Audacia House Advisor, Mrs. Quillen, knows how to set the bar high and show her house spirit!  At orientation last month, she decorated her table boldly…courageously…in the CCS AND House Audacia colors! 

 Audacia House Captain, Kirby Thipgen, is also getting the ball rolling by submitting her ticket stubs to various museums she has visited over the summer months.

** Remember all visits to museums, symphonies, art shows, musicals, etc. fall under points for the Arts and can be submitted anytime.

Audacia was also the first to submit a picture of most of their house wearing their house shirts on Friday.

Fides and Sapientia…consider yourself warned.  As the Audacia House chant says…”watch out…Audacia is coming for ya! ROAR!”

Leadership points… to House Fides for being the first house to post upcoming information on the bulletin board and make a creative flyer to do so!  Well done!

Current Standings:

554pts            444pts            627pts

(On some smart phones and email servers, some of the pictures may be turned sideways due to formatting issues.  If you find that to be the case, please go to the CCS blog site to see the posting as it is intended.  www.covenantclassicalhouseblog.org)

Warrior Camp 2016 was a big success!!

The CCS Upper School spent 2 days and 1 night at Camp Canaan to start off the year with fun, fellowship, and fantastic talks by 3 of our esteemed Uppers School teachers, Mr. Morton, Mr. Wilmoth, and Mr. Leland.  Attendance Points – Audacia 42pts, Fides 40pts, Sapientia 42pts

House Induction Ceremonies kicked off the day.  Audacia’s House Captain, Kirby Thigpen, welcomed in their new “lion cubs” by reading a fable on the origin of House Audacia that was recently written by Kirby, Braeden, and Sara Beth. Then the entire House circled around the new recruits with a lion chant roar of “Audacia, Audacia.”  Then members and new members were marked with red face paint.

Sapientia was up next.  Sapientia House Advisor, Mr. Morton, read their House fable about their origin.  Then each new “owlette” was asked to take an oath and marked with a blue “S”.

Last year’s Covenant Cup winner, House Fides, stepped up next to welcome in their new “wolf pups.” House Captain, Daniel Haycox, dressed in the “ancient” pelts of past Captains, read from the Fides Commonplace Book of Prints the fable of Fides’ origin.  Afterward the new wolf pups each inked their paw print into the book. If you would like to read the fables, click on the House Description link in the black bar at the top or if viewing in email format use this link.

With the induction ceremonies concluded, the CCS games began! First, in the spirit of the Olympics (somewhat), each House circled up and participated in a speed Hula Hoop race in which members held hands to create a “chain” so that the hula hoop moved around the circle by the members climbing through it.

Audacia 1st place – 30pts, Fides 2nd place – 20pts, Sapientia 3rd place – 10pts

Instead of the Decathlon, the Houses participated in a “Dog-Athlon” in honor of House Fides.  The students raced in swimming gear in a 100 yard dash, tagging team mates in a “soap box derby” race (shown below).  Then other members were released in a 3×3 noodle relay that culminated in the rest of the house tossing water balloons towards a bucket that needed the waterballoons burst into it to reach a marked line.

Sapientia 1st place – 30pts, Audacia 2nd place – 20pts, Fides 3rd place – 10pts

In honor of House Audacia, the Houses played a “musical chairs” sort of game with the music being the story of The Cat in the Hat read to them and the chairs being paper plates.  Students were either Sally, Mother, or the Fish and they had to switch seats whenever their character was read, always leaving one person in the middle. With all the wrestling and struggling for a seat, it was more appropriately dubbed “Wild Big Cat in the Hat,” and unfortunately I have no pictures to post for your enjoyment.  Fides 1st place – 30pts, and Audacia and Sapientia tied for 2nd place – 20pts each.

In honor of House Sapientia, the Houses played a hilarious game of “Owl on a Perch.”  Due to time limitations, we were unable to determine a winner, but it definitely won in the amount of laughter it produced.

After lunch the staff at Camp Canaan conducted a House competition called the “Island Challenge.”  It consisted of 25+ challenges that the Houses could choose from and receive points for completing.  After a set amount of time, the Houses could cash in their points for materials to construct an airplane or glider.

After 30 minutes of building their glider, the Houses selected members to describe the inspiration behind their structure and features of their aircraft.  And a course was set up to measure distance flown and time in the air.

Each house had two gliders.  Up first… House Fides… 

Then House Audacia…

Then Sapientia… one of their gliders flew the furthest.

I wish I could remember the names and descriptions for each glider, but suffice it to say that each team did a great “sell” job on their creation and used a lot of creativity in their construction.  Island Challenge winner – Sapientia 30pts!  Congratulations!
Fides came in 2nd place, 20pts, and Audacia in 3rd – 10pts.

After the challenge, the students listened to a talk by Mr. Morton who highlighted a song by Phil Wickham called “Sailing on a Ship” that was used as this year’s camp theme. Then dinner was served before the 7th/8th graders left to return home. 
The 9th-12th had some free time followed by a debrief time within their Houses, campfire with s’mores, and pick up games of disc golf, gaga ball, and capture the flag with glow sticks.

Though my pictures end here, the next day was equally fun.  The morning started with the 7th/8th graders returning after breakfast.  All were treated to a time of worship that has been described as a really powerful and meaningful time.  Then the students participated in a fun game of archery tag.  They were also blessed by two more fabulous talks – this time by Mr. Wilmoth and Mr. Leland.

The reviews of the camp have been really positive, and all would agree that it was the perfect start to what will no doubt be a special year.  May we all listen for that voice on the wind, calling us further in. May our sails be filled with His breath…as we sail on a ship that’s bound for life!

Current Point Standings:

523pts            383pts            520pts

Meet your Student Government and House Leaders for 2016-17!

Evan Prince – SG President

Mason Cregger – SG Vice President

Laura Sneed – SG Spirit Prefect, Emily Goddard – SG Community Service Prefect, and Chandler Lawing – SG Social Prefect

 Nick Deane – 12th Grade Representative

 Chloe Gantz – 11th Grade Representative and Sec/Treasurer

Bryson Rose & Emma Stapleton – 10th Grade Representatives

 Tyler Hicks – 9th Grade Representative

Ryan Gasparrini & Sydney Hicks – 8th Grade Representatives

Sam Holman & Reagan Sicchintano – 7th Grade Representatives

Audacia Leadership:

House Captain – Kirby Thigpen

Prefects – Braeden Gann & Sara Beth Jewell

Fides Leadership:

House Captain – Daniel  Haycox

Prefects – Weston Cregger & Chandler Lawing

Sapientia Leadership:

House Captain – Anna Johnson

Prefects – Nick Deane & Erin Davis

Committed to training up tomorrow’s leaders, CCS hosted an all day student leadership retreat last Saturday 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.  In addition, they were each asked to name a leader and talk about qualities that makes them either a good or bad leader.

The students then listened to a short story from a great book on leadership called Extreme Ownership written by Jocko Willink and Lief Babin (two former US Navy SEALs).  The book lays out the framework of leadership from a positon of complete and total ownership of who you are and how you affect every aspect of your team. If you have a chance, ask one of the leaders to tell you about SEAL Team 2 and SEAL Team 6.  And ask them is there such thing as a bad team?

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.

To the left – Evan, Bryson, Laura, and Sam are representing the “Driver” temperament – those that see themselves as forceful, adventurous, demanding, daring, decisive, self-assured, and competitive.  That leadership temperament is usually good at initiating new ideas, getting results, making decisions, solving problems, and taking authority.

To the right – Nick, Erin, Reagan, and Kirby are representing the “Analytical” temperament – those that see themselves as systematic, diplomatic, conscientious, conventional, analytical, sensitive, and accurate.  That leadership temperament is usually good at following directions, doing critical thinking, diplomacy, and completing assignments accurately and with excellence.                                        

To the left – Anna, Daniel, Tyler, and Sydney are representing the “Amiable” temperament – those that see themselves as patient, loyal, stable, team-oriented, calm, deliberate, and passive.  That leadership temperament is typically good at understanding and listening to others, working with new challenges, concentrating on tasks.

And last but not least…  Ryan, Chloe, Chandler, and Emma chose the “Expressive” temperament – those that see themselves as enthusiastic, outgoing, emotional, sociable, generous, convincing, and trusting.  That leadership style is typically good at motivating, entertaining, and interacting with others. They can generate enthusiasm and offer assistance where needed.

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 to remember that as leaders they are the CEO of their area.  CEO standing for Chief Evangelist Officer, Chief Enthusiasm Officer, Chief Executive Optimist, Chief Energizing Officer, Chief Empowerment Officer, and Cultural Executive Officer.  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 Evan leading the SG members in brainstorming events for the fall while the House leaders met to create an induction ceremony for new members to be performed at Warrior Camp.

I believe everyone left feeling excited about the coming school year!

Let’s go WARRIORS!!

Galatians 5:13 “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”

CCS students and parents spent a day getting the school ready for the 2016-17 school year.  The jobs were varied and the workers were committed to get as much done in 4 hours as possible!  Some of the jobs accomplished are listed below.
• Spreading mulch on the playground
• Moving furniture out of rooms and into others
• Cleaning out storage closets
• Putting sand on walk way
• Cleaning steps to the library
• Cleaning out the new student lounge
• and many, many more…

Community Service House Points for the week:
Audacia – (5 workers totaling 12hrs) 120pts
Fides – (7 workers totaling 22hrs) 220pts
Sapientia – (3 workers totaling 6hrs) 60pts

The CCS Covenant Cup winner is determined a bit differently than the quarter winners.  It is not a sum of points accumulated over each quarter that determines the winner, but rather the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd placement that each House has in the quarters as well as the placement in the Fall and Spring House Games.  It is not only important to have the most 1st place wins, but equally important is to not have too many 3rd place finishes.

And so as you can see from the table above, the House with the most 1st place wins and fewer 2nd and 3rd place positions, and therefore the 2014-15 Covenant Cup Winner is…HOUSE FIDES!

Their crest will be framed and hung in the lobby for all of the 2016-17 school year until the next Covenant Cup winner is determined.