"My Favorite Week of the Summer"

It's an energetic crowd!

With over 100 children gathering in the DPCA building each day this week, we're reveling in all the music, bright colors, and happy sounds of the Vacation Bible School put on by Clearview Community Church.  We love the privilege of having Clearview's VBS in our building each summer, and school staff are quick to comment on how much fun it is to see all the children, student helpers, and adults come together to put on a great summer event that focuses on making sure that our children know that God loves them, and that they can know God through Jesus. "Miss Amy," our elementary principal, said this morning, "This is my favorite week of the summer."

DPCA high school students Jacob and Seth are helping out...

Many DPCA students are among those gathered here, a big number as attendees, and many more as student-helpers.  Part of our joy is simply the sense of shared partnership and ministry with local churches as we work in different ways to help children find the Lord and come to know Him.

Friendship!

Clearview's VBS will continue through the rest of this week, and church staff assure us there is room for more children - so if any of our readers want to get their kids involved, come on down! Each day runs from 9:00 AM to noon, and is packed with fun activities and great music. A dinner celebration for everyone involved will be held on Friday evening at 6:00, and will round out the week.

A big thank you to all the Clearview staff and volunteers who have worked so hard to bring us and so many children a great blessing this week!

Leading singing...

Attentive faces...

All smiles!

Remembering a Great Year!

by Erik Ritschard, School Administrator

It's impossible to ever fully recapture all the life, learning, growing, achieving, thinking, connecting, encouraging, confronting, asking, praying, studying, and doing that makes up each great school year at DPCA.  We probably shouldn't want to try, either - the Scripture says, "Do not say, 'Why were the old days better than these?'" (Ecclesiastes 7:10) I get the impression that the Lord wants us to rejoice in things past that were good and brought blessing, but not dwell there.  And so we raise our children to look ahead to their adult years.  We finish projects and move on to the next task.  We finish a school year and begin to think about the next one.  Still, it does bring thankfulness and rejoicing sometimes to look back and count our blessings, and we see places in Scripture where the Lord encouraged that kind of remembering as well. (see Joshua 4:7 for one example...)

I hope this short video capturing just a few of the students and the moments of our past year together helps us each reflect on God's many blessings to us, on his provision for a school in our community that lifts up His name, and on all the ways in which we loved and lived and learned together during the 2013-2014 year. I'm personally deeply grateful and blessed to be part of the DPCA school community, and am thankful for the so-many ways in which I saw the Lord working through and among us this year.

Thanks to each of our families, supporters, teachers, staff, and students for making it a great year! A quick thanks as well to Nate Ritschard (DPCA class of 2010) for putting the slide show together.

Aim to Serve

Seventy shooters on 14 teams came together for DPCA's 2nd Annual Aim to Serve fundraising event on Sunday, May 18.  The Clay Shoot and celebration dinner that followed were the culminating fun events for our spring fundraiser that kicked off in April, and as of the date of this writing has raised just over $27,000 to support student financial aid at our school.

The top three shooting teams of the day were the Ritschard team in 3rd place, the Mason team in 2nd, and the White team taking home the 1st place trophies.  Top individual honors went to Dave White in third place, Erik Phillips in 2nd, and Michael Burnt in 1st place with a score of 45/50.

Following the shoot, team members, parents, students, and other friends of the Academy gathered at DPCA for a celebration dinner and silent auction.  Featuring smoked ribs and pulled pork prepared by Michael Courson and Rory Gillete, the dinner was a great way to end a fun day.  Thanks to the generosity of many businesses in the community and Beth Mason's diligent work putting it all together, the silent auction was  also a fun and helpful addition to the day and our fundraising efforts.

The Clay Shoot is the "aim" part of "Aim to Serve:" the "Serve" event took place on Friday, May 16, with all the DPCA students fanning out into town to collect food from our collection stations on behalf of the Arkansas Valley Christian Mission.  We estimate that we were able to deliver nearly a $1000 worth of food goods to the mission that afternoon. 

Special thanks to the Buena Vista Sportmen's Club for hosting the Clay Shoot event, to our host team of volunteers who did all the work behind the scenes to make the events happen, to all the churches who hosted Aim to Serve food collection boxes for us, and to Nate Ritschard for putting together the highlight video of the Clay Shoot afternoon and evening featured below. 

And of course, GIGANTIC thank you's to each of our sponsors who contributed funds and gifts-in-kind to make our event and fund drive a success!  We are grateful!

Business sponsors for the 2014 Aim To Serve are:
ACA Products
Alpine Hot Spings
Autumn Twilight Photography
Bearss Landscaping
Brown Dog Coffee
Harvard City Stables
Indian Paintbrush
 Lundy Excavating
Noah's Ark Rafting
Re/Max MVP
Rocky Mountain Life Center
Rocky Mountain Lumber
Sangre De Christo Electric
Steadman's at BV Shell
Souled Out T-Shirts
The Staudt Family and Scanga Meat Co.
Tom Parks Fishing Guide
The Trailhead
Trout Creek Handyman
Van Deel Homes
Best Western Vista Inn
V3 Homes

We encourage our readers to take every opportunity to thanks our business sponsors for their help with this year's event!

Of course, many, many individuals signed on to sponsor shooters, kids, staff, and parents for our fundraising events, and we are deeply grateful to each of our individual contributors as well!

And it's not too late! Any of our readers and friends who are still interested in contributing to DPCA's 2014 Aim to Serve funding efforts to support financial aid for students may do so by clicking here. Thank you!

Graduation 2014

Challenged by graduation speakers to make their lives count for Christ, two seniors received their high school diplomas at DPCA's annual graduation ceremony on May 16, 2014.

In addition to conferring diplomas on graduates Levi Jelinek and Rebecaa Wade, we also recognized five 8th graders for their achievements to date, and welcomed them to the high school class of 2018.  Students who  completed the Ekklesia Mountain High Wilderness courses were recognized as well for their achievements in that program over the year.

Commencement 2014 featured Dave Wade, father of graduate Rebecca Wade, reading the senior's Scripture selection, the traditional address to the 8th graders from Mrs. Pat Tritz, a valedictory address from Rebecca Wade, and the address to the senior class from Pastor Zach Bearss of Clearview Community Church.  Additional highlights of the program included an Ekklesia Mountain High commemorative video, presentation of scholarship awards from community organizations and families, and the annual Parent's Blessings to the senior graduates.  Following the awarding of the diplomas, Pastor Dave White of Redeemer Presbyterian Church brought the commissioning prayer and benediction.

Graduate Rebecca Wade was honored to receive scholarships and awards from the Buena Vista chapters of the Optimist, Rotary, and PEO organizations, as well as additional awards from the American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary.  Miss Wade was also honored by the Akers family as the recipient of the 2014 David K. Akers Servanthood scholarship.

Future plans for our 2014 graduates include the study of International Business at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs for Levi Jelinek, and for Rebecca Wade, enrollment at Colorado Christian University with plans to pursue a major in Psychology.

The following video captures a few of graduation's highlights; thanks to Nate Ritschard for creating this short video album of the day.

An Evening of Drama...

What do you get when you mix an eccentric caretaker, a bag lady from the city, some wanna-be detectives, a goofy petty crook, a creaky old hotel, and a few other wacky characters?  You get Tim Kelly's Laffing Room Only, performed by the DPCA drama class Friday, May 9.

Hazel holds Falbo and Vicki up as Donald pats him down.

Putney and Irma discuss life as legendary recluses.

Sophomore Jacob Lewis opened the play in the role of Nick Falbo, a detective-of-sorts from the Vermont district attorney's office who wants to use the decrepit Whispering Pines Hotel for a sting operation to catch some thieves. Eben Putney, the hotel's caretaker and handyman, played by Chase Macnab; and Gloria, the long-suffering owner of the hotel, played by Sarah Dages, are a bit slow to catch on as a strange list of "guests" begin to arrive at their usually-empty hotel.  A wacky tale of petty thievery, foiled plots, and odd relationships unfolds as the other characters join the romp through the Whispering Pines.  In the end, bag lady Irma, played by senior Rebecca Wade, and caretaker Putney have found a way to take possession of the hotel, send Gloria off to "sand, sun, and romance," and start their new lives as Vermont's latest pair of recluses. A sold-out audience enjoyed the Friday evening performance of the family-friendly, two-act comedy.

The drama class students and teachers had a great time preparing for the play.  The cast  performed under the direction of Mr. Jordan Euler and Mrs. Jani Ritschard.  The complete cast in order of appearance were:
Jacob Lewis as Nick Falbo,
Chase Macnab as Eben Putney,
Sarah Dages as Gloria Alexander,
Katie Busch as Hazel, Donald's rather desperate wife,
Marilena Burdick as Vicki, Falbo's partner from the DA's office,
Tanner Culp as Rondo Muldoon, petty thief extraordinaire,
 Seth Turner as Donald Parrish, wanna-be police chief and crazy schemer,
Rebecca Wade as Irma, the bag lady,
Maddie Montera as Wilma Potaine, scary insurance adjuster, and
Kate Lundy as Mrs. Martin, rich socialite and diamond necklace owner.

The cast and crew.

A student crew led by Ms. Kandice Alkire and Mr. Erik Ritschard built sets, prepared sound effects, and worked as stage crew during the production. Students building sets and working sound effects and stage properties were Heather Burdges, Sydney McManamay, Tori McManamay, Joel Parker, Shelby Phillips, Noah Ritschard, Bree Turner, and Hawk White.  Adult help for set building included Mr. Brad Pranger and Mrs. Venus Phillips.  Mrs. Marla Pranger prepared publicity materials.

Special thanks to Mrs. Kathy Akers, Mr. Harvey Brasser, Mr. Justin Willis, the White family, the Phillips family, Chaffee County Habitat for Humanity ReStore, and Rocky Mountain Lumber for help with properties and set materials.


 DPCA's junior and senior high drama class typically performs a play each spring.  Laffing Room Only was performed by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc. Many more pictures are available at DPCA's Facebook page!

Eagles Soccer: Girls Tie Hyland 1-1

Haley gets ready to send the ball down field while Anna lends support

Hayley gets in position for a shot on goal

The DPCA Eagles girls soccer team opened the season at home today battling against the Lady Cougars from Hyland Christian School in Westminster.  First half play saw the ball more frequently approaching Hyland's net, but the Cougar's defenders were able to keep the Eagles to a single score.  As the game progressed, the Cougars were able to make more plays with the ball on the Eagles' side of the field, but DPCA defense and goalkeeper Keely Campbell stayed consistent and held the Cougars to a single goal as well.  Despite consistent attempts by both teams throughout the remainder of the game, the defense on both sides held fast, and the match ended with the score tied at 1-1.

Warm weather brought out the fans, and the Eagles enjoyed a good crowd in the stands.

Keely sends the ball down field

The Eagles will face Hyland again at Hyland's home field in Westminster on Tuesday, April 15.  Eagles soccer is coached by Perry Ward, Lisa Tattershall, Suzanne Chambers, and Kandice Alkire. 

Fans enjoyed the warm weather!

The Historical Resurrection

With school being out next Friday for the celebration of Good Friday, today's chapel services functioned as DPCA's Easter chapels.  Mr. Erik Ritschard, our school administrator, presented at the elementary chapel and brought a video presentation to the secondary students in the afternoon.

The morning elementary chapel featured a condensed version of C.S. Lewis' story The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, specifically focusing on the scene in which Aslan the great Lion dies in place of the traitor, Edmund.  Susan and Lucy, Edmund's sisters, are overjoyed that Edmund is forgiven and rescued, but of course deeply distraught that Aslan must die.  And die he does, surrounded by his enemies and slain by the evil White Witch herself.  When he reappears the next morning, alive and whole, the girls are astonished and their joy overflows.

Mr. Ritschard reminded the students that although the story of Aslan is imaginary, it helps us think about the
very real occurrence of Jesus' death and resurrection.  We can't go visit the stone table in Narnia, but if we wanted to, we could actually go to Jerusalem and walk where Jesus walked.  We can see and smell and hear and experience the places in Jesus' resurrection story still today - because unlike Aslan's story, Jesus' rising from the grave is historical fact in a real place in the real world. 

Secondary chapel followed the same theme, using a video featuring Dr. N.T. Wright to explore the historical realities of the empty tomb and the resurrection of Christ.  Beginning long prior to the birth of Christ, Dr. Wright demonstrates that no comparable concept of resurrection existed prior to Jesus.  In a video rich with scenes from the Middle East, Jerusalem and the surrounding area, Dr. Wright goes on to explore the evidence that the resurrection of Christ occurred as the Bible states.  Just as in the elementary chapel, the secondary students were reminded that the Christian faith is not based on an imaginary story, but on actual historical events in real places in the real world.

As we celebrate the Easter season this year, it is both astonishing and encouraging to remember that those first, early Christians were simply giving testimony of things they had personally seen and experienced.  As we remember that they were reporting on actual events to which they were eyewitnesses, may our confidence in Christ's resurrection power and His work in our lives increase.

Readers wishing to view Dr. Wright's video for themselves may click here.