!
 
International Hour of Code Sails Into the Elementary 

Ahoy there, Matey!  The Hour o' Code was a huge hit this year at the elementary campus, as the students were able to participate in pirate-themed activities that aligned nicely with the pirate-themed Scholastic Book Fair. 

The main coding concept learned about this year was conditionals. Students were presented with an opportunity in art class to create and play a Pirate Conditionals Quest game, as well as Sail the High Seas with Moana in Computer lab; there they engaged in a special coding quest to navigate through 19 levels of coding!  Students were challenged and collaborated well with one another. Kindergarten students even coded!  They spent time in art class creating their name in code, then using their computer class time, they navigated their monster through challenging loops and conditionals as well. 

Mrs. Fox plans to continue many coding activities as our students will move "Beyond the Hour of Code" to dive even deeper into learning how to "Crack that Code."  Please encourage your students to visit  code.org  to  participate in the many FREE coding activities available.  Let's help our students become the next generation of coders!
 
1st Graders Are National Math Contest Winners
Chris Mellish's 1st grade class won 2nd place nationally in Sumdog's competition! Over 4,000 classes were entered across the U.S., and 36,553 students participated. 

Go, Cougars!
 
Horsin' Around for a Class Project?
Every year in Ann Schroeder's Public Speaking class, students present their demonstration speeches.  These speeches involve the students showcasing their passions and skills in a "How-To" tutorial format for the other students.  

Throughout the years, the  students have demonstrated f ly fishing , catching a chicken, and changing  a car tire in the parking lot.  This year's host of how-to's showcased "How to Make Oreo Truffles," How to Swing a Golf Club, and "How to Waltz."  Lindsey Couch took a different approach and brought her four-legged horse friend to school.  Her speech topic was "Safety and Riding for Beginner Riders."  Awesome idea, Lindsey! 
 
Christmas Guest Appearance
Geronimo Stilton, famous character from the best-selling children's book series, came to our elementary Christmas concert!  

After the concert, he encouraged families to attend the book fair in the elementary campus library. (Shhhh... Geronimo was senior high student, Zachariah Lail!)
 
CCS's Chick-fil-A Leader Academy Students Make a "Loud" Impact
Last year's Chick-fil-A Leader Academy students chose "Music for Memory" as their impact project.  This life-improving story was highlighted in Sam's Spotlight, Spring/Summer Recap Issue and on Chick-fil-A's website .  Since then, Chick-fil-A chose to highlight this project by creating a wonderfully done, professional Chick-fil-A special impact video.  Cameras and crews were on our campus, and the video has finally been released!  

We are so proud of our students and Mrs. Parker (the group's mentor) for sharing the love of Christ in their community.  Keep it up, Cougars! 
View full video here.
The student featured and speaking through the video is
junior Mallory Custer.  (Have tissues ready!)
 
Spelling Bee Buzz
On January 21, the JH/SH campus hosted the ACSI District Spelling Bee. 

There were 78 local students who qualified to compete in the event, representing 1st through 8th grades.  Each grade had a separate competition, each with four prizes. The winners from 5th through 8th grades competed in a final spelldown. Two CCS students won 1st and 2nd place and will advance to the ACSI regional competition -  Hannah Marcum (1st place) and  Ema Okpohworho (2nd place)!

Here is a list of winners from all of the grades:
1st Grade -  Luke Snider (4th place)

3rd Grade -  Michael Brown (4th place)

4th Grade -  Jane Olaniyan (2nd place)

5th Grade -  Jolie Percy (2nd place) and  Rodney Dukes (3rd place)

6th Grade -  Courtney Snider (2nd place)

7th Grade -  Ema Okpohworho (1st place)

8th Grade -  Hannah Marcum (2nd place)

Go, Cougars!
 
Senior Earns Military Academy Nominations 
Congressman Warren Davidson has nominated 19 students within the 8th Congressional District to enroll in one of the country's service academies, and our very own Anna Holder is one of them!  She received nominations for three service academies: U.S. Military Academy, U.S. Naval Academy, and Air Force Academy .  A  ceremony was  held this month to honor the students, and they received personal congratulations from Congressman Davidson. 

Anna has put in an incredible amount o f work and effort.  Prayers for the Lord to guide the next steps and make fruit of her labor! 
 
CCS Bowling Strikes Again
Talia Heater walked away from a bowling tournament held at Eastern Lanes in December with a first place medal! She bowled three games for a total score of 436, a 145 average, which gave her the 5th best overall score in the J.V. tournament.  Go, Cougar!
 
 
 
 
If you have praiseworthy news items to share with the Cincinnati Christian Schools family that involve either CCS students and/or staff, please email it to
Kim Smith (Public Relations Assistant) at kim.smith@cincinnatichristian.org.