GIFTS

I walked over to the middle school today to see how everyone was doing.  To my surprise I saw a new chicken house surrounded by a very nice white fence.  The chicken house was sitting on the trailer on which it was delivered, and the chickens were resting comfortably on the ground under the trailer and in the house.  Last week I met with Paul Mast, the owner of the farm just south of our school, to discuss survey plans that were conducted as we look to purchase four acres from him.  Hershey Surveying prepared plans to subdivide Paul’s farm and give us four acres near our soccer field.  Paul looked at the plans and said, “Looks good to me.”  What do a new chicken house and new land have in common?  They are both GIFTS from the Lord.

Conestoga Christian School is blessed to have families and businesses that partner with us for our students’ benefit and His glory.  I share that the chicken house and land are GIFTS because our Board of Trustees, administration, staff, and families truly believe that everything we have is because of the graciousness of God.  God is the one who places the need for Christian education on the hearts and minds of our families; God is the one who calls our staff into Christian education; and God is the one who directs foundations, businesses, alumni, families, and grandparents to give sacrificially to the ministry of CCS.  Appropriately we have named our Capital Campaign a GIFT – Growing In Faith Together.

The Growing In Faith Together campaign was launched on January 27, 2018. If you are a new family at CCS and you do not know Why we launched a capital campaign, What we are planning to build, or How you can support the capital campaign, visit our website and find the answers to each of those questions. The goal of our campaign is to construct a new building that will contain a new gymnasium/trades center and then expand our existing gymnasium to create a new fine arts center. The total cost of the expansion and renovation is $6.7M. To date, through pledges and prayerful considerations, we are approaching $1M. Phase one of the building plan is the construction of the new building -- aproximately $4.5M; in less than one year we are approaching $1M . . . praise God!!

Please set up a time to meet with me or email me if you have any questions about our Growing In Faith Together campaign. I love talking about what God is doing at CCS. To keep up to date with what is happening on campus, go to our website or follow us on social media, and remember, whether you donate a chicken house, land, $1M to our capital campaign, or prayer . . . you are an encouragement to us!!

2 Weeks and Going Strong

AccuWeather records that the temperature in Morgantown is currently 59 degrees and the conditions are “cloudy.”  Can I tell you I just love days like today?  I know most everyone who reads this is questioning my sanity; I understand completely – now you see one of my few flaws. J

I love cloudy, overcast days, and I love having students back at CCS.  We have completed the first two weeks of school, and we are off to a great start.  You may ask, what makes the start of this year so great?  Good question; my answer: the community that God is allowing us to have here at CCS. 

Let me share what I have already experienced in just two short weeks:

• Staff members coming to campus embracing the new faculty and families God has brought to our campus.  I have been a part of and seen staff members praying for one another, their students, and parents as we embark on another new year.
•  A student body that has increased to 322 where new students are feeling loved and included.
• An 8^th grade class that wants to honor God by coming together and setting a class goal.  
• Michelle (my wife) and I had the blessing of chaperoning the 8^th grade for an overnight adventure at Raystown Lake.  The 8^th grade class has welcomed in eight new students since January of this year, three this August alone.  On our retreat all the students talked and played as if each one had been at CCS since kindergarten.  It was at Raystown Lake that the 8^th grade class decided to set a class goal that they could all work on together to bring glory and honor to God.
• An all-school chapel where over 300 students worshiped together in song that was led by one of our student worship teams.
• Board, administration, and staff members collaborating on goals that we would like to see accomplished in this school year.

How exciting is that!!

I hope every person has been able to visit our website.  On our website we have awesome pictures of our students and wonderful information to keep every family informed as to what is happing on campus.  For example, information about the annual BBQ/Auction is found under the “Events” tab on our website.  In addition to our website, parents can read our weekly COUGAR UPDATE and check us out on FACEBOOK or INSTAGRAM to stay informed.  Yes, we do have a CCS Facebook and Instagram page.  You can follow us on either to see the best of each week.

Lastly, let me share two new things that will be happening very soon:

1. PTF Family Social.  Please plan on joining the CCS family community on Monday, September 17, in the gym and in our library for a family social.  Monday, September 17, kicks off our Scholastic Book Fair, and Monday night we are opening the Book Fair for our parents.  The school will be open from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m., just long enough for everyone to check out the Book Fair and play in the gym.  Yes, your children can come and play in the gym . . . it is open play night. J  At 7:00 p.m. our PTF (Parent Teacher Fellowship) will give a brief overview of what the PTF does – I promise, it will be brief.
2.  Service Project . . . Food Packing Event.  You already know that our chicken BBQ is scheduled for Friday, October 19, but what you do not know is that we are going to partner with Feed America and the Twin Valley Food Pantry to pack 10,000 meals.  An informational flier will be posted soon.  This will be my 1^st food-packing event since I have been at CCS.  I cannot wait to see if we can meet the goal of packing 10,000 meals – of course, we have to raise the money to do that.

You can see why I love CCS!  Talk to you soon!!