Calvary Students Looking to the Future
Calvary Lutheran High School is exposing its students to the next step in their education by encouraging students to attend college visits. With the help of the school counselor, Denise Crider, students are traveling to colleges around the state of Missouri to get a feel for the different environments at each school, meet some of the faculty, and learn about the field of study that the student wishes to pursue.
Calvary students, usually juniors and seniors, have attended such visits all over the state and a few out of state. They have visited, or plan to attend, the University of Central Missouri, Concordia University, Truman Staten University, and Linn State Technical College. There are also students who are visiting colleges individually. Students have visited College of the Ozarks, Northwest Missouri State University, Southwest Baptist University, and Culver Stockton College.
Students greatly benefit from these college visits. One can learn much more about a school in a visit than you can by reading flyers and perusing a web site. You also get a feel for the environment of a school, not just learning the facts. You get to meet students that share the same interests that you do, as well as the professors who will teach your classes. You are able to learn things such as retention rate, teacher-to-student ratio, and new courses that are being offered. You also learn a great deal about the school itself. You gain much knowledge and are better equipped to make a decision about which school you wish to attend.
All in all, Calvary Lutheran High School is greatly helping its students by encouraging them to take these visits. It helps inform their students of what is to come. They also get an opportunity to explore their options. Calvary is making a difference in the lives of their students and is preparing them for the future. ~Michael Bollinger
KEY CLUB:
Calvary Lutheran High School has many programs put in place for its students. One is Key Club, and it is one of my favorites. In Key Club, we meet every other Friday during lunch and plan activities that help our community and, at the same time, create a better relationship with our fellow students. One of my favorite things about this club is in the spring. We have a big conference down at the Lake or in Arkansas that brings together Key Clubs from many other schools around the state and Arkansas. You can make many new friends. ~Dakota Benton
ACT Deadline:
The deadline to sign up for the February 11 ACT is January 13. Students can go online to www.actstudent.org to register and find all testing dates throughout the year. ACT classes and study skills and testing strategies are taught and offered at Calvary.
CADET PATROL ACADEMY:
If you will be 16 by April 1 and have a 2.0 GPA or above and have a driver’s license, consider attending the Cadet Patrol Academy June 3-8 in Jeff City. This is a neat one! Anyone interested in criminal justice should consider attending. IF you are chosen to attend, you will be sponsored by a local American Legion branch. Apps must be to the district chairman by Feb 15, so get this done NOW! Go to http://missourilegion.org/default_030.htm for an application and more information. ~School Counselor
SADD CLUB – Promoting Positive Choices
Calvary Lutheran High School had the opportunity to start a new club this year. They chose to start a Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) group. “I feel that negative peer pressure is a big problem in today’s society, and I want students to know that there are many students in the world today making right decisions. I do not want them to make decisions they will regret for the rest of their lives because people around them are making bad choices,” said counselor Denise Crider.
The group participated in Battle of the Belt campaign, a month-long competition between high schools around mid-Missouri to promote the use of seatbelts. Two unannounced seatbelt checks are done by each participating school. Calvary performed one at the beginning of October, where eighty-eight percent of those students checked were wearing their seatbelts. With the help of videos, posters, announcements, and many other forms of communication, the SADD chapter constantly reminded students to buckle up. Near the end of the month, the second unannounced check was done. The students showed they were listening by scoring a one hundred percent. Every student who arrived during the time of the check was wearing a seatbelt.
Also in October, SADD assisted with Red Ribbon Week, another opportunity to encourage students to make wise choices. Speakers and activities were designed to highlight the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse.
News Tribune, Battle of the Belt Article
~Kara Wehmeyer
AMERICAN HISTORY CLASS:
American History class is perhaps one of the finest classes Calvary offers. It teaches much in the way of events in our country’s history. The teacher, Denise Crider, explains the information in such a way that anybody can understand these events. Also, there is a day of fun hands-on learning where students can have the opportunity to hold pieces of history from the American Civil War supplied by Mr. R.C. Miller. It is truly a very fun and very educational course. ~Emmett Spradlin
ART CLASS:
Art class at Calvary Lutheran is a rewarding experience. Students get plenty of time to apply their unique individuality to their projects and improve. We have worked with several different mediums this year including graphite, ink pen, pastel, and finally watercolors. Inspiration is never lacking as new ideas always seem to present themselves in various ways. The art classes this year had the chance to design a program cover for the 2011 Christmas Choir Concert. ~Lydia Browning
PRAISING GOD THROUGH SONG:
The season of giving has enveloped nearly everyone at Calvary Lutheran High School. Some give physical gifts, while others spread the joy of our Christ’s birth through their talents. The Calvary choir prepared their ensemble in order to bring great entertainment and praise God with their voices. The 2011 Christmas choir concert was performed on December 15th, 7 pm, at Grace Lutheran Church in Holts Summit.
The Calvary Lutheran High School choir director is Melisa Ahlers. She was very excited for the concert this year. During the program, a variety of unique songs were sung. Traditional carols, a Spanish song, and an African folk melody called African Alleluia were among these pieces.
During the concert, sophomore Todd Rakow and senior Betsy Britt each sang a solo. Rakow performed Oh Holy Night. Singing It Wasn’t His Child, Betsy Britt delivered the second solo. Ahlers has taken many steps in order to harmonize beautiful music with the story of Jesus Christ’s birth. These solos, along with Silent Night which was sung in German, and stories from Luke 2 came together in an enlivening way to piece together the reason for this wonderful season.
Parents, grandparents, and other family members joined the Calvary choir for this surely memorable performance. ~Lydia Browning
ESSENCE OF ACTING CLASS:
If you are looking for a class that is exciting and fun, you should sign up for Essence of Acting Class. You will learn how to become a convincing mime and use at least two octaves worth of notes in the voice. You will also get the chance to act out mini dramas and have a great time learning how to do it. The class is taught very well by Mr. Deardoff who is a great teacher. Altogether, if you like to have fun and be someone you are not for a while, this would be your class.
~Jodi Means
THE CHAIN PROJECT:
Calvary students (freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors) competed with one another in this fun (and giving) race. They brought in their canned goods and donated money to help support the soup kitchen in gathering enough to help others. They built paper chains with each can they brought in (it was five links per can and one link for each quarter donated). It was an evenly matched competition to bring in the most, and students were very enthusiastic about helping out. They all had a blast, but only one class earned the bragging rights that came with winning (not to mention the pizza [or donut] party promised right along with it!). The freshmen won by a mile! ~Ann Whitworth
VOICE OF DEMOCRACY CONTEST:
The Veterans of Foreign Wars, Roy Sone Post 1003 and Ladies Auxiliary again sponsored the “Voice of Democracy” contest this year. In this contest, students wrote and recorded a broadcast script on the theme, “Is There Pride in Serving in Our Military?” I, Trevor Dusheke, a sophomore at Calvary Lutheran competed in this contest. I won first place on the local level, winning $300. When I saw the topic, I was really excited. I have so much respect for those serving in our military, and I knew it would be easy for me to talk about the pride that comes along with serving. In the speech, I told about how the military teaches you to “step up”. I talked about how our enlisted men are true heroes. I really enjoyed participating in this contest.
~Trevor Dusheke
SPEECH TOURNAMENT:
On November 18, a speech tournament was held at Calvary Lutheran High School. The contestants included seniors taking the Calvary’s speech class and local homeschoolers around the Jefferson City area. The event kicked off around four with the first round and ended at about eleven with an after party. There were three categories which the contestants could enter: Original Oratory, Impromptu, and Apologetics. Jamie Melton won Original Oratory, Sam Cox won Impromptu, and Craig Wehmeyer won Apologetics.
~Jimmy Berns
