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Dear NCS family,
Kindergarten teacher Mrs. Getz was recently administering a science pretest with her students, working to understand their prior knowledge as she prepared to teach a unit on weather. She asked one of her students if he could list the four seasons of the year. The little guy brightened right up and confidently responded, "Sure! Football, basketball, soccer, and baseball!" She tells me that she was expecting a different answer. Given that the little guy's dad is one of our coaches,
I was not.
All jesting aside, the fact of the matter is that Northwest Christian students are learning to answer a whole bunch of questions very differently than the world around them. There was a time in our culture when the answers to basic questions from a Christian worldview might casually be mistaken for the same sorts of answers posted by those of a secular but predominantly moral worldview. Sadly, those days are increasingly in our rearview mirror as morality, now almost completely un-tethered from absolute truth within our society, seemingly drifts from black and white towards an ocean of gray, buried beneath waves of relativism.
Each year about this time, I have the opportunity to participate within the Association of Christian Schools International/ACSI's legal/legislative team in Washington D.C. We are briefed on the current developments in the world of religious liberty and work to present and defend Christian worldview within the legislative process. A year ago at this time, as an evangelical Christian in D.C., I felt pretty discouraged. But, it's funny the difference that a year can make. Just twelve months later, and we were welcomed into the White House to talk with senior policy advisers serving both the President and Vice-President.
I don't tell you this in an effort to make you vote this way or that way or to raise the specter of anything evenly remotely political.
Rather, my honest encouragement is to remind our school community to pray. Having just this past week walked in the "halls of power" in Washington, I am more convinced than ever that the most powerful halls in the country are school hallways. The students that I get to rub shoulders with every day--the ones that are learning different answers to the same questions--are on their way to shaping our future as a country.
As these students learn and grow, we need to commit as a school family to pray for them. At Northwest Christian, dads and moms have two amazing opportunities to do just that. Praying moms assemble each Wednesday from 8:00 to 9:00am in C-102 within the Stan Cook Education Building for "Moms in Prayer". Dads get together monthly for breakfast and prayer as part of "Big Boys on Campus". Information on both programs are found in the right-hand column of this newsletter. Please consider joining us when you can!
Grateful for the opportunity to serve this school and your family,
Geoff Brown
Superintendent
Northwest Christian School
(623)225-5573 (cell)
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| Northwest Christian Prepares to Announce $4 Million Campus Improvement Plan |
Projects to begin almost immediately after Homecoming event
With the brand new kitchen building just days from opening and ongoing improvements to the lunch area under way, the multi-year "Growing and Going Campaign" is preparing to kick into high gear. On October 21, during Northwest Christian's third annual Crusader Legacy fundraising dinner and auction at University of Phoenix Stadium, the school will unveil a plan that will see $4 million in campus improvements in under five years. But, the school isn't waiting until the plan's announcement to put shovels in the dirt as that some improvements are already scheduled to begin.
"There are several elements of this plan," explains superintendent Geoff Brown, "that will really excite our school family. First and foremost, our families will be excited to learn that the plan is already officially approved and underway. We will start a whole series of projects immediately after our homecoming event. The plans that we are unveiling on October 21st will already be on the way to fruition--culminating in three new classroom buildings. Behind those, there will still be three more years of building and improvements."
"Second," continues Geoff, "the plan presents new buildings and facilities improvements that will impact every grade within the school. There's literally something here that improves the Northwest Christian experience for every student."
According to Geoff, the third aspect of the plan may be its strongest facet: "We have built the plan in such a way as that we are paying cash as we go, decreasing debt, and not adding debt. The plan also includes fundraising on par with our historical average. In other words, we're not launching a huge giving campaign to pull this off. We're not going to belabor our families for pledges and commitments. The plan is do-able based on what we've already managed to set aside and what we have historically experienced in terms of fundraising. As well, we're not jumping up tuition or growing the school's capacity to assemble new funding. This plan is designed to benefit the families that are here today and the students that are in our classrooms today."
To be part of the official unveiling of the plan--to get first look at the new buildings and other campus improvements--make plans to attend the third annual Crusader Legacy Auction. Please CLICK ON THIS LINK.
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Generous Sponsors of Northwest Christian Athletes
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| Northwest Christian Theater Department Wins Big in 12th Annual National Youth Arts Awards |
"Thoroughly Modern Millie" secures three awards and ten total nominations
Generally considered the nation's premiere resource for youth theater critique and recognition, the National Youth Theater is based in San Diego, California but annually considers high school productions from across the country. NYA judges are invited by participating schools to their fall and spring productions for the purpose of evaluation and for consideration within the National Youth Arts Awards program. After working hard these past several years to establish momentum within the NCS Theater Department, this past year was Northwest Christian's first year within the program with the spring musical, "Thoroughly Modern Millie". The fruit of the department's efforts, led by Mary Jane McCloskey, has produced genuine excitement as NYA nominations were put forward.
 With nominations announced mid-summer and awards announced this month, Northwest Christian was thrlled to learn that they had received a total of ten nominations--three of which translated into awards in some high profile categories.
John Abbitt won "Best Lead Actor in a Musical", Joya Eans won "Best Supporting Actress in a Musical", and the entire cast had cause to celebrate winning "Best Ensemble".
Nominations included Best Direction (Mary Jane McCloskey), Most Oustanding Production, Kalie Chambers for "Best Lead Actress in a Musical, Corban Figueroa for "Best Supporting Actor in a Musical", Cynthia Holmes-Landry for "Best Supporting Actress in a Musical", and both Kaitlyn Wyse and Ashley Wineinger were nominated for "Best Featured Actress in a Musical".
Northwest Christian was competing against productions from youth theaters across the southwest (including Arizona Youth Theater, Valley Youth Theater, and Phoenix Youth Theater) as well as from Brophy College Preparatory, Xavier College Preparatory, the Arizona Conservatory for Arts and Academics, Arizona School for the Arts, and St. Mary's Catholic High School. |
| Congratulations to Lady Crusader Volleyball and Crusader Cross Country! |
Excitement is running high for the Lady Crusaders volleyball team. The team just placed first in the annual, highly competitive Greenway High School Volleyball Tournament where they dominated much larger high schools. Just prior to that, the team also placed first in the bronze division of the Goldwater High School Volleyball Tournament.
Congratulations, Crusader Cross Country! This past weekend, the boys finished 2nd in their most competitive meet to date. At the Four Corners Invitational in Flagstaff, the boys narrowly beat out Window Rock High School and Liberty High School with 3 runners in the top 20 of a very competitive field. |
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| Senior Kaleb Morrow Named as National Merit Semifinalist |
Kaleb placed within the top 1% of students in the country
The National Merit Scholarship Program is an annual academic competition for recognition and scholarships that is open to all U.S. high school students. Over 1.6 million students in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program's contest by taking the 2016 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. This fall, the field of academic competitors narrowed to 16,000 National Merit Semifinalists who are presently seniors planning to enter college in fall 2018. These students represent less than 1% of the initial group of participants and they will learn this spring if they will go on to be named National Merit Scholars.
Northwest Christian School is excited to announce that senior Kaleb Morrow has been named a National Merit Semifinalist and is in the running to be named as one of the 7,500 National Merit Scholars in the spring.
As a senior, Kaleb is a student that is deeply involved in the culture of the school. He is active in NHS, community group leadership, student ambassadors, robotics club, choir, marching band, volleyball, bowling, mock trial, chemistry club, book club, chess club and the annual NXNW Film Festival. He is also involved in his church, playing as part of the worship band. Though Kaleb is still prayerfully waiting on the Lord for his post-high school direction, he is presently considering studying forensics or pathology at Grand Canyon University.
"When I think of Kaleb Morrow," says high school principal Josh Schlesinger, "I think of much more than an honors student who can post strong scores on standardized tests. Behind the scenes and off-the-radar, he is a tremendously well-rounded student that avoids the spotlight. And God is using Kaleb's skill sets to have a tremendous impact within the culture of this school. When you take his natural God-given abilities and passion for ministry as evidenced here and then extrapolate that into career and the broader culture, Kaleb is going to be a real difference-maker for the Kingdom." |
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Generous Sponsors of Northwest Christian Athletes
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| Dual Enrollment Opportunities Continue to Expand, Driving College Affordability for NCS Families |
The Higher Learning Commission'
s drive towards increasing credentials for DE teachers has been matched by NCS teachers' drive towards professional growth
In the United States, dual enrollment (DE) programs allow students to be enrolled in two separate, academically related institutions. Generally, it refers to high school students (sophomores, juniors, and seniors) taking college or university courses.
With the rising cost of university education weighing on parents and students, the advantages of dual enrollment are clear enough. In recent years, Northwest Christian grads have used DE to shave off as much as the entire freshman year. The move allows students to eliminate freshman intro courses and jump straight into the content area classes. Of course, the accompanying savings are tremendous.
Within the new school year, Northwest Christian students have expanded choices for DE credit in that the program has grown from 10 courses last year to 14 in the current year. The courses available to students include: Senior Bible, Honors Algebra 3-4, Honors Calculus 1-2 and 3-4, Honors Junior English, Honors Senior English, French 5-6, Speech, Psychology, Honors World History, Honors U.S. History, Graphic Design, Honors Chemistry, and Honors Human Anatomy and Physiology. This year, these courses are offered in conjunction with academic partnerships between Northwest Christian and Colorado Christian University, Grand Canyon University, and Maricopa Community Colleges.
Because the Higher Learning Commission has recently raised the expectations placed on high school DE teachers, the growth within the program at Northwest Christian bucks the national trend within high schools. As HLC standards have increased, most high schools have seen courses fall off the list. "The difference at Northwest Christian," explains superintendent Geoff Brown, "has been our teachers. They have continued to pursue continuing education with an uncommon commitment. We have teachers within our high school who are pursuing coursework in order to keep this benefit vital for our graduating students. Speaking as a parent of two recent grads, as parents within the NC community, we really need to let our teachers know how much we appreciate their vision and commitment in this area." |
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Northwest Christian e-Athletes: Prepare for another great season!
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Generous Sponsors of Northwest Christian Athletes
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| Campus Security Improvements Continue, Include New Format for Parental Notification |
Partnering with the Phoenix Police, Northwest Christian campus safety remains a high priority
With the start of the new school year, students and families began to notice a new level of commitment to campus safety: the daily addition of a uniformed Phoenix police officer. "We have been working towards this point for several years," explains superintendent Geoff Brown. "Several years ago, we hired a school security consultancy group and developed a multi-year plan to achieve the safest campus possible. Though we have had no significant incidents on campus over the years, we have kept this as a chief priority. We have added fencing around the entire campus and added over forty HD video cameras that cover every hallway and exterior facet of the school. This final step--the daily presence of a Phoenix Police officer--is the culmination of much planning and budgeting."
Working closely with the Phoenix Police, the school has also started through the process known within the department as the Threat Vulnerability Assessment. This assessment is a voluntary process in which NCS partners with Phoenix Police to analyze multiple facets of our campus to learn basic strengths and weaknesses. This includes logistical and emergency preparedness components. The culmination of the study will once more take security and emergency-preparedness to the next level.
Working towards this next level, the school has recently secured the ability to notify all parents via text message should an emergency situation ever present itself. This means that communication will be as swift and accurate as possible.
Middle school principal Samantha Maszton has been charged with leading the ongoing drive towards improving campus safety. She says, "Our level of commitment to campus security with an officer on campus, our annual revision of our security plans, ongoing training, and continuous improvements within security features on campus is simply the result of the fact that research shows that this is the best way to make certain that incidents don't occur in the first place."
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Get ready for the fun of Homecoming 2017!
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