"Gifts" with a little "g" and a big "G". Now in its fifteenth year, The Sutton Project hit a high water mark yesterday, Thursday, December 19th, as Northwest Christian Crusaders once again visited elementary schools within the Isaac School District as part of the culmination of an annual Christmas gift drive. Consisting of primarily Title I schools in which at least 40% of the students are drawn from federally qualified, low income families, the Isaac District is said to have the highest concentration of impoverished families of any public school district in the state. Immediately on the heels of the Thanksgiving meal effort--in which over 1,700 Thanksgiving meals were delivered to needy Isaac district families--the Christmas gift effort has a profound impact. "We do this," explains assistant superintendent Samantha Maszton, "for a couple of reasons. The first is the most obvious. We want to tangibly express the love of Christ within a community in which need and opportunity are abundant. We have seen, and the Isaac District has seen, that the Sutton Project is of significant benefit to the families, the students, and the schools. But, our second motive is also important. As part of our Pursuing His Purpose strategy, this Missions Learning initiative is having a transformational effect in the lives of our Northwest Christian students. They see a community in need, something that some of our students have not seen. The leaders within the effort understand how to use their executive planning skills and administrative abilities to the glory of God. For example, we have a whole team of students that work throughout the year to apply for, interview for, and secure the financial grants that are so important. Finally, and most importantly, our students see the Gospel on the playing field, making a real difference in the lives of others. Again, this is a transformational moment in our school's culture."

A new lunchroom - are we accelerating the timeline? The phases of Northwest Christian School's Build Here, Build There campus improvement plan were re-ordered this year, shortly after the completion and opening of the Ernest and Beverly Shortridge Elementary Classroom Building. This planning shuffle moved the construction of an indoor lunchroom to the front of the line. Launched in the first week of November, with an eye towards December 31st, the goal was to bring in $400,000 of the estimated $3,000,000 required to build the lunchroom. "The completion of the Shortridge building produced some real excitement, energy, and momentum on the campus. We wanted to capitalize on that momentum and, understanding that the new lunchroom would likely be the largest project on the list, we reorganized the list." The results, to date, have been stunning. "With two weeks left in the effort," Geoff continues, "God has already used the generosity of our current families and alumni families to bring in close to $700,000! We are sitting at 20% of the overall goal, with two weeks left, wondering if the Lord has His own accelerated timeline in mind for the opening of this lunchroom!" To learn more about the Build Here, Build There campus improvement plan, please follow this link.

Pajamas, pancakes, and parties - with a twist! During the week of December 9th through 13th, Northwest Christian's Faculty and Staff enjoyed their annual Faculty Christmas Celebration Week--with a bit of a twist. The week included treats, food trucks, a pajama fashion contest, and special gifts. It also included a week-ending "Christmas morning" with Santa on hand. Dressed as Ralphie - complete with pink bunny pajamas - Mr. Brown, with the assistance of NCS parent and culinary missionary Vincent McReynolds, made breakfast for lunch. The twist? Each day was primed with elements that, in a fun and memorable way, enabled the NCS team to prepare for ACSI and Cognia accreditation in April. NCS is the only "exemplary accredited" Christian school in Arizona, one of just six west of the Mississippi, and one of just thirty-one in the world.

Staff vs. Students: Who was the overall Christmas cookie champion? On Thursday, December 5th, we enjoyed the culmination of "season 2" of the Great Crusader Cookoff with a Students vs. Staff, head-to-head competition. The stakes were certainly high! If students won the competition, they would enjoy a week of free dress. But, if staff won "overall best cookie" it would mean an extra $25 in the annual Christmas bonus and doube-the-homework for students! As the community watched via YouTube live, there was live voting via text as cookie-making videos also joined the fray. In the end, the judges, all food-service professionals, determined that the best staff cookie was baked by Katie Parrott. Katie is a member of the NCS Online development team and is responsible for our online culinary course. The winning student cookie submission came from sophomore Miren Keizer. So who was the overall cookie champion? You have to watch to find out! GreatCrusaderCookoff.com

Yet another wonderful Northwest Christian Missions Learning annual tradition! You have just read a feature (above) about how Northwest Christian works within the Isaac School District to bless needy families here in the state of Arizona. In keeping with Biblical worldview (Acts 1:8), NCS also provides international missions as an outlet for our students to grow in their faith and understanding of God's call on their lives. In the case of Kids Kingdom, an orphanage and church located in Imuris, Sonora, annually, students travel to the destination 5 or 6 times. Additionally, each December students and families are invited to participate in a day trip. This year, on Saturday, December 14th, 87 individuals travelled to Kids Kingdom where they hosted a Christmas party, served food, played games, and distributed hundreds of toys to the orphans as well an needy individuals within the church. To learn more about Northwest Christian international missions opportunities, please follow this link.

Never mind Nemo! Finding tickets may be the real challenge! Last year's Northwest Christian Middle School production of "Frozen Jr." was the highest grossing theater production in the school's history. And, by all accounts, this year's "Finding Nemo Jr." looks to be every bit as big! Tickets go on sale January 1st...buy your tickets before they sell out!

Playing for the home crowd. And, what a crowd it was! This past week, Northwest Christian's Don Sanderson Gymnasium just barely had the capacity to host the annual secondary band Christmas concert. Under the incomparable direction of Mrs. Debbie Hutson, the secondary band has swelled to a school-record enrollment of 187 students! Click here or on the image above to enjoy video of the event.

A Night Like No Other? The poster and trailer for "Stolen Spotlight" boldly proclaim that the 11th annual NXNW Student Film will be a "night like no other". How, within the 11th iteration of the NXNW Film Festival, can this be the case? "Stolen Spotlight" is a mystery movie in which a piece of history has been stolen from an auction. And, here's the kicker, it's a "Choose-Your-Own-Adventure"-styled film in which each member of the audience will begin in one of several different auditoriums at Harkins Norterra. Then, ten minutes in, having seen the crime, watched the clues, and having met the suspects, the viewer will be given a choice and will then proceed to a different auditorium in pursuit of their hunch and the culprit. As the evening progresses, the film's plot changes for each audience member until finally, within each auditorium, the thief is revealed! NXNW sells out every year--tickets will go extra fast this year! Click here, or on the images above to watch the trailer! And, so you don't miss your chance to get tickets, go to www.NXNWFilmFestival.org or visit this link to purchase tickets.

Another NCS Christmas tradition. On Wednesday, December 4th, nearly 1,800 students were on hand for the all-school Christmas chapel. A mix of solemn worship, wonderful traditions, and joyous out-of-control hijinks made for a very special morning. To watch, please follow this link or click on the image above.

Christmas fun gone viral! Last spring, Northwest Christian School's podcast-based audio drama, "I Witness", started as a NCS Fine Arts experiment. Very quickly, however, we realized that the experiment was a success as the first season, "I Witness: The Lazarus Project", went viral. Then, once more, with the launch on the second season (titled "I Witness: Silent Night") on December 2nd, it happened again! Since December 2nd, I Witness has been heard in over 50 countries around the world and over 1,200 cities in the continental United States. Featuring a voice cast made up of primarily students but including some staff, I Witness follows the adventures of a group of students who travel to Biblical times via a virtual reality device called the Elysium. To listen in on the family-friendly adventure, please follow this link.

Concert for the birth of a King. With the beautiful facilities at Desert Hills Bible Church serving as the venue, this year's secondary choir Christmas concerts found the Crusader community treated to beautiful evening of Christmas standards, holiday pop, and powerful worship. At the end of the concert, the crowd was invited to the stage to participate in a rousing, moving iteration of the Hallelujah Chorus. To enjoy video from the NCS Middle School portion of the concert, please click on the image above or on this link. To enjoy the NCS High School portion of the concert, click here or on the image below.

Christmas under the stars. The weather was perfect for the Northwest Christian Elementary Christmas concerts on Monday, December 16th and Tuesday, December 17th. For the second year in a row, the concerts took place outside, on the new turf field just south of the new Ernest and Beverly Shortridge Elementary Classroom Building.

Parenting trouble no more! (Well, that might be a bit optimistic.) This past spring, Northwest Christian announced its partnership with Christian Family Care to open the many parenting resources available through the Family Care Learning library to the Crusader community of families, free of charge. These online courses are immediately available once NCS parents have completed the "NCS Parent University: Foundations of a Biblical Worldview" course that is required as part of the re-enrollment process. For more information, please follow this link.

Trusted Truth Transforms... It's the tagline for Northwest Christian School's foray into the realm of online education, the enrollment for which has blown up this summer. A project four years in the making, Northwest Christian School Online is not the typical online academy. Most online schools rebrand third-party digital curriculum. Instead, Northwest Christian School Online is wholly and organically developed and fully facilitated by Northwest Christian faculty. As well, the online experience is available at roughly half-the-price of other Christian online schools, a price that can be easily covered by an ESA for Arizona-based families. (To survey the price points of online Christian schools relative to NCS Online, please click here.) The most exciting aspect of Northwest Christian School Online is that some aspect of the program--Frameworks, NCS Plus, NCS Flex, and NCS Online--will ultimately impact the learning of every NCS student--whether that student is online or on-the-ground. To survey the different aspects of and opportunities within NCS Online, please follow this link. To learn more about NCS Flex specifically, please click the image below.