Important TRIP (Tuition Reduction Incentive Program) News

ATTENTION PARENTS

CLASSROOM CORNER

Biology

Biology students recently completed Skeletal and Muscle Exhibition Stations as part of their human body systems unit.  The activity expanded their knowledge on these two systems.  The stations also tied the body system to the previous unit of cellular respiration through stations like “The Wall Sit” which demonstrated muscle fatigue as a result of anaerobic respiration.  Great job students and Mrs. Schnyders for the great work!

Introduction to Drawing and Painting

Students in Introduction to Drawing and Painting class recently worked on shading and anatomy of the face, with an emphasis on the eyes.

Toy and Game Design

Students in Mr. McDavitt’s Toy Design class developed toy concepts for their Happy Meal Toy presentations.  Each team was assigned a specific licensing property.  For example, one team had Toy Story, and another team had The Incredibles.  Using those licensing properties, each team had to create a toy that could be used in a Happy Meal.  It was a great project that really allowed students to use their creative talents.

Media Production

Students in Mr. Vester’s Media Production class conducted interviews with various Canyon sponsors who support Yorkville Christian.  The students asked a variety of questions and put together articles for some of the banner program sponsors.  Students also have been creating five-minute original content podcasts covering a variety of topics such as the NCAA basketball tournament, NBA trade deadline, and gaming trends.  The students have done wonderful work in both areas.

Screenwriting

Students in Mr. Vester’s Screenwriting Class have been making huge waves toward writing feature film length scripts. The first part of the semester of Screenwriting is all about learning film structure, character development, scene conflict writing, story maps, etc…and then students start writing dialogue. At almost the midpoint of the semester, students have as many as 40 pages of script written. A feature film is usually about 120 pages. Great accomplishments!  Great job Mustangs!

Math classes celebrate Pi Day

On March 14, the math classes at Yorkville Christian celebrated Pi Day.  Students brought in a large variety of pies to not only celebrate Pi (3.14) Day, but also Albert Einstein’s birthday.  The students really enjoyed the activities, as well as the sweet treats.  Thank you to Mrs. Tickel for arranging the day.

Indian Valley Vocational Center (IVVC) Visit

On Friday, March 17, thirty students from Yorkville Christian High School visited Indian Valley Vocational Center to observe several of the more popular programs Indian Valley offers for high school students.  With Yorkville Christian’s new partnership with Indian Valley, our students can now take a variety of classes at IVVC including such areas as welding, electrician training, law enforcement, and early childhood development and education, just to name a few of the many offerings.  Our Yorkville Christian students were able to attend for a half day and listen to many presentations about the various offerings to help them decide which classes they may want to register for next year.  This partnership is a valuable asset for our students, and one Yorkville Christian is very excited about for the future!

Introduction to Drawing and Painting – Students in Mr. McDavitt’s Introduction to Drawing and Painting class recently completed a Grid Drawing project for which students used a reference photo with a grid laid over the image.  Students prepared a drawing page with a larger grid corresponding to the reference.  Then the students copied each square from the photo to their drawing page.  The students produced some incredible products!

Biology

Biology students recently completed a “The Senses” lab which included tests on balance, distribution of touch receptors in the skin, deciphering of odors with mystery smells, a blind spot test, and more.  Students collected their data and researched related questions to support their mastery of this unit.  Thank you Mrs. Schnyders for a great lesson.

Health

Health students recently dissected pig hearts to complete their unit on the circulatory system.  Students identified the four chambers as well as the arteries, veins, and valves.  This hands-on experience enhanced student understanding of the heart’s structure, function, and the flow of blood to, through, and from the heart.  Thank you to Mrs. Schnyders for providing this experience for our students.

Mustangs in the Community

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN VOLLEYBALL PLAYER COMMITS TO COLLEGE

On Friday, March 10, Yorkville Christian High School senior, Ava Tickel, signed a letter of intent to continue her academic and athletic career at Illinois Benedictine University.  Ava will play volleyball at the school.  Ava was joined by her family, friends, and teammates at the signing event.  May God continue to carry out His perfect plan in Ava’s life, as she enters the next phase of her life.

LADY MUSTANG BASKETBALL PLAYER MAKES ALL-AREA TEAM

Yorkville Christian High School sophomore, Danielle Bulson, was named to the Kendall County Now Newspaper All-Area Team as an honorable mention selection.  This is quite an honor for a sophomore to be recognized on this team.  Danielle completed the season with 313 points, 17 3 pointers, 198 rebounds, 87 assists, 65 steals, and 14 blocks.  Great job, Danielle!

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN HOOPER RECEIVES SEVERAL POST SEASON AWARDS

The individual awards continued to pour in for Yorkville Christian High School senior basketball player, DJ Douglas Jr., as he was named to several All-State teams at the conclusion of the season.  DJ was named to the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association, and Associated Press All-State teams.  Congratulations on these amazing honors, DJ!  These are so well deserved after the incredible season you had.

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN FFA MEMBERS PARTICIPATE IN PUBLIC SPEAKING EVENT

On Tuesday, March 14, Yorkville Christian FFA members Ellie Stewart, Laura Brancati, and Kloe Pottinger participated in the Public Speaking Career Development Event. Ellie participated in the Extemporaneous Speaking contest, Laura in the FFA Creed Speaking contest and Kloe Pottinger in the Prepared Speaking contest. This was all three girls first time participating in this CDE. All girls did an amazing job! Good luck to Kloe Pottinger who placed 2nd and will continue on to compete at the District level in May! GREAT JOB MUSTANGS!

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN SENIOR SIGNS LETTER OF INTENT TO PLAY COLLEGE BASEBALL

On Friday, March 17, Yorkville Christian High School senior baseball player, Trey Lombardo, signed a letter of intent to continue his academic and athletic career at Judson University.  Trey will play baseball next year at Judson University.  May God continue to bless Trey’s path, as he moves on to the next chapter in his life.  To God be the glory!

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL SERVES AT FEED MY STARVING CHILDREN

On Wednesday, March 22, the entire student body, and staff of Yorkville Christian High School traveled to Feed My Starving Children in Aurora for a mission day.  Feed My Starving Children is an organization that has sent food to 104 countries since March of 2009.  They create nutritional meal formulas for children around the world.  Yorkville Christian students and staff helped assemble meals and boxed them up for shipping to various countries.  Yorkville Christian assembled 44,712 meals and packed 207 boxes, which fed 122 kids for a year.  The Yorkville Christian school community also collected monetary donations for the visit.  The student body collected over $1000, and the sophomore class raised $575.  The individual student who collected the largest amount was Maddie McBride with $100.  Great job Mustangs!!

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLER SIGNS WITH NIU

On Thursday, March 23, Yorkville Christian High School senior, Tyler Martinez, signed a letter of intent to continue his academic and athletic career at Northern Illinois University.  Tyler will wrestle at the school.  Tyler has been a vital part of the recent success of the Mustang wrestling program helping to guide the team to a 1^st and 2^nd place finish in state the past two years. He finished his Yorkville Christian career with 120 victories, including three 3rd place finishes at 160lbs. at State. He was also a two-time Fargo All-American. Tyler was joined by his family, friends, coaches, and teammates at the signing event.  May God continue to carry out His perfect plan in Tyler’s life, as he enters the next phase of his life.

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN SENIOR SIGNS TO PLAY BASEBALL AT MISSOURI S&T

On Friday, March 24, Yorkville Christian High School pitcher, Cody Hazzard, signed a letter of intent to continue his academic and athletic career at Missouri S&T.  Cody has been a vital part of the Yorkville Christian baseball program.  As a junior, Cody struck out 87 batters in 41 innings.  Cody was joined by his family, friends, coaches, and teammates for his signing.  We thank the Lord for bringing the Hazzard family to the Mustang family, and we pray that God will continue to watch over Cody, as he moves on to the next chapter in his life.

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN WRESTLING COACHES SELECTED AS FINALISTS FOR PRESTIGIOUS AWARD

Yorkville Christian High School head wrestling coach, Mike Vester, and assistant coach, Brody Vester, were recently selected as finalists for the IWCOA (Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association)  Coach of the Year Award.  Coach Mike and Brody have led the Yorkville Christian wrestling program to back-to-back state appearances, with the team finishing 1^st in state last year, and 2^nd in state this year!  Congratulations to both coaches on their outstanding success and their unwavering dedication to our wrestling program!

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN SOFTBALL TEAM WINS OPENER

Congratulations to the Yorkville Christian High School softball team on their 6-1 victory over Joliet Central on March 28! The Lady Mustangs were led by Grace Allgood who struck out 17 and only allowed one hit!! Grace also went 2-4 at the plate with a double. The team also received two hits and a double from Sydney Baze, Bridget Hooper, and Kaelia Fox. Emma Schleining also contributed a double. GREAT JOB LADIES!

Yorkville Christian Wrestling Finishes 2nd in State

The Yorkville Christian High School wrestling team took part in the IHSA team state championship event the weekend of February 24-25 in Bloomington, IL.  The team won the state championship last year and had another outstanding performance this year.  The team wrestled Auburn High School in the quarterfinals on Friday night and won by a score of 49-27.  The semifinals were held Saturday morning, and saw the Mustangs battle Oakwood High School and again the Mustangs advanced by a score of 47-24.  The team wrestled Coal City High School on Saturday night for the state championship, and fell just short by a score of 32-31  The team finished 2^nd in the state, and once again showed they are one of the top powers in 1A.  Special congratulations to all of the wrestlers, as well as the coaches, Coach Mike Vester, Coach Brady Vester, Coach Travis Martinez, Coach Mike Esquivel, and Coach Nick Loomis.  It was definitely another season to remember!

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN HOSTS SHADOW DAY

On Monday, March 6, Yorkville Christian High School hosted Mustang Shadow Day.  33 students from 17 different schools registered for the event.  The day was packed full of activities including a few guest speakers in the morning; a catered lunch for the guests; visiting several classes with shadow hosts; a sports performance class; and a wrap up session where each guest received a goodie bag.  The day was a great event, and it was so great to host so many students from so many schools and areas.

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 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.

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 NOW ACCEPTING 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!

ALUMNI NEWS

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN ALUM STUDIES ABROAD IN AUSTRALIA

Hello Mustangs! I am Millie Stewart, YCHS Class of 2020. Currently, I am attending

Iowa State University, majoring in Agricultural Business. Over spring break, I was able

to participate in a study abroad trip to Australia. This was an amazing experience to see

agriculture on the other side of the world! This opportunity was presented to me last fall

by Iowa State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and after receiving my

acceptance to the program I began preparations for the trip.

The focus of the trip was agricultural production, business, and trade in Australia. It

included a 3-credit class which prepared us for our travels. All travelers prepared a pre-

trip presentation, which helped us to learn about the different agricultural industries of

Australia. We travelled with 26 students and 3 professors, all of various agricultural

studies at Iowa State. Once surviving our 17-hour flight to Sydney, we hit the ground

running, experiencing as much as we could in our short 10 days in Australia.

We travelled almost 1500 miles by bus during our trip to be able to see as many

agricultural sectors of the country as possible. A few of the highlights were the Sydney

Fish Market, which auctions off around $800,000 of fresh fish each day; a potato farm

with its own potato chip factory and variety of purple potatoes; a huge rice farm; a clover

seed company that is implementing the use of biosolids in their program; the Wagga

Wagga Agricultural Institute, a college with all sorts of agriculture; siphon-irrigated corn,

many sheep farms, and, of course, I cannot forget the wild kangaroo! We also spent

time visiting tourist stops, including the 3 Sisters Mountain lookout, touring the Sydney

Opera House, Bondi Beach, the 12 Apostles National Park, and attending an Australian

Football Game, which is a very interesting sport.

Having the chance to gain a global perspective on agriculture was a great benefit of my

study abroad trip. Even though we only traveled to Australia, we were able to see the

impacts of trade from many different countries on the eastern side of the world. I even

was able to learn a little about private education in Australia and that it is a popular

choice! I recommend taking the chance to study abroad to any perspective college

student who has the opportunity, it was a trip I will remember for a lifetime.

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN ALUM HELPS LEAD COLLEGE PROGRAM TO CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP AND ELITE 8 OF NCAA MARCH MADNESS TOURNAMENT

Former Yorkville Christian All-State basketball player, Micah Schnyders, recently helped lead the Wheaton College Thunder basketball team to its first CCIW Conference Championship in 15 years, and a trip to the NCAA Division III National Tournament.  The Thunder finished the conference with a very impressive 14-2 record, and the team advanced to the Elite 8 of the March Madness tournament before losing to Christopher Newport (Virginia) by a score of 76-70 in the game to advance to the Final 4.  It was a great season, as the team finished with a school record 25 wins and only 5 losses.  Great job, Micah!

Wheaton College Men’s Basketball vs Illinois Wesleyan (72-71)

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN HOOPS ALUM HELPS LEAD TEAM TO NATIONALS

Colton Schutt, a Yorkville Christian alum and All-Stater, recently helped lead the Waubonsee Community College basketball team to the Region 4 Championship and a trip to the NJCAA Basketball Championship in Danville, IL.  It was the first trip to nationals for Waubonsee since 2017.  Colton was also named to the All-Conference Team as an Honorable Mention selection.  Congratulations Colton!

FORMER MUSTANG BASKETBALL STAR EXPERIENCES MARCH MADNESS WITH DUKE

Former Yorkville Christian All-Stater, Jaden Schutt, just completed his first year on the Duke University basketball team and was able to help the team win an ACC Tournament Championship and make it to the round of 32 in the NCAA tournament.  Duke finished the year with a record of 27-9.  Congratulations Jaden!

CANYON BANNER SPONSOR FEATURES

CALAMITY JANE’S

Welcome to our Mustang Minute! This week’s featured Canyon sponsor is Calamity Jane’s in Sugar Grove. This year is Calamity Janes’ 13th year in business. The business officially opened to the public on January 1, 2011, and since then, owner Jane Alabastro says that they have been thriving.

“Calamity Janes is like one big family,” she said in our interview. Jane has been in the business for nearly 40 years. Her favorite part of working at Calamity Jane’s is the people. She loves helping people and entertaining them. Jane says, “When people go out, they go out for a reason. They want to be entertained. Calamity Janes is a great place to go for that. We like to help people have fun.” She also said it is family friendly. All ages are welcome. They have coloring pages for kids, karaoke two days a week, and a band on Saturdays.

Some of Calamity Jane’s most popular and favorite meals are their breakfast, pot roast shooter, tater tots, tacos, and their awesome fish fry.

Jane says that Calamity Jane’s is a Canyon sponsor because they love the feeling of it being a family here at YCHS. Everyone is so kind. She says it is a wonderful school that was much needed in this area, and she is happy it is here.

Calamity Janes is located on Rt. 47 in Sugar Grove and is open Tuesday through Thursday from 11 am to 1 am, Friday from 11 am to 2 am, Saturday from 8:30 am to 2 am, and Sundays 8:30 am to 1 am. They are closed on Mondays. Calamity Janes is busiest on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sunday mornings.

We are happy to have Calamity Jane’s as a Yorkville Christian High School Canyon sponsor. If you have not been there yet, we hope that you try Calamity Janes. If you have been there before, we are sure you will be back!

PRINT SOURCE GRAPHICS

Hi! Welcome to the Mustang Minute. Today we get the pleasure of talking to one of our Canyon sponsors, Jason Lambert. Jason is the owner of Print Source Graphics, located in Yorkville, IL. Print Source Graphics is celebrating their 5th year in business. Currently there are three employees alongside several vendors who serve and support the Print Source Graphic team. They are best known in the local area for their decals, signs, and other wide format printing. However, their niche by volume would be custom roll label manufacturing. Print Source Graphics is primarily a B2B operation. They work with all sizes of business with many customers being small businesses. They also do some work with individuals as well. 

Their service is second to none. They are a full-service printing company that can serve as a “One Stop Shop” for client’s printing needs. Jason says, “we strive to understand the customer and their business so that we can offer them the most effective solutions and advice.” They also store clients’ logos and other requirements so that every project is printed to their specification promoting excellence in brand identity for the customers they serve. 

Jason has been working in the industry for over 23 years. He has held positions including Graphic Designer, Customer Service, Regional Sales, VP of Sales, VP of Manufacturing, CEO, President and Owner. He says that over the past 23 years technology has been the biggest change in their industry. The advancements have made print more cost effective while also expanding capabilities. One of the reasons Jason has always enjoyed this industry is because of the ongoing changes and opportunities to learn about new ideas, technology, equipment, and techniques. “It makes the job fun and exciting!”

STIFEL INVESTMENTS

Hello and welcome to the Mustang Minute! Today, we focus our attention on Stifel Investments, a strong supporter of Yorkville Christian High School and a sponsor of the YCHS Canyon! We had the opportunity to hear from Senior Vice President of Investments, John Pethokoukis who gave us some insight on the company, himself, and what it takes to thrive in the financial industry.

Stifel Investments was founded in 1890, and now has 400 offices in 48 states with its headquarters located in St Louis, MO. Stifel is one of the nation’s largest (seventh largest in terms of financial advisors) full-service wealth management and investment banking firms. John personally focuses on high-net-worth individuals and started doing this in 1986 and has been with Stifel since August of 2019. 

John says that Stifel is a very client and advisor friendly firm. He says, “the financial markets are constantly changing which provides both excitement and challenges in working as a financial advisor. Being a financial advisor requires following events closely in the political and business world as those are interrelated and oftentimes affect each other.” He recommends that students interested in a career as a financial advisor take classes in economics, finance, accounting, and political science. 

John said the company believes in the mission and direction of Yorkville Christian High School. We appreciate the support that they have given us and continue to show as we push our mission forward.

HEARTLAND BANK

Welcome to another Mustang Minute! In this edition, we turn our attention to Heartland Bank. Heartland is a full-service community bank that offers a wide range of deposit, lending and investment options tailored to meet the needs of our customers. With 69 full-service branches, 2 drive-thru only locations and an additional Community Reinvestment Mortgage office located in Chicago, Heartland is very accessible to its customers. We were able to talk to Jennifer Vandermeir, Assistant Vice President, Retail Manager working out of the Newark branch who shed a little light on Heartland’s mission and its support of the Yorkville Christian mission.

“May 2023 will mark my 15th year with Heartland Bank,” Jennifer said. “I’ve worked at many of our locations including: Newark, Millbrook, Shorewood, Plainfield Caton Farm, Elwood, Huntley and Schaumburg. Being a part of our team is rewarding! I personally enjoy working independently with retail staff in furthering their individual paths of development here at the bank. Each one of us is an important part of the team.  We each have different strengths and we combine all of those to assist our customers.”

Heartland’s mission statement is Create VALUE for the customer, earn a PROFIT for the Bank, and have FUN doing it! Jennifer explained, “we try to set ourselves apart from other financial institutions through providing A+ Customer Experience with each customer interaction.”

Heartland has been a tremendous supporter of Yorkville Christian High School. We asked Jennifer how that relationship came to be and how it’s grown. “I am charged with actively seeking out new opportunities for business growth and development through community involvement. With YCHS playing such a large part in supporting youth in our area, we started looking for ways we could offer our support to the school. Tim Schnyders and I virtually met in 2020 through an introduction from a mutual acquaintance and our relationship really took off from there.  Yorkville Christian has been so kind to allow Heartland Bank the opportunity to partner on many of their events over the years including Trivia Night, Hoops for Hunger, Classic Car Show, Grandparents Day, and Trunk or Treat. We have participated in the school’s annual fund and sports donation drives, and most recently signed the school up for our Spirit Debit Card and Score with Heartland programs.” 

Heartland also recently donated a state-of-the-art scoreboard for the Yorkville Christian Canyon, which will get much use in the coming years leaving a lasting impression and legacy on the school! Thank you to Jennifer for taking the time to speak with us and for Heartland’s continued support of the Mustang mission!

PARADISE CAR WASH

Welcome to a Mustang Minute. Paradise Car Wash has been a staple in Yorkville since the early 2000s. Even with the busy season approaching, owner Chad Green took time out of his schedule to give us a look at the Paradise legacy, owning and operating a family-owned, family run business, and their ties to the Yorkville Christian High School mission.

The wash originally opened as Landmark Car Wash back in the 1980’s.  A rebrand and remodel was done in 2002 and the wash was renamed Paradise Car Wash.  “My family then purchased the wash in November of 2004 and we have been running it ever since,” Chad explained. “Before purchasing Paradise, we used to own gas stations.  Both locations had an automatic car wash on site, and we had looked into possible expansion into the full-service car wash market.  We attended several trade shows, scouted properties, and even hired a consulting firm, but it was not until the sale of the gas stations that we made the full commitment and purchased Paradise.”

Paradise has continued to grow in sales every year, with the exception of the first year of Covid, since the family took over.  Their average staff size went from 5 employees a day to 10 during the weekdays and even larger on the weekends.  As far as the day-to-day operations, the business structure has for the most part remained the same.  “We are a family business that is very much hands on,” Chad said. “My mother Robin, and I still work all aspects of the business from payroll, hiring, prepping, and drying, to equipment maintenance and cleaning the bathroom.  We are very much involved in all aspects of the business.”

While the technology in this field has changed a lot, Paradise has in large part not followed with the general direction that it is going.  “Most of the washes that are being redesigned and built are running on a model that allows for the owner to monitor everything off-site and takes a large percentage of the employees out of the equation.  They replace the hands-on, full-service features, and have the customer vacuum their own car, dry their own car, pay at an automated box, and have only 1 to 3 employees overseeing everything.  The owner can then adjust wash settings, monitor sales, view labor costs, and monitor customer purchases all through their phone without setting foot on the property,” Chad said.

“We always want to make sure that we provide a service that makes the customer happy.  They need to find a value in what they are paying for otherwise they will not continue to support the business.  I also feel that it is important to be hands on, as an owner, in this industry.  Selling a service versus a product is quite different.  The ability to put out a consistent service can be difficult when it comes to cars.  Some cars are full of dog hair.  Others have windows covered in smoke residue.  There are car owners that wash regularly and others that seldom do.  All these things play a part in putting out a good product.  I try to keep the mentality that every car that leaves here has my face associated with the job we did.   Therefore, I find it important to be here, be involved, talk to the customers, and get their feedback.” Perhaps this is one of the big reasons why Paradise enjoys such success and customer loyalty!

Chad was asked about the challenges and rewards of being a business owner. “When I am off work for the day, on vacation, even just sitting at home during closed hours at night, it is hard to turn off all the thoughts of what needs to be done at work.  Owning a business is a very personal thing and it at times has a very heavy impact on what should be my down time / family time.  Also, this is a very employee dependent business which makes it hard when there are 30 different personalities that all have their own lives.  People get sick, loved ones pass, employees quit, coworkers don’t always get along.  All these things pose a challenge in the workplace.” He then switched to the rewards and said, “I get to work with my mother, my kids, my family.  I get to set my schedule, implement change when I think it is needed.  I can work in the community that I live.  I have control over the creative direction that I want the company to take for the future.  The freedom of being able to guide your work life and see its success is rewarding.”

With his mom retiring in the next couple of years, he thinks the biggest change for Paradise will be “seeing if my kids decide if it is something that they want to do.  I am currently the third generation of my family to run a business in Yorkville.  It will be interesting to see if one of my kids decides to come on board as a future owner and become the fourth.”

Chad partnered with Yorkville Christian High School and art instructor John McDavitt to create a mural that would blanket the south side of Paradise Car Wash’s building. This was a great project for the students and gave Paradise a fresh new look! “I find it important to be involved with the community, schools, local groups, etc.  I grew up in Yorkville, my kids are growing up in Yorkville.  I feel that when businesses and the community that surrounds them can support each other, then it makes living in those areas that much nicer.  The mural that you guys painted was beautiful.  I am glad that the students painted it, and that they were showing off their school pride in doing so.  I hope that they are proud of what they did.  I get compliments all the time on it.”

Thank you to Chad Green and Paradise Car Wash for their time and support of Yorkville Christian High School and the Yorkville community as a whole!

Upcoming Events

• April 7, 2023 – NO SCHOOL – Good Friday

• April 10, 2023 – NO SCHOOL – Easter Monday

• April 15, 2023 – Current families must re-enroll by this date

• April 18, 2023 – FFA Banquet

• May 5, 2023 – Prom – Early Dismissal at 11:00 am

• May 17-19, 2023 – Senior Finals

• May 19, 2023 – Class of 2023 Graduation Ceremony

• May 23-26, 2023 – Semester 2 Finals

• May 26, 2023 – Last Day of School: Grades 9-11

***FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF SUMMER CAMPS, PLEASE GO TO www.yorkvillechristian.com and click on the EVENTS TAB!***

 CURRENT STUDENTS RE-ENROLLMENT INFORMATION

As you may have heard by now, we have moved the re-enrollment process completely online this year, and it is time to re-enroll your Yorkville Christian students now. This very simple process is completed through Teacher Ease and takes just a few seconds to complete. Any family who re-enrolls and pays the tuition down payment of $600 before April 15 will receive a $250 tuition discount. Any student who is not re-enrolled by April 15 will be subject to late fees and will not be guaranteed course selections for next year.

We continue to see God’s faithfulness at Yorkville Christian, and we are so excited that God led your family to our Yorkville Christian family. We cannot wait to see what God has in store for our future, and we are so glad your family will be a part of it.  Re-Enroll TODAY!!