Family By Choice

Every morning, if I am lucky enough to have the luxury of a few moments of quiet instead of frantically making copies or hunting down the last cup of coffee in the pot, I like to stop and observe our students at playtime. This is, of course, where children are in their element. They interact with the other students around them, barely noticing the teacher, unless a whistle blows in their general direction. What I have observed, then, is the miracle of a family in the making. It has given me such joy to watch our older students with our younger ones. Our young students will often run to the arms of the older ones, ready for a hug, an untied shoe, or a push on the swing. Perhaps it has been a while since you have observed the teenager in his natural habitat. I have encountered many years of middle schoolers in my teaching career, and I can assure you that this is not always typical teenage behavior. Our change in campus this year has brought some challenges, not the least of which is limited places to play. The students could sulk about this, but instead they make it work, and not once have I heard complaining. I have witnessed kickball games where the 8th graders were in the outfield, and just so the 2nd grade girls could score some runs, the older students just so happened to fumble the ball. Badly. The girls squealed and giggled as they made their way around the bases, delighting in the fact that they had finally scored against the formidable 8th grade boys. I have seen our older students spend their time after school tutoring or babysitting so that staff members or parent helpers could get something done on campus in relative peace. This is genuine love and affection for our younger students. This is family. Our older students could be forced to do these things, but they cannot be forced to do it with a smile on their face. Hugs for a scraped knee cannot be faked; "losing" a kickball game is not something that can be planned. This is not just in praise of our older students, by the way. Some might argue that I am biased when it comes to my view of our older students, and they would be right. I am unashamedly proud. I think, however, this is just as much of a statement about our younger students and their incredibly delightful personalities. They make our day a joy, and anyone who has sat through one of our Wednesday morning chapels can attest to that fact. Our younger students certainly make it easy to love them. I also do not mean to say that every day is a series of Pollyanna-ish events. Families fight, and that is sometimes the nature of our family, too. What I am proud of is that our students seem to be inherently aware that we are indeed a family; it is our job to watch out for each other, to care for those who need help, and to provide joy to each other when we can. It is something that I think our school does very well, and I am proud to call it my family. Now if we could just figure out who keeps taking the last of the coffee from the coffee pot...

Math Olympics

Our VCCA family is so proud of the 25 students who participated in the ACSI Math by Mail competition. Our students were part of 500 schools and over 3000 students who demonstrated their mathematical skills in reasoning or computation. In order to qualify for the next round, the Math Olympics, students had to place in the top 25 percent of the test results. Out of the over 3000 who took the test, 18 of our very own VCCA students went on to qualify for the Math Olympics. Thank you, students, for representing Valley Classical Christian Academy so well. We will be cheering you on as you prepare for Math Olympics on Friday, March 6!

VCCA PHOTO GALLERY

Seussical the Musical

"Oh, the Thinks you can think." Seussical Jr., from the Broadway Junior Collection will be performed by our 5th - 8th grade students, April 17 and April 18, 2009. Showtime is scheduled for 7 pm on our campus. The ticket price will be $5.oo per person. Please join us! Fun and frivality are guaranteed.

Join Us for Open House

Our annual Open House is scheduled for Friday, February 20, 2009, at 6:30 pm. VCCA students, faculty and board members will showcase our school and provide an update on the progress being made in the acquisition of a permanent location for our campus.

The evening will begin with a general session in the Sanctuary followed by individual classroom meetings according to grade level.

2009-2010 application packets and Summer Program information will be available that evening. One full tuition waiver will be raffled off during the general session.

We look forward to seeing you there!