From elementary school to middle school
For those of us who have seen the progression of elementary students crossing the bridge to the “other side of the campus,” perhaps you are likely to view this experience not as a train ride but as a step—taken from one side of a bridge to the other. As you cross it, you find yourself on secondary school terrain. Scary?  According to Secondary Principal, Rob Lofthouse, moving up grades isn’t meant to be scary, but exciting. He says, “Be confident and enjoy the year, it is just a small steppingstone to middle school.”

From middle school to high school
Now, if you are an eighth grader, the adventure you’re about to embark on is not just a step, but a giant leap! Don’t be afraid. That leap certainly sounds much higher than it really is. For one thing, your days of poster projects are behind you. But then again, your days of writing papers have just increased! Papers, papers, papers. Did we say papers? So, sharpen your writing skills over the summer. You’ll be glad you did.

Sign up for a writing class over the summer, where you will learn writing techniques, practicing the craft in a multitude of forms. Check out the Creative Writing class insert in this publication for more information. This class, as well as other similar ones, will be extremely valuable as you take your SATs, PSAT’s, and begin applying for colleges and universities during your senior year. Yes, that sounds like millions of years away, but four years go by rather quickly while you’re busy having fun. For your high school years will be that. They may be challenging, but they may be some of the best years of your life.

KEY LESSONS: take the clutter out of your life. Learn to prioritize. Sharpen your study skills. Write well, write often! Not just for school but rather, for fun! Learn to be true to your word. Don’t over-commit yourself. When you commit, let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no. Say what you want to say, but learn to think first. Place God in the center of all things. Be bold. Share your faith. Love unconditionally.

Should eighth graders get excited about high school? Absolutely! Should fifth graders cross that bridge with their eyes wide open. Oh, yeah! Clearly, graduation is a big but exciting step or giant leap, depending on how you look at it. But whether you’re going from elementary to middle school or from middle school to high school, there are four key things you must remember:

Change is certain.

You will be challenged.  So, stay focused.

Loving God over all things is not just the smart thing to do, it’s a commandment.

Loving others like yourself is not just a good phrase—it’s God’s Word. Keep it. Learn it. Apply it.

My trip to Israel wasn’t a missions trip, but a tour of the Holy Land. Before I left, I wasn’t sure if I would be “life-changed” as most are after such a trip, but I was hoping to find something—perhaps a change of heart, a better relationship with my Savior? I found both.

I also found myself fascinated by this country—with its rich history, bound not in scripts and scrolls, but in tangible places like the Pool of Bethesda, where Jesus healed those who came to be cured; and actual artifacts left behind, as a testament that what’s in the Bible is real. And they are! The Bible stories that I had been reading for so long suddenly became real to me, and the settings were some of the most beautiful places I’ve seen.

The first day, we were taken to a place called Joppa, also known as Jaffa. It was a city with a beautiful view of the Mediterranean Sea. But that was not all, as the biblical reference to Joppa reminded me of Jonah 1:3, which says, “But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tar shish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tar shish to flee from the LORD.” After hearing that this was the port that Jonah sailed from, I immediately felt connected with God’s Word.

One particular place that affected me was the Garden Tomb. Although not completely proven, there was much evidence pointing to the burial of Jesus in this specific tomb. It really amazed me that our King was placed in just a stone cave. This was not a proper placement for a King. As I walked in the there, I was flooded with anger that my Savior was treated with so much disrespect.

When I returned from Israel, I was overwhelmed with questions from others wanting to know all about my experience in the Holy Land. I am still having a hard time to put it all into words. Israel was an incredible experience, no doubt, but I didn’t feel as if I was measuring up to everyone’s expectations of how I should be changed. I’ve soon realized that my experience hasn’t been completely “absorbed” yet. There were a few things that happened that stuck with me immediately, but I wonder… Will God use this trip at some point in my life to speak to me? I’ll have to wait and see, but this I know: my heart changed when I walked where Jesus walked.

Thank you for putting up with me all these long years. For teaching me to tie my shoes and enduring countless hours of Sesame Street and Arthur; for making me eat my vegetables and keeping me on a leash, literally, so I wouldn’t get lost. For protecting me from the hungry wolves hiding in my closet and for putting notes in my lunchbox, and for being patient with me—even when I spilled my milk on top of the new tablecloth or lost my sweater for the fourteenth time.

When I was a teenager, you came to my soccer games and cheered, whether we lost or won; you bravely took me driving, where you quickly learned how to hold on. You held me when my heart had been stolen, and you never complained that you didn’t have any time for me. Thank you for standing by my side in the hospital room; for teaching me to fight for the truth and to never give up.

Mom, you are a counselor, a teacher, a cook and a maid; a chaperone, a weather forecaster, a laundress, and a doctor. The list could go on and on. But most importantly, you are my mother and my friend, a prayer warrior whose strong faith I have always looked up to. You have no idea how important you are to me. I’m sorry for my temper tantrums when I was little and for my rebellious fits, but thank you for loving me through it all. You are an incredible blessing to me, mommy, and I cannot stop thanking the Lord for putting you in my life.

Happy Mother’s Day to all! Thank you so much for all the hard work you do for us! I love you mommy!

From the posters displayed all around campus to Pastor Bob Coy’s plug from the pulpit, talk of CCA’s Fifth Annual Golf Tournament has definitely been going around. One of the most anticipated events of the year for its direct effect on school advancement, this year’s golf tournament has high goals for what its organizers hope will continue to advance school discipleship.

If you saw the school’s production of “The Wizard of Oz,” or have watched the high school-produced “Focus” monthly shows, or even read the CCA Weekly lately, you have seen the fruits of CCA’s advancement efforts. Last year, money that was raised provided tuition assistance and funded several computer labs. Proceeds from this year’s tournament will benefit tuition assistance, athletics, and the completion of the secondary media center and science labs. Although a golf tournament may seem limited to golfers, it’s actually an event that provides opportunities for everyone, from students and staff to the broader community, to get in the game and participate in CCA’s advancement.

“The golf tournament has rallied support both from within CCA and from our broader community every year,” notes Director of Advancement, David Salvatelli. “It presents an excellent opportunity for students, staff, families and the community to collaborate in support of education in general and CCA in particular.” One way to get involved is through Tee Flag sponsorships. Each elementary class that collects $250 through sponsors wins a movie and popcorn party as well as the honor of having their class name on a tee flag in the golf tournament. Each secondary student who brings in a minimum of $40 to their homeroom teachers, can enjoy a half-day off from school with food and fun on the West Field. Whether it’s registering to play as a single or foursome, sponsoring, or volunteering on tournament day, whatever one gives will further the Kingdom of Heaven. So shine up your clubs and sign up to support CCA’s advancement today! For more information, check out ccaeagles.org/golfevent.

When Kaitlin was about seven years old she started writing for fun, only to later blossom into a creative, colorful writer when she began fifth grade. What is Kaitlin’s inspiration, you might ask? Her loving grandparents. Kaitlin vividly remembers her grandmother’s passion for writing and expressing the beauty of the world through words. As her grandmother would sit down and write with her, Kaitlin’s eagerness to write flourished. Her grandmother would always say to her, “It doesn’t matter what you write, as long as you have fun while doing it.”

Today, as Kaitlin sits down to write, her thoughts travel onto the paper as she expresses the explosion of her dazzling imagination going on inside her mind. Kim McDuffie, an English teacher at CCA comments, “Kaitlin seems to have a natural God-given way of expressing herself in a way that makes you feel you are there in the story with the characters. She has a very ‘mature’ style as well.” According to Kim McDuffie, one of the stories that communicates Kaitlin’s brilliance in writing is a memoir of her grandparents.  Truly, she has applied well that old writing technique: “Write what you know.”

Kaitlin also enjoys reading and playing fast on the soccer field. Her life verse is Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Clearly, this young lady’s walk with God is clearly evident as she is beautiful, both inside and out. And that shows well in her written words.

CCA teachers are often calling their students out on this bad behavior. In fact, to remedy it, they tell us to serve others without any selfish motives. To make sure we get the message, our classes are peppered with lessons on selfishness—that what makes us needlessly bitter and contemptible, never feeling like we have enough, always worried that there is something else we need to attain or have, just because. Outside of class, the Edifice Outreach Club has found that serving others is a good way of learning this lesson.

Through Edifice, students are learning to unify as the body of Christ and work together to serve their Heavenly Father; while showing God‘s love in caring for people in need. Justin Rich, a sophomore at CCA comments, “Edifice has challenged and helped me to live a life with God first, others second, and myself last.”

Students discuss topics such as human trafficking or the Dalit—a group of people in India who are regarded as outcastes or untouchables—and other local or world issues and the people affected. Edifice is taking the Luke 4 command to heart: preaching good news to the poor, proclaiming freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, and releasing the oppressed. It will soon be working to raise money to benefit the Dalit Freedom Network (DFN), understanding the lesson that serving is the antidote to selfishness, and that through God’s help one person can make a difference.

 “Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the LORD, not men….” –Ephesians 6:7

As a CCA family, we are that body of Christ—students, teachers, and administrators. Last Friday, November 6, CCA alumni from graduating classes of 2007-2009 reunited with their fellow peers to encourage each other as Christ’s members of that body, despite the long absence. Memories were shared and relationships grew stronger as the alumni talked in the dining room behind The Grill over a special homecoming brunch, witnessed the first-ever CCA homecoming boys’ volleyball game at the pep rally, and cheered at the football game against American Heritage.

Rachel Hennessey, a graduate from the class of 2007, recalls what made CCA such an exceptional place for her. “I think it has to do with the staff and the way that they are a body and they want us to be a body. That was a big impact on me—coming to a place where the teachers are involved in everything and they’re all one-on-one relationships.”

A group of ladies, including Maritza Cosano Gomez, Kristi Rogan, and 2008 graduate, Amanda Bassos, are ensuring that the Calvary Christian Academy Alumni Association (CCAAA) walks alongside past graduates in every area of their lives. Bassos recognizes the importance of keeping that CCA connection and even hopes that the association will be of encouragement and aid to future graduating students. She comments, “For students who are still on the path of deciding what they want to do or are just graduating and they’re scared, they can come to us, who have already been into the world, for questions.” Rogan, who formerly taught many of the first graduating students and formed close relationships with them explains her heart behind the CCAAA, “I always wanted all of the students who go here, past and present, to always feel like CCA is their home. The memories that they’ve had here will never leave them. I want them to always remember that they’re welcome, and they’re loved, that we still support them in everything that they do, and we still care about their progress spiritually, academically, and socially.”

As the ticket to their CCA connection home, the CCAAA will help the students maintain their friendships and accountability by reuniting the bodies of each class. With graduates spread out all over the country and pursuing various vocations, it’s not hard to notice just how great God’s plans are to give each of them hope and a future. May each student from the three graduating classes continue in the plans that God has for them while holding tight to the CCA family that binds us so closely together.

 For more information on how to get connected, the alumni are invited to visit www.ccaegales.org/alumni. There you can find Your CCA Connection, a monthly e-newsletter that’s filled with class notes, latest school news, stories and photos.

When CCA’s Athletic Director Dana Ridenour caught wind about Calvary’s 5K, the two ministries, Oasis and CCA Athletics, decided to join together as one to raise funds. “Called by God to impact a community for Christ through athletics, we planned the Outreach 5K Run/Walk to bring families to our campus so they can see the work of God and our vision for discipleship, hear the Word of God, and witness the Spirit of God as they run/walk alongside someone that truly loves them and wants to serve them,” says Ridenour. “The proceeds that go to athletics will help us open our campus in the same way to visiting schools, provide certified athletic training personnel, and help us refresh uniforms and equipment.”

Calvary Christian Academy and Oasis have similar hopes and dreams in their ministries. CCA enjoys sending their upperclassmen to different missions trips around the globe, at times involving the All Saints Aids Camp. Both ministries are mission-minded, so holding an event together was an obvious choice.

“Our heart’s desire is to raise enough funds to renovate, rebuild and restore not only the All Saints AIDS Camp, but the lives of the people who live there,” says Steve Savage, who heads up Oasis with his wife Donna. “We also want to get the information out that OASIS is not only off-shore, but we are here to serve and bring hope to those locally who are affected by HIV/AIDS.”

The event will be held at Calvary Chapel’s campus (2401 West Cypress Creek Road, Fort Lauderdale, FL).  Registration is online at www.calvaryftl.org until December 2.  As a way to use our bodies for the Lord’s glory, let’s use this event as an opportunity to prove to the world that physical activity is truly possible, and can be extremely beneficial to our bodies later in life. So come on out and “Run for your Life!”

While growing up with three sisters, young Elmer recalled feeling left out as one of his sisters was having a birthday party, one which, he informed us in a most peculiar and funny way, he was not invited. Annoyed by the unfairness of it all, he reached for the water hose and drenched all the girls in their pretty party dresses. Of course, young Elmer got into big trouble with his mother, but this seed sprang the “Young Underground” series, first published by Bethany House in 1994.  Since then, Elmer has authored other children series, including “Adventures Down Under,” “Promise of Zion,” “AstroKids,” and “HyperLinkz.”  

During a special lunch with the author, with eight young CCA writers, all winners of a writing contest, he shared how his writing career began as a newspaper reporter, but his love for writing began much earlier than that.  “I started getting serious about writing in the second grade. I wrote a family newspaper. I wrote about things in the neighborhood, like that story I told you guys with the water hose. Lots of people encouraged me, and that was good, because I eventually became a newspaper and advertising writer.”

One thing Elmer especially remembered was his eighth-grade English teacher, Mr. Little. “He wrote in my yearbook that he expected to teach his future students from a book I had written.” Elmer never forgot that. For more than twenty years, what Mr. Little said rang in his ears. Elmer knew he wanted to write books, he just never knew he had anything to say until his own three kids started growing up and reading chapter books. “I read some of them and they were so much fun. I knew then that I wanted to write those kinds of stories. So, I started writing down some ideas, stories that my parents had told me when I was young living in Denmark. The first story took me about three years to put together. Some of it I wrote on the train on my way to work and some of it I wrote after work.”

At the luncheon, Elmer encouraged our young writers to write often. When asked what his number one writing tip was, he surprised us by saying, “Well, the one that you would expect me to say is to read, and yes, that’s probably the number one writing tip most authors would give. If you want to be a good writer, you definitely have to read lots of things—books, newspapers, magazines…but really, writing is not rocket science. It’s something that we all can do and enjoy. I try to tell kids not to get intimidated. Don’t think that’s a rare gift that only some of us can have. I think we can all write things that touch people on different levels. We all have a story and we should not be afraid to tell it.” Granted, some people are more gifted than others and it shows in the way they use the written word, or in how they craft a story. But, according to Elmer, everybody should take one of their seeds and put it to good use.

Once again, Library Media Specialists, Mary Kavanaugh and Kathryn Nguyen, outdid themselves by putting this extraordinary event together, which included a writing contest and writing workshops for some of the lower levels. “Our goal in bringing Christian authors to speak to CCA students is to give them an inspirational as well as eternal prospective on the use of reading and writing for God’s glory,” said Nguyen. “As reading and writing go hand in hand our aim is to increase the student’s desire to read as well as write. Becoming a better reader improves all academic as well as communication skills, which will benefit students throughout their lives. Mr. Elmer stated even though students may not “see” themselves as a writer, God has planted a story in each of us and it’s our duty to share those stories to reach others for Christ.”

So, the next time you’re reading a book and you think, “Hey, I can do that!” Don’t just sit there and let the thought disappear like a mist in the air. Get to your nearest notepad, computer, or even paper napkin and write down your idea. I’ve heard it said that probably the most fertile place to look for ideas is right inside the backyard of your own life. So, go on…explore. See the seeds!

Middle and high-schoolers have the opportunity to get ahead in their journalism pursuit and have their work published—something that really stands out to colleges and universities. Eighth grader and freelance writer for the CCA Weekly, Alexandra Gomez, explains why she writes. “I like to write. I love to tell stories that make people think. I mean, that’s what a writer does. Writing for our school newspaper gives me a chance to reach out to my peers, telling them about something that’s happening here or something in the news that’s affecting us in one way or another.” 

Join the other eight regular staff writers in going behind the scenes covering the CCA news beat firsthand as a student reporter. Not only will you receive valuable experience in writing for a school newspaper, but you will also be contributing to the message God wants you to communicate to the school and the world.

This year’s journalism class and CCA Weekly team consists of writers Rebecca Urrutia, Joe Rogers, Michie Alvaro, Eric Brown, Moriah Smith, Avery Reeder, Kaley Israels, myself, and Maritza Cosano-Gomez as the editor-in-chief. Student Life Editor, Rebecca Urrutia, comments, “I really enjoy writing for the CCA Weekly because it is a huge ministry opportunity. You get the chance to write something that the whole school is going to read—and that is powerful. God can use your words to bring encouragement, light, and truth to the student body.”

Every week we have the privilege of using our God-given gifts of communication through writing to inform and challenge you—our readers. But, the task would be so much lighter with your help! If this interests you and you’d like to give it a try, email weekly@ccaeagles.org and get started as a journalist for the CCA Weekly today!