MARCH 2016

PARK CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

IMPORTANT DAYS IN MARCH

Re-enrollmentDeadline

Friday, March 4

K Round-upMonday, March 7

Spiritual Emphasis DayNorthwestern

Choir/Orch ConcertWednesday, March 9

PCS Preview DayFAST Deadline forreturning familiesMonday, March 21

No School,office closed.

Friday, March 25 &Monday, March 28 Kindergarten

Round-up March 75:00 – 6:00 pm RSVP at 218-236-0500

an interactive and informative event for children and their parents

PREVIEW DAYfor inquiring students in grades 1-11

Monday, March 218:00-11:30 am

Please RSVP at 218-236-0500

Please register by March 24 at ParkChristianSchool.org

Stud

ents

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2016 PCS Spelling Bee Champion 8th grader, Tessa HultinTessa went on to represent Park Christian at the Regional Spelling Bee in Fergus Falls, February 9.Congratulations Tessa and all the participants! Runners up: Elliana Jordet (7th grade) and Nathan Krause (6th grade).

PCS Mathletes Excel In Problem Solving On February 3rd, Park Christian School was among ten area schools that participated in the MathCounts competition held at Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM). The mission of MathCounts is to inspire excellence, confidence and curiosity in U.S. middle school students through fun and challenging math problems. Our team (Carter Aamodt, Sam Carlson, Jacob Jelinski, and Easton Meier) placed 4th in the competition. Also, Sam Carlson placed 14th as an individual out of 80 participants. The other PCS students who participated were Gabby Sandman, Ellie Such, Kaytlin Tesch and Eden Tofibam.Kathy Hanson, coach of the PCS Mathletes, would like to thank the students for all of their hard work in preparing for this challenging event.

One Act Play Congratulations to Ally Lutz and Mark Schwandt. They received Actor of Merit awards for their One Act Play performance in the MSHSL sub-section competition. The One Act Play was directed by Ginger Williams.

Jordan Kerr Recognized as National Merit Scholar FinalistJordan Kerr advanced to Finalist standing in the National Merit Scholarship Program. Jordan was one of 16,000 semi-finalists who was asked to submit a detailed scholarship application, which includes essays and information about extra-curricular achievements, awards, and leadership positions. Semifinalists also need to have an outstanding academic record, be endorsed and recommended by a school official, and earn SAT scores that confirm their qualifying test performance. From this Semifinalist group, Jordan met all the necessary requirements and advanced to Finalist standing. He is in the top 0.5% of the state’s senior students with this award. We are extremely proud of Jordan for achieving to this level for this prestigious award.

AnnaGrace Z.

Students on the Move

3Bridges in GeometryMiss Rogness and her Geometry classes built bridges to find out which ones held the most weight before breaking. 1st place team: Amy Jacobson, Nicole Jasperse, Tommy Stueland. Their bridge held 62.5 pounds of weight before breaking. Future engineers!!2nd place team: Kai Nellermoe, Signe Harris, Emmalee Schultz. Their bridge held 37.5 pounds of weight before breaking.

Great job!3rd place team: Noah Bechtold, Andrea Lee, Julia Matthews-Halmrast. Their bridge held 32.5 pounds of weight before breaking. Congratulations!

Speech Team • Sarah Herlihy earned a medal in the Fergus

Falls Otter Orations meet. • PCS was awarded the 2nd place Otter

Orations team trophy at the Otter Orations meet.

• Sarah Herlihy and Paige Beach earned Superior Rankings at the DGF Speech Meet.

• Paige Beach, Kaylen Quanbeck, Maggie Kerrins, and Lizzy Young competed at the Staples Speech meet.

• Paige Beach placed 1st in the Honor Finals category at the Staples Speech meet.

Congratulations to all our members and Coach, Mrs. Striker. We are excited to have new members on the speech team. Please contact Mrs. Striker if you are interested in the PCS speech program.

Serving FaithfullyFriday, February 19, two hundred and twenty 7th-12th grade Park Christian students and adults, and fifteen 5th grade students packaged meals for the Feed My Starving Children event at Atonement Lutheran Church. The goal of Feed My Starving Children MobilePack was to gather 2,000 volunteers, raise $88,000, and pack 400,000 meals for children around the world!

Knowledge BowlThere are twenty students in Knowledge Bowl this year, under the direction of Mr. Matt Larson. In the last meet, one PCS team, comprised of Jordan Kerr, Tommy Stueland, Josh Schmiess, and Mark Schwandt, took 3rd place, while another team, comprised of Kai Nellermoe, Braden Hagen, Chris Stone, and Jonah Jelinski, took 4th place. The sub section meet is March 15 and the section meet is March 22. Go Falcons!

9th grade girls

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Regional Science Fair Awards 2016Blue - Qualifying for State10th grade: Noah Bechtold, Chloe Drummond, Julia Matthews-Halmrast, Natalie Roisum8th grade: Noah Brush, Lauren Knoll (also for her paper), Georgia Lodewyk7th grade: Ben Ostlie, Kaitlyn Tesch

Overall Regional Science Fair Awards2nd Place High School Division: Noah Bechtold 2nd Place Junior High Division: Georgia Lodewyk 3rd Place Junior High Division: Ben Ostlie

7th grade1st place – Elise Stromme2nd place – Sam Swedberg3rd place – Regan NelsonHonorable Mention – Haley Peterson8th grade1st place – Noah Brush2nd place – Lauren Knoll3rd place – Gabby SandmanHonorable Mentions – Halli Heimbuch, Karley Motschenbacher, Kelsey Jansen, Isaac Janssen, Jacob Jelinski, Georgia Lodewyk, Ian Ziebarth, Sam Carlson, Tessa Hultin, Elizabeth Krause, Anna Koslowsky10th grade1st place – Natalie Roisum2nd place – Julia Matthews-Halmrast3rd place tie – Allyson Kangas, Chloe DrummondHonorable Mentions – Paris Arnhalt, Jacob Thompson, Noah Bechtold, Jonah Jelinski, Steele SenskeCongratulations to all the students for their hard work preparing for Science Fair 2016!

PCS School Level Science Fair Awards 2016

Steele S. Halli H.Lauren H. Josie F. Mikayla L.

Jacob S.

Julia M.Ben O. Noah B. Chloe D.

State Qualifiers

Guests are always welcome to Chapel!

PCS SCHOOL CALENDARHWednesday Thursday Friday SaturdaySunday Monday Tuesday

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 31 4/1

MARCHShakeyWednesdayMSHSL Solo & Ensemble Music Festival, LPAMIP, 2:00 pm, conf. room

Re-enrollmentDeadline

No J/S ChapelKindergarten Round-up,5:00-6:00 pm

PA Meeting,6:30 pm, library

NorthwesternChoir ConcertS.E.D.MIP,2:00 pm,conf. room

Cheer Banquet, PCS Commons, 5:30 pm

PancakeBreakfast @1st Assembly. 10:00am-12:30pm DC fundraiser

ShakeyWednesdayMIP,2:00 pm,conf. room

FAST Deadline Junior student/parent meeting, 6:30 pm, libraryPreview Day!

No MhdBussingMIP,2:00 pm,conf. roomAP & ACT test forms due.

No Mhd BussingMid-Qtr

No school. Office closed.

ShakeyWednesdayMIP, 2:00 pm, library

Sr. High Solo & EnsembleBand & Choir Concert,7:00 pm, gym

National Honor Society Resume’s due

No school. Office closed.

Hannah J. Dawn P. Ellie A.

Easton M. Noah B.

Sarah H. Kaylen Q. Carmen A.

Lauren K.

Kai N.

Allen D.

March Chapel Schedule March 7 No J/S Chapel, due to Wednesday Concert 4-6 Kent Hannestad

March 9 7-12 Special Chapel - UNWSP Choir/Orch Concert, 8:10 am. Guests Welcome!

March 14 7-12 Alfred Tofibam, PCS staff K-3 Sharon Dunkel, PCS parent

March 21 7-12 Nikki Englund, PCS parent 4-6 Praise and Worship

March 28 No School

Junior/Senior High (Gym) 8:10-8:50 am, Elementary (Fine Arts Room) 8:10-8:40 am

Mady R.

Signe H.

Ciena A.

Michael G., Caleb L.Falcon Fever dress up day winners Niisa H., Taryn N., Allyson K., Claire S.

Sarah O.

Eden T.

Madelyn W.

Anna S.

6Ce

lebr

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ns

Morgan Nepstadsigned her

letter of intent to play women’s

basketball at the University of Wisconsin,

Superior, in the PCS Library at 4:00 pm Thursday,

February 18th. We are proud of Morgan and

excited for her to be playing on in

college.

Introducing Bus #1 !!Arrival at PCS: February 9, 2016

Weighing in at 29,800 poundsLength: 468 inches (39 feet)

Capacity: 77Birthplace: High Point, North Carolina

Date of birth: December 3, 2015Mileage at arrival: 1,500 (estimate)

Praise the Lord for this tremendous gift to the school!

A parent, when made

aware of our need, generously provided the

funds to purchase a new

bus with all of the latest

safety features. The individually designed bus is painted with the blue

and white school colors.

Park Christian School Earns $5,000 STEM GrantPark Christian School was one of six Red River Valley schools to earn a $5,000 grant from American Crystal Sugar to support STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education. A check presentation was held at Park Christian with many members of the local media in attendance, along with Stephanie Sand, chemical analyst at

American Crystal’s Moorhead factory, and Dominick Raedeke, a process engineer at the Drayton factory, and a company representative. Park Christian School will use its grant award to purchase a specialized camera and video screen which can be mounted to a microscope and used to produce slides. Congratulations to Mrs. Schnabel for earning this amazing donation to the school!“We see the value of STEM learning every day in our jobs at American Crystal,” said Sand. “Maybe one day some of these students will be working in the lab right next to me because they were inspired here at Park Christian to explore science as a career.”

PCS Track TentIf you’ve ever been involved in Track and Field in the upper Midwest, you know that the ‘elements’ (ie: weather!) can be a pretty big challenge to competing well. The PCS Track and Field team just received a generous donation of a much needed, much appreciated, and will be much frequented TENT!!! The tent is an E-Z Up and is 10x15 feet. It is red and has 4 detachable sides with the PCS logo on the top.Many thanks to PCS grandparents, Robert and Joyce Jamison, who saw the need for a tent when they attended some meets where the weather conditions were pretty miserable. Now our athletes can be protected, warmer, and have a place to rest and prepare for their events. The athletes are really excited about it! THANK YOU Jamisons!!!

PCS hits new record onGiving Hearts Day!

Generous donations from 236 donorslanded PCS on the top 10 large

charities with operating budgets above $500,000 for the first time! Thank you!!!

Thank you for your partnership and willingness to invest in the lives of our students!

DONATIONS TOTALED$146,517!

PCS in Pictures7

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“I‘ve been blessed to see how my sons have been growing through their involvement at Park Christian School -- wonderful curriculum, teachers invested at the deepest heart level, fun new challenges like Spelling Bee, Geography Bee, Science Fair, Math Counts competition . . . (those four were just this last MONTH!!!). I truly believe PCS is living up to its mission: equipping students to think Biblically, live wisely, and serve faithfully.”

Class of 2017 Wins Class OlympicsThe class of 2017 won its 2nd straight Class Olympic

Championship at the culmination of Falcon Fever Week! Congratulations to the Juniors!

Mark SchwandtEverett Schauer *Jacob Strinden Bjorn Swanson Dan Thompson

Molly Jasperse Adrianna Kallis *Zachary Kvalvog

Rachel Lewis *Jondavid Ottenbacher

Seniors that attended Kindergarten at PCS*Attended since Pre-K

We deeply miss our friend, leader, peer, student, and athlete: Zachary Kvalvog,

who attended PCS since Pre-K.

The discounted re-enrollment rate for $100.00 per students runs through Friday, March 4th. After March 4th, re-enrollment will be $150.00 per student.Used by permissions from Becky Carlson’s facebook post about their current

experience as a new family at Park. (3rd, 6th, and 8th grade boys)

Freshmen

Everett S.,Mark S.

Jadyn F.

Elisabeth S., Paige B.

Cheer Camp 2016

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Spring/SummerCoaching StaffPark Christian Activities Department is pleased to announce spring and summer coaching staff: Varsity Track & Field: Returning coaches Megan Endreson (head coach) and Jeremy Nelson (assistant coach).Junior High Track & Field will be led by head coach Dale Nordick and assistant coach Callie Christianson. Boys’ Golf: Returning coaches Luther Stueland (head coach) and Tom Ysteboe (assistant coach). Girls’ Golf: Returning coach Dan Doeden (head coach) with the addition of Lawton Burgstahler (assistant coach).Girls’ Elementary Volleyball: Brooke Stewart and Laura Harris.

The Parent Association Needs You!

The PCS Parent Association is looking for a President starting in June.Please pray about being a vital part of this important school organization. Alicia Miller is the Secretary.Jacalyn Benson is the Treasurer.Linda Hankel is the Vice President. Carmen Lodewyk is the President.

Football Coach HiredPark Christian School is pleased to announce the hiring of Lawton Burgstahler as the Head Football Coach for the Falcons. Mr. Burgstahler joined PCS as the Computer and Business teacher and assistant football coach in the fall of 2015. Previously, he taught business classes and coached golf and football at Buffalo Lake Hector Stewart High School in Hector, MN for two years.

Senior Winter AthletesBison athletes visit Mrs. Grinder’s class

Emma B. Elliana J., Miss Rogness

Payton S.

Karson F. Ian Z.

7th grade girls

7/8th graders skiing atDetroit Mountain

Valentine’s Day9

PCS celebrates Valentine’s Day in a big way every

year! Candy bags, singing

telegrams, balloons,

Kindergarten tea parties for moms,

and waffles for the staff, made and delivered by sweet 5th

graders!

Lillian D. Jack D.

Kayce S.Katie N.

Chloe A. Elijah C.

Allison A.

Camille D., Mr. Hansen, Andie S., Sarah O.

Alex B.Lance B.

Grace W.

Singing Telegram Crews

Joseph S., Elise S., Elizabeth K., Ian Z.

10Fa

lcon

Feve

r Wee

k

Border Wars Monday

Throwback Thursday

Star Wars Wednesday

Too Big Tuesday

1st graders

Anna S., Julia M., Alyssa T., Claire S.

Joshua B., David W.Noah B.

2nd graders

Rubie D., Mia M.Sarah S.

Journey T

Alex L., Lara W.7th graders

Abby L.

Sophia B., Leah J.

4th graders

Kindergartners

Falcon Fever Week

11

Pepfest

Falcon Fever Day

Tommy S.Sarah H., Kate L., Carmen A., Destiny M., Kaylen Q., Emily H.

Carli B., Whitley T.Elijah I., Derick S., Elijah B.

Peyton L, Lexi S.

Adri K., Kylee I., Lexi N.

JV & V cheerleaders

3rd graders

Freshmen vs. Juniors relayKylee W., Kennedy B.

Cole K., Hunter L., Matthew F.

5th graders

THE PCS IMPACTStory of Spiritual Influence

by Kent S. Hannestad

Visit us at www.ParkChristianSchool.org218-236-0500

A young man was being interviewed by one of our member churches for an open pastor position. When asked who had been instrumental in his decision to follow Jesus and in his growth as a believer, he gave names of two individuals: David Leedahl (Mrs. Leedahl’s son and 2005 alum), Chi Alpa pastor at NDSU, and Jon-Michael Sherman (2007 alum), campus pastor of the Remedy, a college ministry on the campus of the University of MN. How wonderful to hear that a young man who is pursuing a lifelong quest of ministry in the local church had been challenged to follow Christ and pursue Him passionately through the ministry of two PCS graduates! Praise the Lord for the equipping work of PCS in David and Jon-Michael’s lives, and that this influence continues to impact our world for Jesus Christ!

Extra: Three of our member churches are currently seeking pastors; Salem (seeking an associate pastor), Bethel (seeking a senior pastor), and Triumph (seeking an associate pastor). Keep these ministries in your prayers as they seek God’s will and direction.

I recently attended the ACSI Mid-America Northern Plains Leadership Conference in Minneapolis. The theme for the conference was STRONGER TOGETHER. As Christian schools share ideas, share resources, network, encourage, and pray for one another, they all become stronger.I thought about Scripture. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!” STRONGER TOGETHER. I thought about the Park Christian School family. I thought about the parent who, when presented with our need for a new bus, said, “Order one.” STRONGER TOGETHER. I thought about the volunteers who joyfully come to prepare numerous mailings throughout the year. STRONGER TOGETHER. I thought about the many volunteers who come on Friday’s to listen to students recite their Scripture passages. STRONGER TOGETHER. I thought about the Moms In Touch group that prays every Wednesday for the students, staff, and families of Park Christian School. STRONGER TOGETHER. I thought about the record-breaking donations of Giving Hearts Day. STRONGER TOGETHER. I thought about the incredible staff and how they serve and exceptionally use their gifts. STRONGER TOGETHER. I thought about the many volunteers serving on the variety of task forces for the expansion project. STRONGER TOGETHER. I thought about the many Stories that Make You Smile and the numerous families who promote the school to so many others. STRONGER TOGETHER. We are two-thirds of the way through this school year. Let’s finish STRONGER TOGETHER.That’s my perspective.

Jon-Michael Sherman

David Leedahl