the PAW PRINT Aug. 2017 Dear Parents, We have had a great start to the 2017-2018 school year! I am thankful for the students and families that the Lord has allowed us to serve this school year. I want to encourage you to pray for the school daily. I walked by a classroom this week and saw one of our teachers with her face buried into her arms while sitting at her desk praying for her students before the school day started. Our desire every day is that we would renew our walk with the Lord before we begin our day. I am thankful for our teachers that love and pray for their students. We have some things that I want to bring to your attention for the month of September. Our annual PAW Tournament is September 8th and 9th. We will have two exciting days of soccer and volleyball. We will need many volunteers to fill positions, such as line judges at the volleyball matches, concessions workers and gate workers. Our athletic director will be reaching out to our parents to help fill these positions. I guarantee that there will be some exciting volleyball matches and soccer games during this PAW Tournament. Another upcoming event to mark on your calendar is our annual Missions Conference at First Baptist Church of Milford. This is an exciting time as all of our member missionaries will be home for this conference. We will send out the schedule of the services when we get closer to the conference. Lastly, we will kick-off our only fundraiser this month. There will be some wonderful prizes throughout the fundraiser. All proceeds from this fundraiser go directly back into our school for improvements. I want to thank you for allowing us the privilege to serve your family here at Milford Christian Academy. Having compassion, making a difference Dr. Brian Ragle Our Staff This year the yearbook and journalism classes have combined to work jointly on several projects including the yearbook, the monthly Paw Print, and the weekly Update. They will be in charge of different sections with responsibilities including taking pictures, writing articles, and interviewing people. You can find the names of the students in this year s class listed at the top right corner of the section that they are responsible for. Hannah Ellington Journalism/Yearbook Advisor 1
Last year Emily LaPat served at our school as the Late Stay teacher, but this year she is completing her final year of college through an internship with missionaries is Mexico. Below is her latest prayer letter. Dear Friends, Greetings from Oaxaca! It is hard to believe that I am here at last. The Lord has been so good to me in my final weeks at home and throughout my travels to Mexico. I am so thankful for God s protection and provision. I have been here for two weeks now, and things have already gotten very interesting - from losing electricity and running water, to getting a severe blistering sunburn, bruises and a million bug bites. I have already learned that missionary life can be very hard, but it is all worth it when you see souls won to Christ. One of my biggest goals while in Mexico, was to become fluent in Spanish. I have Spanish classes every morning Monday-Friday from 9:00 to 12:00. It has been going well, and it is a fun language to learn. The Hendrigsmans have two other girls (Alison and Marbella) living with them. They are both from Mexico, but they are both learning English. It has been so helpful to me to have them here, because it has helped me pick up simple words and phrases. We have had a lot of fun together, and Lord willing, by the time I head home I will be fluent in Spanish, and they will be fluent in English. The Hendrigsmans are currently having a Bible study in their home on Sunday evenings, and another Bible study in San Isidro Limon on Thursday evenings. San Isidro Limon is a town up in the mountains that is about an hour drive from our location in Santa Maria. It has been such a blessing getting to know all of these sweet people. Their hunger to learn and desire to serve is so inspiring to me. At these Bible studies, Alison and Marbella have been hosting a kids class. I have been able to help out with it, even with my limited Spanish ability. They have been such a joy to work with. I am really looking forward to when I ll be able to fully communicate with the people here. Thank you again for all your prayers and support! Follow my progress on Facebook at Emily4Oaxaca,Mexico How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! Isaiah 52:7 In Christ, Emily LaPat 2
Grace Finley Matt Finley Blaze Sawyer Kaitlin Scutt New Year, New Look As the school year starts there are many things that have changed; from new teachers and students to the new weight room, but perhaps the biggest change that occurred over the summer happened in the gym. The construction of the gym floor started during the first week of school. When redoing the gym floor, they completely sanded it down to the bare wood, stained the three point arch, repainted the center logo and court lines, and coated the whole floor with a protective varnish. The new look will be finished later this year with the installation of the new bleachers. A lot of the funding for these projects came from the World s Finest Chocolate fundraiser which kicks off for this year on September 21st. The money raised this year through the fundraiser will be going towards new carpet in the classrooms. We encourage you to get involved in this year s fundraiser to help continue the updates and improvements to our school building. Our annual World s Finest Fundraiser will begin with a kick-off rally on September 21st. At the rally, this year s prizes for both individuals and classes will be announced. Following the rally, each student will be given two boxes of chocolate to take home and sell along with a prize sheet and instructions. For those that want to sell more than two boxes, additional boxes will be available to order online through the school website. The candy sale is a great opportunity to raise money to support your school. 3
B I R T H D A Y S 8/03 Samantha Strunk 8/05 Kyleigh Guiton Elizabeth McClain Warner Patterson 8/06 Mayline Perry 8/07 Alex Thatcher 8/09 Cooper Haas 8/11 Ahleea Durham 8/12 Elijah Kennedy 8/16 Levi Hendrigsmen 8/14 Mrs. Gray 8/18 Ethan Burdine Mrs. Clark 8/20 Samantha Varney 8/24 Chloe Curington Jesse Sallmen Mrs. Bogan 8/26 Carson McCoy 8/27 Wyatt McClain Noah Carman 8/28 Lincoln Hargis 8/31 Anna Dorhout Wyatt Brown Ryli Crawford Upcoming Events 9/8-9/9 PAW Tournament (Volleyball and Soccer) 9/18-9/21 H.O.M.E. Missions Conference 9/21 Prayer at the Flagpole at 8:15 AM 9/21 World s Finest Fundraiser Kick-off 9/26 K5-6th Yearbook Photos 9/27 Preschool and 7th-12th Yearbook Photos 9/29 Grandparent s Day with a noon dismissal PAW Tournament Our volleyball and soccer teams have a tournament coming up the first week of September. The first game starts Friday, September 8th at 11:00 AM with the championship games ending on Saturday. The full game schedule can be found on the school website. We are in need of volunteers to come help with concessions, gate, line judging, and running the clock. If you are interested in helping please contact Matt Beighle through his email matt.beighle@mcabulldogs.org or by calling the school office. Box Top Contest Milford Christian Academy collects Box Tops. Start collecting box top lables and turn them in to participate in our fall contest ending on October 20th. For more information visit their website at www.boxtops4education.com. 4
Lila Daniels Vanessa Forsee Aleyha Griffin Abby Kyle H.O.M.E. Missions Conference Many of you might have noticed the different flags on display in the parking lot of First Baptist Church of Milford. This is the beginning of a major event called Missions Conference that takes place here on the property. The students at Milford Christian Academy are able to participate in Missions Conference in several ways. The first way is through prayer. Students will be encouraged to pray for the various missionaries as they travel to attend Missions Conference, as they are speaking in Missions Conference, and as they return to the missions field after the conference. The second way the students participate is through interacting with the missionaries as they visit their classrooms during the day. Each day during missions conference, elementary and high school classes will have an opportunity to meet a missionary family, hear a short presentation of their ministry, and ask questions about their missions work. The third way that students are able to participate in Missions Conference is through daily chapel services. At 10:00 AM Monday through Wednesday, elementary classes will attend a session in the Fellowship Hall at the church, and at 10:45 high school classes will attend a service in the church auditorium. These services give the students an opportunity to hear a message from different missionaries, challenging them spiritually. The last way students can participate in Missions Conference is by attending the evening services at First Baptist Church of Milford. Starting at 6:00 on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, students will be able to attend a question and answer session with different missionaries followed by the evening service at 7:00. Parents are invited to attend any service with their student either during the day or in the evening. For a full schedule feel free to contact the church office. We hope to see you there. 5
Lauren Burdine Olivia Mounce Kaitlyn Sexton Ashley Smith Growing Through Athletics Most people view athletics as a way to improve their athletic ability, but at Milford Christian Academy, we want our athletics program to be not just focused on the sport but also focused on the athlete s character. Mike Goodson, head coach for the boy s soccer team, said that his favorite part of coaching is, Investing in the character development of young people and seeing the rewards of their hard work. MCA strives to be different than other schools in their athletic program. Lauren Burdine, freshman and former public school athlete says, I am thankful to be able to play basketball in a Christian athletic program because I am not condemned for my faith and am not treated differently for praising and glorifying my Savior on and off the court. Through the athletics program, MCA students are encouraged to not only improve their physical abilities but also to improve their character. When asked what students can learn through our athletics program, varsity basketball coach Lori Guiton said, They can learn life skills such as punctuality, teamwork, discipline, and self control. They can learn not only how to respond when someone is not acting as they should or if something is not going their way but also how to show a Christ-like spirit and how to be a good testimony to others. In doing so they can bring glory to God. Rachel Kennedy, the girls JV volleyball coach, said that athletics can be used to grow not only a child s physical abilities but also their character because the lessons that they learn while being a part of a team can be applied to their Christian walk of faith or really to any situation in life. Here at Milford Christian Academy the athletics program is not just about the sport or an athletes abilities but rather it is about much more than that; it is about growing their character and their faith using the arena of sports as a way to teach our young people many valuable lessons that they can apply to their lives in the future. 6