The Wolfpack Edge

What a week! With Christmas break just around the corner, we’re soaking in these final moments together—and what better way than to start today with our first snow delay of the season? The 2-hour delay today gave students and teachers a chance to catch a little extra sleep or take a deep breath before finishing the week. Thanks for adapting to the change in schedule with grace. Let’s push through these last two days and celebrate the season ahead!

This will be the last Wolfpack Edge newsletter for the calendar year so don't delete it from your inbox too quickly! You may want to refer back before classes resume on January 6, 2025.

From all of us here at Western Christian, we wish you a Merry Christmas!

Mr. Brian Verwolf

Head Administrator

-------------------------

The Wolfpack Edge serves as a weekly communication to our parent community. We'll send it to your inbox each Thursday during the school year. If you would like the newsletter to be sent to an additional account, let us know! Grandparents & supporters may request to receive the communication, too. Please email Mrs. Kathy Mouw with contact information: Kathy.Mouw@westernchristianhs.com

Even though we are not running our block schedule this week, we are running an Activity Schedule to allow us to worship one final time before our Christmas break. Our time together will be simple and traditional. Our worship team has selected two beautiful songs: Come, All You Unfaithful and Manger Throne. Mr. Aranas and Ms. Jeltema will read Luke 2 and share a devotional, and two students plan to sing Light of the World, Sing Hallelujah. Afterward, it will be time for cider and cookies. What a beautiful way to end our 2024 chapels!

Mrs. Karen Christians

Director of Discipleship

During this Advent season, we are reminded of the reason why Western Christian’s mission exists - the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, over 2,000 years ago. As we approach the midpoint of the school year and the turning of the calendar, we remain humbled by the commitment of the families we serve and the generosity of Western’s supporters. This is an exciting time for Christian schools as we thoughtfully plan with focus on stewardship and sustainability, ensuring we are prepared to serve both current and future students with a Christ-centered education.

Mr. Justin Negen

Chief of Finance & Operations

This week Western Christian hosted its first-ever Alumni Panel! Recent graduates returned to share their first-semester college and work experiences with our seniors. Despite the busy schedules of first-year students, we were thrilled with the amazing turnout! The panel featured alumni from various paths offering valuable insights, lessons learned, and practical advice to help our seniors prepare for life after Western. A huge thank you to our alumni for giving back and inspiring the next generation of Wolfpack leaders!

Western Christian and Unity Christian High Schools have long been blessed by the faithful support of local churches, partnering with families to make Christ-centered education accessible. As we look to the 2025-2026 school year, we’re excited to rebrand our "Fair Share" program as Covenant Partnership, reflecting the covenantal relationship between church, family, and school. Together, we can continue nurturing the next generation for God’s glory. Learn more about this initiative and how your church can participate! This letter has only been sent to the deacons or Christian Education Committees of the churches who traditionally have supported the "Fair Share" program. We would love for more churches to participate!

ESA funding for the second half of the school year is now available to ESA participants. The ESA amount for the second half of the school year is $3,913. To maintain ESA eligibility for the rest of the 2024-25 school year, ESA participants must approve payment of tuition within the Odyssey portal no later than February 1, 2025. Please get this done as soon as possible! It takes 15-30 seconds.

Sign-in to your portal, here: https://iowa.withodyssey.com/en/odyssey_auth/sign_in

PARENTS: Please remember to keep your child's hot lunch account funded. Low account balance emails are sent out automatically every Monday night at 7 PM. These emails are ONLY sent out when account balances are low. Please check your inbox & spam folder for these emails. If you are not receiving emails regarding low hot lunch accounts and would like to check, please visit JMC. If you cannot access JMC, please contact the office at your earliest convenience.

We are thrilled to welcome two new soccer coaches to Western this spring! Coach Madi Manary, who will graduate from Northwestern in May, is applying to medical school and is engaged to Western graduate Bailey Baccam. Coach Avril Baccam, also graduating from Northwestern in May, is an education major and will be student teaching this spring.

Welcome to the Pack, Coaches Manary and Baccam!

All Christmas Orders for the Pack Shack are available for pick up TODAY, either in the Student Lounge or at the Pack Shack from 5 PM-8 PM on Thursday night!

On the hunt for an awesome Christmas gift?! Come down to the Pack Shack and pick up a gift card or any Wolfpack items for the WC fan in your life! Visit us on the following dates to get your gifts:

- December 13: 4 PM-7 PM

- December 14: 11 AM-1 PM

- December 19: 5 PM-8 PM

This week for professional learning, one of our faculty, Laurissa Keefer, presented the process of Socratic Seminar. This is a dynamic and engaging learning tool to generate classroom discussion and involvement. We also held a faculty meeting to discuss upcoming exams. Students will be receiving exam information soon! Encourage them to keep an eye out for information about exams in their email!

Over Christmas break, Seniors are encouraged to check the scholarship list on Mrs. Khang's website that was shared via Classroom. Some deadlines for scholarships are quickly approaching. It is a great time to get these filled out & sent in!

Anyone interested in taking the CNA course this spring contact Mrs. de Boom for more information. The course is held at Western three mornings a week before school. We need at least TWO MORE STUDENTS registered to hold the class. It is recommended that you are at least 15 years old and a sophomore. Students are responsible for the cost of the class which includes tuition, books, background checks and test fees. To register for the CNA class, contact Mrs. de Boom for the link. Please sign up no later than Friday, December 20!

Juniors and seniors interested in taking online classes this spring through Dordt contact Mrs. de Boom for more information. Students are responsible for the cost of tuition. A representative from Dordt will be at Western Monday, Dec. 9 over lunch to discuss

Late last week the Department of Education came out and said that while they are continuing to test the FAFSA with selected students and schools, they were anticipating that they would open up the FAFSA to all students “by the end of the month.” Then on Monday we received notice that it has gone live already for all students. Technically they are still in the testing period which means they will continue to monitor the site closely for any issues that might come up and shut it down if necessary. They are still anticipating an “official launch” by the end of the month, although there is a possibility that this could happen by the end of this week.

In short, the 2025/26 FAFSA is currently available for students and families that wish to submit one at this time, or they can wait for the official launch. There is no advantage nor disadvantage to doing it now or waiting until December 1st.

NCC is offering a Scrubs Camp on NCC’s campus on Tuesday, March 11 from 9am to 2pm. Registration is from 8:15 – 8:45. This event is for all students currently enrolled in 7-12 grade interested in a healthcare career. We do have limited space so please have your students sign up as soon as possible. We will need students to fill out the online registration form as the workshop is hands-on and there is a liability waiver for parents to sign for them to be able to participate in all of the activities.

Registration Link: https://nwicc.edu/scrubs-camp-registration/

Landing Page Link: https://nwicc.edu/scrubs-camp/

Students should take a look at their second semester schedule to make sure they have the required minimum of six Western classes and to see if there are any changes that they would like to make. Please be mindful that some class sections are already full. Contact Mrs. de Boom with any schedule change requests.

At Western Christian High School, we recognize our students’ unique creation and the variety of God-given talents and skills. We know that each student presents a unique combination of such strengths. We believe it is our responsibility to meet students where they are at in their journey and equip them with the tools and resources required to exceed their potential. To meet the need, we have a Student Support Team with a variety of resources. Go here to learn more about who to connect with!

Will you prayerfully consider “Celebrating Western” with a Thanksgiving or year-end gift? Information was recently mailed, given in church mailboxes, and can be found on our website - www.westernchristianhs.com.

Funds raised will be given to the General Fund and used for capital improvements. You can donate to Western by check, gifts of grain, stocks or bonds and your minimum distribution from your IRA.

Thank you to those who have already given! We together are partnering to train the next generation to build His Kingdom.

Brad Vis

Director of Mission Advancement

brad.vis@westernchristianhs.com

Western Christian High School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national or ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs (if any exist), and athletic or other school administered programs.