InTouchwith Grace

Commencement Issue Spring/Summer 2015

We Are the Class of 2015!And we have plans to...

Change the World!

We would like to commend the following

Cumulative 4.0 CCHS Class of 2015 students!

Jacob ArmasCody Coggins

Holly DusenburyJillian EmardDante Olson

Nathan WaydaKatelyn Zimmerer

Nathan Wayda - recipient of the 2015 Superintendent’s Cup for his leadership and servant’s heart. Nate will be attending Biola University to study Kinesiology and minor in Bible. We look forward to following Nate’s journey as we believe God has great things planned for his future.

MEET THE CLASS OF 2019!

A publication of grace christian schools, Medford, OR * www.gracechristian.org

We will do so by attending college (93%),

serving our country (3%), joining the workforce

(2%), and waiting on God’s direction (2%).

Sixty-seven seniors graduated on Saturday,

May 30, 2015, in the Cascade Christian High

School pavilion. They were challenged by

Commencement speaker, Mr. Jim Horsley of

the Blue Angels and World Vision, to stand

strong in the Lord and make a difference in

their world.

On Thursday, June 4, 2015, sixty-seven

Grace Christian School 8th grade students

promoted to high school. Pastor Ben

Courson of the Applegate Christian

Fellowship capitalized on our school

theme and reminded students that they

do have the Freedom to Serve in Christ.

“‘...Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.”

Zechariah 4:6 ESV

At Grace Cascade Christian Schools, we realize how valuable the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) programs are for today’s generation of students who are pre-paring to enter the workforce in coming years. Because of this, Cascade has purposed to expand our Engineering program. This year we offered a second year Engineering course, allow-ing students the opportunity to work through mechanical prob-lems and even design functioning robots. Cascade has plans for future expansion of the Engineering program, adding a third year of study which would include CAD design, making it one of the most comprehensive programs in the Rogue Valley at the high school level.

Cascade was blessed with an anonymous donation mid-year allowing for our new, 21st Century computer lab constructed in the Cascade Media Center. Students began utilizing the new lab in spring 2015.

Students at Cascade saw a new era of cloud-based technology unfold as each student was given their own Microsoft Office 365 account. Not only does this allow each student access to the latest Microsoft Office software, but it removed the need for thumb drives and transferring of files from home to school, as students could work simultaneously on files stored in their cloud-based accounts.

We are thrilled to be piloting Chromebooks in the classroom with our incoming 2015/2016 Freshman. Chromebooks use a Chrome browser to access instructional materials and web-based applications that help students learn better. Their potential will only increase as Google expands and improves these browser-based learning tools. Integrating Chromebooks into our instruc-tional program will assist us in meeting the unique learning style needs of the 21st Century student. Freshman core teachers will be spending many hours this summer in training as they prepare for the Chromebook technology platform.

With the expansion of our Engineering program, and our ongoing Science, Mathematics, and Technology courses, we have seen an increase in Cascade students’ desire to expand in these areas as they move forward to higher education. This is evidenced by the thirty-three percent of our graduating Class of 2015 who are choosing to study in one of the STEM areas, ranging from engineering to pre-med, and chemistry to agricultural sciences. Following is just a small representation of our top scholars at Cascade, all of whom will enjoy a STEM field of study in their next phase of life.

engineered for success

Meet Mallory...National Merit Scholar

Meet Tim...National Merit

Commended Scholar

Mallory Kirms, daughter of Mark and Lynn, earned the title of National Merit Scholar after receiving an outstanding score on her PSAT during her Junior year. Mallory was awarded a National Merit Finalist Scholarship at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo where she plans to major in Physics. She was also awarded the Cal Poly Outreach Scholarship.

Tim McPherson, son of Jesse and Shannon, is a National Merit Commended Scholar. An avid runner, he was recently awarded a Pear Blossom Run Foundation scholarship. Tim signed with Oregon Institute of Technology to run cross country and track and will study in the field of Civil Engineering. He eventually would like to obtain a Masters in Archi-tecture and hold a career in urban development.

Photo by Jennifer Phelps Photography

is the daughter of Phil and Mari-anne Emard and also graduated on May 30, 2015, with a Scholar’s Diploma and a 4.0 cumulative GPA. She has received such hon-ors as ACSI Distinguished Christian High School Student in Academics, Kiwanis student of the month, and several CCHS Academic Excel-lence awards. Jillian has served in student government all four years.

Jillian’s future plans are to attend Oregon State University where she was award-ed a merit-based scholarship. She plans to study Structural Engineer-ing and would someday enjoy looking into new technologies to construct skyscrapers. She enjoys traveling so hopes to be able to in-corporate that into her career.

Jillian has attended Grace Cascade Chris-tian Schools since seventh grade, having been homeschooled

prior to this. When asked, “What was a favorite memory?” she paused for a long reflective moment and said, “There are just so many”. Although making it to the semi-finals in girls’ soc-cer at the beginning of this school year was a highlight, she finally narrowed it down to the last Spring Banquet, of which she helped organize as the ASB Treasurer. She said being allowed to “free dance” with her schoolmates all together on the dance floor was a mo-ment of pure joy. The school felt united and it was a nice way to end the year before the seniors move on.

When asked what she will take with her from Grace and Cascade she said the memo-ry of “teachers really caring about you.” She admitted it sounded cliché, but it really is true. The ability to be friends with teachers and at the same time re-spect them is something she will always cherish. If you needed prayer, you could count on any one of them praying for you. She will always be grateful for this.

Jillian r. Emard, CCHS Salutatorian 2015,

Jacob R. Armas, CCHS Valedictorian 2015, is the son of J. Scott and Debbi Armas and graduated on May 30, 2015, with a Scholar’s Diploma and a 4.0 cumulative GPA. He has received such honors as AP Scholar, Kiwanis Student of the Month, CCHS Student of the Year in Engineering and AP US History, ACSI Distinguished Christian High School Student in Academics in 2014 & 2015, ACSI Distinguished Christian School Student in Fine Arts in 2015, Outstanding Artist in Painting, and 25 CCHS Academic Excellence awards throughout his four years of attendance. Ja-cob served as Senior Class President and has been a class officer all four years.

Jacob’s future plans are to attend the University of Oregon, where he has been accepted into their School of Architecture and has been awarded their top academic Summit Scholarship. After earning his 5-year professional degree in architecture, he would like to work for a mid-size firm, focusing on public spaces. He has also entertained the idea of working internationally.

Jacob has attended Grace Cascade Christian Schools since first grade and one of his fondest memories is listening to his first grade teacher, Mrs. Casad, play the mandolin while singing a song about monkeys. He was fascinated by the instrument that he had never seen before. He states that the Grace teachers, early on, chal-lenged him and instilled in him a love of learning, of which he is very grate-ful and attributes his academic successes to.

When asked what he will take with him from his twelve years of education at Grace and Cascade, he said good English skills with well-developed writing and oratorical skills. He also stated that it has been good to be in a climate that nurtured his early spiritual development. When asked if he had any regrets, he stated he wished he had discovered visual arts at Cascade before his senior year, as he would have liked to have taken advantage of more art classes.

Photo by Jennifer Phelps Photography

C C H S A L U M N I C O N N E C T I O N Where are they now?

T.J. Orton (2005) lives in Medford and owns a freight forwarding business called Abound Transport. He lives out his fly fishing passion as a guide in Oregon. Inspired by his work with Young Life, he developed a ministry called Hooked On Life, where he mentors high school age boys. Be sure to look into the wonderful things his ministry is accomplishing at www.hookedonlife.net.

Photo of TJ Orton used with permission from the www.hookedonlife.net website

A quote by T.J. from the www.hookedonlife website: “We all have something we are good at, use it for God’s glory and He will bless you more than you can imagine.”

Meet the New Grace cascade

christiaN schools Board MeMBers

Russell BRown State Farm Agent

CCHS Class of 1986, CCHS alumni parent, current CCHS parent, FBC representative

ConRad MoRse Owner - Crater Iron &

Rogue Valley Swim & Tennis Club CCHS alumni parent & grandparent,

current CCHS grandparent, parent to CCHS Head Basketball Coach and father-in-law to

CCHS teacher, FBC representative

David Squyres Self-employed - Medford Fuel CCHS alumni parent, current

CCHS parent, FBC representative

deBBy Cate President/CEO/CFO - Metal Masters, Inc.

CCHS alumni parent, current GCS Grandparent, served on the

GCS Foundation Board

dee CoffMan Co-Founder & CEO, Currently Director

Emeritus - Qualcomm, Inc. CCHS alumni parent, served on the

GCS Foundation Board

John dukeRetired

Owner - Superior Athletic Clubs & Million Air Medford

CCHS Alumni grandparent & current GCS grandparent, served on the

GCS Foundation Board

Reid MuRphyOwner - R.A. Murphy Construction, Inc.

CCHS alumni parent, current GCS grandparent, served on the

GCS Foundation Board

Mike RoBinsonPresident/Owner - Diode Laser Concepts,

Inc., President - Pacific Bible CollegeCurrent GCS parent

tRavis snydeROwner/Partner - Precision Electric

Current GCS parent

COLLEGE & CAREERGreg Armas (1997). Clothing designer and creator/owner of Assembly New York and recently opened Assembly Los Angeles on Melrose Avenue in LA.Jordan Brown (2011). Graduated from The Masters College (2015) with a B.S. in Business Management and a Minor in Bible. He has been hired by Movie Guide and is relocating to Camarillo, CA.Aleena Cesaro (2011). Graduated from Southern Oregon University (2015) with a B.A. in Marketing. Lacie (DeSimone) Lacy (2000). Currently works for Rosewood Vintage Rentals.Cassie Forster (2011). Graduated from Corban Uni-versity (2015) in Elementary Education with an ESOL endorsement. Vladimir Jensen (2010). Jockey. On June 15, 2015, earned his first career win on Polar Sunrise at the Delaware Park races. Amanda Kinney (2011). Graduated from Southern Oregon University (2015) with a Business Adminis-tration degree.Jerad Nichols (2010). Currently is a fireman for Jo-sephine County Rural.Martin “Marty” Stiles (2009). Graduated in spring 2013 from Emory & Henry College with a B.S. in Environmental Science and a B.A. in French. He is working toward a M.S. in Freshwater Biology from Northern Arizona University and is pursuing a career in water resource management. He was recently featured as an alumnus of Emory & Henry College. Read more at www.honors.ehc.edu/martin-stiles.Kathryn Toombs (2013). is the Online Editor for Biola University’s student newspaper, The Chimes. She recently attended the 93rd Annual Associated Collegiate Press (ACP) and College Media Advisers

convention in Philadelphia, PA, where the newspaper won the 2014 Online Pacemaker Award - the highest national award for student online publications. Kath-ryn will be a junior majoring in Journalism and Writ-ing. See a sample of her work at http://chimes.biola.edu/story/2014/nov/05/business-truth/.Carolyn (Ware) Matheus (1994). Holds a PhD. from Marist College in New York. She is currently the only female College Professor in IT Systems and Technol-ogy at Marist College and is up for tenure. She has also been published. Her experiences have taken her to Paris and the Dominican Republic where she has helped to implement a program for students to receive tablets. She married in 2000.

IN THE MINISTRYT.J. Orton (2005) See picture below.Stephanie Smith (2011) graduated from Oregon State University (2015) with a B.A. in Speech Com-munications. She will be leaving for Australia in the fall to work with YWAM.Kayla Winter (2011) recently participated in a mis-sion trip to the Dominican Republic with Olivet Naza-rene University, ministering to high school students through the process of athletic strength training and injury prevention for sports. These Dominican stu-dents have aspirations of coming to the U.S. to play professional sports. Kayla just completed her sopho-more year, majoring in Athletic Training.

ENGAGEMENTS, WEDDINGS & ANNIVERSARIESAngela (Malcor) Coddington (1985) & Kevin Cod-dington recently celebrated their 28th wedding an-niversary. They have two grown children: Natha-nial Coddington (2010) and Mikayla Coddington (2013).Taylor (Darby) Henry (2011) & David Henry (2007)

married June 22, 2014. David recently took a new position with Guild Mortgage in Lake Oswego, OR. He was also hired as the Head Boys Basketball Coach at Westside Christian School. They will be relocating this summer. Becca (Fronek) Buck (2010) & Chris Buck (2010) were married in July 2013. She recently began “Events with Becca” - an event coordinating and wedding planning business.Rachel (Johnson) Groman (2011) & Joel Groman married on June 20, 2015 at First Baptist Church in Medford, Oregon.Danny Ruiz (2013) & Ashley Drake were married on April 4, 2015, in Shady Cove, OR. They are currently living in Medford, OR.Jackie (Prosise) Sutters (1990) & Jeff Sutters mar-ried December 27, 2014. Jackie teaches 2nd grade at Eagle Rock Elementary School in Eagle Point, OR.

REUNIONSThe Class of 2000 held an informal 15-year reunion on June 13, 2015.The Class of 1996 is in the preliminary planning stages for a 20 year reunion. Watch for up-dates on the “Class Reunions” page of the school’s website @ www.gracechristian/org/alumni/class-reunions. While there be sure to fill out your current contact information on the “Alumni” page.

NEWS TO SHARE?Please visit the school’s Alumni page at www.grace-christian.org/alumni and fill out the contact form to share your story. Your unique experiences at Cascade and beyond can have a valuable impact on current students. For more information contact Debbi Armas, Communications Coordinator, at cchscommunications@gracechristian.org.

head of school’scorNer

Another school year has come to an end and the administration and staff are already busy preparing for a new school year to begin in the fall. With a new year comes new opportunity. The Lord has blessed Grace and Cascade Christian Schools in a very evident and mighty way. As administrators, our obligation is to be Godly stewards of the resources and children that the Lord and our families have entrusted to us. After counsel and prayer, the Lord has revealed a long-term plan for our schools that will involve some upcoming changes. Change, according to the Webster Dictionary means to “make or become different”. Change does not mean taking out the value system that the schools have been founded upon, which is to see each of our students become leaders for Christ in their homes, church and communities, with the ultimate goal being their Eternal Life with Christ in Heaven. “This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” John 17:3 NIVSome short-term blessings and changes have been in the form of anonymous gifts. As mentioned in a previous article, Cascade was able to build and furnish a 21st Century computer lab. We were also able to add a part-time Spanish instructor for the elementary students at Grace and are happy to announce that, through continued donations, we will be keeping CCHS alumnus, Nick Alexander (aka Maestro Nico by the students) on staff for the 2015/2016 school year. A huge and unexpected blessing came in the form of a $1 million donation, allowing us to pay off the mortgage on the Cascade building! Praise to the Lord for his abundant blessings!As a result of the separation from First Baptist Church, a new school board has been established for the 2015/2016 school year. (See sidebar to the left, highlighting our new board members.) We thank the outgoing board members for their faithful dedication to the schools and our mission: Jeff Breitler, Darrell Carpenter, Dale Heath, Richard “Tiny” Robertson, Greg Spires, and Tom Strouth. Conrad Morse was a member of the old board and will continue on with the new school board.We look forward to sharing more about God’s plan in future InTouch publications, including news about a new home for the Grace Christian Middle School in fall 2016 and how you can be a part of His plan for Grace and Cascade!

Meet the New Grace cascade

christiaN schools Board MeMBers

Russell BRown State Farm Agent

CCHS Class of 1986, CCHS alumni parent, current CCHS parent, FBC representative

ConRad MoRseOwner - Crater Iron &

Rogue Valley Swim & Tennis Club CCHS alumni parent & grandparent,

current CCHS grandparent, parent to CCHS Head Basketball Coach and father-in-law to

CCHS teacher, FBC representative

David SquyresSelf-employed - Medford Fuel CCHS alumni parent, current

CCHS parent, FBC representative

deBBy CatePresident/CEO/CFO - Metal Masters, Inc.

CCHS alumni parent, current GCS Grandparent, served on the

GCS Foundation Board

dee CoffManCo-Founder & CEO, Currently Director

Emeritus - Qualcomm, Inc. CCHS alumni parent, served on the

GCS Foundation Board

John dukeRetired

Owner - Superior Athletic Clubs & Million Air Medford

CCHS Alumni grandparent & current GCS grandparent, served on the

GCS Foundation Board

Reid MuRphyOwner - R.A. Murphy Construction, Inc.

CCHS alumni parent, current GCS grandparent, served on the

GCS Foundation Board

Mike RoBinsonPresident/Owner - Diode Laser Concepts,

Inc., President - Pacific Bible CollegeCurrent GCS parent

tRavis snydeROwner/Partner - Precision Electric

Current GCS parent

Congratulations to todd Winter! Winner of the 2015 Chevy spark

raffle at the annual auCtion!

Wish List update...

...$54,300 raised

so far to fulfill

wish list items

since its launch

in February 2015!

Visit our

website page

for details!

www.gracechristian.org/annual-fund/Annual-fund-wish-list

auction update...

...Seaside Escape

brings in

over $90,000

to directly

benefit students!

To learn more about enrolling for the 2015/2016 school year and for summer tours, contact Jennifer McMahon, Admissions Coordinator, 541-772-1438 or jmcmahon@gracechristian.org.

Be sure to give the enclosed flyer to a friend and encourage them to schedule a tour today! www.gracechristian.org/admissions

Grace Christian Schools 855 Chevy Way Medford, OR 97504 (541) 608-1329 * Fax (541) 608-1369 gcsoffice@gracechristian.orgwww.gracechristian.org

DATES TO REMEMBER August 17 - CCHS Fall Sports Begin September 1 - CCHS Back to School Night September 3 - GCS Back to School Night September 8 - First Day of the 2015/16 School Year

SUMMER OFFICE HOURS

Grace Christian School 541-772-1438

June 27-August 9: M-Th, 9am-3pm August 10-September 3: M-F, 8am-4:30pm

Cascade Christian High School541-772-0606

June 27-August 9: Closed (Contact Grace)August 10-September 3: M-F, 8am-4:30pm

CHILDREN AGES 3 TO 12 ENJOY A SUMMER FILLED

WITH FUN ACTIVITIES AT THEGRACE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL FUN IN THE SUN PROGRAM.

CALL 541-772-1438 TO LEARN MORE!

OUR MISSION AT GRACE CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS IS:

To assist Christian parents in the Biblical

training of their children spiritually, academically, emotionally, and physically

to be strong leaders for righteousness to the next generation.