In addition, Rebecca Rafla was given an award as one of the day’s outstanding soloists, and the percussion section from the concert band won best overall percussion for the entire day.

Congratulations to Chris Jarrett who received his letter of acceptance to the Military Academy of West Point. In March. Chris has been working on admittance since last April. Chris and his family met with elected officials and spent a week last summer at he West Point leadership camp.

In addition to getting a physical and passing a physical fitness aptitude test, the most time intensive process of applying was to get letters of recommendation from Sen. Mitch McConnell, Sen. Jim Bunning and our District House of Rep. Ron Lewis. Although hoping to get a letter of recommendation from one of them, Chris received a nomination from each of them! Items that assisted him in getting the nominations include: earning his Eagle Scout rank/award in Oct 2005, holding leadership roles in church youth group and with Kentucky Changers, participating in a mission trip to Poland, as well as participating in various speaking engagements on behalf of the Boy Scouts. In addition, he earned a rank as an "Honorable Kentucky Colonel" prior to 18 years old and a member of the Sons of the American Legion.

At CAL, Chris was in the National Honor Society and Beta Club and a member of the football team. Chris comes from a military background family. His father was in for 13 years. One of Chris’s aunts is a retired Colonel as is her husband. Chris’s other aunt was a WAC before they merged with regular Army. On his father's side, four uncles & one aunt covered the scope of the services at the same time each serving in a branch: Marine (2), Army (2), Air Force (1) & Navy (1). His maternal grandfather served in the latter half of WWII, while his paternal great-grandfather served for entire war.

Chris hopes to be a 'walk-on' to the football team. They also have an 'intramural' style of team. If not football, then he's interested in their Frisbee 'ultimate' competition. Chris reports for West Point basic training on June 30. Other tidbits of info: After four years of school, he is then committed to serve for 8 years with the Army. Upon graduation he will receive commission in the Army as a 2nd Lt. He will be earning a degree in some field of engineering. The West Point education is worth $425,000.

Interesting note: Chris was born in Bad Nauheim, Germany (home of Elvis Presley when he served overseas). The family lived too far away from an Army hospital, so he was born in a German 'krankenhaus'. Because of this, he has “dual citizenship” and hold both German & US military birth certificates.

MS Celebrated Turning 30 & They Know How To Party!
Food, Music and Presents
In celebration of our 30th birthday, the Christian rock group, Finding Favour, got the students and teachers moving early in the morning and then everyone had cupcakes. We are so blessed to have such wonderful students at CAL. Students were asked to bring in items to be donated to the Shelby County Backpack Program and their generosity was so appreciated.

Moms and Dads have a chance to help their second grader develop good reading habits. Each night the students are given construction paper strips (bookworm links) in the homework folder. After they read a book he/she will write the name of the book and his/her name on the bookworm link. The second grader should then staple the links together to form a chain, and return them to school to add to the Giant Bookworm. Each of the following will equal one bookworm link: picture books or starting to read books, each chapter of a chapter book, one chapter from the Bible, one magazine or newspaper article, how- to book, encyclopedia article, and Sunday comics. The challenge for the boys and girls is to keep a book with them all the time. They can read in the car. Read in the bed. Read during free-time. Read on rainy or snowy afternoons. Read in the classroom. The students are to complete the February Reading Calendar and return it to school on the last day of the month. The students put the Calendar in a special place where they could see it every day. They color in each day as they complete the activity. They collect their activities in a folder or large envelope and return them to school at the end of the month. Bookworm links are brought in for each day they read at home. Bookworm links are also completed in class during reading. A few of the examples of the Calendar activities are: find your memory verse in the Bible, read aloud for 10 minutes, turn off the TV and read, take a break from video games and read, read silently for 15 minutes, tell your parents about your favorite story, and tell somebody about the funniest book you have read.

My second grade students created a Giant Reading Bookworm. Our Room Parents took turns hanging it from the ceiling using paper clips. The students loved watching it grow! I had students that began to fall in love with reading. One of my students said, “I didn’t know that reading could be this much fun!” Wow, that is amazing to hear! Another student said, “I love to read because it gives you knowledge and you know that there is more stuff to learn.” Another student struggled in reading and now she has a book with her all the time. She enjoys reading! It is a blessing to see all the second graders enjoying reading! It is a true joy to use the gifts God has blessed us with. It was amazing to see all the books that were read in the month of February. The Second Graders Love to Read Program mades reading exciting!

“When reading is fun, it can inspire you and your thoughts!” Keep Reading!

Yearbook Staff Wins Award – Again!
The CAL yearbook staff has been recognized by Taylor Publishing with an Honorable Mention Award of Excellence for its accomplishments. This recognition is for the 2007 yearbook and was evaluated on cover design, theme development and layout design. Only the top 10 percent of yearbook staffs receive this recognition.

A Valentine’s Day to Remember
By: Hunt V. & Morgan R. Middle School Student Council Members

On Valentine’s Day the Middle School students spent the morning remembering the United States Military. They brought in food to pack boxes to send to the 3 rd Battalion 5 th Special Forces Group. The Middle School homerooms filled seventy-two boxes with food and other treats to send to the Special Forces Group in Iraq. Along with those treats were handwritten notes from the students thanking the soldiers for their service. These notes were to make the soldiers feel appreciated and less lonely.

In addition, each homeroom made a chain; each link in the chain represented 500 men and women currently serving in the U.S. Military around the globe. During a special chapel each homeroom’s chain was stretched, and all the chains were connected. They encircled the auditorium four times. Colonel Walter Herd, father of 8 th grader Caty, then spoke to the whole Middle School about where the boxes were going. After he spoke, representatives from each homeroom prayed over the boxes. This will certainly be a day the students will remember.

CAL Students Lead Local Research Efforts

CAL Students Corey Hall and Mazie Walthall recently presented their science fair project to the Floyd’s Fork Environmental Association(FFEA). Fox news (WDRB) was there as well as a local councilman to hear their presentation. The FFEA also recognized both students with a plaque and gift for being the first researchers to discover 17-beta estradiol (above the accepted level) in waste water dumped into Floyd’s Fork. The Floyd’s Fork Environmental association is now asking them to test several other sites.
Click here to view the segment entitled "Hormones found in Floyd’s Fork Creek."

CAL Senior Commits to Dartmouth
Edward “Eddie” Smith has verbally committed to continue his education and play football at Dartmouth College.

Eddie, a 6-4, 265 offensive tackle and defensive end, was selected selected by the CAL coaching staff as Christian Academy of Louisville ’s “2007 Lineman of the Year”. He anchored an offense that ranked among the top 10 in Kentucky’s Class 2A this past season and a defense that ranked among the top 6. The Centurion’s finished the season with an
8-4 record, advancing to the second round of the Class 2A playoffs.

But it was not just Eddie’s size and strength that attracted the attention of the exclusive Ivy League school. He has a 3.5 GPA in Christian Academy’s college prep honors program, and scored 28 on his ACT and 1250 on his SAT. Eddie also serves as Senior Class Treasurer and sports editor of the yearbook.

Eddie’s decision to attend Dartmouth came after an official visit to the Hanover, NH campus earlier this month and a recent in-home visit by Dartmouth head coach Buddy Teevens. He will become the first CAL student to attend an Ivy League school.