To End With: "When Your Children Ask in Time to Come"

 A summary of Mr. Kapanka's last chapel message as Head of School at CCS: 

May 25, 2023

We have no school this coming Monday. Does anyone remember why? [various students replied: "It's Memorial Day."] Yes. When I was a kid, my grandparents called Memorial Day “Decoration Day” because they always went to the cemetery to put flowers at the MEMORIAL STONES of loved ones--especially those of veterans. Whatever else we did on Memorial Day, I remember walking to familiar stones at Lakeside Cemetery in Port Huron, Michigan, and hearing stories of those who made my life possible. Without those great grandparents, my mom would remind us, you literally would not exist. It sometimes made me dizzy to think of generations that way. Still does.

The tradition of MEMORIAL STONES goes back thousands of years, but they were not always associated with graves or cemeteries. There are several examples of MEMORIAL STONES in the Old Testament.

In chapters 3 and 4 of the Book of Joshua, the Children of Israel were about to cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land, and the Lord told Joshua to tell a leader from each of the twelve tribes to take a huge boulder from the center of the river and make a memorial so....

When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ ... then you shall tell them...”

Today we’re going to be talking about Twelve MEMORIAL STONES in the history of CCS. In fact, I hope to put 12 large stones in the gym-side grove between the front two parking lots this summer, and when your children ask in time to come what those stones mean… you can tell them of the things I shared today.

The 1^st MEMORIAL STONE would have to be the year 1980 when Calvary Christian Schools began with only kindergarten, first, and second grades It was down in Muskegon where the new Muskegon Middle School is now being built. Two teachers were hired for that first year: Miss Judy Holman (who taught kindergarten here for more than 25 years) and Mrs. Deb Stenberg (who retired from CCS in 2019).

The 2^nd MEMORIAL STONE would be 1991 when CCS had its first Commencement Ceremony for its first graduating class. In that year's yearbook, we found many other people who still work here at CCS. You see, CCS may have begun with only K-2, but the school then added one grade level each year for the next ten years. Calvary kept growing and hiring more teachers. That's why in the 1990-1991 yearbook, you can find: Mrs. Mann (a secretary back then): Mrs. Becky Smith; Mrs. VanTine; Mrs. Booth (in kindergarten); and Mrs. Lockwood and Mrs. McCallum (in 2nd grade). 

Side note: Mrs. Lockwood was a senior the very first year I came to CCS. So was a young man named Nick Lockwood. And yes, they were already dating at that time. It would be impossible to place a MEMORIAL STONE for all the couples (and now families) on this planet today who first began dating while attending CCS, but I can think of at least a dozen from the past twenty-five years alone.just think…if Calvary didn’t exist, those couples might not have met and, if not, those family wouldn’t exist. It’s almost the same feeling I used to get when thinking about my family tree.

The 3^rd MEMORIAL STONE is 1999. That was the year that CCS moved from the old building in Muskegon to this new building on Kendra Road. No need for a picture because we step into this new building every school day. 

It is interesting, however, to mention that fewer than 5% of those who enter our school each day were among those to have ever stepped foot in the old building that was torn down in 2000 to make way for the new Hackley ER which was torn down in 2021 to make way for the new Middle School. Strange... we think of our building as "new," yet the building that took its place in 2000 has already been torn down. 

The 4^th MEMORIAL STONE is Y2K, which stood for the “Year 2000.” 

The turning of a century is always milestone in history, but this particular year was very strange. Only the teachers in the chapel now were alive at that time. Many of them remember that many experts in 1999 predicted that because the computers in existence had been built in the previous decades, they did not have the year 2000 built into their dating systems. This technical oversight was going to cause all computers to crash at midnight of the New Year. Airports, traffic lights, municipal water systems. Everything was going to crash. It was a real fear in the news every day. My wife and I filled our bathtub to the brim with clean water on New Year’s Eve, 1999—just in case there was a water shortage beginning the next day. All this fear was summed up in the term: Y2K. The next morning... nothing happened. Life went on. 

Another big MEMORIAL STONE for me personally also happened in 2000. It was in that summer (July 1, 2000) that my family and  I moved from the Christian school in Iowa where I had served for 18 years to west Michigan where I become “Head of School” here at CCS. That was 23 years ago.

The 5^th MEMORIAL STONE happened on April 20, 2001, and it already has a real memorial stone right outside the front rotunda entrance of the school. 

Hundreds of people pass by this memorial every day, but it's possible most do not know what it signifies. It was one of the saddest events in the national news that year, and it all culminated right here in our building. 

In the Roni and Charity Bowers Memorial (above), the white dogwood tree represents Roni, the mother, and the pink dogwood represents Charity, the baby. Roni Bowers had been a teacher at CCS a few years before. I first met her in the rotunda just outside the school office. She had Charity in her arms and all the ladies from the office were making a big fuss over her. It was to be their last day in our building before leaving for Peru, where they had been serving as missionaries (living on a houseboat, built by some men at Calvary Church, which moored on the Amazon River). I'm so glad I met the Bowers family that day in the fall.

Later that year, the spring Junior-Senior Banquet was at the Bil-Mar in Grand Haven. I was talking to Nick Lockwood (a senior in high school at that time), and he asked me if I had heard about what happened to the Bowers. I had not yet heard of the tragedy that was making national and international news. 

On April 20, 2001, this Bowers family was flying from one village to another along the Amazon River. The Peruvian Police and American CIA, flying in a US jet, mistook them for a drug smuggling plane and shot them down. Jim and the boy lived.

But Roni and Charity who were sitting in the front of the plane (much like they appear in this picture), both died instantly from a single bullet that went through both of their hearts.

A few days later the funeral was held at the CCS gymnasium. School was canceled that day because the building was surrounded by news outlets from around the world: CNN, Fox News, ABC, CBS, NBC, Time Magazine—everyone was here there were satellite trucks all over the place. It was by far the biggest news event to ever affect this building.

Then less than five months later....

The 6^th MEMORIAL STONE happened on September 11, 2001. In fact, the date literally became the historic name of the event. We call it 9-11. I was in my office at school (talking with a missionary to Togo, West Africa, about our first ever international student at CCS) when Dianne Lihan, the receptionist, told us that one of the World Trade Center Towers had been hit by a plane. Not seeing the images, we assumed it was a little New York "tour" plane.  A few minutes later, she told us  the other tower had just been hit by another plane--and that both planes were commercial airliners. That was when we knew it was a terrorist attack. Then the Pentagon was hit, and another jet was unaccounted for. All this was happening while CCS students were in their classrooms completely unaware. After lunch we called an assembly in the gymnasium for MS and HS only. We notified elementary parents that we did not tell their children of that day's events, but we did show the older students some of the news on the big screens in the gym. We later cancelled the VB and Soccer games for that night. (In fact, all sporting events across the country were later canceled for the rest of the week.) Nine-eleven was a horrible event that changed the rest of that year and years to come for the whole world.

The 7^th MEMORIAL STONE is the year 2005, when CCS celebrated its 25^th Anniversary. The pictures below hang in the school office. One is from 2005, the other is from 2009. If you want to see younger versions of many people you know, come in and take a closer look. (Or double click on the photo itself.)

The 8^th MEMORIAL STONE is the year 2012, when the CCS school board incorporated as a separate “non-profit organization.” Prior to that year, the school had been a ministry of Calvary Church. This school literally exists because of the vision of that congregation, but the church came upon financial difficulties that had begun in the sluggish economy following 9-11. Long story short is that even though the church had paid off SIX MILLION dollars on this campus and building in just twelve years, they were no longer able to pay the mortgage and it went back to 5/3rd Bank. After much negotiating, however, the bank was willing to let CCS, the new independent school, lease the building while they tried to sell it to other interested schools. It was a year of uncertainty as one serious "buyer" in particular, went through the building three times. If they had decided to move their school from Spring Lake to our/campus, CCS would have been displaced to one of the numerous "Plan Bs" we had explored in which to open that fall. I have been asked by various board members through the years to write a short account of how God  orchestrated our return to the building we had moved out of for two months. 

If I ever do write such a booklet, I might call it "Plan B: The Patient Providence of God." 

Why that title? Because the CCS Board and I explored many of Plan Bs that summer, and each one brought a temporary sense of HOPE that we would have a place for school in the fall. Most of them were "top secret," so when people asked me: "Where are we going to have school next year?" I would answer quite earnestly, "Exactly where God wants us to be." I sincerely believed that... even as the doors of several "Plan Bs”after " closed one after the other--and thank God they did.  

"O, we of little faith!" We had let go of the hope that Plan A (the building that had been built for CCS in 1998-99) could ever be home to CCS again. The lesson some of us learned that year was this: Though it is wise to have a back-up plan, never rule out God's desire and ability to restore Plan A. This is true of all creation itself. In the beginning, God created Plan A, and at the end of each creative day, He said, "That's good.". Then THE FALL took place and put a series of Plan Bs in place. Even so, God promised that someday He would restore His Plan A. Yet century after century, mankind proves that we are prone to forget Plan A... (As the old hymn says: "Prone to wander...Lord, I feel it....prone to leave the God I love). We're prone to settle for Plan B, and were it not for  "the patient providence of God," Plan A would be long-forgotten dream. In a much smaller scale, though it was huge at the time, that's what CCS learned in 2012. That year is a very significant MEMORIAL STONE.

The 9^th MEMORIAL STONE is the year 2014 when CCS purchased the building from Fifth/Third Bank. By taking on a new mortgage with a different bank, we were no longer renters living with the thought of losing our building to another school. The purchase price was $3.4 million dollars, and the current balance is down to about $2.2 million. Google Earth was new to me that year and for the first time I was studying our building and campus from satellite images online when I noticed a huge CROSS in our building's design. I called the architect in Grand Rapids who laughed and said, "You guys are just now noticing that Cross. It's called a cruciform design--dates back to the Middle Ages. I started with that 300' cross and add everything else to it." 

What a powerful thought: for fifteen years, without ever seeing it, CCS students had been going to school in the shadow of the cross. This discovery happened a few weeks before Easter, and the Muskegon Chronicle did a front page feature about it for the Easter Sunday Edition. Some time later, Scott Meyer built the model showing that cross that has graced our hallway ever since.

Along with the blessing of that year, however, comes a serious reality of stewardship. That mortgage is slightly over $15,000 / month in the school budget. Part of my new job description for the next year or two will be sharing this story with people who see the value of CCS know we could serve families even better if that mortgage were greatly reduced or gone before our 45^th Anniversary in the summer of 2025.

The 10^th MEMORIAL STONE happened in December 2018. It is the first of these stones that most of our current school family probably remembers. I wrote about in a sort of poem nearly four years ago..

The 11^th MEMORIAL STONE is the present year, 2023. If all goes as planned, we will be launching an all-day Childcare Center in September. The preschool will remain where it is, but the childcare will be up in the current art room. The art room will be where the current library is, and the library will be disbursed into each of the classrooms by grade-level. Mrs. Anhalt’s room will be in the current copy room. The copy room and business office will be in that new room in the cafeteria. And the teacher’s work room will be down the hall where Mrs. Wilson’s business office is. So This year of 2023 is going to a year of lots of exciting changes. It also happens to be my last year as Head of School—after 23 years—but I will still be here at CCS overseeing the launch of the childcare (pending final approval) and helping with the financial sustainability of the school in time for the remaining MEMORIAL STONE….

The 12^th MEMORIAL STONE will be our 45^th Anniversary in the year 2025!

I knew this would be a long blog post because when I shared these thoughts in chapel last week, we went over by a few minutes, but it was our last chapel of the year, and the students were very attentive.

I began writing a “administrative blog” for our CCS website twelve years ago. My first post in 2011 explains why I named the blog To Begin With . I have called this post "To End With" because it is probably the last post I will write from this office. 

What better way to wrap things up than with this talk of MEMORIAL STONES so that someday… When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean?’  YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO TELL  THE NEXT GENERATION THE STORY OF GOD'S PATIENT PROVISION TO CALVARY CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS.

Mr. Kapanka's Christmas Wish (with thanks to Earl Hamner Jr.)

Some of you are not old enough to remember the TV show called “The Waltons” about a family making do through the Great Depression, but I grew up a big fan of the show's early seasons, and I’ve long admired it’s creator, Earl Hamner Jr., whose voice narrated each episode (through the written journals of “John Boy," played by Richard Thomas).

In many ways, the show reminded me and my siblings of our own family “making do” through hard times as we built our home deep in some wooded acres in “the thumb” of Michigan. This was especially true for my mother who had grown up living in a three-generation household with her grandparents. When I went off to college in 1974, this reading was on the Walton’s Christmas album. The words of Grandpa’s Christmas Wish came to me as I shot this video footage on the last day of school before Christmas Vacation. Heavy lake-effect snow decorated the outside while classes reveled inside. It was a beautiful day!

The full reading by Will Geer can be found at this link:

Did You Know? A Brief History of CCS and the Generous Giving that Makes It Possible

I still remember arriving at Calvary Christian Schools in July of 2000. My wife and I had served at a very similar ACSI school in Iowa for 18 years when I accepted this position. These 23 years have been a blessing, and they’ve gone by so fast that I sometimes forget that many of our new families may not know the amazing story of Calvary Christian Schools. 

I firmly believe that knowing our story will bring joy to our giving this Christmas because it is an incredible gift to be a part of Calvary.

Ours is an incredible story. For instance...

• Did you know that, for our first 20 years, CCS was located right next door to the old

  

  The original CCS building on Clinton Street in Muskegon

  Hackley Hospital in Muskegon (now the site of the new Middle School)? The CCS Fruitport campus was completed in1999. This building was one of the largest new construction projects in the county. (The Lakes Mall came a couple years later along with restaurants, banks, businesses. Soon after our move to Kendra Road, more than 500 new residential addresses came to our neighborhood.

• 

  1998-99 Yearbook cover..

  Did you know that the original investment in the land purchase, clearing / excavation, sewer/water/utilities, construction and landscaping was a nine
  million dollar commitment taken on by the former host church? A school our size could never have made such an investment. In the years to follow, the largest church in Muskegon County met in our gymnasium (three services each Sunday for many years). During those same ten years, that congregation paid down the original mortgage balance to 3.5 million dollars. That’s amazing, and had it not happened, CCS would not exist as we know it today.

• Did you know that in 2012, CCS became a Michigan non-profit and independent 501(c)(3) governed by a board rather than a host church? That same year, Calvary Church relocated, and the school was temporarily displaced. Then in August the mortgage-holding bank allowed CCS to return and occupy the building for one year while the bank attempted to sell it.

• Did you know that, upon moving back into this building, the school budget took on full responsibility of all utilities, inspections, maintenance, and mortgage payments. This was more than $250,000 above tuition income and any previous budget. We sometimes refer to that year as a “loaves and fishes” miracle because of how God provided through donors. (Our 501(c)(3) status means all donor gifts are tax deductible.)

• Did you know that the bank was so impressed with our ability to meet our obligations while taking great care of their asset that they renewed the lease for the 2013-2014 school year. It was announced at Commencement, and many people wept for joy.

• Did you know that in 2014, after two years as renters, the bank graciously applied every dollar we had paid them (including all other building-related expenses ) to a negotiated purchase price that was below half of the building’s appraised value. Ever since, we have "owned" this building (with the help of a mortgage).

• Did you know that since 2012, the mortgage obligation has been paid down a million dollars? Even so, our monthly payment on the 2.24M balance is over $15,000. While that is an enormous commitment, our loan history is excellent and our debt-to-equity ratio (D/E) is about .33.

• Did you know that when we add in the cost of heating, cooling, maintenance, inspections, trash removal, snow removal, insurance, etc. to our mortgage payment, all building-related costs come to over $324,000 / year. This does not include any salaries.

• 

  Did you know that within a few years of 2012, God began using three things to help lower the formidable costs of running an independent faith-based school: First and foremost, a growing group of CCS donors who want the mission of CCS to continue; second, a lease with a wonderful local church that uses some office space and the building on weekends; and third, our teachers who are qualified and certified with servant’s hearts (some of whom are also contracted in a share-time program that substantially assists that portion of the CCS budget.

• Did you know that while also absorbing the overhead costs of this fine campus and facility, CCS has also provided more and more families with need-based financial assistance?. This ensures that CCS never becomes a school only for those who can fully afford private education. This assistance helps dozens of families who could otherwise not share this wonderful journey with us. Providing this help is a scriptural principle responsibly applied.

• Did you know that the need-based assistance CCS offers is unfunded? Some people think that because FACTS processes the applications that the actual dollars awarded to qualifying applicants are provided by FACTS or some other source. No. There is always a strong correlation between each year’s GAP fund (annual appeal for needed donor gifts) and the amount of need-based aid awarded. CCS donors share the value of keeping CCS available to all applicants who know both the cost and value of Christian education. (Even so, unfunded financial assistance never goes below half of the published tuition rate, and families of all income levels are asked to help close the GAP.)

Thank you for taking the time to read this short history of CCS. Now you know why we share our need each year and why so many people in our community consider CCS worthy of their support as this “loaves and fishes” story continues to unfold. 

Now you know how such a relatively small school (currently 243 in Pre-K through 12^th grade) enjoys such a fine campus and building while constantly “learning to lean” on the Lord each year. It’s because CCS is a family of believers, educators, and donors who believe “learning to lean” is the first step in Christian education. Thank each of you for doing your part.

Tom Kapanka   

Send checks to CCS or Scan this QR code
 or go to www.calvaryeagles.org to give..

Contentious Days Call For Winsome Ways

Four years ago, I was elected Michigan representative for the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI). Serving in this capacity is an honor and gives voice to dozens of other ACSI  schools in the state. Last month, I was asked to represent CCS and the state of Michigan at  a "Legal and Legislative Summit" in Washington DC. 

For two days, nearly 100 other ACSI state representatives and heads of schools from coast to coast gathered in a large conference room across the street from the Department of Education Building to be inspired by speakers addressing two topics: religious freedom and parental choice in education. These two topics are central to the parental role of "training up a child in the way he or she should go." (Proverbs 22:6) . :

Speakers included: Senator Ted Cruz, Michael Lindsay, President of Taylor University, and many others. Most notable of all, however, was an address by the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, the Honorable Winsome Sears. 

What a great name..."Winsome".... it means to be likably persuasive as we represent the connection between the TRUTH we believe and the common sense of living. As a school, for instance, CCS advocates for religious freedom not because the Bible guaranties it (quite the opposite is seen in the Old and New Testaments). We defend religious freedom because our U.S. Constitution  has enshrined it from the beginning. So long as God grants us the freedom to live in this constitutional republic, we will strive to be winsome in defending religious freedom and the role of God-honoring parents in the lives of their children.

Winsome Sears is second-in-line to  Governor Glen Youngkin, whose political opponent Terry McAuliffe (then governor of VA) said in a debate: "I don't think parents should be telling schools what they can teach..."  That statement alone sent droves of parents to the polls to defend their God-given authority in matters of K-12 education. The surprising win of Glen Youngkin and Winsome Sears has inspired millions of parents and many new gubernatorial candidates from Michigan to Arizona in  November's mid-term election.

After two days of inspiration in DC, it  was time for some perspiration as all of the ACSI leaders in attendance  walked UP Capital Hill (about five blocks UPHILL from the Department of Education building) to appointments with their congressional leaders. 

Most of my time on The Hill was spent in Bill Huizenga's office. It was an honor to be among friends who appreciate schools like CCS. We stressed that parental choice in education will always go hand in hand with religious freedom. 

As our nation strays further and further from its founding principles, churches and parents who believe God's Word "is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path" are in a shrinking minority, but even if that is true they are constitutionally protected in this 250-year experiment we call The United States of America. 

The handbook and doctrinal statements of every ACSI school in Michigan probably include statements like the following. In many government-controlled schools, these beliefs are being replaced by the indoctrination of special interest groups:

• The Bible says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." That notion is mocked as anti-science, but in fact, when science is properly defined the various theories of origins require just as much non-science (i.e. faith) to believe. Even so, for more than a century the flawed "science" of  Darwin was taught as fact. In recent years, the battle cry "Follow the science!" has never come with more reasons to doubt the agenda behind those shouting it.
• The Bible speaks of one race--the human race--and that no one group of humans matters more than another group. (Romans 10:12) Yet, it was Darwin's now-debunked theory of evolution that gave birth to the worst elements of racism manifested in our times. (As explained here.)
• The Bible says, "Male and female He created them," but that self-evident fact is currently being drowned out in the din of "gender fluidity" and a never-ending list of pronouns and "identities."
• The Bible says that humans are "image bearers" of God. created to have dominion over the earth. Secular classrooms, however, make no divine distinction between humans and animals (except when, in many cases, animal life is more protected than human life). Read further at Imago Dei. 
• The Bible says "marriage is between one man and one woman," but anyone who still says so in the public square will be canceled faster than Chick-Fil-A or Masterpiece Cakeshop.
• The Bible says God is the giver and sustainer of life.  "For you [God] formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb," but never has the beginning of life and the duty of protecting it been more contested in this nation. The current clamor is only new it its effort to remove parents from having a say in their children's life-changing choices.  
  

The CCS Mission Statement reflects a more Biblical model for education: Partnering with parents to equip students toward personal excellence and the pursuit of God's purpose for their lives. To the surprise of many in government, many of the deeply held religious beliefs outlined above are also shared by parents whose children do not attend faith-based schools. On such matters, we agree that parents have a God-given responsibility to protect the innocence of childhood. 

As we approach mid-term elections in a few days, continue to pray for those candidates who are willing to enter the political arena--especially those who understand religious freedom and parental choice in education. May God help us to be winsome as we take a stand and say NO to politicians and proposals designed to strengthen and lengthen their own control of culture, the government, and the next generation,

Tom Kapanka

[Note: The above post contains many links to support material. Click on gray and tan text for further reading or video samples.

God Bless the Broken Road That Led Us All to School

Take a close look at this picture. Does it look familiar? Some of you may think that it’s a picture of Kendra Road in Fruitport. The resemblance is remarkable, but you’ll notice there are actually no potholes in the picture.

 This is Rome’s famous Via Appia, the Appian Way.)  built in 312 BC. It stretches more than 350 miles, and millions of tourist to Italy still use it for hiking, cycling, and horseback riding. It was so well-traveled by the time of Christ that miles of it already had grooves worn in the stones from the cartwheels pounding it through the centuries. (see photo below)

For 23 years, parents and students driving Kendra Road to school have felt like ancient travelers on the Appian Way. Thousands of dollars have been spent on tires, rims, alignments, and other repairs caused by the patchwork of potholes on the road Calvary calls home. Only those who travel Kendra daily know that this is not an exaggeration. This observation is not meant as a complaint to the fine road-workers of Fruitport Township. The fault is not theirs but rather the road itself.

You see, unlike the Appian Way of ancient Rome, Kendra Road never had a proper foundation. We’ve learned from locals, that Kendra Road began as a two track after I-96 went through in the 1960’s.  Over the years, it evolved into a two-lane dirt road. Eventually it was frosted with some pavement, but with the turn of the century came of the school, the mall, Stillwater Springs, and other developments, and the traffic has exceeded the pavement’s capacity. So we thank the road workers who have tried their best to keep up the thousands of potholes through the years, but we are even more thankful for the following announcement:

We have been informed that KENDRA ROAD IS GETTING PROPERLY PAVED THIS SUMMER. That’s right. When we return to classes in the fall, all parents and drivers will have a smooth road as they approach the school. Because Kendra is classified as a local road (rather than “primary”), this work does come at some cost to the school and Kendra residents. We are launching a summer fundraising drive to raise $35,000. About half of that amount is the CCS assessment for the new road. 

The remaining needed funds are for some other timely projects. We hope to hire a bonded tree service to clear away most of the highway brush and 20-year growth in front of the school (between Kendra and I-96). We have been given permission to clear back the foliage that blocks the view of CCS along the fence line.  Unlike the Kendra pavement, all of the this tree-service cost falls to the school. But imagine what Calvary will look like in the fall—a new road and a clear view to the thousands of cars that pass us every day in the commute on eastbound and westbound I-96.

We also hope to make about $10,000 worth of inside improvements to the building that include a new Teacher Break Room (they have not had a Break Room since 2019. Look for additional information about this year-end campaign. 

In the meantime enjoy this video about the broken road that has lead us to Calvary all these years. It may be the last time you see Muskegon County's version of the Appian Way.

Tom Kapanka

God Bless The Broken Road That Led Us All To School

Between Reminiscence and Anticipation: Written to the Class of 2022 After Senior Trip

Dear CCS Class of 2022,

“There’s got to be a morning after…” I hope you all got a good night's sleep last night and woke up (eventually) to enjoy the familiar surroundings of home. Sometimes after big events, the morning after has a sort of empty whisper like when you hold a seashell to your ear. I’m writing you all this collective note on the morning after Senior Trip 2022 because I woke up to a silent house which made me miss you all. I get this feeling every year around graduation, but this year it prompted me to sit down and write you this note.

The first time Mrs. Kapanka and I took a Senior Class to Orlando was 1988. If that sounds like ancient history, I understand, but please know that to us... it does not seem so long ago. (Likewise for Mrs. Price who graduated from high school that same year.) The Class of '88 I'm referring to was from our previous school in Iowa where we served for eighteen years. We still keep in touch with many of those students (who are now in their fifties). That class did something spontaneously on their last night of Senior Trip that you guys also did: they stayed up all night reminiscing.

The ability to reminisce is a gift. Not all “families” do it. Reminiscing is what becomes of conversations stretched through time—long stretches of time. It happens in rare moments when you realize that time does not pass, it gathers; it is not spent but shared, and while it is not healthy to “live in the past” it is very good now and then to take a backward glance. . . just long enough to say “I remember the us that was.” Doing so helps you remember that God began shaping the “you” you’re becoming before you even knew it was happening.

You did something else Wednesday night in that brief snapshot of time (in those hours before we headed for the airport at 3:30AM): you spoke of important things in the present —beliefs, questions, uncertainties, and confidences—things that will set the direction for your futures; things that will be the backdrop of your reminiscing thirty years from now. How do I know this? Because that Class of ‘88 had a reunion at our former school three weeks ago. (We were not able to attend but saw photos on Facebook.) I’m confident that, Lord willing, your class will do the same in 2052. Hard to imagine, isn't it? Don't let it frighten you. The passing of time with friends and family is a wonderful thing.Watching young people become adults is one of the perks of working for 42 consecutive years in two K-12 schools like Calvary. Just think some of you had Mrs. K in preschool fourteen years ago, and here you are "all grown up" with so much to look forward to.

You asked us Wednesday night who our favorite class was, which is almost as impossible to answer as when parents are asked to disclose their favorite child… My guess is many others from other Senior Trips may be reading this, and they will remember moments unique to their experience. The very thought of them brings a smile the way an old photograph found unexpectedly can make you laugh in a room by yourself..  

I will say this: we can’t imagine having been with a better group than you guys. We love the way you were not a group of smaller groups; we love the way that everyone—no matter how new to the class—was included; we love the way you show patience when it’s needed; we love the thought that you guys will care about each other well beyond next week's ceremony; we love the diversity of the dreams you hold and doubts you share and your apprehension of the fine line between dreams and doubts when you feel alone. We love the unspoken intent to never let any of your friends feel isolated in the years to come. The whole week was fun, but that last night of listening as you guys spoke from your hearts was the most rewarding and memorable event of this trip.

Mrs. K and I have “hugged” forty-one Senior Classes goodbye since our K-12 teaching careers began in 1982. We have bookmarks of recollection that help us remember each class (and individuals in each class). I can assure you of this… we will not forget your class and we will not need a bookmark, because your class is a bookend, holding a long row of senior trips in place. We didn’t speak of it when we were in Orlando, but you guys will always be remembered as our last Senior Trip. Not as a school, but as a trip with the two of us along. Thank you for the many kindnesses you showed when least expected.

The first line of this note is the title of a song from my high school days. I'll close this note with two more from the same era. (If Zander were riding shotgun right now he’d play them for us): The first is a song called “Anticipation” from 1971, which declared “These are the good ol’ days…” and indeed they are. Remember that as you enjoy this summer before turning the page from the CCS years to whatever lies ahead. The other song is a favorite of mine called "Bookends," which is perfect for these thoughts. I used it in this montage to help you remember that life is never lived only in the present… it is a beautiful blend of past and future... reminiscence and anticipation, grandparents and those yet to be born, experience and hope. 

You are never alone.

We love you!

Mr. K

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Worldview Shapes the Formative Years

Today, we had more than 50 parents and prospective students in our rotunda as visiting students were paired up with someone from the class they were visiting. It was a wonderful sight to see. Most of these inquiring families will also be our guests at this evening's Spring Carnival. We hope you can all make it to that event to meet some of them.. 

We are living in interesting times, and I'd like to remind all of us why the formative years in your students' lives are so important.

Museum of The Bible, Washington, DC

This past week, I was at a Biblical Worldview Conference at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC. Scores of other K-12 Christian school administrators were there from across the country. CCS and these other schools consider teaching from a Biblical perspective (worldview) a crucial part of our mission. In all subjects and circumstances, God's Word is “a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.”(Ps119:105) Only in that light can we see the answers to the questions of life that give a meaningful context for all subjects.

Simply put, our worldview is the lens through which we interpret the past, present, and future of the world in which we live. 

II Timothy 3:13-17 warns believers that the time will come when social “norms” and public opinion will go from bad to worse, and manipulating deceivers will lead many down false and dangerous paths. Friends, we are living in such a time. The same passage, however, encourages us to train up believers from childhood in the TRUTH of God’s Word and the way to wisdom and salvation in Christ Jesus. The short passage concludes by reminding us that  "all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

At CCS, the home and school are a team working from the same playbook and game-plan. The many Evangelical churches in our school family sometimes summarized our shared Biblical worldview in three words: “Creation...Fall… and Redemption. That outline covers origins, including God’s original relationship with his creation; man’s willful breaking of that relationship and the resulting “brokenness” of the world, and then through Christ, a restored relationship (and eventually a “new heaven and earth”). We also pay heed to what Jesus called the two greatest commandments: Love God (vertical relationship) and love your neighbor as yourself (horizontal relationships) .(Matthew 22:36-40)

With those thoughts in mind, read Luke 6:39-40, where Jesus is talking about the influence of teachers over students and asks, “Can the blind lead the blind?” i.e. Can a person unable to see God’s role in life open other’s eyes to TRUTH? Can those who credit a godless existence to “random chance” give meaningful answers to the questions of life? How can we know that the same "light" is guiding your student(s) down the same "path"? 

Luke 6:40 further reminds us that teachers should be worthy of being "looked up to" because in the end  their students will become like them. In other words, regardless of the subject, worldviews are “caught” more than “taught,” and education should never be a game of “blind-man’s-bluff” for students and “keep-away” for parents.

When I was a kid, the nation’s largest bus-line commercials ended with a jingle: “Go Greyhound, and leave the driving to us.” Sadly, when it comes to what some schools are teaching kids these days, more and more school boards and government officials are telling parents, “Stay home, and leave the worldview to us.”  In fact, just yesterday, President Biden told a national gathering of top teachers that the students they lead "are not someone else's, they're OUR children.... they’re like yours when they’re in the classroom.”

It is one thing for government schools to feign neutrality on religion; it’s another thing for them to oppose traditional views of the Church and to zealously (religiously?) advance contrary views to our children on topics like: identity, life, purpose, gender, sex, marriage, family, right and wrong, law enforcement, etc. I have friends and family who have tried to stem the tide of these contrary agendas in their local districts, and I do not doubt that their presence can be used by God if those adults can remain untainted, but when we consider the new social agenda being infused into the curriculum for children, how much tainted water in a well renders it risky to drink?   

We often speak of school days as the "formative years." of life, and it is true. Students are like clay in the potter's hands. Jeremiah 18:2-4 paints a beautiful picture of how God transforms "formative years" into a useful life. The K-12 years represent about 15,000 hours on a potter's wheel. Who's doing the forming? What is the intended outcome?  Imagine a partnership between the home and school that purposefully integrates learning with life, science with conscience, facts with faith, theory with wonder, and wonder with belief.  

Our nation is very divided on some very basic "facts of life." Never have so many been diametrically opposed to keeping God in his rightful place as Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend. In times like these, we are pleased to see  more and more parents choosing to partner with schools like CCS that share their values and teach from a Biblical worldview.