Portland Christian SchoolQUALITY CHRISTIAN EDUCATION SINCE 1924

...of Good ReportSpring Edition 2016

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Portland Christian School8509 Westport RdLouisville, KY 40242(502) 429-3727www.portlandchristian.org

EditorDan Wilson

Administration

Executive DirectorJodell Seay

Junior High & High School PrincipalTim Caldwell

Elementary PrincipalBarbara Jacobs

College & Career CounselorJennifer Haynes

PCS Little School DirectorDeborah Sprinkle

Board of Directors

ChairmanDanny Taylor

SecretaryDan Miller

MembersHouston CockrellJon Cyrus Nathan GrimesTerry HammondGene Heid Tim HeidWilliam Heid Jim Lowry Bob Lyon Ray MitchellJoe Morrison Bill OverbergAmy PorterCory RoughJ. R. Satterield Jodell SeayDebbie Sprinkle Paula Tucker

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...of Good ReportPhilippians 4:8 (ASV)

Plans in Motion to Strengthen and Grow PCS If you could choose one major problem to have in life, what would it be? If

Portland Christian School had been given this choice, we probably would have

picked the “good problem” we are currently facing. We are so full of students that

we have classes tucked into every possible space – the former conference room,

the former teachers’ lounge, and refurbished basement rooms. God has blessed

us with over 400 wonderful students in PK-12th grade and we need more space

to serve them better. I would like you to meet some of them…

• Spencer and Alex were

adopted from an orphanage

in Guatemala as infants.

Now tall, athletic PCS 7th

graders, they were thrilled

to participate in our Day of

Service in November because

they got to prepare gift boxes

for children in situations

similar to their early years.

(In one day our 7th and 8th graders packed 285 shoeboxes which were given

to children in Botswana, Sudan, Colombia, Ukraine, and Rwanda this past

Christmas through Operation Christmas Child!)

• Mackenzie came to PCS from a private school known for its strong focus on

academics. She is still excelling in academics here at PCS, but she says she

has also found greater freedom to express her creativity. Besides her love of

creative writing and art, she is helping to start a farmers’ market that will begin

this summer, God willing.

• Julia (not her real name) was struggling and afraid in her previous school

and terriied of coming to this new school. After a few weeks here she said,

“Mama, thank you for putting me in PCS!” She has found a welcoming and

safe environment here that has allowed her to thrive.

• Rilynn has cochlear implants but is able to learn in a regular classroom

because PCS was willing to implement an FM ampliication system that has

helped her to hear the teacher more clearly (made possible mainly by a gift

from Kosair Charities). After coming to PCS for kindergarten last year from a

specialized school for hearing impaired children, she is currently a thriving

irst grader and has paved the way for other hearing impaired students to be

able to enroll at PCS.

• Victor Cheruiyot, whose great dream while growing up in the Kibera slum near

Nairobi, Kenya, was to become a doctor. Through the generosity of a local

(continued on page 5)

Alex (center) and Spencer (right) assembling

shoeboxes with their classmates

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Invest in generations of PCS students today!

We need YOUR help to build four new classrooms for this coming fall!

Your gift will help us better serve our current students and allow us to

reach more. Every gift, large or small, will help us reach our goal of

building these classroom debt-free!

Give online at portlandchristian.org/support-pcs or by sending checks marked

“building fund” to

Portland Christian School

8509 Westport Road, Louisville, KY 40242

Building for Today... Preparing for Tomorrow

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Reformation Day

On October 30th, 2015, the elementary took a step

back in time to the Middle Ages, speciically to

the time better known as the Renaissance period,

to learn about the Protestant Reformation. Students

traveled around our campus, which became the town of

Wittenburg, to learn about Martin Luther, John Calvin,

and Martin Bucer. These men greatly inluenced the

Protestant movement. Students visited stations where

they learned about each man and about life during the

Middle Ages. They witnessed a re-enactment of Martin

Luther posting his 95 theses on the church door and of

the Pope immediately excommunicating him. They also

participated in translating Bible verses, since the common

man during that time did not have access to the Bible in

their own language. They also wrote letters to those in

prison in response to the teachings of Scripture that we

are to care for the widowed, sick and those in jail for their

debts. The students’ letters of encouragement were later

delivered to a local outreach ministry. The entire day was

quite an experience for all.

Elementary Missions

As part of our missions program this year, students were

encouraged to donate canned goods for Thanksgiving

baskets and Christmas food boxes. In the past, the

generosity of the student body enabled us to give ive

Thanksgiving baskets and ive Christmas boxes to ive

needy families.

This year the students were challenged to donate over

800 cans of food. As an incentive, they were told that if

they did, Mrs. McClellan and Mrs. Jacobs would take a pie

in the face. If the students donated over 1,000 can goods,

then Mrs. Istre and Mrs. Lane would join in the fun. Our

students collected over 1,400 can of food! The elementary

was able to donate ive Thanksgiving baskets including

the turkeys, plus give can goods to several local ministry

food banks. That was followed by ive Christmas food

boxes, including the hams. Mrs. Jacobs, Mrs. McClellan,

Mrs. Istre, and Mrs. Lane joyfully took their pies in the face.

Mrs. Martin reads to students about the Reformation

Baskets of food collected by our students for families in need

Keilea Moore tosses a well-aimed pie at Mrs. Istre’s face while

Mrs. McClellan looks in with sympathy.

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Serving More than High Tea

The bell inally tolled. Weeks of preparation, cooking, and timing were about to face the ultimate test.

An eager audience waited what was just beyond that shut door. And it seemed just as soon as the

bell began the festivities, it brought them to an end. But for one hour, sixth grade students got to see

irst-hand the fruits of their labors as they were congratulated by impressed attendees and rewarded with

sweet treats.

The sixth grade class’s reading of the

C.S. Lewis classic The Lion, the Witch, and

the Wardrobe means going beyond the

written pages to participate in the culture

of an older era. In this case, high tea of old

England is the focal point. Young men put

on their Sunday best shirts and ties and

learn about serving with a smile, and being

silent. The young ladies learn about proper

behavior and carrying a conversation with

others regardless of their background.

Intense practice for weeks had inally led

to the completion of their training, and the

sixth grade class was ready to serve and put

their practice into action.

Continuing a successful trend, the students were once again blessed to put on a high tea experience for

the residents of Parr’s at Springhurst. The residents and supervisors greeted them with big smiles and

anxious waiting. Some could not wait to get in and enjoy an hour of treats and fellowship. At the end of the

formal festivities, the children were delighted to spread a little cheer by passing out Valentines made by the

elementary students to those residents present at the tea.

Then the venue shifted to the

Portland Christian campus.

The gym was lined with white

linens and red accents. The

student’s families and school

administrators attended the

second tea. The tea proved

to be a illing experience, and

not just because no one left

hungry. Visitors and guest

got to see a little slice of

Portland Christian’s dedication

to serve, as well. Through

this experience, the children

left with an appreciation for

culture and respect they will

never forget.

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(continued from page 1)

Plans in Motion to Strengthen and Grow PCS• Physician, Victor has been able to spend a year and a half at PCS preparing to enter an American university.

He now has scholarship ofers from prestigious universities so he can pursue his dreams, which includes

returning to Kenya to start a clinic in his grandmother’s poor village.

• Caroline Wood is a senior who has been a leader during her thirteen years at PCS, active on the worship

team, in drama and in sports. She recently received a scholarship to play volleyball at Asbury University.

When she graduates this May she will be the fourth generation in her family to graduate from PCS

(parents David 1985 and Jane Donlon Wood 1989; grand-mother Sherry Blansett Wood, 1960; and

great-grandparents Joe 1938 and Martha McKibbin Blansett 1939).

PCS is blessed by the wonderful variety of students that God has sent to us! They represent a wide spectrum

of denominational, socio-economic, racial and national diversity. We are honored to serve them and we

feel called to do all we can to serve them better. We also feel called to serve more students like them, but in

order to realize these desires, we must irst enlarge our facilities.

The good news is that this dream is shared by our board of directors. After much prayer and deliberation,

this past July the PCS Board approved a new ive year plan. PCS Vision 2020 is a plan that focuses on ive

major areas of development for PCS over the next ive years.

1. Work towards increasing enrollment to 600+ students in PK-12th grade. This will allow PCS to serve

more students and families while making it possible to retain our family feel. It will allow us to add more

academics (such as AP and dual-credit courses), sports and extra-curricular activities, and to achieve

greater inancial stability. Our current enrollment stands at around 425 students in PK-12th grade.

2. Expand our facilities. This includes a two phase building plan, starting with adding four new classrooms

for next year and eventually adding a new junior high and high school building and a second gym. It

also includes seeking to acquire sports ields. The irst phase – adding four new classrooms – in under

way, with construction slated to begin on those late this spring or summer, God willing. Please view the

90 second video about this project on the home page of our website – portlandchristian.org.

3. Strengthen our inancial stability. This goal is multi-faceted, and includes increasing compensation for

our faculty and staf and continuing to ofer signiicant levels of tuition assistance.

4. Improve our communications. We are working on ways to communicate more efectively at all levels –

board, administration, faculty and staf, families, donors and the general public. In mid-March we shared

PCS Vision 2020 with our faculty and families and plan to share our vision with our PCS family annually.

We have redesigned our website and increased our use of social media and plan to continue to improve

these over time.

5. Continue to implement our technology plan. This year we added a full-time IT staf member and have

plans to begin providing laptops to some of our high school students and tablet stations available to our

elementary classes in the coming year.

These plans are ambitious but within reason, especially if our Father is leading the way. As we seek to serve our

current and future students well, we ask for your prayers and your inancial support. Pray that everything

we do will be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, and that we will give thanks and glory to God the Father

through him. And pray that every student who comes to PCS will grow in as aspect as Christ did – in wisdom

and stature, and in favor with God and man.

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A Historic Visit to the New PCS Campus

This past October we were blessed to have

Wilbur Spangler, son-in-law of Brother Claude Neal,

one of our “PCS Founding Fathers,” visit our campus

along with his son, Wayne Spangler. Wayne later sent the

following letter to us.

“I just wanted to let you know how much my father, Wilbur

Spangler, and I enjoyed our visit to the new campus of the

Portland Christian School this last fall. We were not only

impressed with the beautiful grounds around the campus,

especially with the fall leaves changing, but also the size

of the campus with the diferent buildings you have to

dedicate to special areas.

“I am sure my grandparents, Claude and Florence Neal,

would have very much approved of the new campus and

all it has to ofer. They both dedicated their lives to seeing

that children were brought up with a good Christian

education and I am sure they would be proud to see how

much the school has grown from those very early years in

the 1920’s.

“Also, I wanted to let you know how pleased we were to see the photos of all the past principals of Portland

Christian along with a small write up of their lives. I especially enjoyed seeing my grandfather’s photo and

reading about him. I actually learned a couple things I did not know about him. Hopefully we will be able to

return for another visit in a few years and see how much more the school has grown.

Sincerely,

Wayne Spangler

Volunteers Beautify Landscaping

Many thanks to the sixty plus

volunteers who spent over 500

hours over two weekends making

our beautiful campus look even better! (No,

we were not disposing of these kids – they

were enjoying the chance to help compact

the cuttings in the dumpster)

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Wilbur Spangler stands beside the photo and biography

of his father-in-law, Claude Neal.

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Portland Christian School

8509 Westport Road

Louisville, KY 40242

PRSRT. STD.

U.S. POSTAGE

Non-ProitCincinnati, OH

Permit #4087

PCS ART IN THE WINNER’S CIRCLE

PCS sent nine submissions of art work to the Horsing Around

with Art exhibit at the Derby Museum in January. Our students’

artwork was on display along with the best work of public and

private schools around Louisville. We earned two ribbons in

that competition.

From that exhibit, a small number of works are selected by a

panel of judges to go to the annual exhibit Art in the Winner’s

Circle XI in Frankfort, KY. This year, two of our students had

their work chosen to go to the Frankfort Exhibit – 8th grader

Liliana Matasaru’s yarn and acrylic horse and rose, and 11th

grader Sydney Gregory’s impressionistic horse racing scene at

Churchill Downs. This is a great honor, and another chance to

win. The work will be on display at the Jane Chancellor Moore

Gallery in Frankfort.

Congratulations to all of our students whose works were

exhibited, especially to Lilliana and Sydney, and to our

wonderful 7th-12th grades art teacher, Mrs. Susan Brooks!

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