Frederickson Campus Blog
Archives - March 2022
I-Term 2022!
March 30, 2022
From Brian Wilson, Dean of Students, JH I-Term
I-Term is here! As we focus in April on Unshakeable Faith, we believe that nothing builds faith like serving others. I-Term is our week of service when we focus on how we can become the “hands and feet” of Jesus in people’s everyday lives. This year we have been focusing on Acts 1:8 (NIV): “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” We want students to see and experience how they can serve close to home (their “Jerusalem”) and outside their local area (their “Judea/Samaria and the ends of the earth”).
Our junior high students have teamed up through their advisory classes and will be serving in both local and global projects. The local projects involve such things as making food and toiletry bags for homeless people, serving at the food bank, writing letters for soldiers, serving foster care families and making Easter baskets, doing cleaning projects at school, and helping a family with their yard work.
Globally, our 7th grade advisories are continuing to support Water for South Sudan by fundraising to build wells. Our 8th grade advisories are working with Food for the Hungry to raise money for specific projects, like buying oxen, farm animals, mosquito nets, a chicken farm, plows, a donkey and cart, and classroom upgrades for kids in areas of Africa.
Please partner with us by praying for these projects and for our students as they serve! If you feel led to give, let us know and we can get you a link!
From Sammy Bratz, Student Life Director, HS I-Term
Our I-Term program is one of the things that make us uniquely Cascade Christian. As I reflect on the two years since we have run a full I-Term program, I am overwhelmed with gratitude. We are incredibly blessed as a community to reserve a full week (sometimes more) to go out into our schools, communities, and beyond.
We spent time in our recent I-Term Commissioning Chapel reflecting on Acts 1:8 (NIV): “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” We discussed what it means to serve Jesus both near, middle, and far. Through our I-Term program, students are given the opportunity to attend both domestic and international trips.
This year we have trips going to Orlando, Florida; Zion National Park in Utah; and Cape Town, South Africa. Also, our junior high students will be taking their annual trip to Washington, DC. We have a large array of local overnight and day-trip service projects. We will have high school students serving at our elementary campuses, serving Pierce County Conservation, working with Care Net, staying overnight at Sambica Christian camp, and much more!
Personally, I am preparing to lead an I-Term missions trip to South Africa on what will be our 10-year anniversary traveling there. We have surpassed well over 100 students, alumni, and parents who have made this journey to the tip of Africa. I am overcome with emotion as I recall the Lord’s goodness and faithfulness in showing up every year. I am humbled that God chose Cascade Christian to be a witness to “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth.”
Hilarious Generosity
March 23, 2022
Hilarious generosity… this is the phrase God gave our team while we were praying over the 2022 IMPACT Auction.
On Saturday, March 19, at the Hotel Murano, I had the pleasure of seeing the CCS community beaming beautiful smiles, embracing one another, and laughing in celebration as they came together for the first auction in three years.
In addition to honoring our very own Calata family, our superintendent, Dr. Ken Friesen, opened in prayer by giving tribute to our military, police officers, firefighters, healthcare workers, and all other first responders. From this posture of gratitude, the CCS community proceeded to outpour immense generosity and kindness.
You and your CCS community helped raise a record-breaking $385,000! This was accomplished through:
- the miraculous number of items procured,
- the most competitive runners in dessert dash history,
- the rapid-fire bidding wars for amazing getaways and experiences, and
- a moving fund-a-need through which families displayed their faith in God’s plan.
The 2022 IMPACT Auction had dual purposes. The first was to help raise funds toward the new junior high building and athletic fields, to make room for all the growth God has brought CCS. The second was to provide the CCS community the long-overdue opportunity to fellowship and witness God’s vision for His school district. This memorable evening revealed that God has given His blessing to CCS to keep expanding His territory.
We hope that those of you who were able to attend the auction felt welcomed and enjoyed celebrating with your CCS family. We look forward to the many gatherings in our future where we can grow roots as a community and celebrate the hilarious generosity of God at work.
Elementary STEM
March 14, 2022
There’s a new robotic waiter in the STEM room! CCS sixth graders have become restaurateurs! Combining Microsoft technology with robotics, students create a fictitious restaurant, and then program robots to complete automated tasks such as delivering food. Hi, my name is Rene Perry, and. I am proud to lead Cascade Christian’s elementary STEM program!
STEM learning ties science, technology, engineering, and math into open-ended activities that foster curiosity and build critical thinking skills. By collaborating toward a solution, students at Cascade Christian develop a variety of skills. STEM “engineers” learn how to evaluate information and figure out how to use it. With the world becoming an increasingly complex place, it is important for children to prepare themselves to participate in the future workforce and understand how technology can assist them. Beyond the practical, it is just fun!
- Kindergarten engineers are “civil engineers.” Students learn to work through the design process together. They build, test, and modify mini–golf clubs, zip lines, and parachutes!
- All first grade students can be found exploring space, using their iPads as virtual telescopes. These scientists also examine the Earth and its major habitats through hands-on projects such as LEGO habitat builds and biomimicry treasure boxes.
- Second grade “earth scientists” get messy! They take a close look at dirt, create compost, analyze soil samples, plant seedlings, and study natural landmarks using the Google Earth app.
- Neutral buoyancy is the goal for third grade “flight engineers.” After experimenting with the forces of flight, engineers design an insect that can remain buoyant inside a wind tunnel.
- Fourth grade students are “chemical engineers.” These mathematicians graph mixtures and create solutions. Exploration continues as solutions are tested for pH balance, numbered, and sequenced through the use of iPads. Students also investigate collisions. What is kinetic and potential energy? Students create mini-vehicles and design “egg-ceptional packaging” in order to improve safety during a collision.
- “I got it to work!” Fifth grade “electrical engineers” learn the basics of circuitry. Paper circuits are used to create illuminated art pieces, an underwater coral reef, and a downtown skyscraper! Students use glow germs and a LOT of research as they track down, “Who is Patient Zero?”
Students at Cascade Christian have the opportunity to find their inspired purpose inside a STEM room!
March Happenings
March 09, 2022
Welcome to March, which means the IMPACT Auction is right around the corner. Woo-hoo! March 19 is circled on my calendar to enjoy this amazing event with all of you. Tickets are still available, but seats are limited. If you would like to participate in this community-wide event, please click here for more information. Pick out your evening wear, hire a babysitter, and mark your calendar to join me at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 19, at Hotel Murano in downtown Tacoma for a night to remember!
Also in March, our spiritual focus is all about UNSHAKEABLE HOPE, and there is no better time to place our hope in JESUS. We have been learning about the hope inside us that only Jesus can give, which will renew our strength and provide endurance to overcome difficult situations. We can be unshakeable in our faith and stand firm in knowing that God is a God of fulfilled promises!
Last Wednesday, we got to celebrate Dr. Seuss Day while also learning all about unshakeable hope during chapel. It was such a fun experience for all our students to see their principal dressed up like Cat in the Hat while giving an object lesson about the hope that lives inside us!