Thank you House Audacia for continued acts of kindness:

• One Member displayed outstanding ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE in Spanish 1.
• Two Members displayed THOUGHTFULNESS by taking out the classroom trash.
• Six Members demonstrated KINDNESS by holding the back door open for all the students as they went from their classes in the trailers to the main building.
• One Member went out of his way to share his GRATITUDE by thanking his Algebra 2 teacher for class today.
• One Member took INITIATIVE after she learned the need was great to serve the Cabarrus Soup Kitchen by getting up extra early to deliver bowls.
• One Member offered to take out Mrs. Sneed’s trash demonstrating a HEART to SERVE.

Thank you House Fides for continued acts of kindness:

• Six Members demonstrated KINDNESS by holding the back door open for all the students as they went from their classes in the trailers to the main building.
• One Member demonstrated SERVICE and THOUGHTFULNESS for her willingness to help take out Mrs.Sneed’s trash.
• One Member displayed KINDNESS and a SERVANT’S HEART by going to get copies from the copy room for Mrs.Thigpen.
• Two Members used their ORGANIZATIONAL GIFTEDNESS to help Mrs. Kuhn clean out the closet in the office.
• One Member went out of his way to share his GRATITUDE by thanking his Algebra 2 teacher for class today.
• One Member exemplified HELPFULNESS by carrying things out to Mrs. Quillen’s car for her on Friday afternoon.
• Two Members have not let one day go by without thanking Mrs. Quillen after class demonstrating GRATITUDE.
• One Member DAILY PARTICIPATES in class discussions, asks pertinent questions, and answers most every question I pose during Geometry and Physical Science blessing Mrs. Quillen.
• Four Members demonstrated SERVICE by cleaning up Mrs. Quillen’s room after Student Government meeting with the desire to leave it better than they found it.
• One Member was a wonderful HELPER when she volunteered to vacuum the T-12 trailer after school.
• One Member demonstrated THOUGHTFULNESS by holding the door for the Grammar School parents leaving the school for the day.
• One Member took INITIATIVE after she learned the need was great to serve the Cabarrus Soup Kitchen by getting up extra early to deliver bowls.
• One Member, who is on the Varsity Volleyball team, continually aspires to do better and she is DETERMINED and not afraid to ask what she can work on outside of practice to improve.
• Two Members were described by Mr. Cook as a LIFE SAVERS as one helped with tarp upstairs and the other with the sound system.
• One Member blessed several teachers with a THOUGHTFUL “fall flavored” gift.

Thank you House Sapientia for continued acts of kindness:

• One Member demonstrated SERVICE and THOUGHTFULNESS for her willingness to help take out Mrs. Sneed’s trash.
• One Member demonstrated KINDNESS by holding the back door open for all the students as they went from their classes in the trailers to the main building.
• One Member displayed a HEART to SERVE by helping Mrs. Thigpen first out her Power Point display (twice).
• One Member went out of his way to share his GRATITUDE by thanking his Algebra 2 teacher for class today.
• One Member demonstrated SELFLESS SERVICE by cleaning up trash that wasn’t his in Mr. Morton’s class.
• One Member demonstrated SELFLESS SERVICE by sacrificing his whole lunch period to help Mr. Morton with his computer problems.
• One Member displayed INITITATIVE and HUMILITY in scheduling a time to discuss study strategies with Mr. Morton.
• One Member exemplified HELPFULNESS by carrying things out to Mrs. Quillen’s car for her on Friday afternoon.
• One Member acted SELFLESSLY by giving up her study hall to do chemistry class lab preparations and making chemical solutions for the rest of the class to use.
• One Member demonstrated COMPASSION and KINDNESS to care for a 7th grader that hurt her knee by helping her walk (and sometimes carrying her) between each class.
• One Member demonstrated LEADERSHIP by gathering friends to come to the aid of the Soup Kitchen to supply them with bowls for meals.
• Four Members took INITIATIVE after they learned the need was great to serve the Cabarrus Soup Kitchen by getting up extra early to deliver bowls.
• One Member demonstrated GENEROSITY and good SPORTSMANSHIP by purchasing face paint for all three houses.

Meet your Student Government and House Leaders for 2017-18! 
Cameron Warner – Student Government President

Bryson Rose – Student Government Vice President

Chloe Gantz – SG Social Prefect and Laura Sneed – SG Spirit Prefect

Erin Davis – SG Community Service Prefect
Sydney Himpel – SG Secretary/Treasurer

Audacia House Leadership:
House Captain – Lydia Lawing
House Prefects – Michael Merrill and Emma Stapleton

Fides House Leadership:
House Captain – Weston Cregger
House Prefects – Katie Thigpen and Jeremy Kerwin

Sapeintia House Leadership:
House Captain – Lauren Cox
House Prefects – Erin Davis and Luke Harris

Laura Sneed – 12th grade SG Representative
Michael Merrill – 11th grade SG Representative

Tyler Hicks and Jonathan Haycox – 10th grade SG Representatives

Sawyer Gann and Ryan Gasparrini – 9th grade SG Representatives

Logan Mahaley and Parker Rose – 8th grade SG Representatives

Caimbree Gann and Sophie Gantz – 7th grade SG Representatives

Committed to training up tomorrow’s leaders, CCS hosted an all day student leadership retreat before the start of school at the Gann’s beautiful home. The day started with a human scavenger hunt in order to help the new and younger members get to know the others quickly.  The students also filled out a self evaluation on their perception of how well they lead.  Each leader was then asked to introduce themselves, their role, and if elected one promise they made or if interviewed/selected one goal they hope to accomplish in the coming school year.

From there the students explored concepts from another leadership book entitled Be the First Believer by Ed Deutschlander, noting that every single one of us is a leader because leaders INFLUENCE!  The students took a quiz that analyzed whether they tended focus more on tasks or relationships as a leader.  Then they played a little “game” that resulted in them revealing to their peers their leadership temperament.

Each activity the leaders participated in was designed to give them tools/information to be a better leader at CCS and beyond.  They were further challenged to watch their “A’s and E’s” (attitude and effort) and they reflected on whether they were a “thermostat” or a “thermometer” – merely reflecting what’s going on or establishing the tone, the culture, the expectations.  Understanding the Law of Limited Performance, which states that one will rise to the level of expectations set forth by one’s leader, is key to good leadership; therefore, a leader gets what he/she exemplifies and tolerates.
The last part of the day consisted of the House Captains and Prefects (with their some of their advisors) separating to meet with the SG leaders that are in their House to make a plan for Warrior Camp and refresh their plans for their House induction ceremony.

Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate with us to allow everyone to swim after the meeting but the fellowship and food was great, and I believe everyone left feeling excited about the coming school year!
Let’s go WARRIORS!!

Thank you House Audacia for continued acts of kindness:

• One Member displayed ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE in his insightful comments in Rhetoric II.
• One Member displayed THOUGHTFULNESS through her insightful questions and comments during Antiquities discussions.
• One Member displayed INITIATIVE and HELPFULNESS by taking out Mrs. Quillen’s trash this week without being ask to do it.
• One Member has stayed after Art History class two days in a row to help straighten the chairs and book stacks for Miss Leland.
• Three Members displayed ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE as they engaged in the class discussion, repeatedly giving thoughtful opinions backed with logical reasoning.  These same members were also POLITE to their peers throughout the discussion.
• One Member showed GRATITUDE by sending Mrs. Quillen a hand-written thank you note for sending her a birthday card. – Very sweet!
• One Member demonstrated LEADERSHIP and EXCELLENCE as she lead her House in devotions during their House meeting.
• One Member demonstrated INITIATIVE and THOUGHTFULNESS by offering to take out Miss Leland’s trash.
• One Member demonstrated KINDNESS and HELPFULNESS by serving a classmate, who spilled a whole bin of pencils on the floor, by immediately getting down to help clean up the mess.
• One Member displayed SERVICE by taking out Mrs. Sneed’s trash.

Thank you House Fides for continued acts of kindness:

• One Member displayed an upbeat, POSITIVE ATTITUDE.
• One Member demonstrated CHEERFULNESS and WILLINGNESS to help with announcements
• One Member demonstrated SERVICE and THOUGHTFULNESS for his willingness to help take out Mr. Leland’s pile of trash.
• One Member displayed ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE in his insightful comments in Rhetoric I.
• One Member displayed SERVICE, KINDESS, and HUMILITY in cleaning up (without being asked) a mess that someone else had made..
• One Member displayed ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE in her insightful comments in Rhetoric II.
• One Member display ENTHUSIASM for learning and asking good questions.
• One Member displayed INITIATIVE and HELPFULNESS by taking out Mrs. Quillen’s trash this week without being ask to do it.
• One Member showed INITITATIVE and SERVICE by passing out textbooks in two of Mrs. Quillen’s classes.
• One Member has displayed great PASSION for learning in Spanish I class.
• Two Members displayed ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE as he and she engaged in the class discussion, repeatedly giving thoughtful opinions backed with logical reasoning.  They both were also POLITE to their peers throughout the discussion.
• One Member acted in SERVICE and COMMUNITY MINDEDNESS by voluntarily picking up litter off of the gym floor during Foundations last week.
• One Member helped Mrs. Haycox with finding a ladder to use for a group picture and put it away afterwards displaying a HEART to SERVE.
• One Member demonstrated LEADERSHIP by handing out evaluations and pens to the 7th graders and staying to answer their questions and guide them through the process.
• One Member displayed WONDER and a LOVE OF LEARNING with his questions and comments to the Spanish 1 class discussion.
• One Member demonstrated KINDNESS and HELPFULNESS by serving a classmate, who spilled a whole bin of pencils on the floor, by immediately getting down to help clean up the mess.
• One Member demonstrated HONESTY and INTEGRITY when she pointed out to her math teacher that her grade of 100% was wrong because the teacher had missed one error.

Thank you House Sapientia for continued acts of kindness:

• One Member demonstrated MATURITY and RESPECT in the way he carries himself with his teachers and his peers.
• One Member is receiving core value points for having such a GENUINE INTEREST in learning that he sought out his teacher after class in order to continue the discussion because he found it personally interesting.
• One Member impressed his teacher with his MATURE, CALM, and KINDLY manner.
• One Member displayed ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE in his insightful comments in Rhetoric II.
• One Member showed INITITATIVE and SERVICE by passing out textbooks in two of Mrs. Quillen’s classes.
• One Member displayed a SERVANT’S HEART by cleaning up trash from everyone’s biology/scientific method activity.
• One Member has contributed EXCELLENCE in her observations to the class discussion in Art History class.
• One Member displayed ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE as she engaged in the class discussion, repeatedly giving thoughtful opinions backed with logical reasoning.  This same member was also POLITE to her peers throughout the discussion.
• One Member displayed CONSIDERATION OF OTHERS by going out of his way to open a door for me when he noticed that my hands were full.
• One Member demonstrated FRIENDSHIP and KINDNESS by reaching out to a new student at camp on Friday.
• One Member demonstrated chivalry by asking that the ladies go first through the food line at Warrior Camp.
• Two Members displayed SERVICE by helping Mrs. Haycox gather up all the ping pong balls from the sand volleyball court after the games during Warrior Camp.
• Two Members displayed HEART for GOD and a desire to TRUST his plan for them as they accepted the fact that they didn’t get what they wanted and surrendered to God’s best for them.
• One Member displayed WONDER and a LOVE OF LEARNING with his questions and comments to the Spanish 1 class discussion.

Current Point Standings:

    468 points       487 points        504 points

CCS’s teambuilding retreat is called WARRIOR CAMP!  It is a great time to get out in God’s beautiful creation to make new friends, to strengthen existing friendships, to learn to work together as a House, and to fellowship with classmates.

After a brief orientation, it was time for the House Induction Ceremony.  All 30 of the new inductees were excited…and some a bit nervous…to learn which House they would be joining.  Even the current House members and House advisors were anxious to learn who their new lion cubs, wolf pups, and owlets would be, as only Mrs. Haycox and the heads of school knew the how each student was sorted.  
All the House members sat with their House at long tables as the new students sat on the floor in front.  House Sapientia was up first to read their origin fable.  (To read any of the House fables, click the “House description” tabs in the black menu bar above.)

Mr. Morton read the Sapientia fable as the House Captain and House prefects got the face paint ready for the new inductees.

Then Audacia’s House Captain, Lydia Lawing, was up next to read Audacia’s fable…

…followed by Weston Cregger, the House Captain for House Fides.

Then Mrs. Haycox read each inductee’s name individually to come forward and revealed their new House home!

Audacia’s Captain painted red claw marks on each new member and gave them a large Kit Kat bar! (A sampling of new member pictures are below.)

House Sapientia painted their new owlets with blue and black face paint. 

And House Fides, gave their new wolf pups black face paint, a black/gold beaded necklace, and told them to run through the tunnel to put their “paw print” in the Fides special/sacred book of prints.

After the Induction Ceremony each House went to a separate area of the camp to hold their first official House meeting of the year.  In these meetings they educated the new members (and reminded the current members) the purpose and mission of the House System as well as reviewed how points are accrued, and then they brainstormed activities for the coming weeks.  They also played some “get to know you” games to help members learn all the new names of members.

House Sapientia’s meeting –

House Audacia’s meeting –

House Fides meeting –
 

Meetings concluded with an all House member picture with Captain, Prefects, and Advisor up front and center.

Then it was time for the first House Competition of the year!  This game focused on the core values of each House.  The members circled up, held hands, and had to “pass” a hula hoop around the circle by stepping through it and not letting go of their neighbor’s hands.

As soon as the hula hoop made it around the circle one member ran to a sand pit to try to identify one of their House’s core values and retrieve the flag and run it back to the group.

The winner of the Hunt for Your Core Values game was House Audacia (30points), followed by House Sapientia (20points), and then House Fides (10points).

Then next game was the Warrior Relay (a fan favorite from 2 years ago), with each House dividing its members into Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines.  First the “ground forces” aka Army had to army crawl through the sand volleyball court collecting ping pong balls with their house color on them.

Then the “Army” jumped on the backs of the members of the “Air Force” with their hands full of ping pong balls for a piggy back ride around the lake to meet up with their “Navy” members (the House Captain and two House Prefects) in a canoe.


At the canoes, each House had to place 21 balls in a specially marked bucket.  If the exhausted “Air Force” had all 21 balls then their “Navy” members were allowed to leave the shore.

Fides got off to a quick start followed by Audacia and Sapientia.

Arriving to the shore first was House Fides.  The “Marines” had the dirty job of using sponges to fill their buckets with lake water until the balls overflowed the sides of the bucket for the win!
Fides came in 1st place (30 points), with Audacia in 2nd place (20 points), and Sapientia persevering to a respectable 3rd place finish (10 points).

After all this fun and friendly competition, half the kids had free time at the lake while the other half played volleyball, disc golf, tether ball, and gaga ball.  Some just decided to take a walk in the woods.

With a yummy taco bar lunch and lots more free time for fun times with friends, the reviews from the students were that they didn’t want the day to end and wished we had been able to do an overnight retreat.  (Hopefully we can do that next year!)
Warrior Camp was a wonderful way to jump into the 2017-18 school year!

We’ve only been in school for a week and a half and yet SO MUCH has happened.  On the first day, CCS welcomed 30 new Upper School students – seventeen 7th graders and thirteen new 8th, 9th, and 10th graders.  The energy, passion, and joy that all these new students are bringing to the upper school is contagious!

Also NEW this school year was how our amazing heads of school, Mrs. Prince and Mrs. Dearing, decided to have the students spend the first 2 days.  Instead of going directly to their various classes, all 7th-12th grade students took part in a two day Foundations Class where guest speakers covered a variety of topics including time management, research skills, study skills, and effective speaking.

Day 1 started with Mrs. Dearing and Mrs. Prince “laying the groundwork” which included prayer and worship.  Mrs. Prince talked about school culture, Mr. Leland discussed the honor code, and Mrs. Sneed reviewed the school policies.  The afternoon sessions were on study skills, time management, misssing assignments, communication with faculty, research skills, and citing.  And to let out a little energy from all that fabulous learning, Mrs. Quillen and Mrs. Haycox hosted a “Clash of Class” volleyball tournament.  Each grade picked 6 members to represent them and come up with a team name.  In round one, the 11th graders (Weebok) beat the 12th graders (the Elders), the 7th graders (the Carolina Reapers) beat the 8th graders, and the 10th graders (Zink, Inc) beat the 9th graders (team Dirt).  We also had 2 mixed grade teams that included two brave teachers, Mr. Leland and Mr. Morton.

After exciting semi final games, the 2 remaining teams were the 11th graders and one of the mixed grade teams.  Not to be defeated – the 11th graders – team “Weebok” were the champions.  Well played, Weeboks!

Day 2 began with worship and prayer and a Honor Code signing ceremony.  Then the students were blessed by Holly Worsley as she spoke on “Nourishing the Soul.”  Afterwards all the leaders in Student Government, the House System, Clubs, and sport teams came forward to introduce themselves and tell a little bit about what their role entails.   Right before lunch Mr. Morton talked to the 7th-10th grades about relationships while Mrs. Haycox met with the 11th and 12th graders on the college process.  After lunch the students were treated to a video and presentation by Miss Leland on elocution and effective speaking skills.  The another fabulous guest speaker, Mr. Chad Macy, blessed the students on the topic of Joshua 1 – Taking back the Land.  And rounding out the day was a big dodgeball game between the 8th, 9th, and 11th graders vs 7th, 10th, and 12th graders. (The latter coming out on top.) And then the classes divided to play the game called “Turtle”!

We are all so blessed to be at a school that dedicates this much time to get everyone on the same page and ready to tackle the year ahead. 

Next post – Warrior Camp!

(Sometimes while viewing the blog posts via a smart phone or email, the images and spacing may be off or skewed.  To see the post as it is intended, it is best to view it at http://covenantclassicalhouseblog.org/ )