The month of April at CCS has been filled with campaigning, interviews, and elections.  Below is a sampling of campaign posters by candidates running for Student Government President and VP.  Our students are very creative!

Election Day!

All the President and VP candidates gave a speech to the 7th-12th graders as well as the Upper School faculty and staff.  Then the ballots were handed out.

After all ballots were counted, Becca Reese, the outgoing SG-VP, announced that Mason Cregger was elected Vice-President for the 2016-17 school year.  She then presented him with the SG gavel.
  

Then Kady Kuhn, the outgoing SG president, announced that Evan Prince was elected President for the 2016-17 school year.  She asked him to come forward and “knighted” him with the SG sword.  The sword is special because it is signed by the previous SG presidents.  Evan continues the Prince presidential legacy.  Both his older sister and brother were also SG Presidents their senior year.
     
We are all excited to have these two young men lead the student body of CCS next year.  They will be overseeing a great team of leaders.

Congratulations to ALL!

 
President – Evan Prince
VP – Mason Cregger
Secretary/Treasurer – Chloe Gantz
Social Prefect – Chandler Lawing
Spirit Prefect – Laura Sneed
12^th grade rep – Nick Deane
11^th grade rep – Chloe Gantz
10^th grade rep – Bryson Rose
9^th grade rep – Tyler Hicks
8^th grade rep – Ryan Gasparrini
7^th grade reps – Sam Holman and Reagan Sicchitano

Since all three of the SG Presidential speeches were so good, I decided to post all three for anyone that is interested.  Please forgive the sound quality.  The VP speeches, which were equally good, and so if they become available, they will be posted as well.

Evan Prince –

https://youtu.be/3sF0WccmEHg

Nick Deane –

https://youtu.be/jO7bAve7h6s

Daniel Haycox –

https://youtu.be/jL1cMX8fHSw

The Student Government has also decided to use some of their profits from painting the school rock to support groups and individuals across the globe through the Kiva organization.  Kiva is a non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. Leveraging the internet and a worldwide network of microfinance institutions, Kiva lets individuals lend as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world. Learn more about how it works.  SG has decided to lend to a group of women in Haiti and a fisherman in the Philippines.  Information about each is below. 

Marilia created a rural association in 1998 in Haiti. Marilia’s association specializes in food processing. She sells peanut butter, jelly and jam, among other typical products, in all large supermarkets in Haiti. Through her profit she is able to offer breakfast for students in 51 rural schools.
But this year, Marilia is facing a new problem. The drought that hit Haiti diminished her peanut supplies. She must have more funds to store peanuts in the winter harvest to be able to process them for supermarkets. With the financial help from SG, Marilia will create at least 10 jobs for women who will handpick quality peanut and/or work in the processing. Marilia (coordinator) is in front in the picture. Rodrigo works hard to support his family. He is married and has a fishing business in the Philippines. He requested a loan through Kiva to purchase additional fishing nets and other fishing supplies. Rodrigo has been in this business for ten years now. In the future, Rodrigo would like to save enough money so he could afford to send his children to college.

Thank you House Audacia for continued acts of kindness:

• Two Members exhibited INITIATIVE and SERVICE when they both came back to chemistry lab after class and offered to help Mrs. Quillen clean.
• Two Members displayed HELPFULNESS by setting up an experiment for Mrs. Bingham.
• Two Members demonstrated HELPFULNESS by cleaning up Mrs. Bingham’s science experiment.
• Three Members demonstrated SERVICE by washing glassware from the prom for Mrs. Sneed.
• One Member demonstrated GOODNESS and BEAUTY by arranging and planting flowers in the containers by the front doors.

Thank you House Fides for continued acts of kindness:

• Two Members displayed HELPFULNESS by setting up an experiment for Mrs. Bingham.
• One Member demonstrated HELPFULNESS by cleaning up Mrs. Bingham’s science experiment.
• One Member demonstrated SERVICE by washing glassware from the prom for Mrs. Sneed.
• One Member displayed KINDNESS by holding the door while Mrs. Kuhn was struggling not to spill large pitchers of water.
• One Member displayed ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE when she led her classmates in a study group.

Thank you House Sapientia for continued acts of kindness:

• One Member demonstrated HELPFULNESS by cleaning up Mrs. Bingham’s science experiment.
• One Member displayed HELPFULNESS by setting up an experiment for Mrs. Bingham.
• One Member displayed KINDNESS on Monday when he offered to take out the trash in the Spanish classroom.
• One Member displayed a SERVANT’S HEART on Tuesday when he helped Miss Leland carry a load of books from one classroom to another.
• One Member displayed a WILLINGNESS to SERVE when he cleaned out an unattended locker in the boys’ locker area.

4th quarter at CCS is so full of opportunities to earn House points that it is hard to keep up with all of them on the House blog.  Points below have been added to the current totals.

March/April Spring Sports
Soccer

Audacia 3pts, Sapientia 12pts

Volleyball

Audacia 9pts, Fides 6pts, Sapientia 6pts

Golf

Audacia 3pts, Fides 3pts, Sapientia 9pts

Baseball – Audacia 3pts, Fides 6pts

March DC Trip for 10th-12th grades – No points awarded – just a lot of fun!

Campus Clean UP for Book Fair and Grandparents Day – Sapientia 20pts THANK YOU SAPIENTIA members!  The Campus looked great!

Upper School Easter Egg Hunt

March 21 Audacia 15pts, Fides 10pts, Sapientia 5pts
March 22 Audacia 10pts, Fides 5pts, Sapientia 15pts
March 23 Audacia 10pts, Fides 15pts, Sapientia 5pts

NCAA tournament brackets
Evan Prince – champion
Emma Stapleton – lowest score
Aaron Stewart – best handwriting and easiest to read

Female Advisor House Game
A sorting game for the ladies!  Thank you for your willingness to compete!
Sapientia 1st place (30pts), Fides 2nd place (20pts), Audacia 3rd place (10pts)

Male Advisor House Game
 Minute to Win it “Bite Me” game that truly “stretched” the men in ways they never imagined!  SO grateful for your going the extra mile for your House!
Fides and Sapientia tied for 1st (30pts each), Audacia  3rd place (10pts)

Spirit Day (No points for participating since all grades did not have a chance to take pictures and submit them.)  Each grade dressed up as a particular theme for the day.  7th grade Twin theme (all classmates dressed the same)

8th grade – Making a Rainbow theme

9th grade TV/Movie characters – no picture

10th grade – Super Heroes – no picture

11th grade Where’s Waldo theme

12th grade “senioritis” – no picture

Powder Puff
Team Jonathan (in yellow) vs. Team Jackson (in red) Team Jackson  Evan (in the center) as the Referee The “cheerleaders” Team Jonathan and Nick Jackson’s team won!

2016 Sophomore, Junior, Senior Prom attendance –
Audacia 18pts, Fides 18 pts, Sapientia 16pts

Chick Fila Spirit Night – Fides 2pts, Sapientia 2pts

Cabarrus County Special Olympics – 11th and 12th graders had a wonderful time serving as buddies and competition timers

Audacia 30pts, Fides 36pts, Sapientia 36pts

Current Standings:

400pts             354pts               286pts

Thank you House Audacia for continued acts of kindness:

• One Member displayed SERVICE by taking out Mrs. Bingham’s trash today.
• One Member displayed SERVICE by helping Mrs. Sneed with the prom centerpieces.
• One Member exhibited SERVICE by helping Mr. Wilmoth.
• Three Members demonstrated SERVICE by cleaning Mrs. Bingham’s room, which by her own admission was a very large endeavor.
• One Member displays LEADERSHIP in RPG club.
• One Member displayed COURAGE for his willingness to step up and lead the class in reading for Mr. Leland.
• One Member displays a CHEERFUL and KIND character every day in Mr. Leland’s class.
• One Member displayed EXCELLENCE for her consistent hard work in class and a powerful recitation.
• One Member displayed EXCELLENCE for her insightful comments and engagement during Mr. Leland’s class discussions.

Thank you House Fides for continued acts of kindness:

• Two Members displayed SERVICE by helping Mrs. Sneed with the prom centerpieces.
• One Member showed KINDNESS by being Mrs. Sneed’s water bearer and taking out her trash.
• One Member demonstrated SERVICE by cleaning Mrs. Bingham’s room, which by her own admission was a very large endeavor.
• One Member consistently shows KINDNESS by offering to take out Mr. Leland’s trash.
• One Member demonstrates LEADERSHIP in RPG club.
• One Member displayed EXCELLENCE with his thoughtful questions and comments in Mr. Leland’s class.
• One Member exhibited DILIGENCE for her work on her senior thesis.
• One Member demonstrated EXCELLENCE with his insightful comments and engagement during Mr. Leland’s class discussions.
• One Member demonstrated SERVICE by taking the trash (filled with empty paint cans) to the dumpster after SG meeting and then retrieving a new bag from the kitchen.
• One Member demonstrated INITIATIVE with the process of signing up for the House Blog.

Thank you House Sapientia for continued acts of kindness:

• One Member displayed SERVICE by helping Mrs. Sneed with the prom centerpieces.
• Two Members demonstrated SERVICE by cleaning Mrs. Bingham’s room, which by her own admission was a very large endeavor.
• One Member demonstrated EXCELLENCE for his engagement in class discussions in Philosophy class.
• One Member displayed EXCELLENCE for his work on his fallacy quiz.
• One Member displayed DILIGENCE for always putting hard work into her assignments.
• One Member displayed CHIVALRY by opening the door for Mrs. Haycox.

My name is Joe Mulligan, I am a junior, and the House Captain of Audacia. Before I begin I want to share a few statistics with you.

If we spend approximately 7 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 30 weeks every year for 12
years in school, we spend roughly 12,600 hours in school. That means we spend 525 days worth of time in school. We, as students will sit through roughly 13,745 class periods. We will spend 756,000 minutes in class or 45,360,000 seconds.  If I sleep from 10pm- 6am every day during the school year, I spend less waking hours within my house than I do within my school. If you define your home as where you spend most your time, CCS is my home.

What does that all mean? It means CCS is important to me. CCS, in a lot of ways in my
home, and its occupants are my family. My day at CCS is spent in the presence of my brothers and sisters, in Christ, and in spirit. I firmly believe, if we accept this mentality, we will treat each other with kindness, respect, and honesty. If the students of CCS really are my family, than I ought to treat them better than I do.

If I had a message to share with you today, it is simply this. In the words of Ellen “Be kind to one another.” Treat each other with respect. Value others above yourself. This message is not new, but it certainly is important. I would like to challenge myself along with the Upper School students at CCS to fight against the temptation to complain. Less complaining, less saying “I’m tired.” (Seriously, it gets annoying after a while, but don’t misunderstand, I say it all the time too.)

CCS is a great school, full of talented exceptional people. If we all daily sought to practice the faith we hear every week and talk about every day to its full potential, our school will be an atmosphere full of kindness, of diligence, and of respect. It will increase its worth for those attending, and those who are going to attend. The Bible is literally carved into our school’s foundation, so let’s continue to build upon it.

Let’s work. Let’s work hard. Let’s practice our faith when we think, when we speak, when
we do. Let’s go out there and be a light in the darkness. Only together can we accomplish what we are called to do.
Thank you for everything,
JOE