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Essay Contest Winners
Trinity Christian School students entered an essay contest open to 3rd and 4th grade students around the nation during the 2009-10 school year. The contest was sponsored by Foster and Smith Aquatics. The prize was a 16 gallon aquarium and all the supplies, a year's supply of fish food, fish, and tickets for the class to a major aquarium. The challenge was to write a 400 word persuasive essay describing why that student's particular class deserved to win the prize. An even greater challenge was presented to our kids as the contest was nearly over when we discovered it. The students had just one day to write the essay.
Mrs. Ballew and Mrs. Rickles are pleased to announce that BOTH our 3rd grade class AND our 4th grade class won the prize! Several hundred schools entered the contest and each essay was read individually and judged for persuasive content, writing style, and grammar.
The winning essays were written by Jacob Walker (left) in the 3rd grade and Ashley Sanders (right) in the 4th grade.An honorable mention should also go the Trinity's 5th grade class. The 5th graders are studying "Swimming Creatures of the 5th Day" in Science and have learned numerous lessons from an aquarium they are maintaining. The 5th graders spent about 45 minutes one day teaching 3rd and 4th graders about some of those lessons. Much of what they taught them was portrayed in the essays. (The fifth graders did not assist in any way in the writing of the essays.)
Fifth Graders Read 600 Books
During the 2009-10 school year, Mrs. Carpenter's 5th grade at Trinity Christian School have met the admirable goal of reading over 600 books as a class. Each student read at least 25 books in at least seven different genres including
poetry, traditional literature, fiction, informational, and biographies. Over the school year, consistent daily reading exposes children to various author’s styles and improves fluency, vocabulary, comprehension and writing. Our main goal is that the children will enjoy reading and choose to read for pleasure.
High School Drama Club Presents School Play
On March 4th-6th the Trinity Christian School Drama Club presented the play “Southern Hospitality” by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope & Jamie Wooten. The play is about the Futrelle Sisters—Frankie, Twink, Honey Raye, and Rhonda Lynn and their beloved hometown, Fayro, Texas. The town is in danger of disappearing, and it’s up to the
sisters to save it from extinction. Ever since the Super SmartMart and the rendering plant closed, folks have been leaving Fayro in droves, but it seems a salsa manufacturing factory is looking to relocate, and a company representative is headed to Fayro on a scouting mission. In an effort to show overwhelming southern hospitality, Honey Raye makes promises that are not to be believed in order to woo the rep to choose Fayro. As one disaster follows another, it looks as if all hope is lost. But how the Futrelle sisters and the other citizens of Fayro pull together and save their town is a testament to Southern strength and ingenuity—and a recipe for total hilarity.
Several weeks of set building, script rewriting went into the preparing for the play under the direction of Miss Anna Ballard and Mrs. Ione Mayfield. The students delivered an outstanding performance.
Varsity Basketball Wins Tournament
The 2009/2010 school year marked the first year that Trinity Christian School has put a JV and Varsity basketball team on the court. Coach Norman Godwin led the varsity to a winning season, including a first place win in a tournament. This was Trinity’s first appearance at a basketball tournament.
First Choral Competition - Superior Rating
On Thursday, February 25 the Trinity Singers of Trinity Christian School received a Superior rating for their first experience as participants in Solo and Ensemble Performance Assessments. The group performed two pieces: a lively work in Latin entitled Jubilate Deo by Vicki Tucker Courtney, as well as an enchanting piece entitled Stars Are For Those Who Lift Their Eyes by Pauline Delmonte.
This event is held each year in Tallassee, AL for District VI of the Alabama Vocal Association. Each ensemble is required to perform two pieces of contrasting styles from memory without a director conducting their performance. Performances are judged using state-level adjudication, rating each group in areas such as tone, intonation, diction, technique, balance, interpretation, and artistry. Students will receive medals to commemorate their accomplishment in this event.
C.S. Lewis Scholar Visits
Trinity Christian School was honored to host Dr. Devin Brown as he spoke to our students, homeschool students and to the community on February 20, 2009. Devin Brown is a Lilly Scholar and Professor of English at Asbury College, where his duties include teaching a class on the fiction of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. He has a Master's Degree from the University of Florida and a Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina. In 2005, Devin was given the Francis White Ewbank Award for Teaching Excellence, Asbury’s highest honor. He is currently serving as Visiting Writer-in-Residence at Transylvania University. Dr. Brown has written the following three books:
Varsity Soccer Wins State - Fall 2008
November 1, 2008
Finishing the soccer season with a perfect 10-0 conference record, the Trinity Christian School boys varsity soccer team won the ICSGA state champaionship game against Alleluia Community School. As expected, both teams came prepared to win. Both teams were evenly matched and the intensity remained high throughout the entire game, which went into double overtime and was finally decided with penalty kicks.
Trinity struck first, early in the first half with a goal provided by James Haley. The score remained 1-0 until later in the second half when Allenluia snuck one past the goalie to even up the score. Both team's defenses were incredibly strong with impressive goal tending at both ends of the field. Trinity sophomore Harrison Godwin played goalie in the first half and thwarted several attempts by Alleluia to get one across the plane. In the second half, and throughout the overtimes, Michael Jenson played goalie.
At the end of regulation play the score remained 1-1 at which point the game went into a 10 minute overtime. With neither team being able to score, the game went into another nail-biting overtime. At the end of the second suspense-filled overtime, the score remained tied. All spectators were on their feet as the game went into a sudden-death penalty kick shootout. By the end of the shootout Trinity emerged as victors, allowing only two goals, while Trinity put four past Alleluia's goalie. Michael Jenson, Harrison Godwin, Gary Durbin, and Daniel Brownsfield all contributed to the score.
After the game, soccer commissioner Dennis McBride presented a trophy and banner to the school and several awards to individual players. Josh Hale was presented the all-conference MVP awared, while James Haley, Michael Jenson, Justin Hale, and Daniel Brownsfield were awarded all-state awards. During the presentation McBride acknowledged Trinity's incredible persistence. "I have watched these guys play this team three times this year," he said, "all three times they have come out on top, and all three times the thing that has impressed me the most is the way that they never give up. They play with the same level of intensity during the last minute of double overtime as they play with at the very beginning. This is a very young team, and they have only been in our conference one year. To achieve what they have is just incredible." Indeed it is, given the fact that Alleluia has held the state championship for ten years running prior to this year. Coach Dick Hayley had this to say about his team; "This is a tremendous victory for our soccer program. For a team to defeat Alleluia once over several years is good. To defeat them three times in one year is quite an accomplishment. These boys have worked hard all year. I'm very grateful to them and to everyone else involved."
The families of Trinity echo those sentiments to Coach Hayley.