ATTENTION PARENTS

FFA News

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL FFA SKI TRIP

This past Saturday, the Yorkville Christian FFA went on the first ski trip to Cascade Mountain, in Baraboo, Wisconsin. Fifteen FFA members attended the first FFA ski trip in YCHS history. FFA Members that attended were Andrew Henschen, Cole Wheeler, Dakota Bulson, Dillon Bulson, Brody Davis, Chance Ness, Henry Fox, Emma Schleining, Kyla Motley, Jovi Phillips, Emma Reinke, Halana Cejka, Peyton Loomis, Kloe Pottinger, and Ali Gajewski. 

The FFA members departed the school early in the morning and were able to enjoy skiing and snow tubing the entire day, with great weather. 

After the fun day at Cascade mountain, the group  went back to the hotel to eat pizza and talk about our skiing adventures. 

Early the next morning the group left the hotel, ate breakfast at a very nice local restaurant and returned back to the school. Thank you to Mrs. Wiesbrook, Mrs. Schleining, and Mr. Fox who chaperoned the trip! 

Written by: Halana Cejka, FFA Secretary

FFA Week: Lunch

Yorkville Christian FFA Chapter had another successful National FFA Week. The week was filled with fun activities centered around agriculture education and awareness. As an amazing fundraiser the Yorkville Christian FFA Chapter served a cookout lunch Tuesday and Wednesday.  These lunches included your choice of a hotdog, hamburger, or cheeseburger; pop or water; chips; and a cookie. These lunches were prepared and served by our FFA Chapter. Every kid showed their hard work ethic and pitched in to help. We also had a huge turnout of kids buying these lunches to support us. We encourage you as families to join us next year for our FFA Cookout as we serve to-go orders too! Thank you to all the FFA members who assisted in serving these lunches!

Written by: Kloe Pottinger, FFA Vice President

National FFA Week- February 18-25

Each year, FFA chapters around the country celebrate National FFA Week. It’s a time to share what FFA is and the impact it has on its members everyday. 

What is FFA? FFA is a dynamic youth organization that changes lives and prepares members for premier leadership, personal growth & career success through agricultural education. FFA develops members’ potential and helps them discover their talent through hands-on experiences, which give members the tools to achieve real-world success! 

How is FFA Unique?

• FFA facilitates formative experiences altering the course of students’ lives for the better. 
• FFA is intracurricular and members must be enrolled in an agriculture education class. 
• FFA members develop the necessary skills to continue their education in college or to enter the workforce immediately.
• FFA prepares members to be globally conscious of their community, their state, their country and their world.
• FFA provides opportunities to demonstrate literacy, advocacy, and technical skills in agriculture, food & natural resources. 

The Yorkville Christian FFA Officer Team planned many activities & dress up days to celebrate FFA Week. On Tuesday, students wore Blue & Gold attire. During lunch students were able to purchase a lunch made by Yorkville Christian FFA members. Wednesday, students wore either Country vs. Country Club attire. FFA Members Mason Bols, Payton Wallin & Dakota Bulson participated in the Drive Your Tractor to School Day! Thursday ended with the annual FFA Week Egg Toss with the entire school getting involved! FFA Officers Audrey Breen, Kloe Pottinger, & Ellie Stewart were interviewed by Chris Schwemlein from WSPY to bring awareness about FFA Week as well!

Thank you to all FFA members who worked hard to facilitate a fun week! 

CLASSROOM CORNER

Geometry

Geometry students designed their own logos for their own unique company.  Students were studying symmetry and discovered how prominent line and point symmetry is in company logos.  This was a great lesson to reinforce these concepts to the students, while allowing students to use their creative talents.  Nice work, Mrs. Tickel.

Biblical Studies

Biblical Studies II and III classes, under the direction of Mrs. Liz Sovern, created Valentine’s Day cards for residents of local assisted living and long term care facilities.  Each student made their own personal card, and included Bible verses such as 1 John 4:19 – “We love because He first loved us” and Colossians 3:14 – “Above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”  The cards were delivered to the residents in time for Valentine’s Day, and were very special and meaningful blessings to the residents.  The lesson served as just another great opportunity for our students to serve as the hands and feet of Jesus in our community.

Biology

Biology students supported their understanding of cell metabolism (photosynthesis, aerobic respiration, and anaerobic respiration) by completing several activities including matching metabolism dominoes, experiencing aerobic respiration through clothespin finger exercises, and completing task card trivia questions.  The students enjoyed the activities Mrs. Schnyders put together, and they were great ways to reinforce the lesson by allowing the students to experience things firsthand.

Introduction to Drawing and Painting

Students under the direction of Mr. John McDavitt recently worked on a 3D shapes project.  Students had to highlight a light source, as well as reflective light, while showing the lightest, mid, and darkest shadow areas.

Introduction to Agriculture

Students in Mrs. Stewart’s Intro to Agriculture class recently completed a project where each student was asked to create a mini storage box.  The students were each given a piece of wood and were required to figure out the dimensions for each part of the box, measure the dimensions, cut the wood according to the proper dimensions, and then construct the box using a variety of tools including saws, hammers, nails, and clamps.  The students did a great job, and the project presented an excellent opportunity for students to use a variety of skills to create a finished product.

Biology

Biology students completed an Integumentary System Exhibition Lab as part of their Human Body Systems unit.  The lab strengthened student understanding of the amazing structure and function of the skin as well as how the body responds to damage and other skin problems.  Great job by Mrs. Schnyders and her students completing this lab.

Health

Health students recently completed stations in the six essential nutrients.  The activity, designed by Health teacher, Mrs. Schnyders, helped increase their understanding of carbohydrates, protein, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water, and why they need to include all six of these nutrients in their diet.

Biblical Studies

On Friday, February 17, Biblical Studies instructors, Mrs. Sovern and Mr. Maxwell, arranged for a group of speakers from Cup of Cold Water Ministries to come speak to the Biblical Studies classes throughout the day.  The presentation was led by Mrs. Jennie Thompson, the Cup of Cold Water Ministries Next Generation Director.  Cup of Cold Water Ministries has operated out of Sheridan, IL since 1978.  The presentation started by the group sharing Jeremiah 1:7 with the students – “But the Lord said unto me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you.”  The guests then gave each student an envelope and asked the students to pretend it was a letter from God and inside the envelope was a message from God telling each of them what He wanted him or her to do for the rest of their lives.  The speakers made the point that some Christians don’t even want to open the envelope, because they fear what God might want them to do.  The students opened the envelopes and read many examples of things that would completely take them out of their comfort zone such as serving in a war-torn country, taking the word of God across hostile borders, serving God in the military, and working at Aldi and having a family.  It was a powerful exercise to get the students thinking about answering the call of God for their lives.  The guests discussed the Great Commission with our students (Matthew 28: 16-20) and shared how even some of the disciples doubted at first and didn’t want to serve to spread the good news.  The guests shared with our students that there are currently 3 billion people in the world who haven’t had the opportunity to even hear about Jesus, and only 400,000 people going out and telling others about Jesus.  Also, only 2% of Christian’s money is going toward God’s work.  The guests made it very clear that our current students are missionaries even now!  The visit was a wonderful experience for our students and the Cup of Cold Water representatives shared some upcoming worship opportunities, service opportunities, and summer retreats with our students.

Trigonometry – Students in Mrs. Tickel’s Trigonometry used their creative skills to make polar snowflakes, while studying polar and trigonometric coordinates.

Mustangs in the Community 

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING TEAM WINS AGAIN

On Thursday, January 26, the Yorkville Christian High School wrestling team defeated Rock Falls High School by a score of 66-12, and Newman Central Catholic High School by a score of 61-18. Great job Mustangs!

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL ADDS VENDING MACHINES TO STUDENT LOUNGE AREA

Yorkville Christian High School decided to add vending machines to the student lounge area in the school atrium.  A variety of Pepsi products will be available for students to enjoy before or after school including Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Starbucks products, water, Life Water, Pure Leaf products, Gatorade, and much more.  This new addition will be especially nice for students during lunch and after school with athletic practices and club activities.  The machines offer a wide variety of choices including some healthy alternatives.

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN WRESTLING TEAM WINS HOME MATCH

On Saturday, January 28, the Yorkville Christian High School wrestling team battles Morris High School and Plainfield East High School in The Canyon at Yorkville Christian.  Even though the opponents were much larger schools that the Mustangs, the Yorkville Christian team battled and defeated both opponents.  The Mustangs defeated Morris High School by a score of 45-24 and defeated Plainfield East by a score of 63-12.  Great job Mustangs!

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLER NAMED CHICAGO TRIBUNE “WRESTLER OF WEEK”

Congratulations to Yorkville Christian High School wrestler, Grason Johnson, for being named the Chicago Tribune “Wrestler of the Week” for the week of January 23-30.  Grason went 4-0 during the week in the 145-pound weight class to improve his overall record to 27-12.  Great job, Grason!

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN RECEIVES NEW SCOREBOARD FOR THE CANYON

Through an extremely generous donation from Heartland Bank, Yorkville Christian High School recently received a new state-of-the-art scoreboard in The Canyon.  This scoreboard will be a huge addition to help support the athletic teams and programs at Yorkville Christian, and we cannot thank Heartland Bank enough for their wonderful gift, and their constant support of Yorkville Christian High School.

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN WRESTLING TEAM REPEATS AS REGIONAL CHAMPIONS

On Saturday, February 4, the Yorkville Christian Mustang wrestling won its 2nd consecutive regional this past in Plano and qualified for the team sectional AND qualified 13 out of 14 wrestlers for the February 10-11 sectional in Oregon, IL. The top four place winners in the sectional will head to the individual state championships in Champaign.

Results in the IHSA 1A Plano Regional were as follows…

YCHS had 7 regionals champions, four second place finishers, and two third place finishers in route to the team title scoring 268 pts distancing themselves in the semifinals from runner up Wheaton Academy who finished with 181.5.

Champions were Aiden Larsen, Ty Edwards, Noah Dial, Grason Johnson, Tyler Martinez, Jackson Gillen, and Christopher Durbin

2nd place – Drew Torza, Isaac Gray, Jeremy Loomis, Jackson Mehochko

3rd place – Tristan Gleason and Eli Foster

4th place (alternate) – Garrett Tunnell

Good luck to the Mustangs at the sectional meet!

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN PARTICIPATES IN “SCORE WITH HEARTLAND BANK” PROGRAM

On Thursday, February 9, Mrs. Jen VanderMeir and Mr. Ryan Kastner from Heartland Bank presented Yorkville Christian High School Athletic Director, Mr. Aaron Sovern, with a check for $223, as a result of Yorkville Christian participating in the “Score with Heartland Bank” program.  For each free throw made by the Mustangs at a home game this season, Heartland Bank donated $1.  This included our boys and girls teams.  The amount will still grow, as the Mustangs have a few home games and post season games left on the schedule.  Thank you to Heartland Bank for their continued support of Yorkville Christian High School.

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN MUSTANGS CELEBRATE SENIOR NIGHT

On Thursday, February 9, the Yorkville Christian High School varsity basketball team celebrated Senior Night in The Canyon against IFS.  The Mustangs came out on a mission and opened up a huge lead in the first quarter and never looked back, as they cruised to a 98-38 victory.  DJ Douglas Jr. let the Mustangs with 24 points and 13 rebounds.  Jalen Aalders contributed 17 points on five three-point baskets. Trey Lombardo added 11 points and a game high 15 rebounds.  Mason Bols chipped in 13 points, while Abe Fields added 7 points and 8 steals and Brady Sovern knocked down four three-pointers for 12 points.  Zach Marini rounded out the scoring with 11.  It was a great night to celebrate the seniors and all of their contributions to the program.  We wish them God’s blessing as they move on to the next chapter of their lives and carry out God’s perfect plan for each of them.

Yorkville Christian Freshman Sought by Top 50 Fortune 500 Company

“Do you like to code or want to know more about it?” said the flyer from INTERalliance and Deaf Kids Code in search of Deaf and Hard of Hearing high school students to be a part of a program that collaborates with Procter & Gamble leaders and mentors.

INTERalliance is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping students explore the rich IT industry and connect them with Fortune 500 companies. Deaf Kids Code promotes technology, computer science, and design thinking skills as an innovative tool to empower deaf/ hard of hearing students socially and economically. Together, INTERalliance and Deaf Kids Code, have partnered with Procter and Gamble to offer opportunities to junior and senior high school students that show an interest in STEM / STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math).

In December, Maddie McBride, a freshman at Yorkville Christian High School and a Minooka resident, was given the flyer and encouraged to apply for the program by her Hearing Itinerant, Sarah Spoerl. Spoerl has been McBride’s Deaf teacher for the last 3 years. “I am not in the least bit surprised she was accepted. I knew she would be an asset and a role model while continuing to build her natural leadership skills. I’m excited to see what God has in store for her!” said Spoerl.

In January, Procter and Gamble scheduled interviews with students from all over the country. McBride met with Procter and Gamble executive Scott Van Nice, Senior Manager at Procter & Gamble. Van Nice has a background in cybersecurity where he manages a global group of forensic analysts and serves as Procter & Gamble’s electronic discovery subject matter expert. McBride was thrilled to meet and talk with him about her experiences with cybersecurity at Argonne National Laboratory’s “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day” last year.

On February 9^th, McBride received an email from INTERalliance that said she had not been chosen for the tech training program, but that Procter & Gamble “felt you were ready for a full-time Summer INTERnship! Congratulations!”

As this is a selective, national program and Procter & Gamble is known for being a consumer goods giant, McBride kept her hopeful optimism in check, “I knew I was one of thousands of students applying and being a freshman that could have made me less likely to be chosen, but I knew that I couldn’t pass up this tremendous opportunity and prayed that I would be picked!”

The full-time Summer INTERnship will be June through August and is designed to give students experience in areas of IT, including software engineering, cybersecurity, project management, user experience, personal computing and data analytics.

Great job, Maddie!  Your Mustang family is very proud of you!

SIX MUSTANG WRESTLERS ADVANCE TO INDIVIDUAL STATE MEET

The Yorkville Christian High School wrestling team participated in the sectional meet at Oregon High School the weekend of February 10-11.  Six Mustang wrestlers ended up qualifying for the individual state meet in Champaign.  These were the wrestlers who advanced out of the sectional:

Aiden Larsen – 106 pounds – 3^rd Place

Ty Edwards – 120 pounds – 1^st Place

Drew Torza – 145 pounds – 3^rd Place

Tyler Martinez – 160 pounds – 3^rd Place

Jackson Gillen – 170 pounds – 4^th Place

Chris Durbin – 182 pounds – 3^rd Place

Good luck to all these Mustangs as they participate at state!

These individual state qualifiers wrestled the following weekend (February 17-18) down at the University of Illinois-Champaign for the individual state titles.  Here are the results of how our wrestlers finished in state.  Congratulations to all of them on a job well done!

Aiden Larsen – 6^th place in state

Ty Edwards – 2^nd place in state

Drew Torza – 6^th place in state

Tyler Martinez – 3^rd place in state

Jack Gillen – 2^nd place in state

GREAT JOB MUSTANGS!

WRESTLING TEAM ADVANCES TO TEAM STATE MEET WITH BIG SECTIONAL WIN

On Tuesday, February 21, the Yorkville Christian High School wrestling team traveled to Oregon High School for the IHSA Sectional meet.  The Mustangs had a solid team performance against the #3 ranked team in the state, Riverdale High School, and ended up winning 42-28 to advanced to Bloomington for the state finals.  Congratulations to Coach Vester and his coaching staff, as well as all the wrestlers for their outstanding work!

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN HOSTS AG SHADOW DAY

On Thursday, February 9, Yorkville Christian High School hosted an Ag Shadow Day.  Shadows from various schools came to experience a day in the life of a Mustang.  Shadow guests attended regular classes with their shadow hosts, but also attended various agriculture classes including Animal Science, Plant Biology, and Introduction to Ag.  Students also participated in a catered lunch with a question and answer session with Yorkville Christian’s FFA officers.  Shadow guests also attended chapel and completed a special project during our homeroom time.  The shadows were a part of various great lessons including a discussion of the various types of meat in Animal Science, where students learned about product development and created their own burger brand.  Students had to decide on what ingredients they were going to use in their burger, decide on a price point, and create an advertising campaign to market their new burger.  It was a very enjoyable lesson, which concluded with students enjoying a burger.

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN HOSTS MATH AND SCIENCE SHADOW DAY

Yorkville Christian High School hosted a Math and Science Shadow Day on Thursday, February 16.  The day consisted of several exciting activities including a Biology lesson where the students completed integumentary task cards to test their knowledge of their skin, as the students then dove deeper into their dermis layer by doing their own fingerprint analysis and analyzing its unique characteristics.  Shadows attended an Animal Science class where they learned all about the process and science behind “ear notching” of cows and pigs.  The shadows attended a chapel service and heard some very uplifting music from our Praise Band, as well as a great message from Pastor Steve Lombardo.  Following chapel, the shadows enjoyed a catered lunch and got to hear presentations from the Yorkville Christian math and science departments regarding class offerings and curriculum for our various math and science courses.  Shadows were given a period of time for a question and answer session with our math and science teachers as well.  The shadow guests spent the afternoon attending an Algebra class (learning some math concepts while enjoying some ice cream), visiting a few other classes, and then attended a Physical Science class and participated in a lab.  The day wrapped up with a special presentation from Dr. Hooper, physics teacher at Yorkville Christian and Lewis University, who spoke to the guests about the Honors Physics class.

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL TO OFFER HOMESCHOOL PARTNERSHIP FOR 2023-2024 SCHOOL YEAR

Yorkville Christian High School is happy to announce it will offer a homeschool partnership for the 2023-2024 school year.  Students will be allowed to take up to three classes for $4750, with one of the classes being a required Bible class.  Homeschool students will be allowed to participate in extracurricular activities and will be required to attend the school’s mission days.  Financial assistance and discounts will not be available for homeschool partnership students.  This partnership will not include the Yorkville Christian Middle School.  For more details or information, please call our Director of Outreach and Enrollment, Mr. Tim Schnyders, at (630) 708-7927 or email him at tschnyders@yorkvillechristian.com.

If you are interested in enrolling your student for the homeschool partnership, you can complete the following enrollment application link:

https://yorkvillechristian.com/enrollment/

Yorkville Christian Hosts Fine Arts Shadow Day

On Thursday, February 23, Yorkville Christian hosted a Fine Arts Shadow Day.  The date fell during the National FFA Week, so the shadows were treated to a delicious farm fresh breakfast upon their arrival.  After the wonderful breakfast, the students participated in a drawing class with our art teacher, Mr. John McDavitt.  The next stop for the shadows was a visit to Mr. Vester’s room for a lesson about film editing and podcast work.  The shadows were able to experiment with the actual equipment.  Shadow guests attended a guitar and piano class, and then went with their shadow hosts to a regular class followed by weekly chapel.  After chapel, the guests enjoyed a catered lunch, and a special question and answer time with all of our fine arts teachers, while hearing about the various music, art, and theater class that are offered at Yorkville Christian.  After lunch, the shadows attended a few classes with their hosts, and wrapped up the day with a special painting lesson, FFA spirit week festivities, and a “goodie bag.”  It was great to have our guests with us, and we look forward to them joining the Mustang family in the future.

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN TO OFFER MIDDLE SCHOOL IN FALL OF 2023

After years of prayer and discussion, the Yorkville Christian School Board in December approved the start of a 7th and 8th grade middle school at Yorkville Christian.  The middle school will start in the Fall of 2023.  The 7^th grade class will be capped at 25 students, and the 8^th grade class will be capped at 25 students.   Yorkville Christian Middle School will offer sports — girls volleyball, girls’ and boys’ basketball, soccer, and track for now.  The tuition will be $8500 a year per student, and because of the limited enrollment spots, we will not be offering tuition assistance for the middle school; however, there will be a multiple student discount of $2000, if a family has two students in the middle school or a student in the middle school and another in the high school.  The middle school students will be offered a full variety of classes including electives, and will have a special wing of the building, but will be switching classes, participating in chapel, and eating lunch in the school cafeteria, and participating in PE classes in our Canyon gymnasium. We will have a special staff of teachers we will be hiring to teach the middle school students.   We are going to offer a $250 discount per student to any family who enrolls in our middle school before January 31, 2023.

Here are the two steps to enroll:

1)  Complete the enrollment application which can be done using this link:

https://yorkvillechristian.com/enrollment/

2)  Families will need to make a $600 tuition down payment, which will be subtracted from the overall tuition cost of $8500 (or $8250 with the early discount).  The payment can be made securely using this link or a check can be dropped off at the school office (checks payable to Yorkville Christian High School).  Here is the link for tuition down payment:

https://yorkvillechristian.com/product/enrollment-fees/

PLEASE share this exciting news and information with any families you know who might be interested, as we are definitely capping each class at 25 total students, so spots will fill up quickly.

We are so excited God is moving us in this direction, and we cannot wait to see His plan moving forward with this middle school.  To God be the Glory!

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL NEW ENROLLMENT APPLICATIONS FOR THE 2023-2024 SCHOOL YEAR!

How Do You Enroll?

There are two steps to the enrollment process:  The first is our enrollment application, which can be completed using this link:

https://yorkvillechristian.com/enrollment/

The second part of the enrollment process is the tuition down payment.  Once the tuition down payment is made, your student is officially enrolled for the 2023-2024 school year.  Tuition at Yorkville Christian High School is $9500 ($9250 with the early enrollment discount), which includes ALL costs.  The tuition down payment is $600, which is deducted from your total tuition amount.  The tuition down payment can be made using this secure link:

https://yorkvillechristian.com/product/enrollment-fees/

Once you complete the enrollment application, you are welcome to apply for tuition assistance.  All you have to do to apply for tuition assistance is email your last two tax returns to the following email address accounting@yorkvillechristian.com.  Your records will be reviewed by a small, confidential committee, and you should receive an answer on whether or not you qualify for assistance and how much you qualify for within 48 hours.

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns regarding the Yorkville Christian High School enrollment process!  WE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE YOUR FAMILY JOIN THE MUSTANG FAMILY!

Serving Him,

Tim Schnyders

Yorkville Christian High School

Director of Outreach and Enrollment

Proverbs 21:31 — The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory belongs to the Lord!

Upcoming Events

• February 9 – Agriculture Shadow Day

• February 16 – Math and Science Shadow Day

• February 20 – NO SCHOOL – President’s Day

• February 21-24 – FFA Week

• February 23 – Fine Arts Shadow Day

• February 27-March 3 – MAP Assessments

• March 6 – Mustang Shadow Day

• March 27-31 – NO SCHOOL – SPRING BREAK

• April 3 – School Resumes

Proverbs 21:31 – “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory belongs to the Lord.”