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Saints Alive

Nurturing Hearts • Cultivating Leaders • Honoring God

A newsletter of Lima Christian School Volume 21, Issue 2 • March 2016

Oh! What a Season!

Olivia Cox Joins 1,000-Point Club Senior Olivia Cox finished her high school basketball career achieving more than she had ever dreamed. A captain of the LCS Girls’ Varsity Basketball team, Olivia not only scored 1,000 points mid-season this year, but she was also named the top scorer for all of Section V girls during regular season play. Olivia averaged twenty-six points per game! Congratulations!

Boys Win Sectional TitleHighlights and photos on page 9

New LCS Board Chair Named Karen Conlon has been named the new chairperson of the Lima Christian School Board. She replaces Paul Celuch, who has served on the Board since 2004. “I am sincerely humbled to be called to

serve as chairperson of the LCS Board of Education,” Mrs. Conlon said. “I have the privilege of working with great men of God whom I deeply respect.

Priority Prayer

The Saints Alive is a newsletter promoting the events and happenings of Lima Christian School. You may contact the school by calling 585-624-3841 or 585-582-1110; by FAX at 585-624-8293; on-line at www.limachristian.org; or by writing to Lima Christian School, 1574 Rochester St., Lima, NY 14485. Todd Steltz, Principal. Lisa Arnold, editor and graphic designer. News can be sent to larnold@limachristian.org. Lima Christian School is a ministry of Lima Baptist Church. To God be the glory.

PLEASE thank the Lord for the following:

• For our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, for without Him, we would have no hope

• For God the Father hearing our prayers

• For keeping our student athletes safe while competing for God’s glory and for our school

• For the amazingly successful boys’ varsity basketball season

• For the success of the LCS Benefit Auction, and for everyone involved in making it happen

• For the opportunity to send our children and grandchildren to Lima Christian School

2 • Saints Alive

PLEASE lift up the following requests in prayer:

• That God would continue to bless Lima Christian School and guide its leadership

• For everyone involved in the upcoming History Fair, Grand Friends’ Day, Book Fair, and Senior Art Show

• For the upcoming Drama Club production of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap on Friday and Saturday, March 18th and 19th

• For members of the senior class as they finalize their post-graduation plans

• For the salvation of every student at LCS and that he/she will grow as a disciple of Christ

• For a recognition by all believers of the freedom we often take for granted to worship the one true God

• For those persecuted around the world for their faith

It’s hard to believe we are already in the second semes-ter of the school year! We continue to thank God for His presence and blessing on Lima Christian School. As I look back to the previous Saints Alive issue, I am reminded of the challenge to commit to the Relational Covenant and to the spirit of foot washing. I pray that we have all found ways to exemplify the spirit of foot wash-ing--thinking of ways to “wash the feet of others” in service to them. In this issue, I would like to highlight a group of people who are committed to serving LCS by being part of our school board. After many years of sacrificial service, Paul Celuch recently stepped down from the president position. He has graciously agreed to remain on the school board as a member, and we look forward to his continued participa-tion and expertise as we move forward. Karen Conlon is now our school board president. She is joined by Bill Red-man (secretary), Jason McGuire, Randy Arnold, Dan Christa, Ernie Thompson, and Pastor Bob Wheeler. Please pray for our school board as they strategically lead our school into the future. You may not know that our school board has spent some time this past year revising our mission statement. Maybe you have seen the following in some of our litera-ture and social media: Nurturing Hearts. Cultivating Lead-ers. Honoring God. This is the essence of who we are and

School’s Focus is to Nurture Hearts,Cultivate Leaders, and Honor God

what we do. The school board has worked hard at describ-ing what each of these concepts means, and I would like to share that with you. Nurturing Hearts: Lima Christian School is committed to instruction that develops the thoughts and attitudes of each student’s heart in a manner that reflects the truths and promises in God’s Word. It is our desire to demonstrate to every student that Jesus Christ loves them and desires to have a personal relationship with them. Cultivating Leaders: Lima Christian School students are prepared and inspired to become God-fearing, self-disciplined men and women of integrity who have sound minds and continually look for ways to help and influence others. They are taught to pursue excellence, be bold in their convictions, and selfless in their actions. Honoring God: Lima Christian School recognizes that God’s truth, as revealed in Scripture, is the foundation of all truth and is to be the basis for what is taught and modeled. Our desire is for students to know, revere, and obey God and His Word with a pure heart, demonstrating submission to Him and the authority He places over us. May we, along with our school board, become familiar with our mission of nurturing hearts, cultivating leaders, and honoring God! We continue to be excited about what God is doing and will do at LCS for His honor and glory.

Principal Todd Steltz

Saints Alive • 3

NHS Inducts Thirteen New Members

Pictured are the 2015 LCS National Honor Society members. They are Trecyi Le (front row, left), CM Luo, Grace Turner, Catherine Apple-ton, Emily Werner, Lindsey Christa, Diane Hwang; Jack Li (second row, left), Carson Argenna, Jessica Tillapaugh, Jerry Brushafer, Ben Appleton, Olivia Cox, Kendra Legters, Claire Bogart; Nathan Arnold (back row, left), Conell Christiansen, Amanda Case, Natalie Domina, Paul Morgan, Joshua Myles, and Nathaniel Wendlandt.

Thirteen juniors and seniors were in-ducted into the Lima Christian School Chapter of the National Honor Society in December. The inductees were wel-comed during a special candle-lighting ceremony by nine NHS members who were inducted into the society in 2014. The new inductees were juniors Na-than Arnold, Jerry Brushafer, Amanda Case, Natalie Domina, Treyci Le, Paul Morgan, Jessica Tillapaugh, and Grace

Turner. Senior inductees were Ben Apple-ton, Carson Argenna, Conell Christiansen, Jack Li, and CM Luo. To be considered for NHS membership, LCS students must maintain a cumulative grade point average of at least eighty-five percent, be of good character, demonstrate strong leadership skills, and show evidence of serving. They must also complete an ap-plication and submit a reference letter from someone other than a relative or a teacher.

LCS students enjoying their second year in the society are Catherine Ap-pleton, Claire Bogart, Lindsey Christa, Olivia Cox, Diane Hwang, Kendra Legters, Josh Myles, Emily Werner, and Nathaniel Wendlandt. Only junior and senior level stu-dents can be inducted into the NHS. A special reception for NHS members and their families was held in the Fel-lowship Hall following the ceremony.

4 • Saints Alive

AlumniNews...2000Audrey Oppedisano and Dr. Hugo Calero were united in marriage on January 4, 2015. The groom’s fam-ily from Colombia and the bride’s family from New York were delighted to meet on the vibrant beaches of Mexico for the wedding. Emily Schwartz Dewey (1999) and Bethany Schwartz Warsaw (1999) attended the bride, and Rachel Sumner Durik (1999) photographed the wedding. Audrey and Hugo live in the Bronx, NY. Audrey is a physician assistant, and Hugo is completing a fellowship in orthodontics.

2008Brandon Bearce wed his high school sweetheart Heather McGlashon, both 2008 graduates, during a cer-emony held at Midvale Country Club in Penfield on August 1, 2015. Brother of the groom, Casey (2009), and brother of the bride, D.J. (2013), were part of the wedding party. Andy Britton (1992) completed a reading during the ceremony. Following a reception at the country club, the couple honey-mooned in Williamsburg, VA. Brandon is currently working as a sales rep. for Pepsi Co. Heather is an elementary teacher at Genesee Country Christian School and is the assistant LCS girls’ JV basketball coach. The couple now calls Scottsville home.

Teacher Brings Compassion to Cancer Patients

Bringing the Past to Life One Story at a Time Helen Keller, Henry Ford, C.S. Lewis, Amy Carmi-chael, Jackie Robinson, Jim Thorpe, and other his-torical figures came to life recently when the eighth graders presented their stories. The students had read biographies about a variety of people in history who had made a positive impact on their world. The students then dressed in character and shared “their” life stories with students in grades six and seven during a special presentation held in the Fellowship Hall. Props, creative backdrops, and period costumes helped bring each character to life.

Former LCS high school art teacher and cancer survivor Cindy Dalton has been spending her retirement blessing others. She recently completed Hug of Compassion, a book of artwork created by twenty-seven artists. She donated the book to The Pluta Cancer Center in Henrietta with hopes that it would bring comfort to patients at the center. “I remember seeing the same patients day after day, and I felt a sisterhood with the other women battling cancer,” Cindy said referring to the time she was undergo-ing treatment. As a cancer survivor, she said she wanted to show people she cared, give them comfort, make a connection, and restore their hope.

The idea for the book originated from a hug from a stranger. “I knew that hug was from the Lord. He just kind of put His arms on that hug for me. It was like He was saying I haven’t been forsaken; He didn’t forget about me,” Cindy said. To learn about the stranger’s hug, view some of the artwork, or purchase a copy of Hug of Compas-sion for yourself or a friend, log onto www.hugofcompassion.com. Several LCS graduates and former teachers donated artwork for the book, includ-ing Cindy’s children, and Ben Duliba (2015), Kayla Ferris (2015), and Lila Trezise (2015).

Jeremy Dalton (2005), left, Diane Adams (LCS science teacher), artist Susan Miccichi, artist Margie Stevens, artist and editor Cindy Dalton, artist Carolyn Kropp, artist and former LCS aide Brenda Allen, and Wade Dalton (Cindy’s husband) helped make the project a reality.

Saints Alive • 5

Annual Auction’s New LocationDraws Faithful Supporters More than $21,000 was raised during the 2015 LCS Benefit Auction. These funds go toward reducing tuition costs. RTI Auctions of Geneseo, with the help of several LCS volunteers, ran the annual fundraiser. This year’s event was held on the LCS campus. The new location helped reduce set-up and take-down stresses and allowed the school to showcase its newest addition.

6 • Saints Alive

No Time to Be Sheepish It’s all fun and games until someone pokes an eye out, or in this case, it’s tenth grade biology. Scott McCoy, left, and Paul Tilson kept careful watch over their specimen--a sheep’s eye--as they and their classmates began the dissection process. The students are studying the eleven organ sys-tems of the human body, starting with the nervous system. “Students dissected sheep eyes to get an apprecia-tion for the detail and complexity of the eye's struc-ture,” Biology teacher Kari Bogart said, noting that sheep eyes are very similar to human eyes. She said the students marveled at the iridescent coloring of the retina and the hardness of the eye's lens. They had expected it to be thin and pliable, like a contact lens, but God created it very differently.

Sibling Trust Put to the Test DuringArt History Class Eighth grader Rachel Myles care-fully laid strips of plaster bandages across her brother Josh’s face dur-ing Art History class recently. The class was studying Ancient Rome’s life and death masks. The masks, according to art teacher Michelle Garlock, were often made by put-ting plaster bandages over the face. After the plaster dried, a cast copy was made using plaster, wax, or bronze. Josh’s face was eventu-ally gilded with imitation gold.

Kindergarteners Perform Vowel Surgery Mrs. McCarty’s kin-dergarteners performed emergency vowel surgery on several words one very serious day. The ailing words, sporting only their consonants, were found strewn about the room. Instead of panicking, the young vowel doctors went right to work and plugged in the missing vowels. Fortunately there were an abundance of IV bags filled with A’s, E’s, I’s, O’s, and U’s available.

Saints Alive • 7

I am extremely excited to see how God will continue to use this school to ‘grow’ young men and women who love the LORD their God with all their heart, soul, and strength.” (Deut. 6:5) Mrs. Conlon and her husband, Jim, have sent all five of their children to LCS from kindergarten through twelfth grade. Both agree that it has been worth every sacrifice, and they at-tribute their children’s successes to the Christ-centered educational environ-ment offered at LCS. “I love Lima Christian School,” Mrs. Conlon said. “But I often hear people comment on Christian school education as placing our children in ‘bubbles.’ I disagree. Bubbles are fragile and have no real purpose. LCS is a greenhouse for tender plants. One day, these plants will be transplanted into a harsher environment. How strong do you want your plant to be before the inevitable transplant? “At Lima Christian School, nurturing

hearts, cultivating leaders, and honoring God are all purposefully integrated into the curriculum in order to ‘grow’ healthy plants,” she continued. “We desire plants that won’t just survive, but will thrive, spreading seeds

of God’s love.” “Karen brings to the table her gifts of administration, communication skills, a desire for long-term planning, and a keen sense of internal and ex-

Conlon Named New Chair of LCS BoardContinued from page 1

LCS is a greenhouse for tender plants.

One day, these plants will be transplanted

into a harsherenvironment. How

strong do you want your plant to be

before the inevitable transplant?

ternal development that will assist us in LCS’s pursuit of being a distinctive organization that offers an excel-lent Christ-centered education,” Lima Baptist Church Pastor Bob Wheeler said. She has served LCS in a variety of ways, including as a health teacher, room mom, and volunteer coordina-tor, before first joining the board in 2014. Fortunately, Mr. Celuch plans to con-tinue sharing his expertise with LCS. His new focus will be on development and school funding. The school has seen many changes during his tenure, including Phase II of the building project, which included the library wing and classrooms, and Phase III, which included the art room, science lab, and additional classroom spaces. “We greatly appreciate Paul’s faith-ful service over the past twelve years, and our prayers remain with him as he faces new challenges on behalf of LCS,” said Pastor Wheeler.

Junior international students from China and Vietnam shared cultural pre-sentations with elementary students recently. They taught the younger students about food, painting styles, architecture, etiquette, and even how to use those tricky chopsticks. Will Zhang taught first and fifth grade students about the tools used in Chinese cooking and eating and in-cluded a homemade video of himself preparing fried rice. Students tried their hand at using chopsticks to pick up marshmallows. Chris Zhang introduced a variety of foods to the fifth and sixth grade students. Hot pot, tofu, and mustard green peas topped his menu. Harry Ma shared about Chinese painting styles, opera masks, and calligraphy. The fifth graders enjoyed designing their own colorful masks. Kai Liang taught the fifth and sixth graders about Chinese architecture, including the famous roof lines, carvings, and colors of pagodas and pavilions. Finally, Vietnamese student Treyci Le taught Vietnamese manners and

International Students Share Culture, Food with Younger Peersetiquette to the second and fifth graders. She wore her Vietnamese school uniform,

and children practiced standing and greeting their teacher and bowing to adults. “The cultural presentations have been a great opportunity for our inter-national students to share aspects of their home country with our Ameri-can students while gaining practical experience using their English skills,” ESL teacher Tracy Berthin said. “I am so proud of their work on this project; they did a great job interacting with the children and sharing their knowl-edge. I hope we can do more of this in the future.” The audiences agreed. “What an amazing opportunity to learn more about Chinese and Vietnamese cultures,” said fifth grade teacher Kristi Werner. “The fifth grad-ers thoroughly enjoyed hearing about life on the other side of the world directly from such likable and engag-ing experts.“ The most enthusiastic feedback from students came from those at-tempting to master chopsticks. All of the students found the tools fun, yet challenging, to use. Chris Zhang teaches about his homeland.

8 • Saints Alive

Spirit Week 2016:

Blast from the Past Day, Pair Day, Mismatch Day, &

Spirit Day

Saints Alive • 9

Code Blue Brings Warmthto Homeless in Rochester A new club formed this past winter that focuses on help-ing Rochester’s homeless. Organized by international student Treyci Le (pictured front row, second from the right) the club’s members collected blankets, jackets, and other garments and took them to Open Door Mission to distribute. This year’s collection brought in thirty-nine blankets, sixty-nine gloves and mittens, thirty-six pairs of boots, forty-six pairs of socks, 108 coats, sixty-two scarves, and eleven hats. “I have wanted to help the poor people since I was little,” Treyci said. “Helping other people makes me feel happy. I have joy when I see a smile on their faces and see that I can do something meaningful in my life.”

LCS’s boys’ varsity team members (pictured above) who fought hard to win the title were John Faynor (front row, left), Josh Myles, Brandon Allen, Conell Chris-tiansen; Coach Jon Penman (back row, left), Coach Gary Cox, T.J. Sek, Nathan Arnold, Jayson Faynor, Paul Morgan, Coach Darius Cox, Head Coach Ryan Christa, and scorekeeper Mindy Christa. The road to the Section V Class D2 Final Game was paved with playoff victories over Houghton (12th seed), Andover (4), Elba (1), and finally Avoca (2).

The Brick Returns to Lima Christian

10 • Saints Alive

Olivia Cox

Addy Gibney

Lindsey ChristaClaire Bogart

Saints Alive • 11

Updated Gym Lighting Makes Space Look New

Josh Myles Conell ChristiansenBrandon Allen

Our Senior Basketball Players on pages 10 and 11

The LCS gym received a face lift this year when new LED lighting was installed. The simple move to more effi-cient lighting will save the school finan-cially while making the gym sparkle.

Have you signed up for AmazonSmile yet? When you do, please choose Lima Christian School as your beneficiary. Amazon will then donate 0.5% of your purchases to LCS. It costs you nothing but blesses LCS tremendously. Log onto amazon.com for more information.

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Teachers’ Sillier Sides Come Out

DuringSpirit Week

More Spirit Week photos on page 8

"The vigor of our spiritual life will be in exact proportion to the place held by the Bible in our life and thoughts." — George Müller