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/ )

It’s been a nice long summer, but we have missed you!!

The faculty and staff are excited to see each and every one of you tomorrow at orientation!  It’s going to be a great year!

Thank you House Audacia for continued acts of kindness:

• One Member expressed her HEART of GRATITUDE by sending a parent a text thanking her for volunteering during Spring Games.
• One Member was gracious and HELPFUL by taking out the trash for Miss Leland.
• One Member displayed THOUGHTFULNESS when he waited patiently and specifically to hold the door for Miss Leland.
• One Member demonstrated a HEART to SERVE by helping Coach Similton set up the gym for the day.
• One Member demonstrated THOUGHTFULNESS by taking out Mr. Morton’s trash.
• Two Members demonstrated CHIVALRY by holding open the door for students and faculty.
• One Member showed his initiative and KINDNESS by loading Mrs. Haycox’s car for her with supplies from Spring Games.
• One Member displayed SERVICE by moving boxes for Mrs. Sneed.
• One Member went over and beyond to show GRATITUDE to a teacher.
• One Member continually displays his heart to SERVE Mr. Wilmoth.

Thank you House Fides for continued acts of kindness:

• • One Member demonstrated a HEART to SERVE by helping Coach Similton set up the gym for the day.
  • Two Members showed LEADERSHIP with organizing a group gift for a friend.
  • One Member displayed a HEART of WORSHIP by playing and singing two songs with the teachers during the Land Dedication ceremony.
  • One Member demonstrated THOUGHTFULNESS by taking out Mr. Morton’s trash.
  • One Member displayed SELFLESS SERVICE by helping Sapientia during their tailgate party.
  • One Member displayed SERVICE by moving boxes for Mrs. Sneed.
  • Two Members went over and beyond to show GRATITUDE to a teacher.

Thank you House Sapientia for continued acts of kindness:

• One Member demonstrated a HEART to SERVE by helping Mrs. Sneed with several housekeeping needs.
• One Member demonstrated THOUGHTFULNESS by taking out Mr. Morton’s trash.
• One Member displayed KINDNESS by holding open the door for Mr. Morton.
• One Member demonstrated THOUGHTFULNESS by replacing Mr. Morton’s trash bag.
• One Member displayed SERVICE by volunteering to help Mr. Morton clean his classroom when he noticed Mr. Morton and ended up doing it all for him.
• One Member displayed THOUGHTFULNESS by bringing Mr. Morton a jar of salt back from her Death Valley vacation.
• One Member displayed SERVICE by sweeping the entire gym floor after Spring Games.
• Five Members demonstrated acts of SERVICE by cleaning Mr. Wilmoth’s and Mrs. Nethken’s whiteboards, as well as wiping down tables, vacuuming, and taking our Mrs. Nethken’s trash.
• Five Members demonstrated acts of SERVICE by offering to clean up the back field after Spring Games.
• Five Members demonstrated acts of SERVICE by cleaning Mr. Morton’s classroom, vacuumed and wiped off tables.
• Five Members demonstrated acts of SERVICE by cleaning Mrs. Sneed’s classroom, vacuumed, etc.