Spring 2012 - Columbia Adventist Academy
Transcription
Spring 2012 - Columbia Adventist Academy
Columbia Adventist Academy Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage 11100 NE 189th Street Battle Ground, WA 98604 www.caaschool.org Columbia Adventist Academy Alumni Echoes PAID Ridgefield WA Permit No. 94 Winter Edition ~ 2013 Address Service Requested “ O ur mission is to provide alumni the opportunity to reconnect, encourage former students to strengthen their personal and spiritual values, and provide financial support for the future. Our vision is a community of alumni, strengthened through reconnecting. ” - CAA Alumni Alumni weekend a reconnecting time! Columbia Adventist Academy Alumni Homecoming Weekend April 5-6, 2013 We will be honoring the alumni honor group of 1954 and prior and the classes of 1953, 1963, 1973, 1983, 1988, 1993, 2003 and 2013. If you are interested in helping to coordinate your class reunion, please contact Larry Hiday at CAA at (360) 687-3161 or [email protected]. The weekend schedule will be as follows: Friday Evening Vespers Presented by the Class of 2003 in the CAA forum Sabbath School Presented by the Class of 1993 Church Presented by the Class of 1988 Sabbath Afternoon Program Presented by the Class of 1963 Saturday Night Event and Basketball Games in the CAA gym It just wouldn‟t be right to be in Meadow Glade and not see rain during the month of April and this year did not disappoint any alumni returning to reminisce about “the good ole days”. The weekend began with the 10-year class, Class of „02, having the vespers program and Kevin Ames giving the first message. Sabbath morning the Class of „92 lead out in the Sabbath School program with Adam Arechiga. After role call and the business meeting the Columbia choir provided the musical interlude followed by the Class of ‟87 leading out the church service with Scott Hamel delivering the Sabbath sermon. In the afternoon everyone enjoyed a catered lunch provided by the seniors of 2012 and Sweet Tomatoes. Class photos then gave a chance for the alumni to show their true characters with some being the leaders and making sure everyone was in the picture while others (dare we say the class clowns?) picked up where they left off many years ago. Some classes chose to hang out and talk with each other, some headed around campus on tours and others headed right over to the church for the afternoon program planned by the class of „62. The late afternoon and evening saw many classes planning get-togethers in many different venues with many returning to campus for the Saturday night basketball games and for the “first annual” knowledge bowl tournament. Virlys Moller was contacted by some eager ‟92 Alumni who wanted to relive the glory days of knowledge bowl. Paul Campanello, CAA former knowledge bowl coach, joined in the evening fun. Bragging rights were the reward for winning in both arenas and the alumni definitely hold those in both basketball and knowledge. See Page 4 for names of pictured Alumni *Normally $109/night Honor Class 1962 Honor Class 1972 Honor Class 1987 Columbia Classics Weekend (Gladstone Campgrounds) September 21–22, 2012 Columbia Adventist Academy Fountain of Youth February **, 2013 Columbia Adventist Academy Contact Info; Phone 360.687.3161, Principal, Matthew Butte, x24, Registrar, Debbie Hendrickson, x22, Alumni and Development Director, Larry Hiday, x33, Office Manager, Tami Congleton, x20, Accountant and Marketing, Julie Gaskell, x23 Principal’s Message CALENDAR— Alumni Homecoming April 5-6, 2013 Columbia Classics Gladstone, OR Fountain of Youth February 9, 2013 Niland, CA ***All weekend meetings except Vespers will be held in the Meadow Glade Church.*** Registration will be in the school forum The Battle Ground Best Western is offering a discount to alumni for that weekend if you let them know $75/night for 1 bed & $85/night for 2 beds INSIDE— Honor Class 1992 Honor Class 2002 Building Updates CAA Alumni Echoes CAA Alumni Decade Challenge (ADC), Capital Campaign, and Financial UPDATE The Current Total Raised (as of Dec 30, 2011) Principal’s Message Horses changed in the middle of the Stream Dear Alumni, As the year winds down and the hustle and bustle of the holidays fill the air, I encourage you to take the time to reflect on how blessed and fortunate we are. This season is one of charity, gifts, and of course Christ’s ultimate sacrifice. As I reflect on our school community, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the many ways our school has been richly blessed. It brings me great joy to be a part of this richness each and every day. As Alumni, you bring unmeasured value as you have sup ported CAA and are a part of the rich history of this school. Thank you so much for your continued financial gifts and prayers for our students and faculty. This newsletter highlights some of the ways we have been blessed by adventures, donations, improvements, and achievements. My hope is that you will find these stories an uplifting way to stay connected to CAA. Please continue to keep in touch with us regarding your information and we hope to see you at Alumni Weekend. - Matthew Butte Worthy Student Roundup 2 They say “you can‟t change horses in the middle of a stream” but with the help of our Thanksgiving event entertainment, the Stratton Half Brothers, that‟s exactly what we did this year! For the past four years we have been enjoying food, family, friends, and fun(d) raising at our annual Thanksgiving Celebration events with the goal to raise funds for our new building. With the capacity of the building our goal is to utilize the potential by increasing the number of students at CAA and through marketing and word of mouth that is exactly what we‟re doing. With an enrollment of 134 students, God has blessed us richly this year and we are making payments toward the building. However, with an increase in enrollment and not a lot of “increase” in the economy, we are finding that more and more of our students need some form of financial aid. In fact over 50% of our students need that help requiring that we find a way to make their stay at Columbia possible. So this year instead of funding the building project with our fun(d)raiser we “changed horses in the middle of the stream” and made it our goal to raise $100,000 at our westernthemed Thanksgiving “Worthy Student Roundup.” We had a generous donor step up to the plate and give us a 1-1 match for up to $50,000 and that night, to the sounds of western/country songs and laughter, participants gave $42,000 for a night total of $84,000! After the event was over and the cleanup was nearing completion, God impressed another donor to come forward and say they wanted to make a donation to complete the match! We are so blessed at CAA and want all of our alumni and friends to know what a blessing it is to be a part of God‟s work and see Him move in the lives of our students, as well as our community members. Thank you for your contributions, continuing payment on pledges, prayers, time, and all the other things you give to continue the tradition of excellence at your school. Alumni Updates CAA Alumni Echoes Does A Focus on Alumni; How CAA Look? by Larry Hiday, Alumni/Development Director The typical student at CAA ends the school year with at least one school T-shirt. Depending on how many activities the student is involved in, it could be more. Over the years, the T-shirts build up. One of our alums, Lindsay Kelstrom, Class of 2007, had over 30 Tshirts and sweatshirts by the time she graduated. “I had at least one shirt from soccer each year and I usually had a T-shirt and sweatshirt from each year of music,” said Lindsay. “Some of the shirts were not directly from the school but from mission trips I went on through Meadow Glade Church.” A few of the shirts were from Academy Days that she either attended or helped with. So what do you do with so many clothes after you graduate? “I wore a lot of the shirts for awhile,” she said. “But then I started accumulating more T-shirts in college so my academy shirts were phased out. But I didn‟t want to give them away because of all the memories. So I decided to make a quilt from them.” This project got me thinking, how does CAA look? What do our Tshirts show that we emphasize at our school? According to Lindsay, she had one T-shirt from National Honor Society and one from Leadership Late Night but most of her quilt consists of Tshirts from sports or music. *****?? With the help of a friend, Lindsay recently finished her quilt and agreed to let us display it at Alumni Weekend 2013. I want to extend an invitation to anyone who will be attending CAA Extends Campus first week lead to research projects and data collection during the second week. Again, novelty was abundant as research varied from spider populations to tree ratios and moss riches. Probably more novel than anything else was the fact that electronic technology was reserved for scientific equipment during the two weeks. While students adjusted to their lack of media that the current culture demand they be “plugged into”, they readily adapted to using the plethora of electronics for their research that instructors Jamey and Allen Cooper had pur- Alumni Weekend this next year: Bring your old CAA T-shirts. There may even be a prize for the oldest Tshirt! (Continued from pg 3) chased, or “raided” from Loma Linda University, included two ipads, a clinometer, calipers, laser pointers, and a non-contact infrared thermometer gun with laser targeting for distance temperature readings. As for the diet, students learned that cous cous with pine nuts and Thai noodles with peanut sauce can provide for an elegant evening of dining even if you‟re far from your favorite restaurant. Students enjoyed the views and wildlife of the mountains, the solitude of the campsites, “skiing” the remaining snow patches, and experiencing some- thing they‟d never done before. As Konrad McClure, CAA freshman, said as he fixed cous cous for his family after returning to civilization, “l‟m independent and self-contained now!” *defined by Christopher Robin in Winnie the Pooh “Chapter Eight in which Christopher Robin leads an Expedition to the North Pole” as “a long line of everybody” to “discover something.” by Virlys Moller, CAA English instructor, per interview with Larry Hiday 7 Alumni Updates CAA Alumni Echoes Week of Prayer; Sometimes Dirty but never “Down and Out” The topic for the week of prayer at Columbia Adventist Academy (CAA) this year was “Jesus wants you to be saved.” The first day, James Bokovoy,Oklahoma Conference pastor (and avid photographer), shared how God has led in his life and how much more fulfilling life has been as he allows God to lead. He encouraged the students by sharing that God wants to do the same thing in each of our lives. The week took a surprising turn midway through the week‟s presentations when Bokovoy, together with the religious activities committee, conducted an activity where students closed their eyes and reached into a bowl containing, unknown to them, honey, and potting soil. Each then clasped the hand of the student next to them. Bokovoy used the analogy of foot washing to compare to the cleaning process that was then carried out by the religious activities committee members as they went around and washed each students‟ hands. “We are to be „cleaning agents‟ in the world around us just as the committee members were, and while that will cause us to get „dirty‟ sometimes, because of salvation supplied through Christ we are never „down and out‟,” Bokovoy said. “In turn, God wants each of us to then help others and make their lives better just as He has blessed and made our lives better.” Meaghan Ashton, a sophomore student, said “…the activity was great. Some might say gross, but I really liked the meaning and what it represented. People… hated the stuff all over their hands, but everyone gets dirty and Jesus died for our sins.” Bokovoy, an avid photographer, visited classes throughout the week and his presentation in the photography class, along with that of Todd Gessele, videographer for the NPUC, explained how our interests and passions can be used to further God‟s work and improve the lives of others. The week of “theory” was followed the next week with a day of “experiential” practice as the entire school was involved in community service and getting dirty but knowing that God was able to use CAA to bless many lives. In summarizing the week of prayer, Keith Kerbs, CAA religion teacher said “The modern parables and illustrations that Pastor James shared, as well as his own story of God working in his life, really connected with those who attended. His passion for God, young people, and photography are inspiring!” Alumnus donates time and design to remodel CAA website Nic Hubbard graduated from CAA in 2001 then headed to Pacific Union College where he pursed a BA in Television and Film Production. The summer of 2011 he and his wife, Emily, moved back to the Northwest, purchased a home in Ridgefield, and welcomed their first child, a beautiful boy, Matthew, this past June. Being so close to the school did not escape Matthew Butte‟s notice and a current principal and former “contemporary Moral Issues” student reconnected on a common cause-improving CAA‟s presence on the Web. 4 Alumni Updates CAA Alumni Echoes A Gift in Jars of Clay The free concert was sponsored by Chuck‟s Produce and promoted by local Christian radio station, 104.1 The Fish. “We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7 NKJV) On September 7, “Jars of Clay”, a well-known contemporary Christian group of musicians performed for a free concert on our beautiful campus. Opening the concert was a performance by “Found,” a group of student musicians who love music and God. The gorgeous weather with its evening warmth set the right tone for welcoming in the Sabbath with a meaningful evening of worship and praise. The event was the result of long term planning to combine the school‟s mission “to provide the finest in Seventh-day Adventist secondary education,” introduce the community of Clark County and beyond, to the school, and to thank all the CAA supporters. These objectives were met by bringing together a group of “Godshaped” students, “Jars of Clay,” and about one thousand community guests. The CAA campus as a concert venue provided the ideal opportunity to introduce the community to the mission, the “earthen vessels” (students and staff), and our “Treasure” (God). Watching a skilled potter take a slab of clay and shape it into something beautiful can be enthralling. Seeing the same thing happen in the lives of our students at CAA is even more thrilling and we are blessed with 135 “jars of clay” on campus this year. In addition to meeting the objectives for the event, it also provided wonderful memories and a context for transformation by the Master Potter. In the words of a community member who chose to participate in our worship that evening, “My family and I were so blessed by your generosity. What a wonderful blessing!” To God be the glory that earthen vessels can share such a Treasure! “Found” group members (back to front, left to right):Grant Bolin, Tyler Fry, Robby Boney, Lindsay Salsbery, Carly Ford, Kathryn Thomas, and Mac Ford. Members not shown: Josh Fry, Melanie Morales, ????? Jars of Clay shared the gospel with in friends, family members Jars of Clay giving Him all the glory! 5 Alumni Updates CAA Alumni Echoes needed money to really help in a way that made a significant difference, but then she heard about an organization called Locks of Love whose mission is “to return a sense of self, confidence and normalcy to children suffering from hair loss… to financially disadvantaged children” and a new idea, one that she could make happen, began to form. After doing her homework, Diana found a place that would cut her hair and allow her to donate it to Locks of Love for a child who had lost their hair, many of whom are kids with cancer. In just a few minutes Diana went from having long beautiful black hair to a shaved head for a very worthy cause. When asked about the responses from people, she told about the humorous dressing room situation and being told that “boys try on clothes over there.” She said that her family was surprised and very supportive with her mom kidding her that now Congratulations Kodiaks! Soccer team wins 1st & Sportsmanship at WWU Fall Classic Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow So what‟s the story behind a beautiful, reserved, sophomore student at Columbia Adventist Academy (CAA) being the brunt of namecalling? First, Diana Palomera gets called Troy Polamalu (the Samoan football player known for his long, beautiful hair who does Head and Shoulders commercials) then a few days later she gets called a boy and told not to go into the women‟s dressing room by the lady “guarding” the women‟s dressing rooms at a department store where she was shopping. Diana has a heart for helping people and she‟s very friendly and caring, so it‟s surprising that she would be the recipient of name-calling until one learns a little more about this student. In addition to all the aforementioned qualities which make Diana an asset to her high school, she also has a heart for helping people. For a long time she thought that she Alumni Updates Soccer coach Debbie Reed began the 2012-2013 school year prepping the largest soccer team CAA has had. As a seven-year coaching veteran, she couldn‟t have guessed that this season‟s end would be a historic first. Never before in the history of the Walla Walla Friendship Tourna- she looks like her dad and brother. Her friends all thought it was “weird” but are very proud of her. Her teachers are proud of her, too, for her willingness to leave her comfort zone, to put others first, and not to let outward looks take precedence over her inner beauty. May we all be willing to use our gifts to bless the lives of others as Diana has done. ment has a soccer team won first place and the sportsmanship award. WWU coordinators acknowledged the new height that CAA has placed the bar for future teams. “Winning the first place trophy was amazing and something this team has worked hard for, but winning the sportsmanship award too was like winning the lottery”, Reed explained. Emotions surfaced as she recounted her players and the excitement on their faces as they realized this amazing accomplishment. Reed believes that much of her team‟s attitude toward the sport, their fellow CAA Alumni Echoes team members, and the opposing team, have been influenced by a “tradition” that she began last year. After each game, the apposing team was invited to the center of the playing field for affirmation and prayer. Some of Reed‟s team leaders would take the initiative to find out interesting facts about the other team and their players. During this time of affirmation, Reed was able to connect on a deep level with each athlete on the team they played against. These connections have grown throughout the last two seasons, friendships have flourished, respected established, and the games have benefited. Senior Taylor Ermshar also received the MVP award. Congratulations to Ermshar, Reed and the Kodiaks 2012 Soccer Team. CAA extends Campus to include Mt. St. Helens and the Olympic National Honored Alumni photos (Continued pg 1) Class of 2002 Back Row: Kevin Ames Peter McNabb Christopher Will Justin White Trevor Congleton C.J. Anderson Paul Wilson Front Row: Chelsea Bliss Ward Natalie Chapel Lori Fisher Uhacz Olivia Alvarez Claira Davis Hockenson 6 When the idea of an "expotition"* was tossed around between Columbia Adventist Academy (CAA) science instructor, Larry Hiday, and local backpacking guru, Randy Givens, there was simply the intention of introducing students to backpacking and “God‟s second book”. But brainstorming often takes people where they have no intention of going and produces novel ideas. So on July 10, six neophyte backpackers and four experienced instructors combined forces to experience a novel approach to education; combining formal instruction in geology, research methods, and bi- ology with informal instruction in backpacking skills and etiquette. Novelties for the learning experience included location, technology, and diet (to say nothing of the “school bathroom facilities”). The first week of the two-week class was spent on Mt. St. Helens and then moved to the Olympic National Park for the second week. The classroom change from day to day often provided the chance for students to honestly say that they “had to walk miles to get to school and it was uphill both ways!” With journals in hand, students hiked the trails, identifying wildflowers and trees, birds and snakes. Observations made during the (continued pg 7) 3