Christian Education, More Important Now Than Ever Before · sonalities and top level executives. Each time a new accusation or confession of guilt is made, I become more concerned

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M a n h a t t a n C h r i s t i a n S c h o o l C o n n e c t i o n s

CALENDAR H IGHLIGHTS

Manhattan Christian School

Partnering with you for life!

8000 Churchill Road

Manhattan, Montana 59741

Connections February 2018

NONPROFIT ORG.

U.S. POSTAGE

PAID

Bozeman, MT

PERMIT NO 164

{February}

1 Basketball @ Shields Valley, 2:30 PM

2 Basketball @ Lone Peak, 3:30 PM

6 JV Basketball @ home vs. Mt Ellis Academy, 4 PM

9 Basketball @ Gardiner, TBD

10 Basketball @ home vs. Whitehall, 4 PM

MCS Alumni Event @ MEC

15-17 District Basketball Tournament @ MEC, TBD

22-24 Divisional Basketball Tournament @ Hamilton,

TBD

{March}

1-3 Boys Basketball State Tournament @ Butte, TBD

8-10 Girls Basketball State Tournament @ Butte, TBD

12-16 Spring Break, no school

24 MCS Prom

27 MCS Drama Performance, 7 PM

29 MCS Drama Performance, 7 PM

End of 3rd Quarter

{Apri l}

3/30-4/2 Easter Break, no school

6 Dutch Supper & Tulip Mania

7 Track Varsity away vs. Sheridan

Cadet-O-Rama

13-14 District Music Festival

14 Track vs. Manhattan @ Belgrade High

20 No school

21 Track vs. Belgrade @ Belgrade High

23 JV Golf @ Cottonwood Hills Golf Course

24 Varsity Golf @ Cottonwood Hills Golf Course

27 4-on-4 Volleyball Tournament

28 Track @ Bozeman High School, 9 AM

NOTE: Dates/times are subject to change. For the most current dates/times of events, please check the manhattanchristian.org website calendars. Events are updated frequently on the website calendar.

Return Service Requested

connections Manhattan Christian School Issue 4, Volume 18

February

2018

Christian Education, More Important

Now Than Ever Before

Over the past several months we have been bombarded with news or accusations of immoral behavior at the highest levels of our gov-ernment and within a community of entertainers, news media per-sonalities and top level executives. Each time a new accusation or confession of guilt is made, I become more concerned about the future of our country and society. We must have persons of integ-rity and faith take leadership roles in all areas of society and life.

This also pushes me to consider the incredible value of Christian Education and the opportunity we have at Manhattan Christian to shape the future. Having an educational system founded on rock solid moral values and expectations may simply be the only hope we have at stemming the tide of immorality and debase behavior that seems to be overtaking our society in more and more blatant ways.

In our Mission and Vision statement we clearly state what we ex-pect to happen for those who attend Manhattan Christian. In our Portrait of a Graduate we state what we strive for in the formation of graduates.

We expect our graduates to be able to practice Godly dis-cernment. We would expect our students to be able to sacrificially give of themselves for the good of the whole. We want our students to think deeply and take action.

Pictured above: the MCS Kindergarten classes working on assembling and decorating

gingerbread houses.

Alumni Weekend Event February 10

12 PM—Alumni Co-Ed Volleyball Game

1 PM—Alumni Women’s Basketball Game

2 PM—Alumni Men’s Basketball Game

All alumni and their families are invited to attend!

Enjoy a light lunch—Alumni Hospitality Room open from 12:30 PM to 5:30 PM in the Atrium

Free admission to high school (C, JV, Varsity) basketball games vs. Whitehall starting at 3 PM

Free bag of popcorn during high school games

Fellowship with other alumni

Register for this event by emailing [email protected] or by calling (406) 282-7261.

(Continued on page 2)

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We hope and desire to see our students walk humbly in Christ’s footsteps with obe-dience and joy. We want them to be creative in thank-ful response for what our Savior has done for each of them.

This is certainly a huge task. Over my 6 years at Manhattan Christian I have seen many successes. Unfortunately, I have also seen or experienced in some way students who seem to crash and burn while at MCS and after leaving our school. This is trou-bling. However, we will push on as Paul encourages us to do in our race of life. We lean on the Spirit of God to open the hearts and minds of our youth and embrace the faith for their lifetime.

Philippians 3:13-14 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forget-ting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ

Jesus. I thank all of you for entrusting your pre-cious children into our care. I thank all of you who have so faithfully supported MCS with your prayers and your finances. May God bless you all in the year ahead of us. You can always count on God’s faithful promises and care.

In His Service, Patrick De Jong

Employment Opportunities

The following coaching positions are availa-ble at MCS:

Middle School track & field coach, starting March 2018

JV golf coach, starting March 2018

If interested, please fill out a coaching appli-cation online at manhattanchristian.org. Contact Liz Flikkema at 282-7261 for more information. The following job opportunities are available at MCS as well: Substitute Teacher Substitute Bus Driver Principal/Superintendent of School Resource Room Director

Call the School (282-7261) for more infor-mation or visit manhattanchristian.org.

Shopping on Amazon

Any shopping that is done on Amazon.com can benefit MCS by using smile.amazon.com. Use the following URL to shop, https://smile.amazon.com//gp/chpf/about/ref=smi_se_dshb_aas_saas.

SCRIP Tips By Julie Busch, SCRIP Coordinator We have had a great number of sales of SCRIP cards during the past couple of months. Many people made their Christmas purchases by using SCRIP cards, and also gave gift cards as presents for Christ-mas. What a great way to help take a bit of money off your tuition, as well as to support the school in a rather easy way!! As the hus-tle and bustle of the holidays settle into the pace of regular life....there are many ways you can continue to pay down your tuition and support the school. Many people use grocery cards purchased through SCRIP to do their regular grocery shopping. This is also an effective way to help with budget-ing. When you purchase the cards in ad-vance, you know how much of your budget

you have left to spend. Many grocery cards that you purchase come with a "reloadable" feature, meaning you can go to the shop with SCRIP website and can immediately put more of a balance on your card. This is so very convenient. Once you receive your card, no more waiting to pick up until Wednesdays... you have immediate funds on your card! Another great way to utilize the SCRIP pro-gram is to encourage friends and relatives to sign up and to designate their rebates to go to you! This can even work for out of town people, who can sign up and take advantage of the SCRIP now and reloadable features! If you have any questions about signing up, or need help navigating the website, please don't hesitate to call Julie Busch at 388-7645 or email [email protected].

District Basketball Tour-

naments

The Class C District Basketball tournaments

will take place at the Memorial Events Cen-

ter on Thursday, Friday and Saturday,

February 15, 16 and 17. Helpers are

needed for team hosts/hostesses and ushers

from 2-6 PM and 6-9 PM on Thursday and

Friday; also for 8 AM-noon, 2-5 PM and 5-9

PM on Saturday. If you are interested in

volunteering on any of these days, please

contact Liz Flikkema at 282-7261.

Just a friendly reminder for all fans to please

be respectful and kind spectators in the

stands while cheering for your team. We

appreciate your presence at events and sup-

port for our teams!

Manhattan Christian Connections Published September to June of each year

Manhattan Christian School 8000 Churchill Road Manhattan, Montana 59741 Tel: (406) 282-7261 www.manhattanchristian.org

MCS Events and Reminders

(MCS Events/Reminders continued on page 3)

(“Christian Education” continued from page 1)

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Office: 406.282.7113

Mobile: 406.581.3144

Email: [email protected]

www.bhhsmt.com

2001 Stadium Drive

Bozeman, MT 59715

Kelley C. Halle, ABR®, CRS®, GRI®

Sales Associate

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For advertising in this publication, or to submit

content, please contact Brooke Sinnema at [email protected].

Premier Health Insurance of Montana

Resource Room Director

As many of you may know, Shirley Dyk, our Resource

Room Director, has informed the administration that she

intends to retire at the completion of this school year.

Shirley has built, with God's guidance, an incredible Re-

source Room at MCS. She will leave big shoes to fill.

To that end, we a seeking a replacement for her position. If

you know of anyone with experience and educational quali-

fications in Special Education who might be interested in

opening some discussions about coming to MCS, please give

Mr. Patrick De Jong a call. You can also email him at

[email protected].

Annual Campaign Update

This is just a short update on the MCS Annual Campaign.

We have collected $85,495 (with pledges) thus far that is

designated for Tuition Assistance or General Fund. Thanks

to all who have contributed! Our goal is $133,000 and it

certainly is not too late to get involved. Remember all dona-

tions are tax deductible.

Patrick De Jong,

Superintendent

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(Continued on page 5)

Music Concert

We need host families for about 44 college choir students for the

night of March 4. There are 26 women, 16 men, and one mar-

ried couple. If you are interested in hosting students, please con-

tact Andrew Miller at school, 282-7261.

There will be a concert at Manhattan CRC at 10 AM on Mon-

day, March 5. This will be a combined college and MCS high

school choir concert.

Early Learning Showcase

Interested in Preschool or Kindergarten for the 2018/2019

school year? Join us at Manhattan Christian School on Tuesday,

March 6 at 7 PM to check out all that Manhattan Christian has

to offer for your child! At our Preschool and Kindergarten infor-

mation night, you can take a tour of our Preschool and Kindergar-

ten rooms, learn about our MCS Preschool and Kindergarten clas-

ses, learn about our three and five day Kindergarten class options,

and sign up for Kindergarten screening! 2018/2019 Preschool

registration will be open Tuesday, March 20 at 8 AM, no

early registrations will be accepted. Thank you for your

understanding. For more information, please call the school office

at 282-7261.

Spring Break

Spring Break for MCS is March 12-16. The school offices will be closed during this time. Enjoy this time off from school.

ACT for all Juniors—March 20

Mr. Ovenell will be giving the ACT to all Juniors on March 20

at no charge to students. This fulfills two purposes:

1. It provides a valuable ACT score to each Junior as they prepare

for their plans after high school.

2. It serves as the academic state testing for the State of Montana.

Juniors may see some practice questions at www.actstudent.org if

they so desire.

Dutch Supper & Tulip Mania

Please save the date for Friday, April 6 for our annual Dutch

Supper and Tulip Mania auction.

Want to donate to the silent and live auctions? Think about a fun

theme basket you can put together and donate! We are also in

need of baskets for donated items! All items must be delivered to

the school no later than Thursday, March 29, unless prior ar-

rangements have been made.

Remember, Friday, April 6! —Mark your calendars! Ques-

tions? Please contact Jen (503-830-5211) or Jill (406-282-7261).

Rotary Student

The Rotary Student of the month is Ashley Braaksma (pictured

right, photo courtesy of Mrs. Bree Leep).

“My name is Ashley Braaksma. I

have been involved in theater,

volleyball, basketball, and track

throughout my four years of

high school. I have always main-

tained a spot on the honor roll

and have been a part of the stu-

dent council and vice-president

of my class. I plan to attend ei-

ther Montana State University

or Carroll College for Pre-

medicine.”

Giving Projects By Matt Kamps, MS/HS Principal

The middle school had the opportunity to give and serve this past

Christmas in a variety of ways. One morning, all 67 middle

schoolers went by bus to three different retirement and rehabilita-

tion homes in Bozeman to share their songs from the Christmas

concert, sing carols, and share handmade Christmas cards with

the residents that they met. I was so impressed with how com-

fortable our students were walking up to people in wheelchairs

and with disabilities, introducing themselves, and having conver-

sations.

A second way they were able to give was through a giving project

that benefited Love, INC. Do you know what good things Love,

INC does in our county? Most of you know, I'm sure, but if not,

check out this link, https://loveincgc.org/.

The middle schoolers, this time partnering with the elementary

students, raised over $883 for "love bugs", which are small care

packages of socks, underwear, and a t-shirt for children. They

made 168 of them! They also collected gently used winter cloth-

(MCS Events/Reminders continued from page 2)

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Congratulations to Jeff Bellach We would like to congratulate Jeff Bellach on being inducted into the Digger Athletics Hall of Fame at Montana Tech. Jeff currently

coaches the boys basketball and golf teams at MCS; he is also the Physical Education/Health and Weight Training teacher for middle/

high school students at MCS.

“Jeff Bellach, playing from 1995-99, helped lead the Montana Tech basketball team to back-to-back Frontier Conference Champion-

ships in 1998 and 1999. The team reached the NAIA National Tournament both years, the only two appearances by a Tech men's

basketball team.

The Kent, Washington native is the most prolific three-point shooter in school history with 375 treys during his career. He is second

on the Most Three-Point Field Goals in a Season with 115.

At the end of his career, he was second on the All-Time Scoring list with 1,778 points and is still third today. In his senior year, he

was selected first team All-Conference and was a first team All-Pacific Northwest Regional honoree as well as Honorable Mention All

American as a Senior; 2nd teams All Conference as a Freshman and Sophomore; Honorable Mention Junior Year; 3 games with at

least 9 3-pointers.”

Geography Bee

Students in grades 4-8 recently participated in a classroom run off for the National Geography Bee. The all-school bee was held on

Friday, January 12. The first

and second place winners

for each class (in grades 4-8)

participated in this bee.

Congratulations to all the

participants, winners and

alternates! Blaise Bolich

(4th grade) took the win-

ning performance this year,

closely followed by Brody

Ayers (7th grade) who took

second place. Blaise will be

taking a test online to see if

he will qualify to participate

in the Montana State Geogra-

phy Bee held in April.

Grade 4: Addison Venema and Blaise Bolich; Alternates: Andrew Kimm and Nicholas Dykema

Grade 5: Elijah Kamps and Lucas Schwendeman; Alternates: Bella Triemstra and Brianne Flikkema

Grade 6: Brenna Venhuizen and Katie VanKirk; Alternate: Sylvia Carisch

Grade 7: Sam Buckner and Brody Ayers; Alternates: Treyson VanderMolen and Abbi Leep

Grade 8: Sam Carlson and Mali Kamerman; Alternates: Adriana Kamerman and Landon Scott

Pictured above, left to right: Lucas Schwendeman, Elijah Kamps, Blaise Bolich, Addison Venema, Sam Carlson,

Brody Ayers, Sam Buckner, Brenna Venhuizen, Katie VanKirk, and Adriana Kamerman.

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ing (37 coats, 6 pairs of boots, 10 pairs of gloves, 22 hats, 6 pairs

of snow pants, and a scarf) and over 200 personal care items (like

laundry soap and shampoo).

The students were able to hear from a representative from Love,

INC before the giving began, and so they had a good idea of where

their help was needed and they heard stories about people in our

county who are served by Love, INC. To God be the glory!

New Head of Maintenance at Manhat-

tan Christian

As some of you may be aware, Mr. Bruce Buckner has decided to

pursue other interests beyond serving as head of maintenance at

Manhattan Christian School. Mr. Buckner has served the school

well for the many years that he has been here. His skills and abili-

ties have promoted and produced a well maintained facility that

we at Manhattan Christian can be proud of making available to

students and the community. We wish Mr. Buckner well on his

new business venture of cabinet making and thank him for his

many years of faithful service at Manhattan Christian. I am sure he

will not be a stranger to MCS as his son, Sam, is a student.

At the same time, we are pleased to announce that we have hired a

new Director of Maintenance. Mr. Scott Kimm has decided to join

our team at MCS. As an MCS alumnus, Scott and his wife, Denise,

have three children who have also graduated from Manhattan

Christian. In the past Scott has served on the MCS Board of Direc-

tors. We are so pleased that he has agreed to bring his skills and

commitment to Christian Education to our school. Welcome

aboard Scott.

MCS School to Work Program By Mike Ovenell, MCS Guidance Counselor

MCS has a School to Work Program for our “hands on” seniors,

starting their day at an area business, working side by side with the

employees, and learning valuable skills in the work world. Stu-

dents rotate through participating businesses throughout the

school year, giving them a variety of work experiences. Students

learn to be on time, hone their listening skills, work as a team,

solve problems, set goals, work through challenges, dress appro-

priately, listen closely, follow directions, and work with their

hands and their mind.

Partnering businesses have included Danhof Chevrolet, Churchill

Equipment, L2 Millworks, Bridger Steel, Bequet Confections,

Sorenson Veterinary Hospital and Churchill Retirement Home.

Past students in the program have included Colten Leum, Austin

Bos, James Ramirez, Alex Swank, Brad Kamps and Joey Lodine.

This year’s participants are Ben Smit, Sam Bennett and Turner

Diemert. The program is coordinated by Mr. Ovenell, school

counselor at MCS.

Science Exploration at MCS By Bree Leep, Physics, Chemistry & Physical Science Teacher (Photos below are courtesy of Bree Leep)

We had a successful first semester with our new science explora-tions class. Each student chose a science project to explore; they researched, designed, built, modeled, created, organized and ana-lyzed a wide variety of topics. Here’s a list of what each student worked on:

Alex Veltkamp: electrolytes in sports drinks Hailey Kassity: measuring glucose levels in blood Lexie Kassity: pregnancy in horses Mariah Leum: parasitology in horses Madison Johnson: the science of honey Grant VanDyken: building a takedown recurve bow Jesper Koski: designing, 3D printing, and testing a model Mars rover Ben Smit: designing / 3D printing a model CVT transmission Ashley Braaksma: gel electrophoresis

Above: Ben Smit with model CVT Above: Jesper Koski with model Mars rover

Above: Madison Johnson with MT Honey Bee Co. honey Above: Lexie Kassity

(“Giving Projects” continued from page 3)

Documents

Christian Education, More Important Now Than Ever Before · sonalities and top level executives. Each time a new accusation or confession of guilt is made, I become more concerned