Fall 2012

GraceA touch of

Community SchoolCommunity School

Teaching Jesus

Grace Community,Teaching Jesus for 39 years.

GCS School BoardMr. Greg Strnadel - PresidentMrs. Laura CulverDr. Hal EverettMr. Chris GlenneyDr. Charley GordonMrs. Stacy HamiltonMr. Jeff JohnsonMrs. Liz McCownMrs. Stephanie NickelMr. Fred PateMr. Scott PierceMr. Steve SpitzerDr. Brent WadleMr. Clay WhiteMr. Walter Wilhelmi

GCS AdministrationJay Ferguson – HeadmasterJennifer Dozier – Elementary PrincipalJoe Dirksen – Junior High PrincipalWanda Shaeffer – High School Principal

Spiritual Maturity One of the greatest parts of this job is being asked to pray for the children, needs, and struggles of our families. It is a true privilege for me to go before our Father and intercede on behalf of my brothers and sisters at Grace. But, while I’m honored to pray, I usually advise them (half-jokingly), “If you really want something to happen, ask a kid to pray for it!”

I love the tenderness of our Father’s heart, how He cares so much for the young, precious faith of His little children that He often speaks

with such immediacy when they ask. He’s coaxing and nurturing the sparks of their faith into a steady fire. I’m struck by how much it’s like our relationship with our own children when they are young.

One truly dangerous thing we can do with our children is to continue relating to them the same way as they grow and mature as we do when they’re young. If we don’t make the transition from “you’re special and God gave you many gifts” to “but, it’s not all about you; you have a responsibility to God and to the community to use those gifts sacrificially for His glory and others’ well-being”, we stunt our children’s growth and set them up for future heartache and failure.

I often forget to teach my children that our relationship with our Heavenly Father is like our relationship with them. How He relates to us when we’re spiritually young changes as we mature. Once we reach a certain level of spiritual growth, a certain point in our relationship with our Father, that relationship becomes more (although never completely) like that of a parent and an adult child. Thus, God is not as quick to swoop in and rescue us from difficult things or to give us what we pray for immediately or shortly after we pray; He tends to say more often, “my grace is sufficient for you. I love you, I’m with you, you have my delight and my companionship and my love, but I’m going to deliver you through a lot more than I’m going to deliver you from.”

Mostly, He is not going to race in immediately to affirm us or pat us on the back all the time. He wants us to persevere a little more, to strive and contend. He’s not as concerned about instantly gratifying what we think we need as He is that we persist in loving, trusting, and obeying, even without an immediate heavenly “attaboy”. Sometimes, He’ll even allow struggle and pain, instead of affirmation, in the face of our faithfulness. He’ll allow it to remind us that our joy is not contingent on where we are in that precise moment; but adult children living in the fullness of a sweet, mature relationship with Abba. Sometimes I forget that, and I’m so grateful that He doesn’t leave me where He found me.

2 To assist Christian p arents in equipping our

3 young people to influence the world for Christ.

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Date Opponent Place Time Aug 17 Frankston (Scrimmage) Clyde-Perkins Stadium 5:00pm Aug 23 New Diana (Scrimmage) Clyde-Perkins Stadium 5:00pm Aug 30 San Augustine (Pre-District) Clyde-Perkins Stadium 7:00pm Azalea Football ClassicSept 7 Mineola (Pre-District) Mineola Sept 14 Kemp (Pre-District) Clyde-Perkins Stadium Sept 21 OPENSept 28 lDallas Christian Dallas Christian Oct 5 lTrinity Christian - Cedar Hill Clyde-Perkins Stadium Oct 12 lDallas Shelton Dallas Shelton Oct 19 l Bishop TK Gorman TK Gorman Oct 26 l Prince of Peace Clyde-Perkins Stadium HomecomingNov 2 l Brookhill BrookhillNov 9 l Dallas Parish Clyde-Perkins Stadium Senior Night lDenotes District Game All games at 7:30 unless noted.

2012 GCS VARSITY FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

GCS Philosophy of Athletics“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it for the glory of God” I Corinthians 10:31

The mission of Grace Community School is to assist Christian parents in educating, equipping and encouraging their children to influence the world for Christ. Athletics at Grace is a component of the overall curriculum of the school, and as such will be approached through a biblical worldview. A widely held cultural assumption states that athletics, in and of itself, produces positive character

development among participants; we as believers know this to be untrue. At Grace, athletics provides a means to an end, with that end being Christ-like character qualities such as integrity, sportsmanship, service, discipline and a commitment to excellence. It is our goal to “teach Jesus” through athletics as a part of the greater mission of educating, equipping and encouraging our student-athletes to influence the world for Christ.

We believe that as Christians, we should be on mission at all times. Whether in the classroom or on the fields of competition we should seek to glorify God in our actions, words and deeds. Our goal is to ensure that every aspect of our athletic department is oriented toward preparing our student-athletes to influence the world for Christ. Athletics is not our God; God is our God. This approach will, by definition, render us counter-cultural and in sharp contrast to our larger communities. In order to become counter-cultural from an athletic perspective, student-athletes, coaches, and spectators must be willing to submit to the will of God in their personal lives, which will empower our student-athletes to emulate their Lord in growing “in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” (Luke 2:52). In doing so, we present our lives as living sacrifices for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, holy and acceptable (Romans 12:1). By emphasizing Christ-like character qualities, and a standard of excellence rooted in God’s Word, we believe that we will fulfill our responsibility within the mission of our school. We play for an audience of One. For an Audience of One! Devin Delaughter GCS Director of Athletics

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young people to influence the world for Christ.

These are some of the Great Things of Grace from the 2011-2012 School year:

• We recently implemented Foundations and Frameworks in the elementary school. This compre-hensive, cutting edge, research based reading program is already yielding huge results as our stu-dents are reaching junior high.

• Implementation of our new ERB standardized test systems reveal that, at the culmination of our pre-high school curriculum, our 8th graders exceeded the performance of other private indepen-dent schools in math and life science (school such as St. Mark’s and Hockaday in Dallas).

• Of the three National Merit Finalists in Tyler this year, two were from Grace.

• GCS was the overall fine arts state champion for the fifth straight year, including producing the outstanding male AND female student in the state, and the outstanding teacher of the year for the second time.

• Every year for the past 10 years, Grace has finished in the TAPPS top five in the state for overall excellence in athletics, academics, and fine arts, and has done so in a higher classification than any other school in the area.

All of these accomplishments culminated this past year in GCS being awarded charter member status in the Council for Educational Standards and Accountability, a national organization of top Christian schools, which includes Brentwood Christian Academy in Nashville, Wheaton Christian Academy in the Chicago area, Boston Trinity Academy, and The Dunham School in Baton Rouge, among others. Grace is currently the only school in Texas to achieve this distinction.

These things are all done for God’s glory, to make His Name great, because your school is all about teaching Jesus. If GCS’s past history is any indication, your child will be a better man or woman, a better student at this and the next level, a better church member, and a better follower of Christ because God led you to GCS. Based on the above, it’s among the smartest dollars you’ll spend, with the longest-lasting value.

Honoraria and MemorialsGifts given to honor or in memory of family members, faculty, students and friends by the donors listed below.

Gifts are acknowledged immediately by a personal card to the bereaved or honored family. No mention is made of the gift amount.Many find this living memorial more meaningful than flowers. (Gifts received as of printing deadline for this issue.)

In memory of Ben Meyer, father of Glo Tjoelker and great grandfather of Rebekah Miller (2nd)Given by: Jo Ann and Gary Krafft, Amy and David McCullough

In memory of Edward H. Bays, grandfather of Brit (6th) and Brooks (3rd) BaysGiven by: Glenda Bays

In honor of Kalynn Giffin (K) and Landry Norman (Daycare)Given by: Paula and Harold Hawkins

In honor of Laura Arrendell Nicolardi (Grace parent)Given by: Norma and Clyde Arrendell

In honor of Denise Davis (2nd grade teacher)Given by: Matthew Winkler

In honor of Dennis Alden Given by: Laura and Ken Haygood

In honor of Jennifer Davin (Kindergarten teacher)Given by: Roxanne and Scott Ary

In memory of Hilda “Gran” Holloway, Great Grandmother of Davis Welch (4th) and Cooper Welch (2nd)Given by: Holly and Jared Shultz

In memory of J.C. Kelley, family of Edward and Roxanne Waterman, Russell Waterman (8th)Given by: Lynda Tekell

In memory of Jim Mitchell, grandfather of Kameron (4th) and Brenden (1st) PlankGiven by: Angie and Jeff Reed

In honor of Heather Allen (Kindergarten teacher)Given by: Stephanie and Tom Lamb

In honor of Nan Timmons (3rd grade teacher)Given by: Mason Kelly

In honor of Pam Craver (4th grade teacher)Given by: Ashley and Ashley Camp

In honor of LeAnn Shields (1st grade teacher)Given by: Laura and Matthew Culver

In honor of Heather Allen (K5 teacher)Given by: Laura and Matthew Culver

To send an Honoraria or Memorial, you can go to www.gracetyler.org or make checks to Grace Community Schooland send instructions to Grace Community School, 3025 University Blvd., Tyler, TX 75701

11To assist Christian p arents in equipping our

Grace Community School . . . Influencing the World for Christ

Non-ProfitOrganizationU.S. Postage

PAIDTyler, TX

Permit No. 936

Grace Community School3001 University Boulevard • Tyler, TX 75701

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

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TO R

EMEM

BER

15 First Day of School - JH & HS Elementary Meet the Teacher 10am-1pm

16 First Day of School - Elementary

27-28 Elementary Class Meetings

30-9/1 GCS Hosting Azalea Football Classic Clyde Perkins Stadium

3 Labor Day - No School

11 5th Grade to Pine Cove

18 High School Annual Azleway Football Game

21 High School Community Service Day

25 GCS Hosting National Christian College Fair 6:30pm

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

1 Online Registration for Auction Opens

4 6th Grade to Austin

12-13 GCS High School Musical Performances - 12th & 13th at 7pm, and 13th at 2pm

15-16 Fall Break - No School

17 PSAT Testing for grades 9-11

22 Junior High Band Concert 7pm

23 Elementary Preview 8-10am - Tell Your Friends Orchestra Concert 7pm

25 Choir Concert 7pm

29 ACT Prep Workshop with Chad Cargill 5:30pm

30 Minister Appreciation 8-9:30am Fall Jazz Band Concert 7pm

1 GCS Dinner and Action 5:30pm GABC Crosswalk Center

6 Veterans’ Day Chapel Elementary Champus 8am

9 New Mom’s Luncheon 12pm

14 5th Grade Wax Museum 8-9am

19-23 Thanksgiving Break - No School

OCTOBER

CONTACT INFOLOWER CAMPUS:

3215 Old Jacksonville Road, Tyler, TX 75701(903) 593-1977

UPPER CAMPUS:3001 University Boulevard, Tyler, TX 75701

Junior High: (903)566-5600High School: (903)566-5661

www.gracetyler.org

NOVEMBER