Wingspan Issue 9 Fall 2020Final

Fall 2020 1 Grove City Christian School Magazine

DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION David Arrell EDITOR Daphne Schall EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS Amy McIlhargey Amy Sullivan CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Don Rogers ELEMENTARY PRINCIPAL David Muschott INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL Debbie Edwards HIGH/MIDDLE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL Jim McMillan HIGH/MIDDLE SCHOOL ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL Rebecca Jeffries ATHLETIC DIRECTOR Brian Leland DIRECTOR OF ADVANCEMENT Daphne Schall www.grovecitychristian.org www.facebook.com/gccseagles Twitter: @gccs_eagles Instagram: @gccs_eagles Grove City Christian School serves as a ministry of the Featured on the cover: Grove City Church of the Nazarene Artwork by Abigail McDonald

Welcome to our online magazine! Welcome to the 2020 fall edition of the Wingspan. In this edition, we will highlight the accomplishments of our students and celebrate the people who make Grove City Christian a special place to learn, serve, and grow. We are pleased to present the graduating class of 2020. This special group of students had their senior year interrupted and traditional milestones altered or even canceled due to COVID. Although no one wanted these changes, yet our students handled themselves with maturity and class. Their graduation ceremony was a one-of-a-kind event. God has blessed our school in so many ways, even in these difficult times. We have witnessed continual growth as you can see in our infographic of our Con- tinuous School Improvement Plan. You will find the latest Advanced Placement scores which show quite a dramatic improvement. Going into this year amidst a pandemic, we knew that all of our staff would have to do more to operate a safe and healthy school environment. We knew our school nurse (GCCS Class of 2005) was wonderful. What we did not know then that we are convinced of now, is that she has super-powers. Nurse Wellman has done a remarkable job in assessing symptoms, administering the ever-changing protocols from the health department, communicating with families and staff, and documenting the entire process. You can get to know her better by reading our featured article. Finally, we want to celebrate what God is doing on our campus right now. You will be introduced to our newest faculty members, including two who are returning to our faculty. You can read about our fall athletic and fine arts successes. You can learn more about one of our seniors who has a clear vision for his future. Joe Phillips has been nominated to multiple service academies by Congressmen Steve Stivers. Joe has plans to serve our country as an officer in the military. While much is different about this period in our history as a school and as a community, we truly do have much for which to be thankful. It is a blessing to partner with so many families in preparing students to be Christian leaders who impact their world. Our world needs fully trained and prepared young people whose faith and hope are in God to make a difference in these tumultuous times. In His service, Dave David J. Arrell Director of Education Grove City Christian School 3

Persevering Through A Pandemic Brittany Wellman RN, BSN GCCS School Nurse GCCS ‘05 At a very young age, I knew that caring for chil- I met my husband, Chris, while in high school dren was my calling. Before coming to Grove in 2003 and we were married in 2007. Chris is a City Christian at the start of the 2018-2019 third generation funeral director and embalmer school year, I worked in the hospital setting for his family’s funeral home. I started nursing on a labor and delivery and mother-infant unit. school a month after the birth of our first child, I absolutely loved my job and never thought I Jackson, in 2009. I graduated from Mount Car- would work anywhere else. Unexpectedly, God mel College of Nursing, magna cum laude, in showed me the opportunity to apply for the May of 2013 and was blessed to be hired onto GCCS nurse position. After my initial interview, the maternity unit at Fairfield Medical Center I knew it was where God was calling me and I that August as a new grad nurse. Our daughter, had to follow. Harper, was born six months later. In 2014 the opportunity for me to work closer to home on I started school at GCCS in kindergarten and a maternity unit led me to take a position at attended through graduation in 2005, as a what is now Ohio Health Berger Hospital where member of the third graduating class. My I continued working until this past summer. handprint is still in the high school hallway! Our third child, Jameson, was born in 2017 Receiving a Christian education from GCCS has and we are looking forward to him starting been one of the biggest blessings in my life. I preschool at Grove City Christian Child Care was blessed to grow up in an environment that next fall. showed me who God is, that I was loved and that He had a plan for me. I accepted Jesus as I never expected to return to GCCS but it has my Savior in elementary school and was bap- been awesome to be a part of this school tized at the Naz when I was nine years old. I community again. Although I am not doing practically lived at the school/church, attend- bedside nursing, inserting IV’s, rushing people ing school each day and church services on into the operating room or watching babies Wednesday night, Sunday morning and even take their first breath, I truly enjoy caring for Sunday night. each of these students and meeting some of their simplest needs. I love that I can build 4 WINGSPAN Magazine | Fall 2020 | www.grovecitychristian.org

real relationships with these students who are 5 my patients now. I love watching them grow, seeing them leave my office smiling when they came in crying, and teaching them how to care for the amazing bodies God gave them! In 2020, my role as school nurse significantly changed when the pandemic hit. My job here is even more critical. I act as a contact tracer within the school and report cases and con- tacts to the health department. I feel the huge responsibility of doing all I can to help keep our students safe and healthy and pray for them without ceasing. I get a lot more emails and phone calls and paperwork than ever be- fore. I have been working with the families/ students who have to be out due to contact or positives, directing them on what to expect, health department follow up and requirements for return to school. This year has not been easy and is becoming increasingly difficult as cases increase in the community and more of our families are affected as a result. Typically, I do whatever I can to help students STAY at school but this year I have to tell students when they shouldn’t come to school and that to me is the biggest difference in my job this year. But I am probably the person most excited when they get to come back!

Congratulations to a group of our students who were chosen to participate in the Capital University Honors Band! The Capital University 2020 Virtual Band Festival was held on November 13, 2020. The following students participated: Emily Andrick Graham Bentley Natalia Flores Evan Karlich Kavina Kaati Casma Mussi Majarak Ruggles Despite the pandemic this year, we were still able to hold our November 10, 2020 - Middle School / High School Band Concert in person. 6 WINGSPAN Magazine | Fall 2020 | www.grovecitychristian.org

Fall 2020 Athletic Awards Mid-State League Boys Golf Mid-State League Girls Volleyball (Cardinal Division) Alaina Dawson- 1st Team Team Champs- MSL Bryanna Trout- 2nd Team Jayson Arrell- Coach of the Year Brooke O’Dell- Honorable Mention James Cuckler- 2nd Team Quinn Garringer- 2nd Team Mid-State League Coed Cross Country Kaden Garringer- Honorable Mention Dylan King- 2nd Team Mid-State League Football All Central District (Cardinal Division) Christian Lautenschleger- Football (1st Team) Josiah Bever- 1st Team Alaina Dawson- Volleyball (1st Team) Christian Lautenschleger- 1st Team Luke McCoy- Soccer (1st Team) Jaylin Walker- 1st Team Daniel Gonzalez- Soccer (2nd Team) Henry Arias-Lamus- 2nd Team Sebastian Sosa- Soccer (2nd Team) Andrew Heins- 2nd Team Cameron Stedtefeld- Soccer (2nd Team) Jayden Hanks- 2nd Team Josiah Bever- Football (HM) Jalen Clemons- Honorable Mention Jalen Clemons- Football (HM) Kyle Graham- Honorable Mention Andrew Heins- Football (HM) Braydan Taylor- Honorable Mention Collin May- Football (HM) Jaylin Walker- Football (HM) Mid-State League Coed Soccer Brooke O’Dell- Volleyball (HM) (Cardinal Division) Bryanna Trout- Volleyball (HM) Team Champs- MSL Dan Milam- Coach of the Year All State Luke McCoy- Player of the Year Christian Lautenschleger- Football (3rd Team) Daniel Gonzalez- 1st Team Sebastian Sosa- 1st Team Cameron Stedtefeld- 1st Team Aaron Nazeck- 2nd Team Caleb Ransom- 2nd Team Andrew Gallant- 2nd Team Kevin Hernandez- 2nd Team 7

Continuous School Improvement Plan Like any organization, we continually strive for improvement. GCCS has a rich history of setting and acheiving goals. Moving forward, our plan is to use this space to communicate our school goals with you. The faculty, administration, and Education Committee have collaborated in setting the annual goals for the school. The goals generally fall in the categories of academic programming, academic achievement, professional development, and operations. 22001144Develop library for high Increase student use of technology school students Status: Ongoing Status: Ongoing Document & update curriculum Status: Ongoing 2015 2016 Initiate instructional strategies in Increase student achievement using MAP data high school Status: 70% of GCCS Status: Complete students met MAP growth goal Implement short-cycle assessment Develop worldview understanding to guide instruction and document of faculty and students Status: Ongoing student learning Status: Complete Ensure biblical integration into Initiate global student assessment every grade and content Status: Ongoing area K-12 Status: Ongoing 8 WINGSPAN Magazine | Fall 2020 | www.grovecitychristian.org

2017 2018 Complete ACSI & Review & upgrade academic AdvancED accreditation process intervention process for all Status: Complete students Status: Ongoing 80% Increase student achievement Develop and implement an using MAP data (>55%) annual plan for the evaluation of Status: 80% of GCCS students the effectiveness & impact of the met MAP growth goal Continuous School 2019 Improvement Plan Status: Ongoing Systematize a consistent curriculum management plan Status: Ongoing 2020 Assess the needs of students in Enhance instructional strategies by grades K-8 with the addition of incorporating best practices in another licensed school counselor technology integration and online Status: Phase I Complete tools to supplement classroom instruction and provide remote Implement new intervention process for all learning environment students, including an academic support Status: Ongoing quarterly progress report Status: Implemented Provide social emotional learning, training and support to all staff Research practices and professional Status: Ongoing development opportunities to increase student achievement Upgrade facilities (church and Status: Ongoing school) - replace turf field, replace Activity Center Construct curriculum management plan with flooring, open southern drive vertical alignment and Status: Complete lesson plan rollout Continue progress with Status: Ongoing School Improvement Team Status: Ongoing 9

A Christian Leader Amongst Peers Joseph Phillips, Class of 2021 The goal of every person of Christ is to bring glory to God. In order to fulfill this goal, a person must be familiar with the teachings of Scripture, and disciplined enough to carry them out on a daily basis. I have been immensely blessed by God in pursuit of this goal because of my Christian upbringing and specifically my enrollment in Grove City Christian School thanks to my parents. Despite moving around the nation, I have remained in a Christ-centered environment at home and at school, which was amplified upon my entrance into GCCS. Grove City Christian School played a crucial role in the development of my character in “The unique order that I might excel in service to God for the rest of my life. experience developing a f In January of 2003, I was born here in Ohio, but as I alluded to earlier, my family moved around a fair amount while I was growing up, living in both North Carolina and Oklahoma before transitioning back to Grove City. In eighth grade, my parents enrolled me at Grove City Christian School, and I was welcomed with open arms. I joined the football team in middle school and made friends with peers who did not alienate or exclude me even though I was new, and teachers caught me up quickly with accelerated curriculum I had access to for the first time. Grove City Christian School is a place of Christian preparation full of student-leadership opportu- nities. The daily Bible classes combined with weekly chapels have provided countless moments of personal growth in my relationship with God, not to mention the freedom to pray openly with other students and even staff. GCCS also encouraged me to practice Christian leadership amongst my peers. As a Chapel Small Group Leader, I was able to refine my ability to speak about Scripture to those around me, both on and off the stage as well as plan events with fellow students working together as the hands and feet of Christ. Grove City Christian School cares for their students’ futures. With the help of Mrs. Gillespie, the School Counselor, I was able to look into and decide which career path I was best suited for. After much prayer asking God to lead me where He wanted me to go, I landed on the three major United States Military Academies. The applications to these institutions are rigorous, but it was evident throughout the extensive process of applying to the Air Force, Naval, and West Point Military Acad- emies that GCCS wanted me to succeed. My English teacher aided me in revising college essays, and I received numerous evaluations and recommendation letters from both teachers and fellow students. The support I received along the way was crucial in my completion of each application. As I transition into the next stage of my life, I am confident in my ability to succeed thanks to the preparation I received from GCCS. The uniquely Christian experience aided me in developing a faith of my own, independent from my parents which I will be able to nurture and develop long after graduation. I’m so honored to have been selected to write this article, and I am humbled by the blessings God has bestowed upon me. I can hardly wait to begin honoring God with the next stage of my life, and I can’t thank Grove City Christian School enough. 10 WINGSPAN Magazine | Fall 2020 | www.grovecitychristian.org

ely Christian e aided me in faith of my own. ” 11

Beyond the Walls Equipping students to leave school without leaving their faith 12 WINGSPAN Magazine | Fall 2020 | www.grovecitychristian.org

AP Score Summary In September 2020, we received the Five Year Score Summary from CollegeBoard for our school in the area of Advanced Placement (AP) testing. This report shows the % of total AP students with scores of a ‘3’ or higher. We have seen consistent growth in our AP departments over the years. In 2020, 75.5% of our students taking an AP exam received a ‘3’ or higher. “Success” on an AP Exam is defined as an exam score of 3 or higher, which represents the score point that research finds predictive of college success and college graduation. These findings have held consistent across the decades. One example of such a study comes from the National Center for Educational Accountability, which found that an AP exam score, and a score of 3 or higher in particular, is a strong predictor of a student’s ability to persist in college and earn a bachelor’s degree. Our first ‘5’ on an AP exam was earned in 2006. The next ‘5’ was earned in 2011 and since then we have had a total of 34 students receive a ‘5’ on an AP exam. The High Five Club was created to honor those students and their accomplishments. High Five Club lists are posted in the classrooms and are updated each time a new student receives a ‘5’. Over the years, students have received ‘5s’ in AP Biology, AP Calculus AB, AP English Language, AP English Literature and AP Psychology. Our students continue to impress with their knowlege and wisdom. “For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” Proverbs 2:6 13

Teacher Grove City Christian School is pleased to introduce the faculty and staff that are new to our school for the 2020-2021 academic year. In hopes that you will get to know them better, we are sharing a little about their educational background and qualifications and why they are passionate about Christian education. Please join us in welcoming them to our GCCS community! Ashley Aaron Baker Carns First Grade Physics, STEM & Coding BS Elementary Education BS Electrical Engineering Ohio Christian University Ohio Northern University Professional Engineer License - State of Ohio “I am so thankful to be a part of the GCCS teach- ing staff again after taking a few years off to be “I am absolutely blessed and grateful to join on board here at GCCS! I look forward to home with my precious family and running my own cleaning business. Although my business sharing my nearly 20 years of relevant engi- was successful, I always knew God gave me a neering experience to the students here. love and passion to help students grow and learn I hope to not only develop students’ both spiritually and academically. I am thankful for the great responsibility and honor to help my problem-solving skills, but more importantly students learn about the God of the universe and I pray that I can help students strengthen how He created each of us with different gifts their relationship with Christ.” and talents. You are His masterpiece!” Favorite Verse: Romans 8:28 Favorite Verse: Proverbs 3:5-6 14 WINGSPAN Magazine | Fall 2020 | www.grovecitychristian.org

Stephanie Makayla Harr Fisher Algebra Concepts Physical Education and Geometry GCCS ‘15 GCCS ‘2016 BA Psychology and Criminology BS Secondary Math Education Capital University Ohio Christian University “One of my favorite parts about being at “I am so excited to return to GCCS as a GCCS is being able to combine faith and teacher! I feel so blessed to be in a loving, warm, physical education. As a graduate of GCCS, and supportive environment and part of a I am blessed to be back in a familiar fantastic team of educators. I love being able to community, working alongside of many freely talk about and integrate God into my teachers who taught and led me classroom and have conversations about faith throughout the years. I have enjoyed learning so much from the students, and I with students on top of showing them the look forward to helping them learn in an beauty of mathematics.” environment of faith and physical activity!” Favorite Verse: Psalm 27:1 Jacob Julia Murphy Roys High School Bible Chemistry MDiv in Practical Theology BA Chemistry Indiana Wesleyan University Capital University Teacher License- Ashland University “Favorite part of being at GCCS: I love the students here. It has been a pleasure to get to “I worked here for 6 years 2011-2017 and had know each one of them. Every day I strive to a sabbatical of a couple years while my make Christ look beautiful to them and husband was sick. I love the camaraderie they have warmly received me among the teachers and staff. Everyone is with open arms.” there to support, help, care and pray for one another. I love the Christian atmosphere and Favorite Verse: John 3:17 being able to pray with and for the students.” Favorite Verses: John 11:25 and Proverbs 3:5-6 15

JillCongratulatiBorniasn Suver Class of 2020Leland Athletic Director Intervention Specialist Grove CiEtduycatioCn hristian SchoolEducation BS E lemen tary E duca tion BS Social Studies Education Bob Jones University Goshen College “I am constantly amazed by the students at GCCS. “Having been a product of Christian They are respectful, kind, and I see joy on their education myself, I understand the impact that it faces. Staff is dedicated and each student is can have on a life. I have been working in valued and taught as God’s unique masterpiece. I Christian education for over 28 years and am am so thankful that God has given me the wonder- excited for the opportunity to serve in the ful opportunity to partner with GCCS this year, Athletic Department at GCCS! as both a teacher and a parent of a student.” I Corinthians 10:31 - “God is faithful!” Deidra Jordan Administrative Assistant DK-6th Grade GCCS Alumni, Class of 2006 “As a graduate of GCCS, I am so Amanda excited to be back! It has been incredible to Smith work in an environment that values Christian education. To be able to see students praying Administrative Assistant and singing their praise songs throughout the Athletics day has been such a blessing.” I was a stay at home mom for 9 years and en- joyed being able to have that time with my Dana Lane children. I worked as an Administrative Assistant for over 15 years before deciding to start our Receptionist family. I have so enjoyed my time here at GCCS “It is so refreshing to work in such a Christ so far; working here is like working with family. honoring atmosphere where your co-workers are I have loved being able to see just how much supportive and encouraging. The students are everyone here pours into our children; I have on well mannered and I have truly enjoyed getting to multiple occasions been overcome with emotion know them as well as their parents.” just witnessing such love and care for the students here. I look forward to many more years here surrounding by people who are shining examples of God’s love. 16 WINGSPAN Magazine | Fall 2020 | www.grovecitychristian.org

Preparing students to be Christian leaders who impact their world. 17

Upcoming Events December December 21-Jan 1, Christmas Break 2020January January 21, 7:00pm- Intermediate School Concert February February 11, Parent/Teacher Conferences 2021 March March 22, 7:00pm- Night of Fine Arts April April 20, 7:00pm- Elementary Spring Concert April 27, 7:00pm- Middle & High School Band Concert May May 4, 7:00pm- Middle & High School Vocal/Strings Concert May 11, 7:00pm- Intermediate School Concert