SEPTEMBER14,2012

THE WOODLANDS

C H R I S T I A N

A C A D E M Y

THEWOODLANDSCHRISTIANACADEMY

5800ACADEMYWAY.THEWOODLANDS,TEXAS77384.936-273-2555.WWW.TWCA.NET

Head Of School Notes -- by Julie Ambler

The Woodlands Christian Academy serves Jesus Christ by equipping future leaders – spiritually, academically, physically and socially – who are prepared to succeed in college, confident in their unique abilities, and willing to utilize their gifts to further God’s eternal kingdom. To accomplish this mission, we offer an engaging and stimulating faculty and an environment conducive to learning. Unfortunately, tuition and fees are not sufficient to cover all expenses associated with operating a Christian college-preparatory school. Thus, Woodlands Christian, like all private schools, relies on generous donations. We promote three primary fundraisers: the annual fund, the auction and specific capital campaigns. Tuition covers 90% of our school’s operating expenses, and the annual fund helps bridge this gap. This year’s campaign, which runs from October 1 through November 9, has two goals. The first is to raise $250,000 to support operational costs like salaries, student programs and overhead. The second goal is to achieve 100% participation from our families, a ratio necessary to obtain corporate sponsorships and grants from foundations. A successful annual fund will also help us limit tuition increases for next year. I am so grateful to Nicole and Anthony Kenisky who have agreed to lead this year’s campaign.

At our spring auction, school families and friends enjoy a festive evening of fellowship while helping to raise the balance of funds needed for operations. We also designate a fund-in-need that in past years has been used to purchase lower

school playground equipment, football bleachers, upper school lockers, a full-size bus, SMART boards, and additional professional training for our faculty. This year’s auction will be held on April 13 at The Woodlands Waterway Marriott. Candi Guilbeau has graciously agreed to chair this year’s event. Operating expenses do not include the costs of new construction, and it is our desire to replace all of our portable classrooms with permanent buildings according to our master plan. We have begun the first phase of our next capital campaign. It has been a joy to work with our chairs, Judy and Raymond Duroy, and we look forward to sharing the specific details with each of you in the near future. We appreciate your partnership and the significant financial investment that you make through tuition to send your children to Woodlands Christian. While we have many needs as a school, we know that “many hands make light work”. Please prayerfully consider how your family can participate in our fundraisers.

May God be honored through the faithfulness of the generous families at Woodlands Christian and may generations of children be inspired at this school to joyfully serve Christ’s kingdom for eternity.

Save The DateThe Woodlands Christian Academy’s

Annual Auction & GalaSaturday, April 13, 2013

Woodlands Waterway Marriott

Lower School News

SEPTEMBER 14, 2012

Garden Prep Day On Saturday! Our garden was in full bloom this summer! To prepare for the new year, we need to turn over the beds from last season. Don’t worry, a tiller has been rented! What we need is a bit of manpower (and lady-power) to make fast work of these beds. Garden Prep Day is this Saturday, September 15th from 8:00-11:00 a.m. Bring your rakes, hoes, garden gloves, and weed-eaters. There is nothing like getting dirty to bring families closer together! Let’s turn over those beds to make room for all the fantastic things our kids are going to be growing this fall!

Most people, when asked to recall a typical day at school, will think of the traditional classroom situation: a teacher at the front of the classroom droning on and on to children who sit in straight rows of desks. Think Charlie Brown. You know, “Bwaa, bwaa, bwaa...” Research suggests over and over again that children learn by doing. This is even more evident in the millennial generation, who increasingly learn best in environments where they can move around and participate in varying activities. In lower school, you will see teachers planning classroom activities that get your kids moving. Throughout the year I will share some snapshots from our classrooms to highlight some of the awesome, research-based activities our teachers plan for your children. One such classroom is Mrs. Hudnall’s third and fourth grade! I had an opportunity to visit her English/ language arts classroom this week during stations time. Mrs. Hudnall teaches a short whole group lesson and then divides her students into small groups. The day I visited, the students were already active in stations. She had a group at computers playing a game to reinforce the concept of antonyms. I love that even though

they were working on difficult concepts and occasionally chose the wrong answer while playing a game, they were all smiles! As I was talking to some of the students working with the computers, I overheard another group

engaged in a heated debate over a fact and opinion question. Mrs. Hudnall moved to the group, and they discussed with her their confusion. She asked them to look at the definitions again and continue to discuss. They did and came to a consensus. What great learning comes from debating to find an answer rather than the teacher always

telling you! This learning will really stick with these students. A third group was working on writing a story. Every few minutes, they switched papers and discussed the progress of their stories with each other, giving advice and thinking out loud how to better progress their narratives. The final group was playing a language arts board game, tackling difficult material while having lots of fun! Students

switched to different stations throughout the class period. No Charlie Brown teaching here! We are blessed to have master teachers like Mrs. Hudnall who incorporate best-practices in teaching every day. Next time you see her, thank her for being a part of our outstanding teaching staff!

Actively Engaged -- by Eve Allen

Upper School News

Missions & Mums

The Woodlands Christian Academy exists to integrate learning with biblical faith to challenge our students to reach their highest potential - spiritually, academically, physically and socially - for the Glory of Jesus Christ. In keeping with our purpose, Jeff Rollins, upper school English teacher, led a team of students on a mission trip to Quito, Ecuador this summer. The focus of the trip was for students to not just take a vacation with a little ministry thrown in but to leave something of themselves with the people of Ecuador and bring something more home besides fond memories. This was achieved in many ways (see photos center and below). For example, a partnership between Woodlands Christian and Casa Gabriel, a ministry designed to aid street kids, was formed. The Quito ministry team came home with an idea to assist missions in Ecuador, the Dominican Republic and right here, at home, in Texas. The team’s idea is a homecoming mum alternative project. The way it works is this - instead of

spending money on an extravagant mum and/or garter, students are encouraged to donate those funds for the above mentioned missions projects. In exchange for each donation, students will

receive a button which will reflect their support of this project. The button will say - My Mum’s Money Is On A Mission! Students will wear these buttons in place of their homecoming mums/garters. Future mission trips to Ecuador, the Dominican Republic and Texas are now in the works and details on these trips will be forthcoming. For a first hand look at the impact of the Quito mission trip, please take a few moments to view the video produced by Nate Regier, a member of the Class of 2013, who participated in the trip -- Warriors On A Mission.

To participate in Missions & Mums contact Jeff Rollins at jrollins@twca.net.

Learn more about Casa Gabriel.

SEPTEMBER 14, 2012

ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT NEWS

SEPTEMBER 14, 2012

Inaugural Cross Country Meet A Success-- by Tom Earle On Saturday, September 8, The Woodlands Christian Academy’s cross country team hosted its inaugural meet on our campus! Runners from around our area competed as we hosted 37 teams from 26 schools. Approximately 400 runners and

close to 1,000 people visited our campus to watch or participate in this meet. One of the visiting coaches commented, “...I wanted to let you know what a super job you and your team did on Saturday! Not only is the

Woodlands Christian campus beautiful, but things went so smoothly and in such a timely manner. The runners enjoyed the course, and God blessed us with great weather-amazing!” I would like to offer huge thanks to all the volunteers that made our first cross country meet such a great success. The results of the race were outstanding. The girls’ varsity runners won the team title. Medalists included Riley Farra (7th place); Hailey Hanigan (10th place) and Alyssa Regier (12th place). The varsity boys finished in 4th place overall out of nine teams. Luke and Logan Shearer finished in 16th and 17th place respectively. Rounding out

the field were Nate Regier (21st place), Kyle Caddell (26th place), Harrison Draper (33rd place) and Wyatt Wheeler (36th place). The middle school girls’ team had a great showing as well. Hannah Shearer earned first place in the 1600m with Madelyn Rasberry earning a medal for her 8th place finish. The middle school boys finished in 4th place out of the 19 teams competing. Sam Mueck earned a medal for his 10th place finish in the 1600m. Other finishers included Ben Mueck (16th place), Josh Shearer (27th place), Cade Glover (33rd place), Grant George (57th place), Max King (69th place) and Jon Andrew (75th place). At the conclusion of the competition, Coach Daysha Sanford took advantage of the 1600m course by organizing a fun run for lower school students and their parents. Over 30 families participated in the run and all entrants received official bib numbers just like the middle and high school runners. (See photos below.) What a fantastic beginning to what we hope will be an annual event for the Warrior cross country program! To read coverage of this event in the The Courier, click here.

Warrior Football Scores First Win Of The Season The Warriors bounced back from their loss last week by defeating the Northside Lions by a score of 56-0. The team is on the road for the next two weeks. On Friday, September 14 the Warriors travel to Shepherd High School, and a trip to Lutheran North is on the schedule

for September 21. There truly will be a coming home party when the Warriors return to face HSAA of Dallas, Texas on October 5 for the big homecoming game. Read the latest Warrior football coverage from The Villager.

SEPTEMBER 14, 2012

Get Ready For Homecoming!October 5, 2012

2012 Homecoming T-Shirts

T-shirts are available in sizes youth - adult 3xl$12/youth-adult xl $15/adult 2xl - 3xl

NEW! you may choose either the varsity or middle school roster for your shirt!

Orders must be placed by September 26, 2012

Online homecoming t-shirt orders now available!

October 1-5 Spirit Week

Theme dress monday-thursday (for high school students only)

All school Green & Gold Day, October 5

Thursday, October 4 High School Mum Exchange

High school students will exchangemums at the slc following the

varsity volleyball game

Friday, October 5 All School Pep Rally

2:45 p.m. SLCBBQ Dinner On The Pavilion

Tickets on sale soon!

Football GameWarriors vs. HSAA Dallas

7:00 p.m.

Saturday, October 6 High School Homecoming Dance

8:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. SLC

All grades will participate in creatinghomecoming fence decorations.

Upcoming Events

September 13 JV volleyball v. St. Thomas Episcopal 5:00 p.m. AWAY Varsity volleyball v. St. Thomas Episcopal 6:00 p.m. AWAY

September 14 Varsity football v. Shepherd 7:30 p.m AWAY

September 18 JV volleyball v. Brazos Christian 5:00 p.m. HOME Varsity volleyball v. Brazos Christian 6:00 p.m. HOME

September 20 JV volleyball v. St. Joseph 5:00 p.m. AWAY Varsity volleyball v. St. Joseph 6:00 p.m. AWAY

September 21 Varsity football v. Lutheran North 7:30 p.m. AWAY

Your favorite Warrior sports teams’ schedules are just a click away!

Varsity Football Schedule . Varsity Volleyball Schedule . Cross Country Schedule

JV Volleyball Schedule . MS White Volleyball Schedule . MS Green Volleyball Schedule

MS Gold Volleyball Schedule . MS Football Schedule

ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT NEWS

SEPTEMBER 14, 2012

Attention Woodlands Christian Students!

All students currently enrolled at Woodlands Christian receive free admission to all home sporting events.

Free admission does not apply to tournament or playoff games.

Who doesn’t like pie? Order yours today!9" harvest pumpkin9" apple streusel

9" buttermilk coconut 9" chocolate silk

9" southern pecan Pie gift cards

All items cost $20.00

ORDERS DUE BY Wednesday, September 26!Order online by clicking here

- OR -Please drop off cash or checks made payable to TWCA

and your order to Marthel Cano at the front desk.

Pies can be frozen and enjoyed during the Thanksgiving or Christmas holidays! Great for corporate gifts or family gatherings!

Pies will be delivered to Woodlands Christian the week of November 12

All proceeds benefit the Junior/Senior Prom.Orders may also be placed with any junior class student.

Thanks for your support!