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Augustine Christian Academy...in Thy light, we see light. Psalm 36:9

The Augustine ForumThe Newsmagazine of Augustine Christian AcademySpring 2013

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Letter From the Administrator

On the Cover

ACA junior Kyle Turner teaches iPad skills to Grammar School students Lydia Conroy, Finn Aspenson, and Joel Nnaji (story on page 5).

Top: Lilian Krautter, 1st gradeMiddle: Nadia Smith shows off the caterpillar grass garden that she planted with Mrs. Schwenk during class.Bottom: Griffin House women’s Grailball team prepares for a spring playoff game.

Dear Friends of ACA,

I t is a privilege to address you in my last issue of The Augustine Forum, as I enjoy talking about the aspirations and accomplishments of ACA as well as the

challenges.

The concept of teaching a man to fish rather than just giving him a fish precisely fits the philosophy of ACA. Our challenge and aim is to teach our students how to study, how to manage their time, how to read with understanding, how to prioritize, how to organize, and much more. Such life lessons are often much more important than a list of facts. Lists, you can look up, but “how to” lessons yield results long after facts are forgotten.

ACA has taken many steps to help students become leaders, thinkers, and organizers. Students are assigned work duties each day to help clean the school, empty trash, wash windows, etc. The time spent is only 10 minutes a day, but the results are incredibly important. Students learn to take ownership of their school and to respect the building. I suppose all these duties could be hired out, but the value to the students’ character would be missing.

The renowned Jewish theologian and philosopher Abraham J. Heschel once told an audience, “When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.” Our aim at ACA is to help the students attain this understanding at an earlier age. Learning and knowledge without the underpinnings of good character lead to misery. Over the years in writing this short column, I have stressed the importance at ACA of building character. Education is important, but of greater importance is building character. Teaching a man to fish is a skill issue, but even more, it implies building character. Simply giving out a fish builds dependency, victimization, and a “you owe me” attitude. Learning how to fish builds the desire to be a provider … an entrepreneur … a giver rather than a taker.

Our vision at ACA is to build leaders, build character, and encourage lifelong learning. Many of our graduates return and tell us that they shine in comparison to other students at their university. It is not just facts — but maturity and life lessons — that have been instilled. What a blessing to hear these testimonials, because they indicate that we have taught our students to fish, and hopefully they will teach others to do the same on their road to maturity. Pray with us that we as teachers and staff members remain faithful and consistent to these goals that the Lord has set before us.

Blessings,

Larry J. EhrlichLarry J. Ehrlich, D. Phil.

The concept of teaching a man to fish rather than just giving him a fish

precisely fits the philosophy of ACA.

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Upcoming Events

Kindergarten GraduationTuesday, May 14, 201310:00 a.m.ACA Great Room

5th Grade GraduationTuesday, May 14, 20132:00 p.m.ACA Great Room

8th Grade GraduationThursday, May 16, 20137:00 p.m.ACA Great Room

Senior GraduationFriday, May 17, 20137:00 p.m.Woodlake Assembly of God Church7100 E. 31st St., Tulsa, OK 74145

Dr. Ehrlich’s Retirement Open HouseSunday, June 2, 20132:00 - 5:00 p.m.ACA Great Room

The Augustine Forumpublished semiannually by Augustine Christian Academy

Contributors: Deleise Brewer, Kirk Brewer, Vicki Cheeseman, Gary Conroy, Becki Davis, Larry Ehrlich, Beth Jones, Denise Knorr and Sweeter Still Photography, Kirk Post, Alethia Reece, and the ACA Yearbook Staff

Cover Photo: Channing RiversFaculty Advisor: Deleise BrewerProofreader: Vicki Cheeseman

Editor: Karen AspensonMentor and Liaison: Andrew Johnson

For the glory of the Lord

Augustine Christian Academy is a 501(c)(3) corporation. All contributions are tax deductible

in compliance with IRS statutes.

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Performance

ACA places high priority on academic achievement. Our faculty and staff work overtime to provide the best education for our students.

Likewise, our students have been taught to understand the importance of Proverbs 13:4 (ESV), which states: “The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.”

The statistics below are a small sampling of the success our students have achieved since our founding in 1997.

ACT Scores

National Merit ScholarsACA has a proportionately high number of students — 6% — who achieve National Merit status. The following students were recognized by the

National Merit program. Class size for each year is in parentheses.

2002 – Becky Thompson, Colleen Farish (7)2003 – Jared Weir (15)

2006 – Grant Good (15)2009 – Davis Good (13)2011 – Scott Smith, Bailey Turner (17)2012 – Lyrica Krautter (22)

National Merit Commended Scholars2003 – Stephen Tyree (15)2010 – Philip Spencer (28)2011 – Michael Emerson (17)

Colleges and Universities AttendedThe following colleges and universities are some of the many institutions that our students have attended after completing their studies at ACA.

Baylor University, University of Southern California, Texas A&M, Hebrew University (Jerusalem), Full Sail University, University of Tulsa, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, Oral Roberts University, Southern Nazarene University, Oklahoma Baptist University, Le Tourneau University, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian College, Covenant College, Pensacola Christian College, and many more.

Military Branches ServedOur graduates have served in the Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Air National Guard.

GroupNational

Oklahoma

ACA

Average Composite

21.1

20.7

24.4

Graduates Tested

40%

69%

100%

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Faculty Spotlight

Karen SwensonKirk Brewer, ACA Faculty

When making a list of “typical homeschool mom” characteristics (if such a list could be created or such a

creature as “typical homeschool mom” exists), most people would not scrawl “must love to ride motorcycles” at the top. In fact, for some, riding motorcycles, playing the saxophone, or harboring an innate passion for polynomials would most likely not even make the list of their top homeschool educator “must haves.” Yet, at Augustine Christian Academy, we have a living, breathing example of just such a homeschool-mom-turned-schoolteacher in veteran ACA math teacher Karen Swenson.

Swenson, who teaches algebra II, geometry, trigonometry, and calculus, began teaching math at Augustine 13 years ago after spending years as a homeschool mom and, later, as principal of Cornerstone Tutorial Center, a well-known Tulsa homeschool co-op. Swenson says that she never envisioned herself as a teacher, because she “wasn’t patient enough or nice enough,” an assessment which perfectly illustrates her self-effacing attitude. Anyone who’s observed Swenson as she tutors students after school or on her days off, or who’s heard her explain a theorem for a third time (and in a third way!) is keenly aware that patience and niceness are qualities Swenson seems to have in exponential quantities.

Yet teaching wasn’t her first goal in life — motherhood was. She began teaching because she felt God wanted her to teach her own children, and soon found that she was a natural at it. As part of teaching her daughter, Heidi (who is now a teacher herself), and son, Josh (who works in computer networking), Swenson joined a homeschool co-op and discovered that helping other parents educate their children was something that brought her satisfaction

and helped the other parents. Her natural organizational skills and ability to translate complex math into terms that students (and parents) could understand soon made her an invaluable team member and teacher in the Tulsa homeschool community.

Swenson found that studying and teaching math was not only practical and helpful to students, but also spiritually uplifting to her. “Studying math and finding the patterns, designs, and organization in it remind me of the nature of God — consistent and dependable,” she explains. She loves to help students see

the spiritual significance in something as simple as square roots, explaining, “God’s nature can be seen in everything we are doing.”

But Swenson loves the call of the great outdoors, too, particularly if she’s observing it while riding her motorcycle (a Yamaha V-Star 1100) with Dave, her husband of 40 years. Together they have taken road trips all over the Midwest, including Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, Louisiana, and Texas. But road trips are only a few memories they share together. They have known each other since they met in middle school band class, where, evidently, future engineer Dave was too shy or too focused on his music to notice his future mathematician wife.

“I was first chair saxophone and Dave was second chair,” Swenson explains. “It took me a whole year to get him to notice me,” she says with a wry grin. “But he eventually came around.”

They started officially dating their senior year of high school, and later married while attending college at the University of Minnesota.

Forty years later, they’re still going strong and are grandparents to “five grands” on whom they dote. Since moving to Tulsa in 1978, they have attended First Baptist Church in Broken Arrow, and until a couple of years ago, they lived in the same house they bought back then. “We don’t do change real well,” Swenson chuckled.

But change is in the works for Swenson and ACA. She is dropping down to teaching only two classes next year, trigonometry and calculus, so that she can “slow down some.” She wants to have more time to visit the grandkids, read some spy novels or historical fiction, or just spend time with Dave — hopefully on the open road with the wind in her hair and a sunset before her as she notices God in everything around her.

She began teaching because she felt God wanted her to teach her own children, and

soon found that she was a natural at it.

“Studying math and finding patterns, designs, and organization in it remind me

of the nature of God — consistent and dependable.”

Karen Swenson

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Technology

Wired for education and a whole lot of fun!Deleise Brewer, Faculty

“ iPad Man! iPad Man!” shout nine third graders, all crowding around Kyle, as he pushes the school’s newly acquired iPad

cart into their room. Kyle Turner, a junior, is ACA’s student tech assistant. Teaching the elementary students how to use the iPads specifically for educational purposes has happened largely due to Kyle’s own initiative.

Kyle and Mrs. Deleise Brewer, media specialist and faculty member, started with the fifth graders. They taught a lesson on the electoral college, combining it with Internet safety practices. Mrs. Brewer found Kyle to be a natural, and he just ran with the iPad program after that.

Within the last few years, ACA’s use of technology in the classroom has grown by leaps and bounds due to the generosity of many donors. This year, we were able to purchase the iPad rolling classroom with 16 iPads. It has the capacity for 30. Kyle jumped at the chance to be a part of introducing them to the school.

“I talked to Mrs. Osborne about using them in her third grade class. She was excited to learn I could take the cart to them. I began meeting with the other elementary classes about once a week for 30 minutes.”

Kyle loves the way the students light up when they learn something new. He researches apps that would work for different subjects on different levels. According to Kyle, “All of the students like an app called ‘Hungry Fish.’ It lives by feeding off of numbers.” He is proudest of teaching the fourth graders how to do a PowerPoint presentation. “They each picked a marine animal to research. They then projected their presentation onto a screen for the whole class to see and discussed it.”

Thrilled by the students’ progress, he has also been impressed by the teachers’ response to new ways of doing things. “They welcome me and see it as a way for them to increase their technology IQ.”

According to Miss Sammi Main, the first grade teacher, “Kyle has been an amazing example of character and leadership during ‘iPad days’ in the Grammar School. He is not only skilled in the area of technology and assisting the kids with questions, but he shows tremendous patience and enthusiasm with the students. The children just love him.”

Besides the work Kyle is doing with the iPads, others are using technology in a variety of ways at ACA. The school houses a Mac Lab with 18 desktop computers. Several classes meet in the lab, and it is also available to the rest of the students during school hours. Mrs. Carla Matthews teaches typing and computer skills to the Dialectic School. She is also the first teacher to teach a course completely from an online source — sixth grade math.

Mrs. Matthews smilingly acknowledges, “Each student having an iPad can be a challenge, especially with junior high age students. One of the advantages is that students who want to or have the ability to can work ahead. Also, some students find it more interesting just being able to use the iPad. But it has been a struggle for others. It is a work in progress.”

Mr. Kirk Brewer utilizes the lab in his Rhetoric computer applications class. “The students have learned everything on the Macs from word processing (we have both Pages and Word) and PowerPoint/Keynote presentations to Internet research and

moviemaking.” His class is currently putting together a music video using the iPads.

Technology at ACA has become a source not only for education but also for training future leaders. Several other students act as tech aids, and Kyle is already training future students to take his place.

“The technology program has allowed me to start to do what I love — connecting with the students individually. I could see myself doing this at a small private Christian school one day.”

I know he will not have a hard time getting a great recommendation.

Kyle Turner and Avery Leidy work with the iPads.

Kris Perryman plays an educational game.

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New Leadership

ACA is alive and well! As with any living thing, there is growth and change … phases of life that take us into new

blessings and new heights. ACA is about to go into one such new phase. We are sad to see our administrator, Dr. Larry J. Ehrlich, retire and some of our teachers move on, but the Board of Governors is working on a new plan that will allow us to continue to improve our classical program and raise the funds needed for new growth.

The structure of our administration may change somewhat, but throughout the rest of this school year, we will continue under the leadership of Dr. Ehrlich as school administrator. We are proud to announce the hiring of Mr. John Ahrens as director of operations, under the guidance of Dr. Ehrlich. After receiving many applications and conducting numerous interviews, we are convinced that Mr. Ahrens is the right man for the job. He comes to us with years of experience in management, finance, and business development. His skills in this area, combined with his great love for ACA, make him the perfect person for this important position.

We also welcome Dr. Malcolm McGuire, our new principal of the School of Grammar. Dr. McGuire is a lifelong educator who comes to us with many years of experience in school instruction and administration. Next school year, he will be teaching in the fifth grade, along with Mrs. Diane Bouma, and working with our elementary teachers to build the strongest program possible. His creativity and love for making students and teachers successful make him ideal for this position. You will be surprised and pleased as you get to know him and see how much God has gifted this man in so many areas.

We also welcome Mr. James Kuhn as our Classical Languages Department chairman. Mr. Kuhn has recently completed

his master’s degree and comes to us fluent in several languages and with a tremendous ability to engage students in whatever discussion is appropriate. Next school year, he will be offering some new Bible courses and working to build our classical language program.

Mr. Kirk Post will become the dean of academics and the secondary school principal and will continue his important role of visionary and educator at ACA.

We are grateful for these positive changes, fervent in our desire to grow and provide an enriching environment for each student. Here’s to a successful 2013-2014 school year!

Mr. John Ahrens

Dr. Malcom McGuire

Mr. James Kuhn

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Winter Court

Winter Court is the annual formal banquet for ACA high school students. It is designed to celebrate being part of

the Kingdom of Christ and our unique relationship with each other as brothers and sisters in the Lord. The traditions of our Winter Court event are designed to remind us of our position in grace, in a setting reminiscent of times past. This year’s theme was “When in Rome…”

As our tradition continues, a king and queen were announced at Winter Court. This year’s honors go to Nik Stophel and Julia Morgan, both seniors. Congratulations, Nik and Julia!

Talent Show

The senior-sponsored Talent Show took place April 19 and was hosted by Nick Conroy and Nik Stophel (aka Nick

Squared). The following acts took home prizes:

• 1st Place — “Cup Song” by Victoria Juarez, Katie Wilsterman, Meredith Lockhart, Sofia Redden, and Abby Cascairo• 2nd Place — “Make ’em Laugh” by Nick Squared• 3rd Place — Joke Telling by Wesley Ahrens and Kale Bloemker

Student Life

A — awesome teaching plansU — uses God’s word in almost every classG — Grailball is our school sportU — uses amazing teachersS — sometimes we get to use iPadsT — teach us things we will need foreverI — is a classical schoolN — no one is ever lonelyE — everyone has a friend

A — at ACAU — united in beliefG — God is our LordU — upholding truthS — strong we stand aloneT — together we’re indestructibleI — in friendshipN — no one is left behindE — everyone is welcome

A — always accepting othersU — understanding everyone’s problemsG — God-lovingU — uniquely specialS — saving others through ChristT — telling funny storiesI — interesting studiesN — never hatefulE — everlasting rewards

Students’ Acrostics

Winter Court 2013 King and Queen,Nik Stophel and Julia Morgan

Above: 1st place winner “Cup Song”Below: 2nd place winner “Make ’em Laugh” by Nick Squared

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Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Jr.ACA Junior Performing Arts Presents

CastArielPrince EricUrsulaSebastianFlounderKing TritonScuttleFlotsamJetsamGrimsbyChef LouisAquataAndrinaAristaAtinaAdellaAllanaCarlotta

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Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Jr. Photos by Sweeter Still Photography

CastEmma AspensonCampion KrautterEmma PalmerJoshua ChasteenDaniel HansonAlex OssenbeckVictoria DuntleyCharis KnorrLinnea KrautterIan ApplebaumMichael ConroyAdaline ReeceRachel EmersonKarrington PerrymanOlivia IwamaMicah ChambersAnnie WilstermanAngel Karloh

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Post’s Post

Visit our website at www.acatulsa.org to view our Recommended Reading Lists.

The World in Your HandsKirk D. Post, Principal

“In classical education, the teacher doesn’t lecture while the student passively absorbs. Rather, the student respects the

teacher’s wisdom and superior knowledge, and is willing to bring concerns, doubts, and difficulties to the teacher’s feet … Classical education leans heavily on the evaluation of

evidence: The educated child learns to avoid logical fallacies, to decide whether arguments are trustworthy or flawed.

And both secular and religious classrooms are prone to simplistic thinking.”

– Dr. Susan Wise Bauer

Although all traditional educational disciplines are a part of a classical education, the approach is definitely history-

driven. One of the primary goals of a classical education is to understand how God works through people in history and for what purpose God has placed me here at this time. A strong study of history gives the student a broad picture of man’s sinful nature; the similarity of human wants, desires, hopes, and dreams; and the often-repeated failures and successes he encounters as he lives out the eternal truths of God or rebels against the Rightful King of the Universe.

But where are we to begin such a massive study, and how are we to continue? The world is filled with history books and biographies, with documents and commentaries, with artifacts and relics, with all the scattered remains of human existence: trash to some (“History is more or less bunk.” – Henry Ford), and treasure to others (“If you don’t know history, then you don’t know anything. You are a leaf that doesn’t know it is part of a tree.” – Michael Crichton). To quote a great Christian student and author of history, George Grant, “History is the story of stories.”

History is so much more than a long string of unrelated facts. It is the account of real people faced with life choices, and the

outcome of these choices are the events that carved out our past, dictate our present, and give us options for our future. At ACA, we have adopted a basic textbook series in grades 2-5 written by Dr. Susan Wise Bauer, a well-known author, professor, and the product of a homeschool classical education herself. She is the co-author, with her mother, of one of the standard texts in the required reading list for ACA teachers, The Well-Trained Mind.

Dr. Bauer’s history books are written in a story format — the story of the world. Her unique approach does not take the history of one nation or people from its beginning to the present and then go back to cover another country the same way, as if each one developed in isolation. Rather, she covers a particular time period in all the major civilizations and then moves through

them again in the next time period. She offers the elementary teacher exercises and projects to enhance the learning in class, and the books are presented orally, as well, in a CD set read by the author’s father.

The story format allows students to mentally see the events they study in a way that has traditionally excited the imagination of the student and heightened his or her ability to remember. What mental pictures she creates as she tells of the battle strategy of the Chalukya king, Pulakesi II, who faced the much larger attacking army of Harsha Vardhana of northern India. Pulakesi prepared for battle by getting both his soldiers and their battle elephants drunk to make them reckless, dangerous, and overwhelming. They rushed forward trampling everything down, and the Harsha’s vast force was pushed back in terror!

Dr. Bauer is currently working through a series of high school history books as well, and ACA has acquired the first two volumes for use in our world history class. The books are intimidating at first glance. The History of the Ancient World spreads over 775 pages and contains no color photographs, but some great maps.

History is so much more than a long string of unrelated facts.

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Post’s Post

The History of the Medieval World is only slightly smaller with 666 pages, yet our sophomores complete a book each semester. Dr. Bauer tells the stories of people who, despite their distance from us in time and place, reflect all the same passions, faults, and ideals that we experience. That is the beauty of studying history — we can see the consequences of certain decisions over and over without actually experiencing them until it is our time to do so.

Dr. Bauer has become somewhat controversial in both secular and Christian circles. The secular critics dislike the fact that she uses Bible references to tell part of her story, ignoring the fact that she also uses the sacred writings of other ancient people as well. She states …

I use stories from a number of different religious traditions — Sumerian, Egyptian, Indian, Chinese — in an attempt to reconstruct very early political history. This isn’t a perfect method, but since these texts are the only ones we have, I thought it preferable to simply ignoring very ancient political history altogether. I was pleased with the result. It’s highly speculative, but I point this out in the preface of the book; and it did produce a compelling, logical narrative for the very earliest years of recorded history. (Bauer)

Although she is the wife of a Christian minister and stands clearly for the importance of Christian doctrine, some Christian authors have attacked Dr. Bauer lately, in part, because she refuses to use her history books to “Christianize” the past.

Nor do I want my kids to learn history with all the questions of religion either censored or simplified. Were the Crusaders soldiers of God or soldiers of Western imperialism? Religious educators are often too afraid to admit that devout believers did bad things; secular educators are often all too happy to point out that the love of God is the root of all evil.

My public school would teach my 9-year-old that Columbus was a self-aggrandizing representative of an expansionist empire determined to acquire more money and power while wiping out native cultures. On the other side, the mother of a Christian-school student told me with wide-eyed exhilaration of her son’s American history lesson the week before: ‘Columbus went to the New World to share the gospel with the Indians! I never knew that! Doesn’t that change the way you think about this country? We were founded on the

declaration of the gospel! Isn’t God good?’ So was Columbus a patriarchal aggressor or a humble servant of God? He was both. (Bauer)

Dr. Bauer is careful to give plenty of notes that explain other interpretations of events, and she offers several sources for further study. Her books are much more challenging than the average “read the chapter and answer the questions after each section” history book, but meeting a challenge and gaining the benefits of conquering that challenge are the norm at ACA. It is true that a study of ancient people based on original sources forces students to encounter somewhat more shocking behavior than what is often presented in the whitewashed and varnished

versions of history usually presented in high school classrooms, but ACA is a safe place where students can interact with the truth and form an understanding of history from a Christian perspective. Dr. Bauer does not “preach” in her books, but she gives students a good, solid view of history and allows the teacher and the student a chance to think through what has happened and decide what lessons God would have us gain from what we read. I enjoy my role as teacher in helping students think through the information and compare what we study to the absolutes of Scripture and form a truthful understanding of people and history. Dr. Bauer’s books are great tools for the teacher and students as we unbury the past and ponder our own futures.

That is the beauty of studying history — we can see the consequences of certain decisions

over and over without actually experiencing them until it is our time to do so.

Mr. Kirk Post and high school students enjoy time together.

I enjoy my role as teacher in helping students think through the information and compare what we study to the absolutes of Scripture

and form a truthful understanding of people and history.

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Devin Wilkins (2004) and his wife, Samantha, welcomed Patti Noel Wilkins into their family on March 9, 2013. Noel weighed 10 lbs. 4 oz. and was 20.5 inches long.

Jeff Roderick (2008) will be graduating in May from Oklahoma State University with a BA in political science with honors, a BA in economics, and a minor in philosophy. Also, he was named Outstanding Senior for the Political Science Department and was chosen Outstanding Economics Student of the Year. Jeff’s plans are to leave in July for one year of humanitarian service and missions in 11 different countries with an organization called Adventures in Missions. The following year, he will be applying to law school.

Alumni

Please send us your news and updated information.

We want to stay connected with you.

Thank you!

Alumni News

Freedom Cancer Foundation and the Jean Anderson Memorial Bible Award

G reg Anderson, the first student to graduate from Augustine Christian Academy (known then as St. Augustine

Academy), is the founder and CEO of Freedom Cancer Foundation. Greg’s life dramatically changed course when his mother, Jean Anderson, called him on Nov. 1, 2011, to tell him she had been diagnosed with metastatic brain cancer.

Greg tells of his and his mother’s story:

The hardship of her side effects, depression, and sickness became for me a driving force in ensuring the best of care. On top of the physical struggles came the financial woes. We scoured the Internet to find organizations that offered financial assistance, but were discouraged to find mostly co-pay replacement programs or aid with highly specific criteria. Either she didn’t qualify, or the aid wasn’t large enough fast enough. I was perhaps most surprised to discover how lonely cancer can make a person, and their caregiver, and their family. Just eight weeks earlier, mom managed an office, lived in her own home, drove herself where she wanted, bought her own groceries, and socialized with her own friends. By the time the new year started, none of that was true. I spent the last three nights of her life sleeping on the floor next to her bed, not willing to abandon my post. In all my years of life, she had never left hers. On the afternoon of April 16, 2012, she died in my bedroom, lying in a hospital bed surrounded by her family. Her spirit went to be with the Lord. We await the eventual resurrection of her body. It is this six months of struggle that God is redeeming, having given us the vision for Freedom Cancer Foundation that we might help others.

In his mother’s honor, Greg has established the Jean Anderson Memorial Bible Award. Each year in March, high school

students at ACA are given the opportunity to take a Bible literacy test, written by Greg, to demonstrate what they have learned from the Bible through their studies at church, at school, at home, and on their own. The ACA student earning the highest test score is awarded a new copy of the Scriptures engraved with his or her name and a $100 cash award. The name of the winner will be posted on a special perpetual plaque on display in the school foyer.

Greg holds a Master of Theology degree in Old Testament and historical theology from Dallas Theological Seminary and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Cedarville University. With 10 years of sales experience and self-employment, his blend of business and ministry training are well suited to the mission of Freedom Cancer Foundation, which is to free people with cancer to fight their medical battles by meeting their nonmedical needs.

Greg lives in Arlington, Texas, with his wife, Amber, and their three children. Greg enjoys baseball, historical theology, and cookies.

“I was perhaps most surprised to discover how lonely cancer can make a person, and

their caregiver, and their family.”

Learn more about

Freedom Cancer Foundation

at http://www.fightfree.org

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Potpourri

Augustine Christian Academy is a small, independent, Christian classical school dedicated to training students to take the lead in their personal lives, in their educations, and in their communities.

GOOD NEWS• ACA parent Jens Quilitzsch became a U.S. citizen

in January 2013.

• ACA student Nadia Smith won 2nd place in the Kindergarten category in the Oklahoma Bar Association’s Law Day 2013 Art Contest. Her artwork was printed in the April 13, 2013, edition of The Oklahoma Bar Journal.

• ACA senior Samuel Stukenborg is the winner of the first annual Jean Anderson Memorial Bible Award. Having earned the highest score on the Bible literacy test, Sam was given a new Bible engraved with his name and a $100 cash award. (Related story on page 12)

Fundraiser Banquet

“A Knight’s Night” was the theme for ACA’s spring fundraiser banquet that was held at the Renaissance Hotel

on February 22, 2013. Arthur Greeno, the owner and operator of two Chick-fil-A restaurants in Tulsa, was the keynote speaker. He infused the lovely evening with inspiration and excitement. Mr. Greeno shared stories about his two Guinness World Records (one being a 1,140-gallon, 9-foot-tall cup of sweet tea), his businesses, his challenging childhood, and so much more.

Mr. Greeno says, “I love learning and teaching things like leadership, marketing, and creativity. Teaching my team and others about how we need to HONOR our guests is an integral part of my business model.”

The evening also featured addresses by Mr. John Ahrens, ACA alumna and teacher Ruthie Rogers, and ACA senior David Ahrens. Additionally, the ACA show choir and student musicians performed. We thank the many families and friends who attended this special event and helped us raise more than $19,000. We appreciate you!

Arthur Greeno of Chick-fil-A

Follow us on

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@acatulsa

Visit us online at

www.ACATulsa.org

“Like” us on Facebook“St. Augustine Academy / Augustine

Christian Academy—Past, Present, Future”

and “Augustine Christian Academy”

2013-2014 Performing Arts Booster Club Officers

• President — Kathryn Lockhart

• Vice President — Tina Nettles

• Secretary — Christi Rowland

• Treasurer — Jill Taylor

A big “thank you” goes to our past officers: Bernie Bloemker, Kathryn Lockhart, Amy Ferguson, and Becki Davis. Thank you for serving our children and ACA!

New classes offered 2013-2014Biblical LanguagesBible SurveyChristian ApologeticsCostume Design and MarketingEthics

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ACA Performing Arts Presents White Christmas

Nick ConroyKaleb DillardMeredith LockhartKatie WilstermanDavid AhrensChristy Fanning

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Bob WallacePhil DavisBetty HaynesJudy HaynesGeneral WaverlyMartha Watson

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Photos by Sweeter Still PhotographyWhite Christmas

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McKenzie ReeceTyler HensonSofia ReddenChristy MannNuria KeelNoah Redden

Susan WaverlyRalph SheldrakeRitaRhodaMikayla NultyEzekiel Foster

Augustine Christian Academy...in Thy light, we see light. Psalm 36:9

6310 E. 30th StreetTulsa, OK 74114www.acatulsa.org918.832.4600

Non Profit Org.US Postage Paid

Tulsa, OKPermit No 1957

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The Augustine ForumSpring 2013

Augustine Christian Academy