Insights & Information

Another moment, another milestone for Academy

Triad Baptist Christian Academy took another step in becoming a full-fledged K-12 school Jan. 31: holding its first Winter Court after the boys Junior Varsity basketball game against Summit School and naming its first Mr. and Miss Titan.

Winning the first Mr. and Miss Titan honors and awarded sashes were Dylan Stoltzfus, president of the Student Council, and Kasey Rivers. The Upper School faculty and staff selected the Winter Court based on academic excellence, Christian character and leadership. Their votes and those of sixth- to ninth-graders determined the Winter Court members who would serve as the first Mr. and Miss Titan.

Dylan Stoltzfus and Kasey Rivers as Mr and Miss Titan

The first Mr. and Miss Titan: Dylan Stoltzfus and Kasey Rivers.

“I think it’s a big milestone for the school because it shows we’re developing as a high school,” said Director of Education Donna Mannon. “It helps the students realize what they have to look forward to and the kind of tradition and experiences that will become bigger and even better as we move into the new building and be on our own campus.”

Along with Winter Court members Josh Hendley, Michaela Tuttle, Alex Caudle and Allison Wilson, Stoltzfus and Rivers are part of the Academy’s first high school class—freshmen who will move into classrooms in the new Worship Center/Gym for the 2014-2015 school year.

“I feel really honored to be the first Mr. Titan,” said Dylan, who has attended the Academy since the third grade. “It’s a great school and I think we’re building a great foundation of Christian education to build on.”

Rivers, the first Miss Titan and an Academy student since the fifth grade, agreed. “I was really surprised because I wasn’t expecting it,” she said. “We have such a great group of students and teachers and are like one big family. It’s a real honor to represent them.”

Austin Needham, assistant children’s ministry director and the Academy’s campus pastor, announced the winners with Garrett Hinds, vice president of the Student Council. Themed, “Catch a Falling Star,” the program featured a rendition of the song of the same title by the Academy’s kindergarteners, as led by music teacher Holly Wilcox.

Preschool administrative assistant Katherine Bean and preschool teacher Ashley Needham sang, “When You Wish Upon a Star.”

Also on hand with Mannon for the program were Lower School Principal T.W. Webb, Executive Administrator Dennis Roberts and Lead Pastor Rob Decker who congratulated all the Winter Court members and cited statistics for the large crowd that showed the advantages of Christian education. Those included:

  • That 75 percent of 18 year-olds leave the church but only 25 percent of Christian school graduates.
  • That 75 percent of students graduate from public high schools but 98 percent from Christian high schools.

“At Triad, we believe in Christian high school and in putting the word of God into our children,” Decker said before awarding gifts to each of the freshmen attendees in honor of the Winter Court milestone.

The other members of the court were attendants selected based on academic excellence, Christian character and Christ-likeness in their relationships with others and classroom behavior.

They were: Mason Payne and Claire Moodie (first grade); Trey Cancelliere and Grace Crater (second grade), Avery Warden and Lily Moodie (third grade); Parker Moye and Linda Moore (fourth grade), Lane Pine and Reanna Ruark (fifth grade); Pierce Queen and Anna Fuller (sixth grade); Jonathan Hall and McKenzie Landis (seventh grade); and Chase Pyrtle and Tori Vestal (eighth grade).

See also:

Phase 2 Shot of TBC B&W 17

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