Stories WantedDuring the 2014–2015

school year, Central Valley Christian Schools will cel-ebrate its 35th Anniversary.

To properly celebrate the story of God’s faithfulness to this school, we’d love to hear the individual stories of everyone in the CVC com-munity. Please share your very own “My CVC Story” with us. Whether it’s a specific memory

of your time as a student or the general tale of how CVC became home as a parent or the gripping play-by-play of a thrilling CVC game you wit-nessed as a fan or something entirely different, please share your story. Visit the CVC website and click on the “My CVC Story” graphic to share your story and join us in preparing for this momentous occasion.

CVC Wins the“Milk Bowl”

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• C V C A D M I N I S T R A T I V E P E R S P E C T I V E– by Larry Baker, CVCHS Principal

Focused on Things AboveApastor once told me that a good sermon is one that is still remembered on

Tuesday. Perhaps my pastor should set a higher bar, but if that is the measure of a good sermon, then back in 2006 I heard an outstanding graduation speech. Eight years later, I still remember it.

Dr. Nicholas Wolterstorff urged the graduates of Calvin College to develop two eyes as they approached their career and calling in life. One eye, he ex-plained, is the eye of knowledge and discernment, the eye of the mind. The other eye is the eye of the heart, the eye of feeling and compassion. A nurse, for example, walks into the room of a young woman whose little daughter died in childbirth. The nurse must do her job with two eyes. With one eye, she must check the I.V.; with the other eye, the eye of the heart, she must cry. One eye is not enough. She needs two eyes.

During our first-hour Friday devotions, here at school, we have been reading and reflecting on the book of Colossians. In the first verses of Colossians 3, Paul challenges students and staff to set their hearts on things above. If we have died with Christ and have been raised with Christ, then we are to set our minds, not on earthly things, but on things eternal. In a sense, we are to develop two eyes. With one eye, we are to pay attention to the task at hand. We are to teach and learn how to write in complete sentences, how to analyze literature, how to solve complex equations, how to develop and test hypotheses in the science lab, how to produce beautiful music in our choir and band rooms, and how to work with our hands in shop and art. We are to teach well, and we are to learn responsibly. Students must know more when they leave than they knew when they arrived.

The other eye must be set on things above. We must develop an eternal perspective. This is the eye that sets us apart. With this eye, we must develop discernment. We must explore and discover our role in God’s plan. God expects, even demands, that CVC prepares students to be excellent writers, scientists, mathematicians, doctors and nurses, accountants, and pastors. The God we serve deserves excellence. We must do our very best to equip our students and prepare them to be the leaders and experts in whatever God is calling them to do. But we have the additional challenge, responsibility and privilege, to develop that second eye of eternal perspective. This is the eye your tuition buys; this is the eye you cannot and will not get in the very best public school.

I still feel new to CVC, but I’ve seen plenty of evidence that convinces me that CVC takes seriously the responsibility to develop the eye of eternal perspective.

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Cultivatingresponsible

Christianadults

Valuingacademic

excellence

ConnectingBiblical truthswith everyday

living

ShapingChrist-likebehavior

▲ In an AP Calculus program that enables students to regularly receive college credit with incredible AP test scores, one student recently reported, “I really enjoyed learning about the consistency of mathematics and how it pertains to the Christian walk.” Mathematics!

▲ I read the semester exam from a sophomore English class. After studying various novels, including Huck-leberry Finn, students were asked how the teachings of Jesus should inform our responses to issues of racism, prejudice and immigration.

▲ In Spanish class the teacher reflected on how God used languages at the Tower of Babel and again at Pentecost to accomplish His purposes. Students were challenged to consider what God’s view of learning languages might be.

▲ Even in athletics, an important and significant part of student life, coaches go beyond the teaching of block-ing, tackling, full-court presses, bumping and setting. Football players are challenged to consider how the command of loving our neighbor applies to the guy on the other side of the scrimmage line. Volleyball players take time out of practice, not in addition to practice, OUT of practice, to spend time in devotion and prayer and explore how faith applies to athletics.

I could go on. I’d love to, actually. If you have friends or family who are not happy with the school their children attend, tell them about CVC. Tell them we are a school with two eyes. One eye is focused on developing the mind, and we do that quite well. The other eye, in obedience to God and His word, is focused on things above.

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where

Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. Set your minds on things above,

not on earthly things.– Colossians 3:1–2

– by Larry Baker, CVC High School Principal

Special Project: Shop Class Earlier this year Mr. Saltzman was approached by the

Tulare County SWAT Team and asked if his shop class would be interested in helping them develop a special tool. Mr. Saltzman enthusiastically agreed to this project. A video of the process of the manufacturing of this tool can be found at www.cvc.org by clicking on the “Another Cavalier Moment” link at the bottom of the page.

Two young men from the shop class, Blake Jacobi and Cameron Stephenson, were given the opportunity to share their experience with The Cavalier. Q Who contacted Mr. Saltzman regarding the manufac-

turing of this special tool and what is it to be used for? A Jeff Gardner of the Tulare County SWAT Team. He

asked if we could manufacture a breaching tool, which we named “The Ripper,” to open security screens on houses served with search warrants.

Q How did you decide on the design of the tool? A Mr. Gardner had a prototype. We expanded on his idea.Q What materials/shop equipment did you use and what

was the process of manufacturing “The Ripper”? A The total manufacturing time was five days. First, we

drew our design on the computer. We used 3/8” AR 500 steel for this tool. We used the Plasma CAM to cut out our design and then spent the time to bevel the corners so it would be comfortable in your hands. The SWAT Team came and tested the final product by tearing a security door that we had built off its hinges. Success!

Q On a scale of 1-10, rate this experience? A A 10! We would love to be involved in another project.

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ASB HighlightsWith the close of

the year, came the end of the first semester at CVC and a very suc-cessful campaign by the CVC ASB team to accentuate school spirit and synergy. The second quarter at CVC included several events endorsed by the student body leadership. These promotions included the week long candy gram event. The event provided students with the opportunity to purchase and personalize encourag-ing notes to specified classmates along with an attached candy cane.

ASB’s diligent work was very prevalent in the Christ-mas activities it put on in the weeks leading up to the end of the semester. The Central Valley Christian campus was littered with Christmas décor displaying joyful Christian anticipation of Christmas. A trip to CVC one day could have introduced an observer to a pack of students wearing Christmas sweaters, and a return trip would have allowed a visitor to witness a teacher dressed as an over-sized elf.

This semester the ASB team will strive to maintain the same success and further advocate a cohesive, friendly atmosphere for both faculty and students alike.

– by Brady Vander Dussen, Head of the Municipal and Civic Associations department

CVC Alumni News Graduations/Accomplishments

On Dec. 4, 2013, Kyle Compaan (’03) graduated from grad school at Emory University, in Atlanta, GA. He received his Masters of Science in Nursing/Family Nurse Practitioner.

Chelsea Black (’08) earned her teacher’s credential this year and is teaching high school Spanish 2 and Spanish 3 at Brethren Christian School in Huntington Beach, CA. In the fall, she will be teaching English.

Brittany M. Gong (’09) graduated in December, 2013, from Long Beach State with her BA degree in Business Management

BirthsKyle and Lisa (Aukeman, ’04) Glen welcomed Ellie

Joy into their family on November 4, 2013.Shane and Ashley (DeWitt, ‘01) Miller welcomed

Harper Reid on November 24, 2013. He was welcomed home by his sister, Madelyn Olivia, and brother, Kaden Shane.

If you would like to see your alumni news and informationin print, please send an email with all information to:

sdweststeyn@gmail.com

CVC Nuggets The numbers shown below are based on the final

decisions of CVC graduates as to where he or she would choose to attend college. Of those who chose to attend community college, approximately one-half of them were accepted at 4-year colleges, but opted to begin college closer to home. The following are numbers for the graduating classes (by graduation year):

2012 – 79 Graduates4-Year – 48

(Public – 25, Christian – 23)2-Year – 25

Tech/Alternative ed. – 6

2011 – 70 Graduates4- Year – 43

(Public – 20, Christian – 23)2-Year – 18

Tech/Alternative ed. – 9

2010 – 78 Graduates4- Year – 49

(Public – 17, Christian – 32)2-Year – 20

Tech/Alternative ed. – 9

Do you have friends who may be interested in send-ing their children to CVC but are not quite sure?

Encourage them to sign their child up for:

EXPERIENCE CVC! This is an opportunity for potential students to shadow current CVC students at their grade level – and even includes a free lunch! Specific dates are scheduled each month on all three campuses. Guests will meet potential classmates and be introduced to our great school! Encourage your friends to contact the CVC Admissions Office for a campus tour and schedule a shadow day. Registration for EXPERIENCE CVC can also be done on the CVC website: www.cvc.org

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Stewardship CornerThe following is an excerpt from a series of articles

published by the Barnabas Foundation. We will reprint additional excerpts in future editions of “The Cavalier” as space allows.

If you are interested in reading this entire series on your own, please go to: barnabasfoundation.com/schools/ resources/stewardship-articles/.

• • ▲ • •

Raising Cheerful Givers Part 1 – INTRODUCTION

Today’s kids will need all the help they can get to thrive financially in this world, while fully understanding the connection between faith and finance. Our children and young people are under assault with messages to spend, be greedy and grab immediate gratification wherever possible. Our culture is teaching our kids how to handle money. It is not God’s way. Helping our children understand financial principles will not only help them manage their money but also become good stewards.

In these next few issues, we will look at what parents can do to help grow generous, joyful givers who will continue to impact Christ’s kingdom for years to come.

Teaching our kids good financial values while they are still under our authority will give them the tools they need to do well in the real world. The goal is to establish a strategy for independence so they can handle their own finances successfully before they leave home. It will also provide a rich opportunity to share with them the impor-tant understanding that everything we have belongs to God, and we are to handle our possessions in a way that is honoring to Him.

It is important to provide our children with the proper environment to practice the discipline of handling finances, to monitor their activity so that we can maximize teachable moments, to help them set attainable goals, and finally, be sure to offer them encouragement and praise for their effort.

Of course, teaching kids good financial values can begin at any age, but the younger we start, the better.

▲ Research has found that children ages seven and younger remember about 90 percent of what they do, but less than 10 percent of what they hear. They learn best by doing, feeling, hearing and seeing.

▲ Older children also learn best by doing, but have the capacity to begin making personal decisions and learn from them.

▲ Teens are able to think abstractly and logically, but are heavily influenced by peer pressure. They are beginning to integrate attitudes and behavior with the principles we have taught them. If by this time we have not taught good financial values, it is unlikely that those values will win over the values of contemporary cul-ture.

Our kids need to learn about stewardship, and what better place to learn these lessons than at home, right here and right now.

– Reprinted by permission of the Barnabas Foundation, Tinley Park, IL

• • ▲ • •

Looking Ahead to April3–5 HS Musical Annie Get Your Gun, HS Chapel7 CSF Lifetime Members to Magic Mountain11 MS Variety Show - 7 pm, HS Chapel14–21 Easter Vacation - No School22 School Resumes22 School Society Meeting - 7 pm, HS Chapel23 1st – 6th Grade “Celebration of Writing,” 8:30 am – 2:30 pm, Elementary MMC24–27 ASAPH Tour24 HS Experience CVC Day, 8am–12 Noon25 Kindergarten Round-Up - No classes for Kindergarten ONLY25 CVC School Sale - 5 pm, HS Gym26 HS Powder Puff Football - 5 pm, HS Stadium30 Elementary and MS Experience CVC Day, 8am–12 Noon

Used TreasuresFeel free to dump on us!

Used Treasures will take your gently used clothing and other items. Call us for large donations, 684-8919, drop them off at our store at 232 S. K Street, Tulare, or bring your donations to the shed located at CVC Middle School. Thanks!

The big sports news is that CVC won the Winter Milk Bowl vs. Bakersfield Christian.

▲ Girls Varsity Basketball won with a score of 55–35

▲ Girls JV Basket ball won with a score of 25–16

▲ Girls Varsity Soccer won with a score of 5–0

▲ Girls JV Soccer won with a score of 5–0

▲ Boys Varsity Soccer won with a score of 3–2

▲ Boys Varsity Basketball lost with a score of 69–47

▲ Boys JV Basketball lost with a score of 64–24

▲ Boys Frosh Basketball lost with a score of 57–27

Of Note...Congratulations to the winners of the CVC

Spelling Bee. Fourth–sixth grade winner was Anna Walhof, and the seventh/eighth grade winner was Samuel Lopes.

Congratulations to the following students who were accepted into Honor Choir events:

Tulare/Kings County Honor Choir (Jan. 31–Feb. 1): Middle school students Evie Daniels, Reagan De Jong, Ty Dodge, Crista Droney, Julia Greidanus, Sydney Little, Rylie Mayo, Taylor Neese, Julianne Taylor and Timothy Van Scyoc

California All State Choir (Sacramento, March 2–22): High school students Austin Bons, Emily Brown and Kaylee Purdy

Central Valley Christian School was recently awarded a $500 Math and Science Grant through the Exxon Mobil 2013 Education Alliance. Thank you to Courtney Roche of Roche Oil & Mobile Mini Mart in Tulare.

Congratulations to our Geography Bee winners: Justin Vink (pictured at right) is our champion, and Carter Moons is the alternate.

Sixth grade teacher, Julie Cardoza, and her husband, Travis, were blessed with a baby boy, Christian Sawyer, on Saturday, January 11, 2014. Congratulations!

FEBRUARY1 HS Winter Formal - 7–10 pm, Visalia

Convention Center1 “Hoop It Up” Basketball Camp (Grades

3–8), 9–11 am, CVC Gym3 Mother’s Club Meeting - 8:30 am - Elementary MMC6, 7 Kindergarten Application Days - Elementary School Office8 Faculty and Friends “Psalms, Hymns and

Spiritual Songs Concert,” 7 pm - Chapel10 5th Grade Walk Through the Revolution,

8am – 2:30 pm - Elementary MMC12 Farm Show Day - No School17 Presidents’ Day - No School18 8th Grade to Monterey Bay Aquarium26 Elementary and MS Experience CVC Day,

8 am – Noon27 HS Experience CVC Day, 8 am – Noon

MARCH3 MS/HS Band Festival Concert - 7 pm, HS Chapel6 MS/HS Bands at CMEA Festival - LJ Williams Theatre7 End of Third Quarter10 HS Choir Classics Concert - 7 pm, HS

Chapel11 HS Girls’ Ensemble and Cavalier Choir at

CMEA Festival - LJ Williams Theatre12 ASAPH at CMEA Festival - LJ Williams

Theatre14 MS Choir at CMEA Festival - LJ Williams

Theatre15 HS Sadie’s Dance - 7 pm, HS Gym20 MS Parent/Teacher Conferences - 3:30-

8:00 pm21 MS Parent/Teacher Conferences - 8 am-

12 pm - No school for MS ONLY21, 22 HS Band to Biola University24 HS Physics Class to Magic Mountain24 Cavalier Preview Day - 3:30-8:00 pm26 Elementary and MS Experience CVC Day,

8 am–Noon26 6th grade-HS Big Band Bash - 2 pm,

North Gym27 HS Experience CVC Day - 8 am–Noon

Please see Page 4 for a list of April Events at CVC.

In This IssueFocused on Things Above . . 1

Stories Wanted . . . . . . . . . . 1

Shop Class Project . . . . . . . . 2

ASB Highlights . . . . . . . . . . 3

Alumni News . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

CVC Nuggets . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Stewardship Corner . . . . . . 4

Looking Ahead to April . . . . 4

Used Treasures . . . . . . . . . . 4

Sports Shorts . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Of Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Looking Ahead . . . . . . . . . . 5

Musical Scheduled for April 3–5CVC High School will be presenting

the beloved musical, Annie Get Your Gun, on April 3–5. Annie Get Your Gun was the greatest box-office triumph of Irving Berlin’s rich Broadway career; it is his only musical to achieve an initial run of more than one thousand performances. The score is his best and most varied for the theatre, including favorites There’s No Business Like Show Business and Anything You Can Do. This comic musical is set in the 1880’s in the Wild West and features cowboys, Indians, sharp-shooters and more.

The story revolves around Annie Oakley, an illiterate hillbilly with a knack for shooting guns. Persuaded to join Buffalo Bill’s travelling Wild West Show, she soon falls hopelessly in love with Frank Butler, the show’s featured shooting ace. But when Annie eclipses Frank as the show’s main attraction, she realizes she’ll have to make some hard choices if she wants to win the man she loves.

Tickets for the musical will go on sale March 31 in the high school office. Cost will be $10 for adults and $5 for students K–12. Pre-school and younger are free.