COVENANT CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL
MR. RICHARD NOORMAN, PRINCIPAL
December 2015
Dear CCHS Parents,
At our recent Friendship Week Chapel and at Monday morning devotions last week we were reminded of two distinctive ways to view our brothers and sisters in Christ. First, in Chapel, we were reminded through I Cor. 12 that we are part of the body of Christ, with each member being different and contributing in their own unique way to make up the whole of the body. We were encouraged to value all the members for their particular gifts and see how the diversity of gifts is a blessing. Then, in our Monday morning devotions, Mr. Rick DeVries reminded us that we are all the same and it is wrong to put labels on people. We are all sinners who have been saved by grace. We all have faults and we all fail in various ways but because of the work of Christ we are all one. We are the same; unified in Christ. In our faculty devotions Mr. Dan Van Uffelen reminded us that these same characteristics of diversity and unity, which are pictured so perfectly in the Trinity, are found in our families and in the church of Christ. These are two beautiful truths that we continually see and experience in our work as students and teachers at CCHS. Thanks be to God for the goodness shown to us in the blessings of living life in His Son.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE—The Christmas Break will soon be upon us. We will be having a full day of school on Wednesday, December 23. This will be our last day before the Christmas Break. We will return to school on Monday, January 4. We will have two full weeks of classes before first semester exams. Exams will be held on January 18-21 and then we will be off for Records Day on January 22. Second semester classes will begin on Monday, January 25.
STAFF CONGRATULATIONS!—Each month of the current school year families of our teaching staff have been blessed with additions. In September, Dan and Jori Kuiper were blessed with a baby girl named Selah. In October, Dan and Kate Van Uffelen were blessed with a baby boy who was named Issak. In November, Jon and Katie Van Overloop welcomed a baby girl (after having 5 boys) who was named Aleida. We congratulate these families and thank God for his goodness shown in this way. It should not go unmentioned that Mrs. Sue Looyenga will also be welcoming a new son-in-law into her family as well at the end of this month. That will occur when her daughter, Miss Meghan Looyenga, will be married to Mr. Derek Van Overloop on December 29. We look forward to that event and wish them well. Congratulations to these growing families!
BOOK BILLS—We appreciate that many of you have already paid your annual book bills. Those bills were mailed out prior to the last report cards and we ask that payment be complete by December 23. We will send out a reminder via email to those who still owe for books.
CHAPELS—We have had a nice variety of Chapel experiences since the last newsletter. The Choirs and the Band have each led a Chapel prior to their concerts. We had Seminarian Joe Holstege speak to us about the benefits of the Reformation and Rev. Eriks about being conformed to the image of Christ. Mr. Minderhoud spoke on the principle that corrupt things will have a negative effect on good things and in the end they will become corrupt as well. The Student Council sponsored the Friendship Week Chapel and their speakers reminded us of what good Christian friends do for each other. You are all invited to attend our Christmas Chapel on December 23 beginning about 11:15 a.m.
CHRISTMAS CHOIR AND BAND CONCERT—We are looking forward to the annual Christmas Concert of the Choirs and Band. This concert will be held at Jenison Center for the Arts on December 20, beginning at 8:10 p.m. This concert will conclude with the Band, Choirs, and audience members joining together in the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah. We look forward to having you join us as we celebrate in music and song the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
CHOIR TRIP—It is quite far into the future, but we are beginning to work on plans for the trip to northwest Iowa. This will take place April 14-16. All of the 11th and 12th grade choir students will be participating. This year there will be two highlights to this trip. The Dordt Festival and Combined Choirs concert on Friday night is always a highlight. This year we will also be having a Combined Concert of Protestant Reformed School Choirs. The high school students from our Loveland, Colorado school will join with the choir from Trinity Christian High and our choirs for a combined concert on Thursday night. We have been able to reserve the Dordt College auditorium for this event. This should prove to be two great days of singing and praise to our God.
FINANCIAL AID MEETING—Any parents who would like information on the college financial aid process are welcome to come to a seminar here at Covenant this week Thursday, Dec. 10, at 7:00 p.m. in the school library. A representative from Calvin College will present information about how the process works, the forms that are necessary to complete, and the various types of financial aid that are available. This seminar is geared towards the parents of Juniors and Seniors, but any interested parent of a high school aged student is welcome to attend. If you are not able to attend this meeting please check for other possible dates to attend at another area Christian high school. Mr. Haveman has sent out an email with a link to the complete calendar of Financial Aid Night programs in our area.
MME/SAT TESTING—As you may recall, the State of Michigan has been in a state of transition over the last year regarding the student testing situation. After providing our students with the Michigan Merit Exam and the ACT at no cost for several years, we had to back away from that practice last year because of the number of hours that they were requiring for the tests. Last Spring, the decision was made by the State legislature to give every 11th grade student in Michigan the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) instead of the ACT. Mr. Haveman has been trying to keep up with all of the updated information on this program. As it stands right now we will be giving the SAT, along with the Michigan Merit Exam and WorkKeys test, in the same way that we had done before. This will take place for our 11th grade students during the second week of April.
GIFT CERTIFICATE DRIVE— The Student Council is once again sponsoring a Christmas Gift Certificate Drive. They are seeking donations of gift cards that will be distributed to families in our supporting churches who have needs during this season of the year. Gift cards can be sent to school to the attention of Jennifer Knott. If you wish to send a check or cash we will purchase the gift cards for you.
SENIOR PICTURES—As soon as possible, please email a DIGITAL picture of your senior to for the yearbook. In addition to the yearbook copy, we also need 2 hard copies brought to the office (for the transcript and for the class wall frame.)These pictures need to be at least 2-1/4” wide x 3-1/4” tall (portrait style) preferably showing head and shoulder only.
ATHLETICS—The last team standing in the fall season was the Boys’ Cross Country team. They placed second in the Regional meet and then went on to a very respectable 7th place finish at the State Meet held at Michigan International Speedway. By finishing 24th in the state, Senior Brantley Van Overloop was named to the All-State team. Girls’ Volleyball had a great season finishing with a record of 36-14-3. Their season ended with a loss in 4 games in the District semi-finals to the eventual District and Regional winner North Pointe Christian. Senior Makenzie Engelsma was named 2nd team All-State and Brianna Noorman was Honorable Mention All-State. The Boys Soccer team had a record of 12-7-5. They won the District championship and lost a close game in the Regional to the team from Leland. This game was tied 1-1 after regulation and 2 overtime periods before Leland won the shootout, 4-3. Senior Colin Riemersma was named first team All-State, Grant Flikkema, and Trevor Miedema were named to the 3rd team All-State, Derrick DeVries and Grant Reitsma were named Honorable Mention All-State. All of these teams, once again, had great support from families and fans. Thanks for coming out to be a part of these events. A special thanks to the Boosters Club and the Doug Kaptein family in particular who worked so hard to provide concessions during the fall sports season.
Winter sports contests began last week with the girls’ basketball season having two home games on Tuesday and Friday. The boys’ season will start up this week Tuesday with games at Unity Christian while the girls are at home. On Saturday, the Boys’ JV and Girls’ and Boys’ Varsity will be at home against Allendale. Our Boys’ teams are again coached by Tyler Schimmel (Varsity), Tom Pastoor (JV), and Doug Kaptein (Freshman). The Girls’ Varsity is coached by Dan Kuiper and Jeff Baatenberg is doing double duty coaching both the Girls’ JV and Freshman teams.
Looking forward to the Spring season, mark your calendar for April 29. The Charger Baseball team will once again be playing a doubleheader at 5/3 Ballpark against Kalamazoo Christian.
ATHLETICS WEBSITE—We have a newly designed Athletic Website. This new page can be accessed through the Athletics tab on our home page or you can go directly to: www.covenantchristianathletics.org. This page will allow you to go to each individual team page to access the rosters, schedule and the results of the games.
CHARGER GEAR—The Kaptein family continues to supply us with great looking Charger themed apparel. They have many new items available this year along with some of the standards and a few close out items as well. They will have clothing available at many of the home basketball games this year. All of the clothing can be viewed and ordered on the Covenant Christian Charger Gear website under the Athletics/Boosters Tab on our home page.
HOMECOMING CHANGE—We have made a change in date of our Homecoming Week. This has been moved from the second week of February to the first week. The Homecoming Chapel and Basketball games will be held on February 5.
CCHS CRAFT SHOW—The inaugural Covenant Christian Craft Show was a huge success. There were 109 spaces rented out filling almost every hallway and the gym. Over 2000 people came through the doors during that six hour period. In addition to space rental and admission charges, funds were raised through the bake sale and the lunch that was served. A total of just over $10,000 was raised during the day. This will be divided up with $7500 to the athletic boosters and $2500 to the Band. Before, during, and after the event we had a good number of students working at various tasks. The crafters were especially appreciative of our student helpers who were available to help them carry their materials in and out. We received many positive comments on our students and on the day as a whole. Thanks to all those who served on the main committees and everyone who contributed in any way to this event. Next year this event will once again be held on the last Saturday of October which is October 29.
STUDENT OF THE MONTH—Congratulations to Grant Reitsma for being named Student of the Month in the Environmental Mechanics (HVAC) program at Kent Career/Technical Center. We are thankful for the good work and the witness that our students give as they pursue classes in these areas. Grant is the son of Ed and Jill Reitsma.
WEATHER AND SCHOOL CLOSINGS—In a newsletter at this time of the year I am usually pleading for help from parents to get the students who drive to get going a little earlier in the mornings so that they can get to school on time in the case of slow traffic. We are thankful that so far we have not had any issues with this because the weather has been great on school days. But I’m sure the day is coming when we will all have to face some winter driving. If the weather and driving is such that we must cancel school, I will send a school cancellation email to all families. It will also be posted on the local TV and radio stations.
CALENDAR DATES:
December 20—Band and Choir Concert @ Jenison Center for the Arts
December 24-January 1—Christmas Break (Last day of school on Dec. 23, return on Jan. 4)
January 18-21—First Semester Exams
January 22—Records Day (No School)
January 25—Second Semester begins
February 1-5—Homecoming Week
February 18—CCHS Band Festival
March 4—End of 4th 6 Week Marking period
March 16—Parent/Teacher Conferences (Tentative)
March 22—Parent/Teacher Conferences (Tentative)
March 24—Choir Concert at Jenison Centre for the Arts
March 29—Band Concert @ Grandville Middle School Auditorium
April 4-8—Spring Break
April 14-16—Choir Juniors and Seniors to Dordt College Festival
April 22—End of 5th Marking Period
April 29—Baseball @ 5/3 Ballpark
May 6—Junior/Senior Banquet
May 18—All Schools Band Concert @ Allendale HS
May 19-20—Senior Class Trip
May 25—Choir Concert @ Jenison Centre for the Arts
May 26—Senior Chapel
May 26—Senior Honors Convocation
May 30—Memorial Day (No School)
May 31-June 2—Second Semester Exams
June 3—Graduation @ Fairhaven Ministries
R. Noorman