www.bgchristian.org 354.2422 April 2014

School Board Members Jeff Palmer, President DJ Deiter, Vice President Mark Melnek, Secretary Paul Dobson, At-Large Carleton Hollister, Finance Stephen Bihary, At-Large Mark Bowlus, At-Large Wendie Cuckler, Principal Annual Fund & Events Coordinator Angie Foster afoster@bgchristian.org Enrollment & Marketing Zane Powell (zpowell@bgchristian.org)

Building Steering Committee Shelley Lee, Chair, Development Director (slee@bgchristian.org) Deb Butler, Advisor Jeff Palmer, Building Chair David Whitta, Building Coordinator Mark Bowlus, Building Committee Bo Kessler, Youth Center Jack Hollister, YMCA Liaison Wendie Cuckler, Preschool/High School Development Administrative Assistant Lisa Baty (lbaty@bgchristian.org)

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Student Council fundraisers have been the driving force behind an awe-

some giving movement among the upper campus student body. During the

first academic quarter, they gave the Humane Society $91.05 The Daughter

Project was the recipient of a $144.51 donation in Q2. Fundraising went so

well in this quarter that they chose to give to the Philippines typhoon vic-

tims with $100 in additional funds. The Q3 collection is in progress, where

a Ronald McDonald House gift is nearing $80, with Mission Possible slated

as the Q4 charity.

You may wonder, how do the students organize this? The student body

is grouped into four spirit teams, each made up of a mix of 6-12th grade

students. Each team chose a charity at the start of the year. The funds are

raised partially from concession sales, from which student council puts $50

toward each charity per academic quarter. In addition, a donation jar at

school that students add money to

daily is gathered each quarter.

Senior Zack Hall said, “I’ve

always felt you should give cheer-

fully, and not for what you get

back.” Sophomore Kirah Morrison

said the students are learning the

importance of helping the commu-

nity. “They [the students] are giv-

ing a lot more than we thought

they might.”

For a complete list of staff members visit www.bgchristian.org

Generous Student Giving April 7 School Resumes

18 Bible Day at Lower Campus

25 Kindergarten Screening

May

12 Spring Musical K-5 7pm

16 Community Day

22 Spring Choir/Band Program

31 High School Graduation

Dates to Remember

Development Building Brief From Shelley Lee, Development Director We are pleased to share with you that BG Christian Academy and BG Covenant Church are in the planning stages as we work on a col-laborative building project that will be mutually beneficial for the school and the church. We look forward to sharing the plans as they un-fold. As always, we are grateful for each of you who offer support, and prayers as we grow and make plans to meet the needs of our students.

Bowling Green Christian Academy

One of the student spirit teams on “Holiday Day” as Cupid aims to win over hearts.

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Called to Serve

I recently heard a sermon on the work of the Lord which got me thinking about God’s calling on His peo-ple. The sermon text was taken from the parable of the laborers in the vineyard in Matthew 20:1-16. In the story, the owner of the vineyard went to the laborers who had not been hired and said, “Why have you been stand-ing idle all day long?” The main point of the sermon is that all Christians are called to serve in God’s kingdom. We are all ambassadors for Christ in our homes, neigh-borhoods, at work, and wherever we may find ourselves. As I was reading Joel Larson’s update in the alumni spotlight for this edition, I noticed how he is living out his faith in Christ by doing the work of Christ not only as a pastor but in the various opportunities that he has had over the years. It blesses me to see students who have been a part of BG Christian come to faith and then live it out to extend God’s kingdom. My hope and prayer for every student who walks through our doors is that they will come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior and that they will become fervent in their faith and extend God’s kingdom. As always, it is an honor to serve these students!

Wendie Cuckler Principal Bowling Green Christian Academy

In an effort to share valuable financial planning infor-mation, this is the first of a series., courtesy of Munn Wealth Management.

Giving Wisely Do you have a giving plan? Are you maximizing the benefits of your giving? Planned Giving is Wise Giving: Aligned with your values, beliefs and the experiences that

have impacted you

Integrated as part of your financial and estate planning

Maximizes the benefits of your gift for you, your family and the organization(s) you support

Give Now Cash gifts from income

Appreciated Securities (Publicly Traded Stocks/ Mutual Funds)

Donor Advised Fund

Give Later Bequests in Will or Trust

Name Charity as Beneficiary of Tax-Deferred Assets

Life Insurance

Give and Receive Charitable Gift Annuities

Charitable Trusts

You should consult with your personal estate planning attorney and/or tax advisor(s) as to your particular situation and the ap-propriateness and implementation of any strategies.

In the next newsletter look for more on ‘Give Now’

This year’s high school Spring Formal fell on Valentine’s Day, which made for a full house at Cousino’s Steakhouse! The group of students started out at the Lower Campus with photo op time prior to limo arrival. After their delicious dinner in To-ledo, bowling together was next up, where it is reported that some people may have used bumpers with no shame. An all night lock-in followed at the lower campus, with lots of games, food, and fun. “Picking out a dress and dressing up is a lot of fun,” said sophomore Kirah Morrison, “but the lock-in was the most fun. We could just hang out, talk, and play games.” Even the boys

reportedly enjoyed dressing up for a bit, as long it was followed by bowling! Thank yous go out to Mr. and Mrs. Kessler, Mr. and Mrs. Cenci, and Ms. Eridon for chaperoning this most

enjoyable time for the high school students. Thanks also to the PTF, and Student Council for donating funds for

the event, as well as Ken and Angie Foster for the bowling!

Spring Formal

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Alumni Spotlight on Joel Larson

Joel recalls the time he spent at BGCA as transformational. He was going through a rough adolescent period. As a child in Lexington, Kentucky he was tired of being in Christian school where his parents (Bill and Margie, yes, our very own Mrs. Larson!) enrolled him. He wanted out of disciplined strict school rules and attended public schools there for a short time before they moved back to Bowling Green during his 6th grade year. He resisted BGCA, but it ended up that the loving discipline of the Academy and seeing a group of peers seeking and following Jesus was exactly what he needed. “The short time at BGCA helped get me back on the right path, and I never looked back from there. It was at a critical time in my faith.” said Joel. One of his challenges was that BGCA only had cross-country in those days, and he was a basketball, soccer, and baseball guy. So, he ended up at Toledo Christian for 8th grade to play basketball, and continued there playing baseball and basketball all four years of high school, with soccer a couple of those years. Joel also played guitar and led worship for high school chapel. At BGSU he earned a bachelor’s in Communications, a major in sec-ondary English Education, and a minor in Speech Communication. Dur-ing college he began leading youth ministry at BG Covenant Church and continued there for nine more years. Many of the middle school students in youth group attended BGCA. Joel is currently the associate pastor at First Prespyterian Hollywood where he leads college, 20’s -30’s, young marrieds and men’s ministry. He is also involved in their homeless outreach, The Lord’s Lighthouse, where they provide meals and temporary shelter in the colder winter months. Between his current and his first jobs though, there was Fuller Semi-nary (MDiv 2008), third grade teaching at a Christian school, and youth leader work at his current church. “As we’ve been here in California it’s been a very different experience in a large urban city. Here, the needs are right out in front of you all the time, homelessness, and pervasive-ness of self. God has really grown our hearts to love the city and the people here, and really, people everywhere as a result.” Joel said. “The Church is right down in the middle of Hollywood, located a block from the start of the Hollywood walk of fame, and it’s exciting to be a part of that.” Joel and his wife Elisha will celebrate 10 years of marriage this June. They met at Toledo Chris-tian. They are blessed with two children, Claire, 4 ½ and William 3 ½. They all enjoy going to the beach as a family, where Joel surfs as much as life will allow.

Bowling Green Christian Academy Mission: Bowling Green Christian Academy actively aspires to high quality, distinctively Christian education that will enable each student to serve God and others with Christian character and academic excellence.

Vision: Bowling Green Christian Academy is a Christ-centered, premier provider of spiritual, academic, and athletic excel-lence, preparing our community's youth today to be Christian leaders of tomorrow.

E-mail or Snail Mail? We would like you to receive this newsletter in the format that works best for you. If you prefer to receive this in a

different format (options: email or snail mail), please let us know by emailing Shelley at slee@bgchristian.org.

www.bgchristian.org - (419) 354-BGCA (2422)

1165 Haskins Rd. Bowling Green, OH 43402

Bowling Green Christian Academy Newsletter April 2014

Photo by Trevor Lee

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