Dear Friends of DMCS,

Christmas is a time to celebrate friends and family, and a time when our world seems just a bit more like the world we are striving to restore in God's name. Of course, it's also a time to celebrate God's love that did not withhold His own Son for our sake.

Our family has been involved with DMCS for 17 years. As children and grandchildren of Christian school teachers, our four kids never had a chance to attend public schools. Joel graduated in 2006, and after earning degrees in political science and communications from Dordt College, is living in Syria. Simon graduated in 2009 and is now attending Calvin College. Micah is a sophomore and Stella, a seventh grader.

My coworkers often ask me why we send our kids to a Christian school. First, I tell them why we don't. We don't send them to DMCS to keep them "safe." We are very thankful that DMCS has been a safe place for our children, but we also know that bad things can happen anywhere, and kids can find trouble in any school. We are not trying to shield our kids from the world; we want them to see the world from a Christian perspective. We want them to see the glory of God's creation, but also understand what is wrong with the world, and learn God's plan for our redemption. DMCS comes alongside us as parents to teach this Christian worldview to our children.

An additional blessing of being involved with DMCS is the relationships we've made with the teachers and other DMCS families. Our children have had devoted, Christian teachers that became their mentors and friends. DMCS is truly a community that models the kingdom of God.

Please join our family in giving a gift to DMCS to help make Christian education affordable for all families.

Brent and Kay Veldkamp

On November 1-3, 2010, a group of 9 educators with dozens of years of experience in Christian schools thoroughly reviewed our Association of Christian Schools International accreditation self-study to determine whether DMCS should be re-accredited. All of us at DMCS were encouraged by their positive report. The official report will be considered by the ACSI Mid-America Regional Commission on Accreditation (of which DMCS Director of Curriculum and Assessment, Linda Steddom, is a part), and we will receive a list of commendations and recommendations in all 10 major standards.

DMCS will need to address a few major commendations and recommendations annually until another accreditation team visits five years from now. If you would like to read my summary of the oral exit report , "ACSI Exit Report, 03 November 2010," visit the News section of our website (dmcs.org). Please do not jump to any conclusions about a typewritten report which does not go into detail, but I thought you might be interested in what "critical friends" are saying about DMCS. Praise God for our school, for the positive impression of the school on our visitors, and for the ways that we can improve to bring even greater glory and honor to Christ!

DMCS varsity athletes combined brains and brawn to cap off highly successful fall sports season. Student athletes were selected for District 7 Football Academic All-District by maintaining a 3.25 GPA or higher: Ben Burkett, Austin Stubbs, Ethan Zepp, Cody Carlson, Jesse South, Matt Nichols, TJ Sheely, Justin Nunes, Charlie Vryhof, Aaron Troll, Alex Toulouse, Noah Nichols, Matt Herbers, Jimmy Juergens, Jacob Haugen, Anthony Flynn; (Girls academic honors are announced at the end of semester.)

(L-R): Seniors Jacob Haugen, Jesse South, Matt Nichols, Charlie Vryhof, Jared Haugen

The 2010 Lion football team picked up where last year's record-setting squad left off. Compiling an historic 8-3 record, the Lions were District 7 Co-champions, and earned hosting rights for the first two rounds of the Iowa State High School playoffs. The team's "final 16" finish marked the furthest any DMCS squad had ever advanced in post-season play. "We took a young team into the season not knowing how many of them would react to their first varsity experience," reflected head coach Cade Lambert. "It was a joy to watch them progress as individuals and as a team. I couldn't be more proud of their development and spiritual growth."

The following students received conference honors: 1st Team All District: D-Line, Charlie Vryhof; Linebacker, Jesse South; Running Back, Matt Nichols; O-Line, Jimmy Juergens; Kicker, Ethan Zepp; D-Back, Austin Stubbs; 2nd Team All District: O-Line, Alex Toulouse; O-Line, Hunter Schmitt; Receiver, Michael Carney; D-Line, Danny Clinton; Linebacker, Aaron Troll; Honorable Mention: O-line, Austin Gafford

(L-R) Seniors Jessa Veenstra, Amber Fraser, Coach Cindy Kostek, Emily Horstman, and Bianca Long

"Learn more drill, have more fun; DMC is #1!" Members of the DMC high school marching band learned this infamous chant during a 3-day summer camp, which was the kickoff to a great season of marching. Under the direction of Chad Parker, the band graced the parking lot with their presence every morning of first quarter. Last year, DMC's marching band was categorized as class 1A; this year, the band was elevated to class 2A. Performing "Aaron Copland: America's Composer," the band provided prime entertainment for spectators during home football games and also placed well in several competitions. The band received a respectable 4th place at their first competition, Urbandale Marching Invitational. At Valleyfest, the band received 4th place, which was more warmly accepted than last year's snowy 1st place. The season ended victoriously with a Division I Superior rating at State and a 1st place win at Waukee. The band's purpose is distinctly expressed on this year's t-shirt: "For in Him we live and move and have our being. We might as well not start to move... unless we move in Him." Watch out for the Marching Lions as they take the field in years to come.