June 2020
END OF THE YEAR REPORT CARD
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Congratulations to our
Senior Class of 2020
In carrying on with tradition, our seniors were able to have their "Walk Down Memory Lane" on May 29th. Our families lined the parking lot to cheer and applaud our 2020 Graduates. We were able to show our love and support to them and still keep some normalcy to their end of the year tradition. Check out the links below to share in the wonderful memories that were made that evening.
Thank you to all of our families that came out to support our seniors.
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Congratulations Eric Woo
Eric Woo has attended Faith since his freshman year of high school. He is an exchange student from Korea. Eric was scheduled to go back to Korea on June 4th. Since graduation was pushed back until August due to COVID, we decided to present him with his diploma the night of the Walk Down Memory Lane. Surrounded by family and friends, Chairman of the Board, Grant Pryseski presented Eric with his diploma.
Congratulations Eric!
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Dates to Remember:
August 7th 7PM Graduation
August 17th First Day of School
The summer office hours are 8AM to 3PM Mon-Thurs. The office will be closed the week of July 6-10.
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Stand Firm Challenge
with Mrs. Monro
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In an effort to keep the school year running as normal as could be, Mrs. Monro challenged her elementary school students during spring break to try to find ways to show God's love to others. Click on the link below to see her message of encouragement and her students' Random Asks of Kindness.
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Congratulations to the following Juniors and Senior for receiving the Christian Character Award:
Juniors
- Hannah Canby
- Emily Hott
- Connor Smith
- Brandt Turner
- Madison Weatherholtz
Senior
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From the Desk of Mr. Kerns - COVID-19 Response & Faith
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On March 13, 2020 Faith Christian Academy made the decision to close the school temporarily in response to the rapid spread of a novel Coronavirus, COVID-19. Little did we know that the closure would last the remainder of the school year. Faith was uniquely equipped to immediately provide students in grades five to twelve with alternative online learning assignments through the Google Classroom platform. These students had already been using Google Classroom, so the transition for them was relatively easy. Teachers of pre-kindergarten through fourth grade went to work very quickly learning this platform and preparing lessons for these students to view at home. The school’s Instructional Technology Director prepared in-service and provided support to all teachers as they learned how to effectively use this technology.
The school made the decision to provide three days of lesson content and assessments each week that school was closed to students. Over the next ten weeks of the school year, the teachers worked hard to interact with the students and parents and provide quality instruction. Parents and students responded with excellent effort and support. About half way through these ten weeks, we conducted a survey of our families. There were 186 responses of the 304 students. In general, families were very supportive and reported that a large percentage of our students (81.7%) have a device at home to complete their online instruction. The overwhelming majority (88.7%) of respondents also reported that they have Internet access and a very small percentage (11.3%) have access that is not reliable. No families reported that Internet access was not available. Here are some other key statistics:
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Virtual Spirit Week April 2020
In an effort to keep our students connected during the Covid crisis, we held a Virtual Spirit Week.
Each day brought tons of excitement as students dressed up for the special theme of the day.
Thank you to the Hoffman family for kicking us off in FCA Pajama Day Spirit!
Click on each theme to view the pictures.
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Virtual Mentoring Day
Every fourth Thursday at Faith Christian Academy, the students come together for a time of mentoring and fellowship.
There is always a theme for the day. Sometimes they bring their favorite book to read together or their favorite board game. They may even have a picnic lunch outside on the playground. Since we had implemented Distance Learning we had to be creative on ways to continue the mentoring program. The students were certainly up for the challenge. They came up with the most exciting and creative ways to show God’s love.
Isaac Schafferman sent pizza to his mentor and they enjoyed their pizza together over a FaceTime chat. Madison Weatherholtz woke up early and delivered Chick-fil-A breakfast and did a “Door Dash.” One of the freshman student’s Emma King made her mentee a quarantine activity bag and left it at her front door.
We have always felt that it was important for their secondary students to have a relationship with the elementary students. We found out this past month how much of a blessing this mentor program is to our student body. Some of the mentor’s have more than one student.
At school, these students would all meet together and do a group activity, but during the quarantine this made it a little more of a challenge. This didn’t stop freshman Colin Frye. He set aside time to call all three of his mentee’s. They enjoyed catching up and sharing stories of how they were spending their extra time. Technology has allowed the students to keep in contact and build and grow their relationships. It truly is heartwarming for parents to share how special the bond is between the student(s) and how their student(s) enjoyed connecting on our Virtual Mentor Day.
As administrator, Eric Kerns said in an email to their families, “We have learned so much through this trial, but the main thing is how important people are in our lives!”
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Maintenance Update from
Mr. Moore
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As we prepare for the start of school, we have a few items that we could use some extra hands:
- Paint each classroom
- Tar the modular roofs
- Trimming the tree out front
- Planting shrubs out front
- Removing a stump
If you are able to assist in any of these items please contact Mr. Moore directly 304-283-0061
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National Beta Club
Inductees
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Congratulations to the Juniors and Seniors who were inducted into the National Beta Club this spring. The National Beta Club recognizes juniors and seniors that have excelled in the areas of academics, service, character, and leadership during their high school time. It is similar to the National Honor Society. The following students were inducted this spring into the Faith Christian Academy chapter of the National Beta Club.
- Grace Bittle
- Francesca Domenico-Burgess
- Deanna Hercules
- Emily Hott
- Ashley Loy
- Heather Scribner
- Connor Smith
- Samaire Thomas
- Brandt Turner
- Madison Weatherholtz
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From the Desk of
Mrs. Cooper
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What a strange year it has been! I have found great comfort in reading books this spring. My reading format is not the same as it has been; I’ve read more digital books and fewer print books; however, the result is the same. I hope you and your children have found the same comfort, pleasure, and joy in reading that I have. Public libraries are beginning to open. Please take advantage of what they have to offer. Travel around the country and the world in books. If you had to cancel a trip to California, read
One Crazy Summer
by Rita Williams-Garcia. If you love dogs and are looking for something new, read
The One and Only Bob
by Katherine Applegate. Maybe you cancelled a planned trip to Chincoteague, VA; read
Misty of Chincoteague
and the many other books by Marguerite Henry. If you need more ideas, check with your local library. Librarians are excited to help you and your children weather these crazy days!
Finally, thank you for the privilege of working with your children. It has been a joy. I will miss every one of you.
Love, Mrs. Sheri Cooper
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From the Desk of Coach Hobbs Winter/Spring Sports Recap
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The mission of Faith Christian Academy is to “train students….transform lives”. The athletic department supports this goal by placing students situations where pressure is applied and with the mentoring of their coaches, the students can grow physically, mentally, and emotionally. This winter we games for seven basketball teams in grades 6-12. Because of a large turnout of middle school boys, we were able to field two basketball teams for middle school boys, giving 23 boys an opportunity to play. It is our desire to continue to offer multiple teams at the middle school level to offer an opportunity for interscholastic athletics to as many students as desire it. The middle school boys “B” team was even able to travel to Lancaster County Christian School to play in a 6 team end of season tournament. It was a great learning experience for our younger players.
Our varsity teams were able to again end their season by traveling to the NCSAA Basketball Championships in Mt. Vernon, Ohio. It was a great experience and an opportunity for team building as well as play in a competitive environment in some incredible facilities. In order to raise money for the trip, we also played our first every “Teachers v Players” games. It was a great night of fun and basketball and supported a great cause. We are planning to do it again next year, and it is an event you have to see to believe!
Unfortunately, because of the events surrounding COVID-19, we were not able to have track and field in the spring as we normally do. We greatly missed seeing Coach Grim and our athletes strive for personal records at track meets this year. Coach Grim said it best:
“The 2020 Track & Field season didn’t go as the coaches or athletes had planned. While it’s sad for the five seniors that won’t get to compete for Faith again, it would be even sadder if those five seniors were defined by their athletics alone. Those of us who are familiar with these seniors know who they really are – academically, athletically, and personally. They all have excellent work ethics and great attitudes. Most of this year’s team will compete again and when they do, we will be dedicating our season to those five girls that did not have their senior year opportunity. We will be praying for them by name at each meet. Pictures will be taken at those meets and will be shared with the 2020 seniors. They will also be invited to our end of the year track party and recognized at that event. They won’t be forgotten - not because of their athletics, but for the fantastic young women they are." To Emily Boehler, Maria Cuccio, Elizabeth Rankin, Shalin Thomas, and Alicia Tucker, next season is for you!
You can keep up with FCA athletics by following the school’s page on Facebook or following us @FCAFalconsWV on Twitter and Instagram. Let’s Go Falcons!
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Congratulations to our
Volunteer of the Year
Today was suppose to be the day we came together to celebrate all of our great volunteers. In order to present our Volunteer of the Year we had to get creative, so......... We did a Drive By Celebration!!!
We could go on and on all day about our Volunteer of the Year! She is an amazing lady who does so much for our school. She is a blessing in every way!
She helped to get our new library system setup, she works diligently each week getting our pizza slips in the hands of our teachers and sometimes she is the pizza server too, she helps with our Fine Arts Program, she volunteers in the classroom, she volunteers to help the Booster Club and doesn't even have a student playing sports, she volunteers to get donations for the auction, helps with the auction setup all day and comes back to help make sure things run smoothly that evening.
She is always willing to help. During our Fine Arts Fair she gave hugs to all the nervous students who came up to give their speeches. You could say she is our "At School Mom"
Thank you April Byers for the amazing ways you have blessed our school, our students, and our families. We are so thankful for you!
Thank you to all of our volunteers for all that you do! We could never accomplish what we do without you!
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Faculty Highlight
Kelly Michael
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Educational Background
BA Elementary Education -Shepherd University
MA Elementary Education - West Virginia University +30 Graduate credits in Education
ACSI Teachers Certification
Favorite Part of Teaching
Seeing students learning and growing both academically and spiritually.
Key Scripture
Isaiah 41:13 "For I , the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, 'Fear not, I will help you.'"
Personal Information
Family: Married to Jeffrey Michael, three children and two grandchildren.
Church:
Independent Bible Church
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Many Thanks for Your Years of Service
5 Years of Service
Ila Carper
Jason Crawford
Monika Daugherty
Ashley Kerns
Larry Kerns
15 Years of Service
Maria Dunham
Kelly Michael
20 Years of Service
Vinia Williams
30 Years of Service
Sheri Cooper
Eric Kerns
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Board Member Highlight - Neil McLaughlin
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Mr. McLaughlin has served on the board as a member of the Land Search Committee and the Building Committee. He is the President of the War Memorial Hospital in Berkeley Springs, WV. He and his wife, Susan, have one daughter (Maura) who graduated from Faith. Mr. McLaughlin says,
“Our daughter has been in Christian schools since the first grade. They have been powerfully influential in her spiritual development. FCA has brought friends and fellowship that have enriched her life and connected our family to many others in a special way.”
Thank you Mr. McLaughlin for your faithfulness to our school and mission over the last 20 years.
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