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

November 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 
Leah Perry 
at  leah.perry@cincinnatichristian.org .
 
 Cross Country Champions 

This past season, the cross country teams saw some strong victories. Aidan Bonn in 8th grade was the boys' junior high conference champion. Kaylene Lunt, also in 8th grade, finished 3rd in the conference, and sophomore Ashley Veldkamp qualified for regionals and is now the 5th fastest girl to run at CCS! Congratulations, athletes! 
 
Big Victories for Our Little Girls!  

The CCS 3rd/4th grade girls' volleyball team defeated St. Peter 25 - 15 & Paul Rodenfels 25-11 in  the final GCCYS (Greater Cincinnati Catholic Youth Sports) 4th Grade Diamond Division Tournament to bring home the third-place trophy! The team consists of four 3rd graders and three 4th graders. The team played 4th-grade teams the entire season! Coach Jennifer and Coach "Bro" (Ambrosia) are so proud of these girls!

 
Studying a New Culture    

Last month, students in Mrs. Bellanti's kindergarten class had the opportunity to learn and experience Hispanic culture from a native of Spain! Mrs. Bellanti's mother,  Tricia Halwes, is an immigrant from Spain. Her family came to the United States when she was 10 years old. Mrs. Bellanti's grandmother and extended family still live in Spain. Tricia visited her family in September and shared with the class what she saw, ate, and experienced. The students got to see fans, postcards, jewelry, and a flamenco dress from Spain. She also read a book to the students about children who live in Spain. What a great way for the students to learn about and interact with another culture!  
 
Trifecta Round 2    

This year, students played 3 games: archery tag, human Pacman and Family Feud. After the games were completed, there was a time of community with food, gaga ball, and 4-square in the chapel and fire pits, apple cider, and s'mores outside at the back of the school. Our principal, Kim Stone, said ,"So much set up.  So much creating, calculating, organizing, purchasing, preparing, cooking, baking, instructing, follow-up, and clean-up. So many volunteers. So many students.  SO MUCH FUN." Thank you, Ben Gillens, for leading such a bonding event of our CCS family! Junior Zachariah Lail said, " Trifecta was a really awesome opportunity for students and staff to have fun together and create true community with each other through various team challenges and games."
 
Playing Honorably    

CCS had three students accepted to go to Asbury Honor Band Nov. 16th-Nov. 18th. Asbury Honor Band is a group of students from all over the Midwest who are chosen based on their director's recommendation to rehearse with a guest conductor all weekend in preparation for a concert given on Saturday. It is a wonderful opportunity for students to work with a professional conductor in a rigorous setting and meet with other music students from different backgrounds and programs. The students from our school who participated included: Josh Lawless, Maggie Brown, and Olivia Beerman.
 
Fighting Fires Young    

Liam Faig, a second grader in Mrs. Schmidt's class, created a fire safety poster that was selected by the  City of Fairfield Fire Department  as the school winner. On November 16, he was picked up by fire truck and enjoyed a fun ride to the fire station, toured the station, and was treated to breakfast with the firemen. 
Congratulations, Liam! You make us proud! 
 
Running the Race Well     

Congratulations to our 11 runners who ran in the 5k at the Athletic Boosters 5k/10k race on November 11! They each did a fantastic job running after school twice a week this fall under the running guidance of David and Juliet Bostrom.  Here are the winners in their age grouping:

Overall 5K Female winner - 
Kayla Stacy at 24:42.20  

First Place Winners
8-9 yr olds - Elijah Bostrom at 28:18.69
10-12 yr olds - Micah Katz at 23:52.09
13-15 yr olds - Kaitlyn Fritz at 38:03.28
16-19 yr olds - Maggie Brown at 34:34.28
                           Tyler Parker at 24:32.28

Second Place Winners                            
8-9 yr olds - Gabriel Binzer at 29:19.40
10-12 yr olds - Carson Settimo at 24:32.93
13-15 yr olds - Abigail Minnich at 44:18.60
                          Aidan Bonn at 19:49.13
16-19 yr olds - Alex Perry at 31:52.82

Great job to all and thank you to the cheerleaders and drum line for volunteering their participation as well! We certainly have some talented runners here at CCS!
 
Learning from Children 

This Fall, we had another team spend a week in the Dominican Republic, serving at Project M aƱana. Upon their return, several of the students had the opportunity to share in chapel about their experiences with their fellow peers. Here is one reflection from Emily Hesselgesser about what she gained from such a life-giving trip, "T he unconditional love that the kids show amazes me every time that I am down there. They do not have the same privileges and blessings that we do, but they still want to show love to everyone. There is one girl that I was with during one of the sessions we did. I played with her until it was time for her to go. She went inside her classroom and grabbed her backpack. She came back out with a picture she drew and handed it to me. After it was in my hands she quickly hugged me and started skipping away. These kids have so much love to share and are so joyful, it is truly a wake-up call to be grateful for what God has blessed me with." Amen, Emily!  
 
Thankfulness      

Thanksgiving is such a warm holiday spent with delicious food and the love of family and friends. 
Both the high school and elementary campuses had events celebrating this time of the season where God is glorified for all He has blessed this community with .
Elementary  students review the origin of the holiday and seniors bond over a meal prepared by parents, a tradition started in 2003. 
 
Shoe Drive Ending Soon! 

Sixty-three bags to go. The CCS community has managed to donate 237 bags of shoes for a shoe-drive fundraiser. Though this is a fundraiser, the footwear will provide incredible economic help by supporting micro-enterprises in third-world and developing nations such as Haiti, Colombia, India, and Tanzania. With less than a month to go, we are getting closer to our goal of 300 bags of shoes every day! Please donate and spread the word. Let's do this, 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 it to
Leah Perry at leah.perry@cincinnatichristian.org.