LACONIA CHRISTIAN ACADEMY
To Honduras
and Back
By Noah Longval
•••
On March 28th 2017, the juniors and
seniors of Laconia Christian
Academy departed for the Boston
airport confident of departing on their
planned flight to Honduras. Sadly,
their plane was cancelled, forcing them
to take a different route. But when the
team finally arrived in Central America
in the 95º heat, they got right to work
in the Estados Unidos neighborhood with a full-scale
block party! Balloon animals, face painting, relay
races, and gospel bracelets got the conversations
started with smiles!
The team also visited Tegucigalpa, the mountains,
and the Caribbean. Two nights, they slept at the
Hope Center in Valle De Angeles. They also laid a
concrete floor in the home a local woman in need.
The team gave away many medical packs and school
supplies for the children also. To enjoy and soak in
God’s creation, the Honduras team zip-lined and
relaxed in natural hot springs found near the
mountains! “Seeing the countryside of Honduras
was absolutely incredible,” says junior Julia Collins.
“...The mountains, waterfalls, [and] the sunsets,
especially the sunset over the Caribbean Sea… [were]
breathtaking.”
Every member of the team recalls the village of Los
Mangos in central Honduras with a special fondness.
The villagers gave the team a tour
of their farm, gave gifts of
delicious fruit, and made them
lunch during their stay. “The
citizens of Los Mangos were
incredible, and they touched
every one of our hearts in very
special ways. From their amazing
SPRING 2017
hospitality, to their
unconditional kindness, and the
heartfelt prayers they lifted up
for us, it was an experience that
none of us will ever forget.”
says Anna Hall, a junior.
Not knowing for sure what each
day would hold was one of the
hardest parts about the trip;
however, it was all worth it.
“There were wonderful
experiences in Honduras, but the
real change comes in deciding
what to do with my life now that
I am back.” says Shepherd White.
Devin Carignan, a senior, adds
“Never having been out of the country, it really
pushed what I thought about how I grew up and
made me appreciate what I had.”
Each member of the team had an amazing
experience in Honduras, and many wish they could
have stayed. But for the
juniors at least, there is
the pleasure of
knowing they can
return next year, God
willing!
OUT AND ABOUT:
The LCA Drama Class is deep in preparations for
the upcoming performances of “The Wiz”! Last
week that included making all these fun paper
flowers for Munchkin Land, and painting the
scenery for Oz!
The Upper School Fine Arts Class took a
trip to the Currier Museum of Art in
Manchester on May 4th. The main special
exhibit was an amazing show of cut paper
entitled “Deep Cuts.” It featured the work of
many contemporary artists, and aimed to reexamine the ancient art of paper cutting.
The students also had a chance to just sit and
sketch in the American Art section. At the annual ‘Mother’s Day Tea’ preschool and kindergarden students treated their
mothers and grandmothers to an afternoon of back rubs, foot and hand massage,
story time, crafting, and snacks.
Father-Daughter Dance Date!
By Meg Glines
•••
On Saturday, March 11, 2017, fathers and daughters gathered in the
LCA gym, which was transformed into a beautiful ballroom, for the
annual Father-Daughter Dance. The dads dressed grandly in suits to
match their daughters’ dazzling dresses. There were a few conga lines,
line dances, and slow dances. There was a professional photographer to
freeze some moments in time, a disco ball, and even a limbo contest. The limbo
winners were John Paul Boisvert for the dads, and Ellie Barton (’28) for the daughters.
They each won a $20 gift card to Funspot. The winners of the flower raffle were
Evyn Burnham, Becca Boisvert (’22), and Meg Glines (’20). They all won a beautiful
bouquet of flowers donated by Renaissance Florals in Bristol, NH.
Holly McKinney, who organizes the entire event said, “There were 93 people in
attendance… Last year there were 51 people in attendance! Big difference!” It is nice to
see how many fathers and daughters love
coming to this magical event. Lexi Mitchell,
who came with her friend and her friend’s
dad, said, “[The experience] was wonderful.
I really liked the line dances… My favorite
part was… the limbo. It was really nice
and… I want to go next year!”
When in Rome...
By Caleb Longval and Mr.Wagner
•••
Photos courtesy of
Northeast Catholic College.
The 5th and 6th graders went on a field trip on March 23, 2017, to the
Northeast Catholic College in Warner New Hampshire for the first ever
“Do As the Romans” event, which was a series of presentations about
ancient Roman culture. The speakers talked about Roman artifacts,
medicine, housing, theatre, food, games, and military. Some of the games
the Romans played were board games, a similar game to tic-tac-toe,
shuffleboard, and of course a lot of gladiator battles. When the students
learned about the military they saw what Roman armor looked like. They
learned how they had surgeries and what tools they had to operate on their
patients. They also painted a Roman mask as part of the theatre
presentation. The students were able to take the masks home and enjoy
wearing them. Hannah Longval, a sixth grader said, “ ‘Do As the Romans’
was really fun. We made masks and tasted some of the bread that the
Romans ate.” Noah Francis, a fifth grader, said that two of his favorite jokes
of the day were “What do you call a Roman with a head cold? Julius
Sneezer!” and, “How was Rome cut in half ? With a pair of Caesars!” This
event helped the 5th and 6th graders start out strong on their new Humanities topic:
Ancient Rome. They learned a lot about Roman culture during the trip, and they
hope that other classes may enjoy this event in future years.
Maple Farm Fun
By Toby McKinney
•••
The Preschool and Kindergarten classes of Laconia Christian Academy
went on a field trip on March 22nd to Heritage Farm in Sanbornton,
NH. The trip was originally planned for the 15th, but it had to be
delayed due to another huge snowstorm.
This annual event is always a lot of fun for the kids. They go there to
have fun and learn about how maple syrup is
made. First, they took a tour of the outdoors.
It was very cold that day, however, and the kids
were freezing so they went inside pretty quickly.
They were all very disappointed that it was too
cold to take the tractor ride.
Once inside, they got to watch maple syrup being made. The Preschool
teacher, Mrs. McKinney said, ”We went into the barn and he showed us the
evaporator where the sap becomes maple syrup. He showed us how he feeds
the fire, and we even got to sample warm maple syrup.” After they made
maple syrup and tasted it, they made maple candies. “Mrs. Swain taught us about
making maple candy. It was yummy!” said Mrs. McKinney. Everyone is already
looking forward to going back again next year!
Spirit Week
By Afton LeGrandeur and Mrs.Wagner
•••
Spirit Week is a time where the students can show off their school
spirit with fun themes for each day. This year it took place the
week of March 20-24th. The first day was 'Spring Colors' day. The
second day was also a slightly belated celebration of 'Pi Day,' so
everyone wore circles and polka dots. As an added bonus, anyone
who recited at least the first 20 digits of pi got a free piece of *pie*
from Mrs. Mitchell! Day three was 'Hat Day,' a favorite for many
students who would love to wear hats on other days, too. Day four
was 'Sports Jersey Day.' Needless to say, there were a lot of Tom
Brady jerseys after the impressive Patriots comeback in the Super
Bowl! Day five was 'Dressed to the Nines' for Chapel. This year
there was no crazy hair day, much to the disappointment of some
students. “There was no crazy hair day because it’s labor intensive
for parents,” commented Mrs. Mitchell. On Friday, the "I Have
Hidden Your Word in My Heart" award was given for memorizing
a theme Bible verse. Each of the lower school classes memorizes a
passage of scripture and then recites it for the whole school. This
year's passage was Lamentations 3:20-24. Congratulations to Mrs.
Cornwell's class for winning!
Long Term Plans with Concrete Goals
By Rick Duba, Headmaster
•••
The last several years at LCA have been busy with developing and moving the
Academy forward. Accreditation with the Association of Christian Schools
International was the hallmark of 2016; a comprehensive strategic plan is the hallmark
of 2017.
A group of 30 people representing current families, old and recent alumni, parents of
alumni, faculty, and the LCA governing board began the process of strategic planning
with a three-day retreat at Camp Brookwoods last October. Our work was facilitated
by Dr. Alan Pue, a strategic planning consultant from The Barnabas Group.
At the retreat, we focused on clearly articulating why we exist as a school, what we value, what a graduate should know
and be able to do, and the demographic breakdown of the Lakes Region. We ended our time together by brainstorming a
list of the possible initiatives the Academy might pursue to expand its mission. The resulting list of ideas topped 100.
Over the next two months, we refined our work and shaved the initiative list down to three or four initiatives that the
group felt would be particularly strategic. After identifying the strategic initiatives, the group divided into smaller
“initiative” teams to design action plans around implementing the initiatives over the next three to five years. We are now
only weeks away from finalizing our plans. We anticipate formally rolling out our strategic plan in September.
Under the direction of Dr. Pue, the strategic planning team committed countless hours to this process. As I believe will
be apparent in September, their efforts will pay great dividends for LCA.
The Strategic Planning Team:
Katina Keefe (pastor and friend of LCA)
Dwight and Marjorie Barton (grandparents of current students)
Ryan Barton (LCA Governing Board chair)
Glenda Bucken (teacher and parent of alumni)
Greg Butler (pastor, spouse of current teacher, and parent of current
students)
Tanaya Call (parent of current students)
Rick and Margaret Duba (administrator, parent of current student and
alumni)
Heather Dube (alumna)
Karen Fogg (past Governing Board member and parent of alumni)
Jim and Barb Foote (parents of alumni)
Alan and Joan Graustein (founding principal, Governing Board
member, parents of alumni)
Stace Hendricks (parent of current students)
Zoe Jamison (alumna)
Mike Koepfer (pastor, spouse of an alumna)
Barb Lewis (teacher and parent of an alumnus)
Stacey Lillios (alumna)
David Longval (parent of current students)
Steve Ludwick (pastor, Governing Board member, alumus, and parent
of alumni)
Toni Manning (pastor, parent of current students)
Shauna Manseau (parent of current students and an alumna) Brian McCormack (alumnus)
Genevieve Michaud (parent of current student)
Scott Mitchell (pastor and parent of current students)
Gregg Selesky (parent of current students, spouse of an alumna)
Jon Watson (teacher, previous student, sibling of alumni)
David White (teacher)
Did you know?
Did you know you can purchase yearbooks right now!? Did you know, that if you pay online at Jostens.com you can pay in three smaller
installments so you don’t get whacked at the end of the year when all your kids want one? Plus, if you order now you save $5 off the
end of year price! So go get yours now!
OUR MISSION
The Messenger staff strives to serve
the Truth in all things, as well as
provide a fun and informative resource
for the entire Laconia Christian
Academy community.
THE STAFF:
Sarah Wagner- Editor, photographer
Barb Lewis- Asst. Editor
Rick Lewis- Contributing Writer
Karen Mitchell - Contributing Writer,
photographer
Rick Duba - Contributing Writer, photographer
Student writers and photographers as named.
THE MESSENGER
2016-2017
VOLUME III
Spring
For more information, including a complete
school calendar, please visit laconiachristian.org.
Phone number: 603.524.3250
Twitter: @LCS_Crusaders
www.facebook.com/LaconiaChristianAcademy
LACONIA CHRISTIAN ACADEMY
SPRING 2017
Upcoming Events:
5/19-21
In this Issue: Report on Honduras - Spirit
Week - Field Trips - Father Daughter Dance Strategic Planning - and more!
LACONIA CHRISTIAN
ACADEMY
1386 Meredith Center Road
Laconia, NH 03246
THE WIZ!!!!
5/31-6/2
7-12th Retreat
6/6-8
Senior Exams
6/7
US Academic Awards Night
6/8
Senior Banquet
6/9
Lower School Pals Day
6/10
6/15-19
Graduation!
US Final Exams