The honor places Sam in the top 1% of students in the nation

The National Merit^® Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships that began in 1955. High school students enter the National Merit Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT^®)--a test which serves as an initial screen of approximately 1.5 million entrants each year--and by meeting published program entry and participation requirements.

Of the 1.5 million entrants, some 50,000 with the highest PSAT/NMSQT^® Selection Index scores (critical reading + mathematics + writing skills scores) qualify for recognition in the National Merit^® Scholarship Program. In September, these high scorers are notified through their schools that they have qualified as either a Commended Student or Semifinalist.

Northwest Christian High School is excited to announce that senior Sam Markel has been recognized as a National Merit Finalist and will learn in the next eight weeks if he's earned the distinction of National Merit Scholar.  As exciting as that looming prospect may be, Sam is about to be inundated with scholarship offers from many universities who offer full-ride scholarships to Finalists.  That consideration aside, Sam says he has already made up his mind:  next year will find him studying at the Barrett Honors College at Arizona State University.  His desire is to pursue a degree in business law.  

 

Varsity cheerleaders three-peat as State Champs while middle school cheer team wins a high school competition

For the third year in a row, under the direction of cheer coach Dani Behrens, the Northwest Christian High School varsity cheer squad has won the Divison III Arizona Interscholastic Association State Championship.  In competitions held at Tim's Toyota Center in Prescott Valley on January 24th, the Northwest Christian squad took 2nd in the five-man stunt competition, 2nd in the pom competition, and 2nd in 'Show Cheer'.  Overall, the girls earned the 1st place spot for the Div. III trophy.  "These cheerleaders may be the hardest working athletes on the campus," says high school athletic director David Inness.  "And, their hard work has paid off now for three consecutive years.  We were stunned when they won last year--a 'rebuilding' year.  This year, we're just blown away.  And, so proud!"

But the good news for the Northwest Christian cheer program didn't end there as that winning streaks continued at the middle school level as well.

Middle School cheer coach Debbie Webb and her squad completed the first of their 3 annual cheer competitions recently:  the 11th annual "Spring it On" cheer championships.  Having won the competition last year, the team agreed as a squad to be challenged by entering the Junior Varsity High School division at this year's contest. Competing against mostly public high school JV programs, the middle school team took 1^st place in both 'Show Cheer' and 'All Girl Stunt', earning the 1st place trophy for the competition.

Above: Coach Webb is mobbed by her team after learning that they have won

WHO: Fathers and sons (no one is too young or too old!)

DATE: Saturday, February 21

TIME: 8 am - 1 pm

LOCATION: Northwest Community Church

COST: Free!  However, you must register by February 18. 

For more information or to register, visit the following link:

NCC Wiffle Ball Tournament

NCS prepares to launch fifth annual parent survey           

For the fifth year in a row, Northwest Christian is preparing to launch its annual online parents survey.  "I feel like these five years have been years of such growth and change for the school," says superintendent Geoff Brown.  "And, a big impetus for that growth and change has been our prayerful approach to the meaningful feedback that our parents provide through these surveys."

The survey will launch on Tuesday, February 17th and run for two consecutive weeks, ending on Monday, March 2nd.  "Typically," explains Geoff, "we have done these surveys in December.  And while we have been blessed to see just over 30% of parents participate, this year we pushed the survey back to February, and away from the very busy month of December, in an effort to drive some additional participation."  The opportunity to participate in the survey will come in the form of a link that will be sent to each of the email addresses that NCS parents have registered with the school.  "I would love to see close to 50% of our parents participate," says Geoff.  "I feel like that would give us a real solid grasp of the issues and priorities that our parent community identifies as we prayerfully move the school forward."

While the parent survey is an annual effort, every other year the school also sponsors a student survey for 3rd through 12th grade students.  The information culled from the student survey, scheduled for late February/early March depending on the grade level, is very influential as administrators make plans for the coming year throughout the spring and summer.

The surveys are completely anonymous and the results are used as part of the school's strategic planning and continuous improvement processes.  "In addition," explains Geoff, "we annually track over one hundred streams of data regarding school performance and culture for these same purposes.  We share this data with everyone annually within the organization.  Every individual who plays a role in the fulfillment of our mission, sees this information and we talk through how best to tackle the opportunities we derive from the information.  I also share the results of these surveys and the data tracking with parents at the beginning of each school year in one of our 'Coffees with the Principals'."

9918 W. Happy Valley Prkwy

Students and teachers alike relish the approach of "Read Across America" week each year at NCS as that the week has developed some pretty fun traditions.  Started in May of 1997 and aligned annually with the birthday of favorite children's author Dr. Seuss, the week is designed to promote student passion for reading.  Each year at NCS, the week accompanies a challenge within the elementary school to read a certain number of minutes throughout the week.  This year, that week is February 23rd through 27th.  Teachers and administration work together to choose a theme for the week and the theme chosen for the week is "If You Give a Pig a Pancake" by Laura Numeroff.  The stakes are as high as ever for the annual challenge associated with the reading goal for the week.

For the Friday, February 27th, week-ending assembly, the school is bringing in a couple of huge pot-bellied pigs.  At each grade-level, whatever class reads the most minutes throughout the week, the teacher for that class will have to kiss the pig.  In addition, if the elementary as a whole hits their total reading goal for the week (60,000 minutes), school superintendent Geoff Brown will be turned into a massive pancake and the students within each class who read the most minutes will have the opportunity to cover that pancake with gallons of maple syrup, flour, milk, breakfast cereal and the like.

More information on this fun week and reading logs will be coming home within the elementary school shortly.

The annual Jog-a-thon fundraising effort is in full swing around the campus as student bring in flyers and prepare for an afternoon of jogging and fun on Friday, March 6th.  "Because the school operates on a black budget before fundraising," explains superintendent Geoff Brown, "the Jog-a-thon is poised to really move the needle in terms of improving student experience around the school.  This year, for example, in the preschool, we're focusing on playground feature.  In the elementary and middle school, the emphasis is on campus security and classroom technology.  Within the high school, we're focused on technology and security but we're also taking a larger percentage and applying those funds to student service and missions opportunities."  Geoff explains the service commitment within Jog-a-thon this way:  "We take 10% of the net and apply it to service learning initiatives across the grade levels.  We like doing it this way so that through the school year, when our students focus on service, it's hands-on service we're talking about because the requisite funding has already been provided."

In terms of campus security, the focus this summer will be on video cameras.  "We're working to identify surveillance strategies that will enable us to really monitor the campus perimeter," says Geoff.  "As well, as part of a strategy that is taking multiple years due to the scope of the project, we're working to see the campus fenced completely.  I'm praying for a robust Jog-a-thon 2015 so we can take steps forward with both these projects."

After several years of significant growth to the NCS technology profile, Jog-a-thon 2015 is focusing on outfitting the balance of elementary classrooms with additional digital media tools that will include projectors, Apple TVs, and the like.

For more information on Jog-a-thon, or for an opportunity to give, please visit the following link...

Jog-a-thon 2015

"This was our best wrestling finish ever as a school," exudes high school principal Josh Schlesinger.  In section competition, in the fourth year under varsity coach Jim James and assistant Gus Rubio, six different Crusader wrestlers qualified for state competitions.  Brothers Nick and Nate Brown and Ben McGriff each placed first in their respective weight classes, winning their sections.  Additionally, Logan Young took second and both Jeremy Kaiser and George James placed third.  All six will be headed to Tim's Toyota Center in Prescott Valley on February 12th for the state tourney.