CHCA Grade 4 students at the Founders’ Campus have been recently studying timelines in Social Studies. In an interesting and relevant lesson, students were given 10 CHCA historical events and asked to use their best guesses to put them in chronological order. Some of the events included were: the first day of school ever at CHCA, Armleder Campus’ opening, CHCA’s first varsity sports game, Grade 4 moving from EBL to Founders’ Campus, the openings of the preschool and the greenhouse, the first ArtBeat Fine Arts Festival, the Beak Squad’s first participation in the Robotics World Championship, and the Leaning Eagle coffee bar launch.
The students then began to learn about primary and secondary sources in gathering information. To make the learning even more immersive, the Grade 4 team decided to hold a “Press Conference” at the school in order for students to dive deeper into CHCA’s history. Several of CHCA’s founding families, early teachers, administrators, and alumni were invited to be on the interview panel, and many were able to participate and share their contributions to CHCA’s history.
The panel included the following individuals who have contributed to the CHCA’s legacy:
Ron and Mary Beshear (Founding Family, Alumni Parents, Current CHCA Grandparents)
Blake Thompson (Founding Family, early years student, current CHCA Parent)
Jan Everett (CHCA faculty for 18 years, current CHCA Grandparent )
Phyllis McSwain (First Family, Board of Trustees member, Alumni Grandparent)
Sandy Breitholle (EBL Principal, Alumni Parent)
Dean Nicholas (Head of School, Current CHCA and Alumni Parent)
Steve Sideris (Founders’ Upper Elementary Principal, current CHCA Parent)
Cammie Montgomery (Armleder Principal)
Charlie Wright (current CHCA student representing the Entrepreneurship & Sustainability Program)
Jon Snyder (CHCA Alumnus and current CHCA parent)
Mona Summers (CHCA Fine Arts Director, Alumni Parent)
Adam Cool (CHCA Alumnus, current CHCA faculty, current CHCA Parent)
As the Press Conference kicked off, the students immediately immersed themselves into the exercise, asking interesting questions and engaging in the interview panel’s fascinating responses. A sampling of their insightful questions and the panels thoughtful answers included:
Q. “How did CHCA come up with its name?”
A. “We wanted it to represent Cincinnati and be all inclusive of different denominations.”
Q. “Why did you choose the Eagle for CHCA’s mascot?”
A. “The inspiration was from the verse, Isaiah 40:31 – ‘… but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.’
Q. “What was the focus for the school when it began?”
A. “Both academic excellence and a Christ-centered environment.”
Q. “Why was Armleder established?”
A. “A desire of the founding families was to provide a school in the heart of downtown Cincinnati, providing academic excellence in a Christ-centered environment, where students might not ordinarily have access to such a place.”
Q. “When did Fine Arts opportunities start at CHCA?”
A. “When the school opened in 1989, students had music classes and had opportunities to perform in plays and musicals right away.”
Q. “What year did Robotics start at CHCA?”
A. “Robotics kicked off during the 2011-2012 school year.”
When asked about their favorite part of CHCA, Mary Beshear shared a heartfelt response that could not be more perfect as we celebrate Founders’ Day this week:
“My favorite part was the moms’ prayer team. A number of moms got together every week and prayed for every student and teacher by name. We prayed big prayers for a small school, ‘God, change our city for generations for Christ…God, make it be that every person who enters this campus falls in love with the Lord God and Jesus Christ.’ My favorite part was praying big prayers and really never knowing how God was going to answer them. But now, all these years later, seeing that God has done miraculous things because He loves situations where people are learning about Him and seeking Him. That’s what you all are doing here and it’s a blessing to see.”
Grade 4 teacher Amy Saxby heard several students remarking about how “cool” and interesting it was to hear about how our school started. One student shared, “I love the story of Mr. Beshear’s shovel!” Yes, Ron Beshear still has the shovel that was used to break ground 35 years ago!
Happy Founders’ Day to all and may the prayers of CHCA’s mom’s group over 30 years ago continue to ring true for our school and our city.
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