High School Campus Blog
You Are More Than What Can Be Measured
September 16, 2026
As I begin my first year as superintendent of Cascade Christian Schools, I want to say how grateful Sheila and I are for the extraordinary hospitality you have extended to us. From our first days here, we have felt genuinely welcomed into the Cascade Christian community. Thank you.
As I have begun learning our schools, one thing has struck me:
Schools measure things.
Grades. Test scores. Attendance. Goals. Wins and losses. College acceptances. Enrollment. Growth.
Measurement is useful. It tells us where we are and where we need to grow. But there is something no report card, scoreboard, résumé, or ranking can measure: the worth of a person.
That distinction matters because we live in a world constantly inviting us to confuse the two.
A student gets an A and begins to think, I am the smart one.
A student gets cut from the team and wonders, Maybe I’m not enough.
Someone gets noticed. Someone gets overlooked. Someone succeeds. Someone fails.
Slowly, what happened to us can begin telling us who we are.
And adults are not immune. We can measure ourselves by our children’s success, our careers, our reputation, our productivity, or whether life seems to be going according to plan.
The gospel interrupts all of that.
Christianity does not tell us to become impressive enough that God finally approves of us. Nor does it tell us simply to look within ourselves and discover how wonderful we already are.
It tells us something far better.
We were created in God’s image, which gives every human being a dignity that achievement cannot increase and that failure cannot erase. Yet we also turned away from the God who made us. We could not repair that distance by performing better.
So Christ came to us.
He lived the life we could not live, carried our guilt at the cross, rose from the grave, and joins those who trust him to himself. In Christ, we are forgiven, welcomed, and given a new identity.
That means we do not work our way toward acceptance; we begin from acceptance. And that changes the way we approach school.
We can pursue academic excellence without making grades our identity. We can compete fiercely without believing the scoreboard determines our worth. We can correct a student without reducing that student to his or her worst decision. We can admit when we are wrong without being crushed by it. And we can celebrate someone else’s success because their success does not diminish us.
At Cascade Christian Schools, we should pursue excellence. We should expect students to work hard, develop their gifts, take responsibility, and grow in character.
But excellence makes a wonderful offering and a terrible god.
My hope is that Cascade Christian will be the kind of place where students are challenged because they matter—not challenged in order to prove that they matter. There is an enormous difference.
Grades can measure learning.
A stopwatch can measure speed.
A scoreboard can record the winner.
An algorithm can rank performance.
But none of them gets the final word about a human being.
That word belongs to Christ.
When our identity is secure in him, we are free to learn, risk, fail, grow, serve, create, compete, apologize, forgive, and try again—not to manufacture a life worth loving but because in Christ, we are already deeply and securely his.
That is the kind of freedom I hope always marks Cascade Christian Schools.
As Sheila and I begin this first year with you, we thank you again for welcoming us so generously. I am deeply grateful to be part of this community and excited for what God will do among us in the year ahead.
He Is Making Us New!
September 09, 2026
Welcome back, Cascade Christian community!
It was such a gift to spend last school year walking through the book of Ephesians together as we considered what it means to be Called for a Purpose. This year, our spiritual theme takes us to another of Paul’s letters and to a simple but profound promise:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” —2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
The headline here is fairly obvious: when we are in Christ—when we put our trust in Jesus—we are made new.
Maybe you’ve heard or read this verse countless times, or maybe it’s brand new to you. Either way, you might be finding yourself asking, “That sounds great, but what does it actually mean?”
While the complete answer to that question certainly deserves more space than we can take up here, one thing we can say for sure is that being made new means transformation.
Think about some of the experiences in life that change us: starting at a new school, taking the first steps into adulthood, getting married, having kids. Each of these experiences can change us in profound ways, but none of them can (or should) transform us entirely. With that in mind, consider this: if those life experiences shape us, how much more should encountering Jesus radically change every single thing about us? Paul seems to be suggesting that an encounter with Jesus ought to result in transformation so profound that we should say, “new creation!”
Being made new in Christ is not simply about believing the right things and then waiting around to go to Heaven. Life with Christ is a life in which he is continuously transforming us and inviting us to participate in the new creation work he is already doing in us, the people around us, and throughout the world.
This year, we are excited to explore some of the different ways Scripture describes that transformation. We will talk about a new heart and a new identity. A new mind and a new way of abiding in Christ. A new power and a new way to live. A new mission, a new hope, and ultimately the promise of a new creation.
In other words, “made new” is not merely something that happened once in the past. It describes the life into which Jesus is inviting us.
But there is another important part of this theme: being made new is not just about us.
God does not transform us simply so that we can feel better about ourselves. We are not made new so that we can check a religious box or add “Christian” to the list of things that describe us.
From the beginning, God’s desire was to partner with human beings as his image bearers—for us to reflect his character and goodness into the world he created. Sin fractures that purpose. It separates us from God, but it also separates us from the fullness of what we were created to be.
And then comes Jesus.
Because of the perfect life and sacrificial death of Christ, we are reconciled to God. We are invited into joyful relationship with him, and from that place of security and belonging, we are sent back into the world to live as the people God created us to be. We are made new, and then we are invited to participate in what God is doing.
That happens in big ways, but perhaps even more often it happens in ordinary ones. In our families. In our classrooms. On our playgrounds. In our offices. In conversations with friends. In how we treat the person who frustrates us. In how we respond when someone needs compassion, forgiveness, truth, or hope.
Everywhere we go, we have the opportunity to live as people who have encountered the good news of Jesus and are being transformed by it.
Please join us in praying for our community this year: that our spiritual theme would go beyond a talking point or a program but would become a starting point for real impact and transformation for students, staff, families, and our community at large as we come to a deeper understanding of what it means to be made new in Christ.
As you and your family get back into the rhythms of the school year, our prayer is that you experience peace that comes from a joyful reliance on the Lord and the miraculously good news of the gospel—that we have security in the work of Jesus, and that he is making us new!
Made New: Welcoming the 2026-2027 School Year at Cascade Christian Junior High & High School
September 02, 2026
There is something special about the beginning of a new school year. Fresh notebooks, new schedules, renewed friendships, and many opportunities await every student who walks through our doors. Across campus, our teachers and staff have been working diligently to prepare for another incredible year at Cascade Christian Junior High and High School, and we are excited to welcome students back or for the first time.
This year, our spiritual theme is Made New, inspired by 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” What a powerful reminder for us as we begin a new school year together. No matter what experiences, challenges, or successes we bring with us from the past, Christ offers renewal. Our prayer is that each student grows spiritually, academically, and personally as we partner together in God’s work throughout the year.
Kicking Off the School Year
September 3 & 4
The second and third days of school will follow the Chapel Schedule as students continue settling into the rhythm of the year.
Supporting Cougar Athletics
Home Football Game | Saturday, September 5
Let’s pack the stands and cheer on our Cougar Football Team as they take on Nooksack Valley at 7:00 PM at Sunset Stadium in Sumner. School events like these are a great opportunity to build community and school spirit.
Youth Conference & JH Connect Day
Tuesday, September 15
One of our favorite high school traditions each year is the Youth Conference, an off-campus retreat designed to set the spiritual tone for the year with a focus on Jesus Christ. Junior High will have the building to themselves and will strive to achieve the same goal. These events provide meaningful opportunities for students to connect with one another, grow in their faith, and begin the school year with a shared purpose.
Important Dates to Remember
September 7: No School (Labor Day)
September 12: Convocation
September 14: Late Start
September 17: Cougar Classic Golf Tournament
Partnering Together
Thank you for choosing Cascade Christian Schools and entrusting us with your student’s education. It is a privilege to partner with families as we pursue our mission of discipling students to become discerning leaders who impact the world for Christ.
As we begin this journey together, we invite our entire school community to join us in prayer for the year ahead. May God guide our students, families, faculty, and staff as we embrace all he has in store for us.
We can’t wait to see what God will do through our Cascade Christian community this year!
The Super Six: CCS Seniors Earn Highest Honors
June 10, 2026
At CCS, we believe that a student’s education is about more than just earning good grades: It’s about becoming the person God has called you to be.
This year, the Class of 2026 recognizes six students (or as we like to call them, the “Super Six”) who have earned the distinction of Highest Honors, our most prestigious academic award.
We are proud to recognize Amelia Caldwell, Joeli Kramer, Brandon Ma, Peyton Metcalfe, Caleb Mitton, and Evangeline Zylstra with this award.
Earning Highest Honors is no small accomplishment. Students must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.98 or higher while also completing at least 6.0 credits of Advanced Placement, Dual Enrollment, or Concurrent Credit coursework, including a minimum of 3.0 AP credits. This achievement represents years of perseverance, discipline, and a commitment to pursuing the most rigorous academic opportunities available.
Yet, what makes these six students especially remarkable is that they did FAR more than excel in the classroom.
Collectively, these students embraced nearly every aspect of the CCS experience. They challenged themselves through dual enrollment coursework, and one student even earned an Associate of Arts degree in STEM through Liberty University. They participated in choir and band performances, cross-country races, soccer games, and cheer competitions. Through it all, they made time to serve on the worship team, lead others as class officers, and contribute to the Senior Mural. They also invested in their community through the National Honor Society (NHS), and one student served as the NHS president this year!
In short, these six students didn’t just attend CCS—they fully experienced it! Their accomplishments remind us of what makes Cascade Christian Schools unique. Students do not have to choose between academics, athletics, arts, leadership, service, and faith development. Here, they can pursue all of those opportunities while being known and valued, challenged, and encouraged along the way.
The accomplishments of these six seniors reflect years of hard work, determination, and dedication to step into opportunities both inside and outside the classroom. They have distinguished themselves not only through their academic achievements but also through their leadership, character, and spiritual growth.
As they prepare for the next chapter, they leave behind a legacy that will inspire future CCS students to dream bigger, work harder, and take full advantage of everything our schools have to offer.
Congratulations to our Super Six—Amelia Caldwell, Joeli Kramer, Brandon Ma, Peyton Metcalfe, Caleb Mitton, and Evangeline Zylstra. Thank you for setting such a strong example for future CCS graduates! We cannot wait to see how God continues to use your gifts and talents as you tackle future goals and aspirations.
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