P O R T L A N D C H R I S T I A N S C H O O L S

Telling Times “It is my pleasure to tell you about the wonders

that the Most High God has performed for me.” Daniel 4:2

How Does Christian

Education Compare?

You know that PCS is a great

place for students. You be-

lieve in Christian education

because you’ve seen it work

for your own children. It just

makes sense that students

would benefit from a private

Christian education, knowing

the benefits of small class

sizes, personal accountabil-

ity, and high moral expecta-

tions that you expect in a

Christian environment. Have

you ever wished there was

hard data to back this up?

We are excited to share with

you news of the publication

of two surveys: The Cardus

Education Survey (CES),

Phase 1, published in 2011,

and the ACSI Response To

and Expansion on the CES,

Upon A Solid Foundation,

published in 2012.

Using accepted methodol-

ogy, the CES compared the

following types of schools:

public schools, private non-

religious, Catholic, Protestant,

and home school in North

America. The results showed

areas of strength and weak-

ness for each of these types

of schools.

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Welcome to Portland Christian’s Telling Times! God is at work at PC,

blessings abound, and we want to tell you the good news!

February 2013

No. 2

THE 2013-14 ENROLLMENT SEASON IS HERE!

If you haven’t already done so, NOW is the time to turn in your

documents to re-enroll your students for next year. By submit-

ting your paperwork early, you pay the lowest possible registra-

tion fee and secure your student’s spot in their class. You also

help Portland Christian get a realistic count of the number of

students for which to plan, for the upcoming school year. An

accurate enrollment count permits us to makes realistic projec-

tions for budgeting purposes and allows us to begin next year’s

forecasting. We are already thinking about what and how

many classes to schedule, what activities we will be able to of-

fer, and what services we can provide. An accurate projection

of student enrollment also allows us to issue teacher contracts

so our teachers can make their plans for themselves and their

families for next year. So...have you turned in your re-enrollment

forms yet?

Helping our students develop

sharp minds and soft hearts.

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The Strengths & Weaknesses of Protestant Schools

So, how do Protestant schools, like PCS, fare as a whole, in comparison to other forms of educa-

tion?

The Cardus study shows that graduates from Protestant schools are generous with their time and

money, express gratitude in seasons of want and of plenty, have strong family relationships, and

are committed to the Christian faith. The report summarizes, “...Protestant Christian school gradu-

ates have been found to be uniquely compliant, generous individuals, who stabilize their commu-

nities by their uncommon and distinctive commitment to their families, their churches and their

communities, and by their unique hope and optimism about their lives and the future.” (CES p. 13).

It is exciting to see the positive impact that comes from Christian education and the ways in which

we are succeeding!

The study also identified some areas in which private Protestant schools could improve. Protestant

schools were found to lag behind Catholic schools in academic rigor and measures of academic

success, such as admission of graduates to top tier universities. Additionally, these graduates report

little interest or involvement in the cultural arenas of politics and the Arts. While these areas of

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Vision & Call

Portland Christian is proud of

our two MJ Murdock Charitable

Trust Vision & Call interns, Kelsey

Anderson and Kate Schleusner.

Kelsey earned her bachelor’s

degree in Biology from

Northwest Nazarene University

and is a certified teacher. She

spent a year in Paraguay after

graduation, teaching middle

school science and math. At

PC, Kelsey teaches anatomy

and health and chaperones ski

club. Kelsey reflects on her

internship: “I’ve learned from

the experience and have

grown, thanks to the support

I’ve received from the PC

community, as the Lord has

continued to reveal His plans for

me.”

Kate is in the second year of

her internship with PC. She

graduated from Point Loma

Nazarene University with a

degree in Graphic Design, and

is largely responsible for our new

website design -- you may know

her as “webmaster”! Kate

works on various design projects

throughout the school, and is also

involved with Art Club. In

addition to her PC internship,

Kate works part time at Western

Seminary in their Communications

department. Of her time at PC,

Kate says: “My experience as a

Vision and Call intern at PCS has

been invaluable in helping me

find practical, tangible ways to

utilize my talents for art and

design to promote something

I believe in -- education. It is a

special thing, to be given the

opportunity to work in an

environment that both affirms

my talents and challenges me

to grow.”

The M.J. Murdock Charitable

Trust Vision & Call program

offers students and recent

graduates “an opportunity to

capture a new vision for a

w o r l d i n n e e d o f

t ransformation” through

experiential internships at

selected Christian ministries,

s uch as P CS (h t t p : / /

www.murdock-trust.org). It is

the mission of The Trust to

enrich the quality of life in the

Pacific Northwest by providing

grants and enr ichment

programs to organizations

seeking to strengthen the

region’s educational, spiritual,

and cultural base in creative

and sustainable ways.

Kate and Kelsey are huge

blessings to PC. We hope PC

proves to be a blessing to

each of them as well!

Kelsey, Kate, and Director of

Marketing and Communications,

Linda Swenson at the Vision & Call

Retreat in Yelm, Washington.

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KEEPING OUR

STUDENTS SAFE

Generous donors saw a

need for better security at

the San Rafael campus and

stepped up to meet that

need! Thanks to these gifts,

the campus has had new

security locks installed on all

internal doors and will soon

also have keyless entry sys-

tems and “buzz-in” limited

access on all external doors.

Additional cameras will also

be installed at strategic lo-

cations.

The Market Street campus

has also implemented in-

creased security measures

by limiting access to cam-

pus buildings and posting

personnel at entries during

critical periods.

Further training and addi-

tional regular safety drills

have been implemented for

staff and students at both

campuses.

At Portland Christian we

take the safety of our

charges very seriously. We

understand that some of the

security measures we imple-

ment may be inconvenient

and require extra time and

effort on the part of parents

and staff. Nonetheless, as

you will no doubt agree, the

safety of our children must

remain our top priority.

Thank you for your patience

and understanding as we

attempt to balance the

many competing concerns

represented. We ask for

your prayers as we seek the

Lord’s wisdom in dealing

with these complex issues.

PC FAMILY NEWS

The Helgerson Family

Chances are good that if you’ve been around PC very long at

all, you know SOMEONE in the Helgerson family. With four kids,

all involved in extracurricular activities, mom working in the busi-

ness office, and dad coaching, they are well-known at PC.

The Helgerson family joined the PC family in 2009, when Nate

transferred in as a freshman from Parkrose. The others followed

the next year, and Mom reports that all the kids “love it” at PC!

NATHAN is now a senior and is looking forward to graduation!

He has been an award-winning athlete on both the varsity soc-

cer and baseball teams all four years, and this year joined the

football team as well. In fact, he did so well in football that he

was recognized by a special vote of 2A Oregon football

coaches as the top 2A kicker in the state of Oregon and se-

lected as 2A All State 1st Team - Kicker. Nate was honored to

be part of the first-ever PCS varsity football team to go to State

Finals! Nate is not only an outstanding athlete, but is also an ex-

cellent student and an all-around accomplished young man.

He is a member of National Honor Society, an active youth

leader in his church, and an eager volunteer on community ac-

tivities and mission trips. After graduation, Nate hopes to enroll

in an engineering program; he has already been accepted at

several universities, but has not yet made a final choice of

school.

MARENA is a junior at PC this year. She is an excellent student,

a skilled athlete, and a talented performer. Marena has re-

ceived honors playing varsity softball and soccer. She is a regu-

lar on the PC honor roll and an NHS member. Marena joined

the PC choir for the first time this year and she utterly loves it!

She is very involved in drama performances at church, and has

carried the lead role in several productions.

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Both Nate and Marena have hearts for helping others, and have taken formal peer ministries train-

ing through their church. This program teaches youth to recognize and respond appropriately to

crisis situations that other teens may be experiencing, such as bullying, eating disorders, or family

conflict.

MARY is in the sixth grade at our Market Street campus. Another athlete in this athletic family,

Mary has played on the school’s volleyball and basketball teams. She loves drama and is a regu-

lar in church productions. Mary has a beautiful voice and loves to sing.

NOLAN is in Ms. Thomas’s fourth grade class. His mom describes him as “a sports nut!” He likes

school, loves drama, and is crazy about football! He is looking forward with eager anticipation to

his first opportunity to join the football team. In the meantime, he is an enthusiastic basketball

player on the 4th grade team (which is coached by his dad).

The Helgerson family and the PC family -- two families, beautifully blended!

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Emile, a sophomore at PC this year, is the recipient of the 2012-13

ECR Academic Scholarship. This is Emile’s first year at PC and he

seems to have taken well to life here.

Emile played on the PC varsity football team this fall, and says he

“can’t wait” for football to start up again next year. He must wait,

but while he does, he has joined the school choir, enjoys riding his

dirt bike with his dad and brother, and wrestles with the Parkrose

team. In fact, he recently won 2nd in Districts in wresting and will be

competing in the State meet next weekend!

To qualify for the ECR Academic Scholarship, Emile submitted an es-

say discussing what it means to be a good steward of God’s re-

sources. He concluded that essay as follows:

“I think one of the biggest areas is simply becoming more aware of

the value of these resources. As we grow in awareness, we should

also grow in thankfulness. We should never think that we are entitled

to all these blessings and privileges that we have been raised

with. After all, a lot of people live without the things we call basic,

like running water. I think the key to becoming a good steward is to

be willing to make simple adjustments to our lifestyle in order to use

all that we have been blessed with in a careful manner.”

Well said, Emile!

Portland Christian is grateful to our neighbors at Environmentally

Conscious Recycling for funding the 2012-13 ECR Academic Schol-

arship. ECR is a full-service material recovery facility (MRF) delivering

cost-efficient, environmentally conscious dry waste re-

cycling products and services to commercial, industrial

and residential customers. Learn more about ECR at

www.ecrrecycling.com.

EMILE WOLPERT

2012-13 ECR Academic

Scholarship Recipient

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MIDDLE SCHOOL COMING TO PORTLAND CHRISTIAN

Beginning with the 2013-14 school

year, all PC sixth through eighth grad-

ers will attend Portland Christian Middle

School at the San Rafael campus.

PC’s Jr./Sr. HS Principal Jim Hill, Ele-

mentary Principal Rhonda Rogers, the

entire administrative team, the Educa-

tion Committee, and the Board of Trus-

tees, have worked together to create

a program uniquely designed to meet

the needs of middle schoolers. The

program is built upon a solid founda-

tion of research, experience, and

prayer, and will have faculty, courses,

counseling, student services, and classrooms dedicated to serving only 6th – 8th grade students.

Current research indicates, “Sixth graders are at the beginning of early adolescence (ages 10-14).

They are on the verge of changing physically , socially, emotionally, and cognitively. [It is our goal

at PCS to develop an] [e]xemplary middle school [that] develop[s] programs and practices

around the needs of young adolescents.” (www.chappaqua.k12.ny.us).

Good things are happening at Portland Christian in ALL of our programs, and we are excited to

see what God is doing and will continue to do at PC!

weakness are concerning, it makes us all the more grateful and appreciative of our faculty here at

PCS, who set such high standards in academics AND the Arts. Make sure you show your support by

congratulating a National Honor Society member that you know (Nate and Marena Helgerson are

just two of our 49 NHS members!) and by coming to the upcoming Jr./Sr. High School art and

drama showcases!

“The CES and the related, ACSI-specific data both show that our schools are succeeding in both

the long-term and short-term views. Our schools have some work to do to better prepare and train

students in some areas, such as political work and academic influence, but by and large we are

succeeding in molding young disciples of Christ who are capable of entering any sphere of influ-

ence and making a difference” (ACSI p. 13).

Watch for information about what Portland Christian is doing in response to these findings in

future issues of Telling Times.

If you would like to review the Cardus Survey report or the ACSI Response to it, stop by the PCS business office

and ask to read the school’s copy. You may also purchase a copy of the Cardus survey through the Cardus

website and download a .pdf of the ACSI Response through the ACSI website.

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