Awards Chapels Recognize Character and Achievement

DPCA held our traditional January Awards Chapels on Friday, January 17th.  Focusing on character development and academic achievement during the fall semester, both the elementary and secondary chapel services centered on celebrating the Lord's gifts to and work in our students.

In the morning chapel service, elementary students each received a "Fruit of the Spirit" ribbon recognizing the fruit of some character trait that their teachers had particularly noticed in the student's life during the course of the fall 2013 semester.  Each student was also recognized for an academic strength.  Beginning with the Kindergarten class, each teacher in turn presented the awards to the children in their classes.

The afternoon secondary chapel followed a similar format, with Mrs. Tritz presenting awards to junior high students, followed by the high school teachers and the presentations to 9th - 12th graders.  Mrs. Tritz presented "Fruit of the Spirit" and academic recognition to each junior high student, and congratulated the  group on their growth together as a class over the first half of the year.

High school level awards, which followed the junior high, are determined and structured a bit differently.  All high school faculty meet together to select a "Fan the Flame" award for each high school student, which names a character trait that the teachers both want to recognize in the student and encourage the student to "fan into flame," following Paul's words to Timothy in II Timothy 1:6: "For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you... for God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline."

High school students also may receive academic recognition in any class for which they earned an "A" for the first semester, or in any class in which they have made outstanding progress or contributions.

Though it is impossible to capture all that we see the Lord doing in our students' lives in just a few words or a few minutes, Awards Chapel is a cherished time each semester to rejoice in our students, and to recognize, like ancient Israel before us, that all we have is from God's hand. (1 Chronicles 29:14ff)  We were blessed to have a number of parents, grandparents, and friends in attendance: thank you to each friend and family member who was able to join us for the chapel services!