A Mustang Minute

Our November 2021 School Newsletter

FEATURED ALUM – SAVANNAH ENOCH – YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN CLASS OF 2015

Savannah Enoch is our Yorkville Christian High School Featured Alum for this month. Savannah
graduated from Yorkville Christian High School in 2015. Savannah will always be grateful for her time at Yorkville Christian High School. She went to three separate high schools prior to Yorkville Christian High School and was desperate to find an environment where she felt safe, and where God was at the center of learning. She was blessed that Yorkville Christian was able to open its doors her senior year, and she found a school that helped guide her into becoming an independent adult. To this day, Savannah stays in touch with some of her peers, and she is very thankful to have friends and a community to help her navigate early adulthood. She is amazed to see how much Yorkville Christian has grown in such a short period of time. She is humbled and honored to have been a small piece of the school’s beginning! Savannah currently works as a Dance Instructor at the Storm Dance Alliance dance company in Oswego.  Savannah discovered her love for dance at a very young age.  She started participating in a dance class at the age of two and never looked back.  From a very young age, she knew that dance as well as the performing arts were her passion.  She trained in a variety of styles including jazz, contemporary, lyrical ballet, hip hop, acrobatics, tap, modern, musical theater, advanced partnering, and ballroom.

 After graduating from Yorkville Christian High School, Savannah continued her dance and performance training at the prestigious Theater Arts Prep School in Las Vegas.  It was during that time; she had the opportunity to work with some of the top professionals and choreographers in the business from around the United States!

Savannah has performed in several projects from theater to film.  She has danced for Holland America Line Cruise ships, Hershey Park, RWS Entertainment Group, the film “Show Dogs”, 20th Century Fox, McDonalds, and the Thanksgiving Day Parade.

It didn’t take long for Savannah to discover how much she enjoyed teaching and inspiring young dancers.  She loves to choreograph and teach young students the art of dancing and performing, as she shares her wealth of knowledge and experience with the next generation of dancers.  She also constantly seeks to improve herself as a dancer, teacher, and choreographer.

In August, Savannah designed a concept and did all of the colors, photo work, choreography, and video work for a “Back to School” video, and she decided to shoot the performance at Yorkville Christian High School.  Here a few photos from the project.

Mission Advancement Update

How often had you read Scripture or heard a Scripture passage shared from the pulpit and thought, “wow, I don’t believe I have ever heard that verse or those verses before.”  It happened to me the spring of 2020.  The Sunday after COVID 19 had made the news for the United States our Pastor had a sermon based on Psalm 91.  I was amazed at the appropriateness of the Psalm for then as well as throughout the COVID 19 pandemic.  Simply, it provides peace to the turmoil we all have experienced this past year.

During these months of turmoil, Yorkville Christian has had the opportunity to offer witness of God’s faithfulness to our students, parents, and donors.  Additionally, Yorkville Christian has had a fabulous beginning to the 2021-22 school year….162 students have joined us which is an increase of 60 over last year.  Those 162 students represent over 20 local communities.  With this growth, we have added several new staff members, course selections, clubs, and athletic teams.

We are excited to share that this fall begins our 2nd year for our Annual Fund.  What is the purpose of an Annual Fund?  Typically, tuition paid by parents does not cover the full cost of education.  Therefore, an Annual Fund helps fill the gap and, at the same time, provide tuition assistance to those families in need.

Watch your mail and/or email for the opportunity to participate.

Thank you for your prayers, commitment, and generosity.  Enjoy reading Psalm 91 and being assured of God’s faithfulness to you, personally, as well as to Yorkville Christian High School.

Connie J. Brott

Director of Mission Advancement

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL HOSTS OPEN HOUSE

On Sunday, October 24, Yorkville Christian High School hosted a Fall Open House.  The event consisted of several sectionals covering a variety of topics including spiritual growth, academics, athletics, clubs/activities, chapel, T.R.I.P (Tuition Reduction Incentive Program), tuition assistance, technology (1:1 Chromebook program), Rosetta Stone Foreign Language program, music, art, science, math, sports performance classes, and much more.  The day also included an Athletics/Activities Fair for families to learn more about our sports and clubs.   Over 50 families from 23 different schools, and representing 15 different churches attended the event.  Refreshments were served during the fair.  It was great to meet so many new families from so many different schools and locations.  We look forward to having many of them join the Mustang family in the future.  It was such a privilege to be able to share with our guests all of the great things God is doing at Yorkville Christian High School!  To God be the glory!

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ATTEND NATIONAL CONVENTION

On Tuesday, October 26, 15 members of the Yorkville Christian High School FFA Chapter departed Yorkville Christian High School and traveled to the 94th Annual National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana.  The National FFA Convention ran from October 27-29.  Our Yorkville Christian students joined over 50,000 students from all 50 states, as well as all of the U.S. territories for the National Convention.  There were also over 300 companies who attended the convention and set up informational booths for networking opportunities with the students.  The convention also included over 400 college and university representatives from around the country, who attended to meet with the high school guests.  Our students attended leadership workshops and networked with all of the college and career representatives.  On Friday, our Yorkville Christian High School FFA students participated in an agri-tourism tour of the Crop Production Area of Fair Oaks Farms, and stopped at an apple orchard/pumpkin farm to discuss agri-business opportunities.  The entire trip was truly an amazing opportunity for our students!  A special thanks to our Agriculture teachers, Mrs. Stewart and Mrs. Wiesbrook, for coordinating all of the events and taking our students to the convention!

CLASSROOM CORNER

Biology

The Biology classes, taught by Mrs. Schnyders, recently participated in an Ecology Scavenger Hunt on the school grounds.  The students needed to find scavenger hunt items such as biotic factors, abiotic factors, specific populations, a specific habitat, samples of symbiotic relationships, examples of autotroph, evidence of weathering, and much more.  It was a great lesson to allow the students to see hands-on in nature some of the topics they had discussed in the classroom.  The students really enjoyed being out in God’s world and finding all the great examples of His creation.

Ag Classes

On Wednesday, October 6, a few FFA Illinois Association State Officers stopped by Yorkville Christian High School to spend some time with members of our Ag classes.  The officers who visited were Jaton Shaffer, Illinois Association FFA State Vice President; Levi Maierhefer, Area 7 FFA President; and Hanna Krull, Area 7 FFA Secretary.  The state officers spoke to our Ag classes about various topics, and also led them in some leadership activities.  It was a great experience for our students, and Yorkville Christian High School and our Ag teachers, Mrs. Stewart and Mrs. Wiesbrook, really thank them for their time and effort.

Guitar Class

Yes, that is right.  Yorkville Christian High School offers a Guitar Class!  The class consists of 16 students, and each student has their own or is provided with a guitar to use for the class.  Recently, the students learned how to play “Amazing Grace”.  It was wonderful to hear the students perform the song together at the end of the lesson.  The Guitar Class is taught by Mr. Nathan Fisher, who does a great job with all of our music classes, and leads our Chapel Band!  Great job Mustangs!

Foreign Language

Yorkville Christian High School provides a unique opportunity for students in the area of foreign language.  Students are able to use the Rosetta Stone program which offers 25 different languages including Spanish, French, Italian, German, Chinese, Dutch, Hebrew, and Greek just to same a few.  Rosetta Stone allows students to learn these languages through real-world scenarios with interactive activities and audio from native speakers.  The program provides immediate feedback in regards to the student’s pronunciation and offers live coaching.  The program has been a tremendous tool for our students.

 Communications

Students in Mr. Vester’s Speech Communications classes have been very busy during the first quarter.  Students were required to deliver a personal introduction speech, an informative speech, and were required to present a 4–6-minute persuasive speech using at least one visual aid.  The students covered a variety of topics including the following:

Dangers of social media

Dangers of playing sports

Cyber Bullying

Why High Schools should offer Life Skills classes

The students did a fantastic job.  Students were graded on such things as content, effectiveness of visual aid, eye contact, organization, and many more items.  This class is an excellent opportunity to prepare students for public speaking in college and the workforce after high school.

Biology

The Yorkville Christian High School Biology classes, under the instruction of Mrs. Laura Schnyders, recently performed an in-class experiment to simulate a wetland for the aquatic ecosystem unit for ecology.  The experiment helped simulate a world with and without wetlands, so students could see the importance of this transitional aquatic ecosystem.  The students really enjoyed the lesson.

Biblical Studies 2

Mrs. Liz Sovern’s Biblical Studies 2 class (The Christian Adventure) has been reading Pilgrim’s Progress, and recently the students in the class created comic strips representing the material they read so far.  The students really enjoyed the lesson, and it was a great way to help them visualize the material they read.  Great job Mustangs!

MUSTANGS IN THE COMMUNITY

NATIONAL HONORS SOCIETY STUDENTS SERVE AT ALL GOD’S PEOPLE

On Wednesday, October 6, a group of Yorkville Christian High School National Honors Society students visited All God’s People in Orland Park to serve for a few hours at the organization’s warehouse.  All God’s People is an organization that serves the homeless in the Chicago Loop area.  Yorkville Christian families donated jeans, coats, hygiene products, pillows, canned food items and much more, which were delivered by the National Honors Society students during their visit.  The students helped unload trucks and stock the warehouse and sort various items throughout the warehouse.  A special thanks to the Founder and Director of All God’s People, Mrs. Doreen DeBoer, for allowing our students to visit again and help serve this wonderful ministry!

Galatians 6:2 – “Carry each other’s burdens and so you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

COLLEGE REPRESENTATIVES CONTINUE TO VISIT YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL

Yorkville Christian High School continues to welcome college and university representatives to visit and speak with our students.  During the month of October, representatives from several college and universities including Judson University, Concordia College (WI), and Kuyper College visited and spent time with our students.  We thank these fine institutions for their time and effort with our students.

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN VISITS SEVERAL SCHOOLS IN PREPARATION FOR OPEN HOUSE

During the month of October, Yorkville Christian High School’s Director of Outreach and Enrollment, Mr. Tim Schnyders, had the privilege of visiting many feeder schools to discuss the Yorkville Christian High School upcoming Open House with students and staff.  It was great to have the opportunity to continue to build relationships with the administrations and students at these schools, and Mr. Schnyders was very thankful to these schools for allowing him to visit.  Due to COVID restrictions, some schools could not allow Mr. Schnyders to speak to the students directly, but they did allow him to distribute Open House flyers to their students.

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL HOSTS 1ST EVER TRIVIA NIGHT

On Saturday, October 16, Yorkville Christian High School hosted its first ever Trivia Night.  The event consisted of 15 teams, and each team got their own table and furnished their own meal/food for the night.  Teams competed for six rounds of general trivia, and then there was a bonus round to determine the overall champion!  Prizes were given out after each round with a grand prize to the overall winning team valued at $750.  Congratulations to the winning team, “Who are the Jeopardy Rejects?” for winning the overall title with an overall score of 151 points!  “Team Oops” and “Pin Sin for the Win” finished in 2nd and 3rd places respectively.  Also, congratulations to “Vandalay Industries” for winning the best team name competition.  The event was a great success, and we cannot wait to do it again next year!  Thank you to the nearly 100 participants who came out and supported the event!

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS’ VOLLEYBALL TEAM CONTINUES TO ROLL!

The Yorkville Christian High School varsity volleyball team is enjoying a tremendous season!  At the writing of this article, the team had a current record of 27-5.  The team won the Somonauk, Sandwich, and IMSA tournaments, and finished 4th in the Huntley tournament, a tournament stacked with 3A and 4A schools.  The team also won the Consolation Championship at the Plano tournament.  The team also received the number 1 seed in the Henry Senachwine Sectional.  Good luck to the Mustangs, as they start Regional play, and may God continue to bless the team as they use their talents to His honor.

YORKVILLE CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL SOPHOMORE AND JUNIOR CLASSES SERVE AT FEED MY STARVING CHILDREN

On Tuesday, October 19, the sophomore class at Yorkville Christian High School traveled to Feed My Starving Children in Aurora for a day of service, and on Wednesday, October 20, the junior class did the same.  Feed My Starving Children is an organization that serves meals to those in need around the world.  In fact, one of the facts shared during the visit was that Feed My Starving Children has shipped 9,004,608 meals around the world during this fiscal year.  God is really at work at Feed My Starving Children, and it was a privilege to help them in a small way.  This is one of the major missions of Yorkville Christian High School – to have our students take the Christ-centered learning that is presented to them at our school, and use it to energize each and every one of them to go out and be a bright light for Christ and impact His world!  We are so thankful for opportunities to serve at organizations like Feed My Starving Children.

SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITY FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-CHAMPAIGN

My name is Josh Baggett and I am an Alumni Scholarship Chairman for the Alumni of Beta Sigma Psi – National Lutheran Fraternity. I’m contacting you to inform you of scholarship opportunities our organization has to offer Christian high school seniors. If you’d like to learn more about our organization, please check out: https://www.betasigmapsi.org/.

My alumni chapter is offering a $3,000 scholarship to Christian male students attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Fall 2022. All applications are due March 5th, 2022. Our scholarship application can be found here: https://forms.gle/fcrNxX2WEEqBq7sM8.

The Beta Sigma Psi National Educational Foundation offers scholarships and grant opportunities for members of the Christian community. Scholarships for incoming freshmen in Fall 2022 are available at: any accredited 4-year College or University in the United States; Indiana University; Iowa State University; Ohio State University; Purdue University; University of Illinois; University of Missouri, University of Nebraska. These opportunities can be found here: https://www.betasigmapsi.org/scholarships-for-high-school-students/

UPCOMING EVENTS

  • November 24-26 – NO SCHOOL – Thanksgiving Vacation
  • December 2 – Mustang Shadow Day
  • December 9 – Fine Arts Shadow Day
  • December 20 – Christmas Vacation Begins
  • January 3, 2022 – School Resumes
  • January 13, 2022 – End of Second Quarter
  • January 14, 2022 – NO SCHOOL
  • January 17, 2022 – NO SCHOOL – Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday
  • February 21, 2022 – NO SCHOOL – Presidents Day

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