OCTOBER19,2012

THE WOODLANDS

C H R I S T I A N

A C A D E M Y

THEWOODLANDSCHRISTIANACADEMY

Head Of School Notes -- by Julie Ambler In August 2010, our senior leadership team (Mr. Zeal, Dr. Hunter, Mrs. Allen, Coach Hollas and I) developed a three-year strategic plan for our school. While many improvements are ongoing, I am pleased to report that we have already accomplished the majority of our specific, short-term goals. Here are some highlights:

• We defined and significantly tightened our admission criteria.

• We expanded our marketing reach by enhancing our website, establishing a Facebook page, building a larger sign on Highway 242, sponsoring special events and advertising/publishing articles in The Courier, The Villager, VYPE, Woodlands Lifestyles & Homes, Community Impact, KSBJ, newcomer’s guides, etc.

• We have been active participants in the community through Rotary, Interact, the Greater Woodlands Chamber, Leadership Montgomery County, the Economic Development Partnership, the Montgomery County Coalition of Christian Schools, Interfaith, the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI), etc.

• We hosted area pastors and local leaders on our campus with private lunches/tours and special events.

• We earned accreditation from ACSI.• We revamped our Bible curriculum,

enhanced chapels, and added hands-on service projects.

• We offered Bible studies, information meetings and book studies on campus for parents.

• We upgraded curriculum and are preparing curriculum guides and maps through Atlas software for all subjects and grades.

• We hired an outstanding faculty and offered extensive faculty training on integrating a Christian worldview, classroom management, and differentiated instruction. We sent them to content

specific conferences and classes. Our faculty members have achieved individual teaching certifications through ACSI.

• We’ve seen solid improvements in our standardized test scores, college acceptances and merit-based college scholarship offers.

• We integrated technology into the classroom through professional training, computer labs, MacBooks and SmartBoards.

• We grew our band, theatre, and art programs.

• We restructured our athletic department for better communication and equity between sports.

• We significantly expanded our girls’ sports programs.

• We incorporated educational trips to locations ranging from Carolina Creek to Big Bend, Florida, Washington DC, Ecuador and London.

• We revised our handbooks, simplified our dress code, and raised our behavior expectations.

• We opened a school store, The Armory.• We repaid the construction loan on the

Nehemiah Academic Center, revised our campus master plan and began the first stage of our next capital expansion project.

Next October, educators from AdvanceEd (formerly the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools) and ACSI will visit our campus to renew of our school’s accreditations. Afterwards and with their recommendations, we will develop our next strategic plan. Ultimately, we strive for continuous improvement in all areas of our mission to equip well-rounded warriors for Christ – spiritually, academically, physically and socially. We thank you for your trust and partnership in this journey.

Click to watch our new video Is Woodlands Christian Right For You? You can Like our video on Facebook by clicking here.

OCTOBER 19, 2012

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Dollars Raised to date: $77,310 Overall Family Participation: 20%Faculty/Staff: 58% Executive Board: 100%

Annual Fund Ends on Friday, November 9, 2012 Goal $250,000 with 100% Participation!

Your gift is tax-deductible! Pledges may be made today & fulfilled by January 31, 2013

Support the Annual Fund by clicking here.

All grades achieving 100% participation will berewarded with a themed dress day of their choosing!

When our entire school community reaches 100% participation all students will receive a special treat!

I Am Grateful The 2012 Annual Fund

Your gift makes a difference!

For the next 40 days we will come before the Lord with grateful hearts for all Hehas done at Woodlands Christian! Click here to view the scriptures and join us in prayer!

PK4 K 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th

9% 20% 18% 15% 23% 33% 39% 14% 20% 24% 25% 3% 27% 24%

Lower School News

OCTOBER 19, 2012

Teachers Learn & Garden Project Receives A Grant -- by Eve Allen

You may have noticed a few of your favorite lower school teachers missing last week. The 2012 National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) regional conference was held in Dallas this year. NCTM is a leader in mathematics education and is known for bringing together the best of research and classroom practices for teachers of mathematics. At the conference, teachers learned from mathematicians and researchers such as Scott Flansburg (The Human Calculator), Kim Sutton (Walk the Number Line), and Greg Tang (The Grapes of Math)… just to name a few. The teachers were also able to spend time learning more about our textbook from the authors of EnVision math as well as begin to explore the new technology pieces that will be unveiled in the next

few years! The future of math education is exciting! Leaving for a few days is not easy for your teachers to do. Please thank your teachers for continuing to seek out opportunities such as this one in order to stay on the edge of current research and practice! They are superstars! Thanks to the efforts of Mr. Robert Roach, the Woodlands Christian lower school garden

program has been selected to receive a grant through the Local Community Contribution/Hunger Outreach Program of The WalMart Foundation and Facility #3213. Mr. Roach plans to use the grant to purchase a tiller for use in turning the garden beds over in between growing season. Thank you, Mr. Roach and WalMart!

(from left to right) Mrs. Ledbetter, Kim Sutton, Mrs. Agafon & Mrs. Gonzales

Early Childhood Welcomes Visitors Students in the early childhood classes welcomed several visitors this week as they learned about community helpers. Speaking to the classes about their various jobs were Mr. Jay Heimsoth, a medical equipment representative(bottom right), Dr. Scott Young, dentist (second right), Dr. Razvan Dumitru, anesthesiologist (right), Dr. Peter Shedden, neurosurgeon (bottom left) and Ryan Highley, Woodlands Christian coach and teacher (bottom center). What a great way to discover all the different talents God uses to give us community helpers!

ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT NEWS

OCTOBER 19, 2012

Warrior Football Gets District Win

The Warriors started off district play on the right foot with a decisive 39-7 win over the Rosehill Christian Eagles last Friday night. Freshman quarterback Garrett Wolforth once again led the team in fine fashion passing for 270 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Senior wide receiver Justin Jeggle had an

outstanding night with a total of six catches for 205 yards scoring both of the aforementioned touchdowns, one of them a 94 yard touchdown reception in the second quarter. Freshman running back Luke Hudson added 25 carries for 114 yards and two touchdowns. The defensive unit intercepted five passes. The Warriors are at home on Friday night, October 19 against district opponent O’Connell Prep of Galveston. Kick-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

Game details courtesy The Courier reports.

Warrior Cross Country Ready For State -- by Coach Tom Earle

What a great meet at St. Thomas Episcopal! As we near the end of our season, we set some tough goals for ourselves this week.... and everyone more than delivered! Hannah Shearer won 1st place out of 121 middle school competitors. She ran the 1.5 mile course in a 9:08 time! (See photo at right.) For the middle school boys, brothers Sam and Ben Mueck finished in 3rd and 5th place respectively in their competition against 180 runners in the 1.5 mile race. The middle school boys team finished in 3rd place overall out of 25 teams. For the varsity girls, Riley Farra (freshman) placed 12th out of 67 runners and now ranks 8th in the state. Alyssa Regier finished in 24th place with her time giving her a ranking of 13th in the state.

On the varsity boys’ side, Luke Shearer finished in 20th place earning him a 10th place state ranking. Logan Shearer, Nate Regier, Kyle

Caddell, and Harrison Draper finished in 32nd, 36th, 40th and 50th places respectively. As we head into the TAPPS 3A state meet at Baylor on Saturday, the girls' varsity team is ranked fifth overall in the state. The boys’ varsity team holds a solid third place in the TAPPS 3A state rankings. The state meet is the culmination of the season for our cross country runners. They have been getting up early for over two months now and

putting in a lot of hard work. The high school boys have run over 250 miles and the girls have run nearly 190 miles this season.

Go Warrior Cross Country!

ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT NEWS

OCTOBER 19, 2012

Upcoming Events

October 19 Varsity football v. O’Connell Prep 7:00 p.m. HOME

October 20 Cross country @ TAPPS State Championship Meet

October 23 Varsity volleyball v. Bay Area Christian 6:30 p.m. AWAY Bi-district playoff

October 25 Varsity boys’ basketball v. Concordia 6:00 p.m. HOMEScrimmage

October 26 Varsity football v. Cypress Christian 7:00 p.m. AWAY

Your favorite Warrior sports teams’ schedules are just a click away!

Varsity Football . Boys’ Varsity Basketball . Girls’ Varsity Basketball Varsity Swim Team . JV Boys’ Basketball

MS Gold Boys’ Basketball . MS Green Boys’ Basketball . MS White Boys’ Basketball . MS Gold Girls’ Basketball . MS Green Girls’ Basketball

All School News

OCTOBER 19, 2012

Beautiful, fresh handcrafted evergreen wreaths and accent pieces are available for purchase now through October 30. These thoughtful and unique gifts can be shipped directly to friends and family anywhere in the continental United States. Items will be shipped beginning the first week of December. To place an order, see Marthel Cano at the front reception desk, contact any junior class student or contact Michelle Hanigan at tingrin32@sbcglobal.net.

Item Cost (Picked-up @ TWCA) Cost (Delivered by Fed Ex)Classic Wreath 25” $26.00 $33.00Victorian Wreath 25” $29.00 $36.00Cranberry Splash Wreath 25” $30.00 $37.00Wintergreen Wreath 25” not available for pick up $37.00Lighted “Nutcracker”Living Tree 20” tall $29.00 $36.00Candlelit Centerpiece $29.00 $36.00

All proceeds benefit the Junior/Senior Prom. Thanks for your support!

Victorian Wreath Cranberry Splash Wreath Wintergreen Wreath

Candlelit Centerpiece Classic Wreath Lighted Nutcracker Living Tree

Christmas Greenery

Student Council Blood DriveTuesday, October 23

8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Nehemiah Building

To schedule an appointment visit www.giveblood.org, login to Digital Donor and enter sponsor code G067.

Questions? Contact Troy Holiman, Student Council Advisor at tholiman@twca.net or 936-273-2555, ext. 1407