Except the Lord builds the House...

Beautifully stated in scripture, "Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." (Psalm 127:1)

On April 26th, as part of the culmination of Faculty and Staff Appreciation Week, Crusaders took time to visit the new elementary classroom building that is coming together on the south end of the campus. Crusaders were able to tour the building which presently stands at 70% complete. The twelve teachers that will be in the building come August 2024 also had the chance to see their unfinished classrooms for the first time.

Following the tour, the team all gathered in one of the new second grade classrooms for a stirring time of praise and worship and a prayer of dedication.

At that point, something truly special happened: Sharpie markers were distributed, and teachers took time to write some of their favorite verses on the building's frame and foundation.

The new building, on course to be finished in the third week of July in order to be ready for the first day of school on August 5th, is part of the ongoing "Build Here, Build There" campus improvement campaign. Once the new building is completed, attention will immediately go towards the plans for the next two phases: the Crusader Creation Commons and a second gymnasium/indoor eating space. To read more specifics regarding the developing designs for the Crusader Creation Commons, please visit this link. For more information on the Build Here, Build There campaign, please follow this link.

God's word is truly an adventure! The end of April represented the climax of Mr. Brown's annual "Red Letter Challenge", a Bible-reading plan in which he invites students to join him in reading through the four Gospels, one chapter per day, over three months. Although reading God's word is truly its own reward, the school provides extrinsic incentives as part of the program in order to inspire the students' intrinsic desire and discipline in Bible-reading. One of those awards was the opportunity to enjoy a wild offroad Jeep adventure in the desert. These students spent 90-minutes climbing over hills and rocks, enjoying beautiful Spring desert weather, and learning about God's creation.

Congrats to Spring 2024 All-Academic Team winners! Each school year, and at the culmination of each athletic season, Sports 360 AZ recognizes athletic performers who also excel in the classroom. While NCS is accustomed to celebrating a lengthy list each year, Spring 2024 blew us away! A total of 64 Crusaders were recognized across the eight Spring 2024 athletic programs! To see the list, please follow this link.

Crusaders Charge into Summer 2024 Reading. As part of a long-standing Crusader tradition, the summer of 2024 will include an opportunity for NCS families and faculty to participate in a summer reading campaign that will ultimately set the stage for the spiritual emphasis theme of the 2024/2025 school year. The summer's reading is themed as "WisDUMB" and will include an opportunity to read through the 31 chapters of Proverbs during the 31 days of July. The campaign also includes two associated books: "A Proverbs Journal" by Peace Korarero and "Solid Ground" by T.W. Lewis.

Each Monday, starting Monday, May 27th, the Crusader community will receive an email which will serve as a guide, including links to weekly videos and podcasts that expound upon the solid foundations of wisdom and discernment. For a preview of the summer, please click here. To review the Proverbs reading plan and other summer reading details, please follow this link.

Boys Volleyball finishes undefeated seasons as state-runners-up. After splitting two regular season match-ups, the Crusader Boys Volleyball team went an epic five games with Arizona College Prep in the state championship match before narrowly losing by two points in the fifth, 25-20, 26-24, 15-25, 20-25, 15-13. The result was the team's third state-runners-up trophy in four years...not bad for a program that started just six years ago! "I am incredibly proud of our Boys Volleyball program," said high school principal Jeff Parsons. "They poured their hearts into every match and displayed an unparalleled level of dedication to their team. Going into the state championship, undefeated, the athletes remained humble and constantly gave glory to God for those accomplishments. This is a testament not only to their families, but their coaches. This season will live on for years to come!"

Congrats to new Colson Fellows. In April, three NCS teachers--Alana Heater, Melissa Burkett, and Sherry Muscari--graduated as Colson Fellows, a distinguished program rooted in graduate-level study of Biblical worldview. Established by the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, Colson Fellowship requires a year of rigorous study. Northwest Christian School covers all costs associated with the program and offers an annual bump in compensation to all teachers that complete it.

You call this 'teacher appreciation'? The final full week of April did double-duty on the Northwest Christian campus as it represented both Faculty and Staff Appreciation Week as well as the "season finale" of the yearlong cooking competition, the Great Crusader Cook-Off. The competition has raged since August between the four divisions of the school: Early Ed, Elementary, Middle School, and High School. Each month, teachers and staff have entered their own recipes for possible cash prizes and points that led up to a year-ending cash bonus for one of the divisions. During Faculty and Staff Appreciation Week, each day teachers also participated in "food"-based competitions, including, as seen here, the opportunity to eat edible bugs--worms, cicadas, beetles, ants, scorpions, and tarantulas--for points towards that year-ending prize.

Congratulations to the 2024 Girls Middle School Basketball A-Team! The team went undefeated through the season and then won the Cactus Christian Schools League championship. "I was so impressed by the hard work and practice ethic I saw in this team," said middle school athletic director Jim James. "These girls have discipline, tenacity, and a wonderful sense of glorifying the Lord through their effort. I also love that they were coached by NCS alumni, Mariah Baca!"

A new forum for NCS Fine Arts! After a wonderful run of our spring musical, Anastasia, the Northwest Christian Fine Arts department is ready to roll out its next effort! And, we’re excited to be breaking new ground in the process! “I Witness: The Lazarus Project” is a podcast-based audio drama featuring Northwest Christian students and staff. The production launches on Wednesday, April 24th and will be available on all podcast streaming platforms. To subscribe and hear a trailer, click here!

More High Praise for High Praise! CONGRATULATIONS are again extended to our amazing fine arts department. First, as we recognized last month, the 250-strong band performed beautifully within the annual ABODA Concert Festival and earned the highest rating of "Superior" from all three judges, an honor which is called "Superior with Distinction". NCS was the only band out of 11 to earn this distinction. The head judge spoke to the band after their performance and told them they are in his top three of over 120 bands he's judged this year. Both band and choir performed in the Music in the Parks Concert Festival on April 20th in California. The judging is very strict, with few groups earning the highest rating of Superior. Both of ensembles achieved a Superior rating and secured first place among all the performing choirs and bands.

STREAM THE NEW NC STUDENT FILM, "TEST TAKERS" FOR FREE FOR A LIMITED TIME AND CELEBRATE TEN YEARS OF THE NXNW FILM FESTIVAL! On Friday, January 19th, as part of the 10th Annual NXNW High School Film Festival, Northwest Christian rolled out the red carpet, fired up the limousines, and threw up the Hollywood-style sky lights (literally!) for the premiere of "Test Takers". As part of an amazing partnership with Red Five Media, and formerly Cabin Fever Films, for the past decade, Northwest Christian has created an opportunity for students to participate in the making of an actual film! This year's premiere and festival took place in three theaters at the Harkins Norterra theaters in North Phoenix. 

To celebrate ten years of great films and hard-working students, please, take a moment, click here, and enjoy this wonderfully done student-driven heist film! (Available for a limited time!)

52 Aspiring Film-makers! At the end of April, an amazing 52 contestants and teams submitted their digital short films as part of the NXNW 72-Hour Film Challenge. What is a 72-hour film challenge? On Friday, all the participants were given a prop and a line of dialog that they had to use within an original short film that they had to write, film, and edit by Sunday evening. Then, live on YouTube, the top five finalists were debuted to a watching audience who also chose the winners via text-based voting on their phones. To watch a replay of the YouTube live event, please click here or on the images above or below.

Pursuing His Purpose... As part of the school's secondary guidance strategy, titled "Pursuing His Purpose", each year the seniors spend time with middle school students explaining the high school journey and what they have done to prepare for the transition to university.

A life-threatening, life-changing story. This past month, Northwest Christian was privileged to welcome Marietta Wright for a combined middle and high school chapel. Mrs. Wright grew up in the Netherlands where, as a child, she saw Nazi atrocities against many of her Jewish neighbors. As Christians, Wright's family began to take in Jewish families in order to hide them--an action that led to multiple Nazi intrusions into her home. To hear Mrs. Wright's story, please click here or on the pictures above or below.

Super Retirements. This week, Christian school superintendents from around Arizona came together at Ajo Al's in Central Phoenix--as they have for nearly 30 years--for their monthly time of food and fellowship. This month, however, was pretty special in that they were recognizing the retirements of three stalwarts of Christian education in the valley: Dick Buckingham of Faith Christian, Dan Kuiper of Valley Christian, and Kelvin Inouye of Christian. Between the three, there was nearly 120 years of Christian education ministry.

First graders and speed boats...what could go wrong? The culmination of Read Across America 2024 resulted in a whole bunch of fun for Mr. Brown, Mr. Dowdle, and Mr. G this year. Students that read the prize-winning number of minutes were eligible for different NCS Adventure Cru trips...including a late-April trip to Lake Pleasant, complete with fishing and tubing!

Parenting trouble no more! (Well, that might be a bit optimistic.) This past month, 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.