Berean Christian High School E-Newsletter November 2007

If a merry heart doeth good like a medicine then the One Act Comedies performed by Advance Drama, on the 26th and 27th of October, inoculated its audience!

To standing room only crowds both nights, Advanced Drama brought many chuckles and chortles performing the SEARCH FOR cINDY and bOBBY wILSON CAN EAT HIS OWN FACE. These talented actors can be seen again in February so watch performance dates.

Carolyn Jung

Drama Department

FROM THE PRINCIPAL'S DESK

GOD'S WILL FOR YOU

MrNoriega-blue God's Word makes it clear, "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (1 Thes 5:18) God values our thankfulness when we approach Him. So often we come to the Lord with our complaints, needs and wants. God is concerned about our gratefulness. A grateful attitude helps us to focus on the things God has done for us and not on our concerns or the things we have done. When you make an intentional effort to give an account of what God has done for you recently, you will be impressed with His grace and faithfulness. Ingratitude darkens our hearts and directs our attention to self-sufficiency. In Romans 1:21, Paul speaks to the Christians of Rome when he says, "For though they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened." As long as God continues to give us life, we will no doubt have needs and concerns that will divert our attention toward them. And, too often we hastily rush through that list of needs with God and forget to give attention to the blessings He daily provides. We take them for granted. Giving thanks to God should remind us that we need His grace in every aspect of our lives. A thankful heart will open our eyes to the many fulfilled promises God has made. As we approach this season of thanksgiving, make an effort to openly express your gratitude to your children. Help them to build a prayer life devoted to gratefulness. You will see their lives transform, and hence, glorify God. "Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!"

(Ps. 100:4 ESV)

May God bless you and your family with a blessed Thanksgiving.

Sincerely,

Mr. Noriega

COACH OPENINGS

Urgent Need for Frosh/Soph Basketball Coach

We just had a coach decide not to coach the Frosh/Soph boys' basketball team.We have a full schedule for the team but will need a coach in order to field the team. If you know of someone who is qualified and willing to coach, please contact Coach Lee at 925-945-6464 x25 immediately or email him at clee@berean-eagles.org.

The boys' and girls' track teams are in need of several coaches.
If you have some knowledge and can make the time we would love the assistance. The team is a perennial league champion. Some of the track and field coaches do not need to be there every day, so part-time help is more than welcome.

The final need at this time is for a boys' varsity volleyball coach.

Contact Coach Lee at clee@berean-eagles.org if you or someone you know is interested or has any questions.

Craig Lee

Athletic Director

STUDENT GOVERNMENT NEWS

Student Government is Working Hard

to Finish Off the Semester

This month has been filled with a lot of preparation. Below is a listing below of noteworthy upcoming events. Mark your calendars now! Each of these events must be completely planned and ready by the end of this month, so you can see how very busy we are.

January 18th: 8th Grader Day

January 25th: Winter Banquet (Note date change)

January 28th - February 1st: Spiritual Emphasis Week

January 31st - February 1st: 30 Hour Famine

Sees Also this month, we have the See's candy sales which we are excited to launch. Our hopes and prayers are for 100% participation as well as success in providing funding for our class. Please work together with your student to sell your box and turn your check in before November 12th. By the reaction of the students, the class competition will be a close one.

Beginning November 5th through November 16th, we'll have our annual canned food drive. The food will go towards our local homeless shelter. The classes will be delivering their contributions to the student center in their assigned class color containers. We will be dropping the food off during the week of Thanksgiving break. Please help make a donation to feed the hungry.

In December we are planning for a big end of the semester finish. We begin with a Christmas party for the See's class winners of the competition followed by another Senior Lunch. Just before finals it is "Deck the Halls" week. Each class will have a day to decorate the student center with a holiday theme to spread the Christmas spirit. It's a great celebration before a very busy fina'ls week.

With a thankful heart,

Mrs. Jewell Chung

Student Government Advisor

BEREAN'S MARATHON MOMS

It Runs in the Genes

The Snack Shack Ladies Step out in Faith

Pictured above L-R: Susan Lee, Sandy Barcelon, Celeste Shearer,

Jenny Morimune, Margo Goodloe, Danna Davis and Gail James

Many of us appreciate those moms (and some dads) who work in the snack shack during games so that we don't risk starvation and dehydration watching those young men beat each other up on the football field. What you may not know is that many of those same moms frequently run or walk 6-16 miles before each football game. Last weekend they left immediately after the football game to compete in the Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Francisco on October 20th.

The group calls themselves "Steps of Faith". They meet every Saturday morning before it gets light in order to complete their run before they need to be about the day's activities. About half of the team runs the full time, while the other half varies between walking and running or a combination workout. The group was started by Margo Goodloe who recruited Susan Lee to run in 2006. Beginning in early 2007 the group grew to include football moms Gale James and Sandy Barcelon, volleyball mom Jenny Morimune (whose daughter Jaclyn also ran the race), basketball mom Danna Davis and softball mom Celeste Shearer, whose daughters graduated.

None of the ladies dreamed they would ever be running a marathon or half marathon before they started training, but last weekend all of them had completed the race faster than their goal time. In addition to the obvious benefit of being more fit and losing weight, the main thing everyone likes is the fellowship and camaraderie of working hard together.

Other runners have begun joining the group, which includes several non-Berean moms who are friends from church. Football mom, Gloria Shaffer, a regular runner on her own, began running with the crew last month, and Janice Lisle, who trains a group of her own, ran the half marathon last weekend as well. Darrin Lisle (BC '06) finished 6th overall in the race, his first half marathon.

There is plenty of room on the trail if you want to join the ladies on a Saturday walk or run. Contact Margo Goodloe at (925) 932-5790for the meeting time and place. The next marathon is the California International Marathon in Sacramento on December 2^nd. However, if you are not up to about 16 miles at this point in the training then you probably don't want to try that race. The Steps of Faith team will be entering three individual runners and at least one relay team in the race.

They say that genetics is one of the major influencers when it comes to athletic abilities. Next time you buy that hot dog from a mom in the snack shack, thank them for more than just the dog. Thank them for their example and their contribution to our program!

Craig Lee

Athletic Director

BEREAN'S ANNUAL CHRISTMAS CONCERT

Mark your calendars now for December 14^th, 7:00 p.m. in the gym for Berean's Christmas Concert. You will hear from our Beginning Drama, Advanced Band, Choir and Guitar students. If you were at the POPS Concert, you know you won't want to miss this one.

This is an annual event that will start your season off with a blessing.

$5.00 adults and $3.00 students

Natalie Hazelrigg

Music Department

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

SCHOOL CALENDAR REMINDER

There will be no school the week of November 19th -23rd. Our teachers will be at the ACSI Convention in Anaheim on November 19th and 20th, and will be celebrating Thanksgiving on Wednesday, Nov. 21st through Friday, Nov. 23rd.

FALL SPORTS PORTRAITS

Any fall sports athletes who would still like to order pictures but have not sent an order form in yet should call Deb Wat Photography ASAP at (925)465-6788. Orders may be placed by phone via Visa or Master Card.

Josh Hammack

Studio Manager

Deb Wat Photography

1514 Third Ave.

Walnut Creek, CA 94598

Phone: (925) 465-6788

email: josh@debwat.com

web site: www.debwat.com

COLLEGE AND CAREER CENTER

SENIORS:

Many CSU's and all UC's close their application period on November 30th. The servers for the online applications often go down toward the end of the month due to high volume. Please submit your applications by mid-November to avoid any difficulty with the server. CSU applications are online at www.csumentor.edu and the UC applications are at www.universityofcalifornia.edu/apply.

college apps JUNIORS:

You may register now for your spring ACT or SAT's. Information is in the CCC or online at www.actstudent.org and www.collegeboard.com. Early registration ensures the test location of your choice. The ACT test locations are somewhat limited; the earlier you register, the more likely you will be assigned your first choice. Most colleges and universities will accept either the SAT or the ACT with the optional Writing subtest. The University of California schools require an ACT (with Writing) or an SAT in addition to two SAT Subject Tests.

Anne Sweeris

College and Career

PALS - PRAYING And LEADING STUDENTS

Our NEW Buddy System:

PALS (Praying And Leading Students)

Wow! PALS is off to an awesome start! If your student has not informed you about PALS, it stands for Praying and Leading Students. Each upper classmen is paired up with a freshmen boy or girl of the same sex as his/her mentor PAL. They will be helping them through their first year at Berean by praying, encouraging, leading and ministering to their needs.

Throughout this year, the Student Government Orientation committee will be heading up the PALS activities which include: PALS lunches, PALS movie nights at school and themed PALS week.

Please encourage your son or daughter, whether a freshmen or upperclassmen to participate in our program. They will be notified either through flyers, the encouragement system or through morning bulletin announcements as to when these events will occur.

Don't worry, if your freshman does not know who he/she is "palled" with, they will be notified this week!

Mitch, Tracy and Kevin

SG Orientation Committee

WALK-A-THON FOR CANCER RESEARCH

A MEMORABLE EVENT

walkathon

On Friday, October 19th, we held our Second Annual Cancer Research Walk-a-thon. We prayed for no rain so we could walk on our new athletic field. The Lord answered our prayers and blessed us with cloudy skies and warm hearts. Over one hundred students, faculty and parents participated in this special event. We even had the cross country team practice for this great cause by running their work-out laps.

We appreciate local merchants such as Safeway and Costco who donated bottled water and oranges along with some parents who helped our participants stay hydrated. We were also blessed by Jeanne Schwass of JBS Promotions, one of our BC families who contributed our Walk-a-thon t-shirts shown in the photo above. This event could not have been a success without the many participants and volunteers.

We are continuing to collect our sponsor donations and would appreciate any other sponsors who would like to make a contribution as well. It's not too late. Please, turn your

donations into the front office, attention: Mrs. Chung. Once again 100% of the proceeds will go directly toward UCSF Brain Cancer Research.

In His Service,

Sherine, Michael and Lauren

SG Community Service Committee

BOOSTER CLUB HAPPENINGS

Arizona may have the 2008 Super Bowl

but we have the hottest ticket in town!

BCHS Athletic Booster Club's 5th Annual

CRAB FEED AUCTION FUNDRAISER

Saturday, February 2nd, 2008, 5:30-9:30 pm

BCHS Gymnasium

Menu: Crab or Tri-tip, pasta, salad, garlic bread, beverages/coffee and dessert auction.

After a record setting Crab Feed Auction last year, the bar has been raised and the CFA Planning Team is ready to meet the challenge! Our projects for this year include a field house and press box for football, soccer, and track; a security system for the field and school grounds, and to fund our scholarship program. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to support our student athletes and sport's program here at BCHS, and we ask that you prayerfully consider how you can participate! Here are just three ways for you to support this annual event.

                                     Pictured: Silent Auction bidders

1)     Make your reservations early! Mark your calendars and join us for an evening of delicious food, warm fellowship, and exciting fundraising! Invite your friends, sponsor a table, or give tickets as a gift to loved ones! We will be sending an email out early next week that will include a registration form and information on how you can reserve your seats. Tickets will be $40 per person, and $500 to sponsor a table for ten.

If you have any questions, please contact Lisa Wesley at 229-2501. Make your reservation by December 5th and be eligible for our "early bird" drawing!

2)      Make a donation for our live and silent auctions! In addition to donations from large companies and local merchants and businesses, we have been blessed with the generous giving of our BCHS families. We hope you received the letter and form that were mailed out last week explaining how you can make a donation to our auction. If you should have any questions, please contact Brad or Jenny Morimune at 674-9126.

3)      Volunteer to serve on one of our committees! With 400 attendees expected and a lot of work still ahead of us,our CFA Planning Team is thankful for the support of our student athletes and parent volunteers. We cannot achieve our goals without God's blessings and your faithful service. If you would like to participate in one of our committees, please contact Gale James at 672-4010. Many hands do make light work!

Thank you again for supporting our Booster Club efforts. "Go Eagles!"

Brad Morimune

Booster Club President

IN-N-OUT A SUCCESS

BLESSINGS FROM IN-N-OUT

in n out The In-N-Out company in Southern California offers a fundraiser in our area to help out schools with their fundraising efforts for a worthy cause. After being on their waiting list, they called us with a last minute cancellation and offered us a chance to come to Berean. Their cook-out trailer donated 300 hamburgers, chips and drinks and allowed us to sell them for $5.00 each. During lunch on September 26th, our class along with many helpful volunteers worked with the cook-out trailer as we distributed to the hungry students and faculty these amazing burgers. After a couple weeks of selling tickets and organizing the details for the lunch, it was well worth the time and effort.

The money raised gave 25% profit to the Abused children fund and 75% towards the Student Government fund. These funds came at a perfect time to help us with Homecoming expenses. We are so grateful to In-N-Out for their generosity.

With Thanks,

Kristen Fraser

ASB Secretary

HOMECOMING 2007

TOOK US BACK IN TIME

After many months of hard work and planning, the big night we had anxiously awaited for, had finally arrived. The gym had been transformed in three days to a 1950's Bandstand. The entrance covered in lights and gossamer with a two piece 50's band, played to students as they arrived in the foyer and waited in line to be checked in. As you entered the gym, the ceiling and walls were covered in pink and black gossamer with white lights, records and musical notes streaming down and all around.

To begin the evening our Homecoming court was introduced and the Junior, Sophomore and Freshmen Princess and Princes were crowned. After their introduction, the Senior court were seated at the very special head table on the stage awaiting the announcement of the King and Queen until the end of the evening.

HC hoola hoop Our chicken and tri tip dinner was served to our students by our faculty

chaperones as the students helped themselves to retro glass coca cola bottles. The evening events included a bubble gum blowing contest, a hula hoop contest and watching our favorite "Grease" scenes on mute throughout the night. The retro juke box played the music from the 50's and made us feel we were back in time.

king queen To complete the evening the students were served chocolate sundaes as we prepared to make the big announcement. Everyone looked with anticipation and held their breath as each Senior court member stood on stage with a record album to display the winner. At the same time they pulled out their record, it finally revealed our Queen Shada Sadeghi and King Mitch Lee (pictured left). Last years' King Miles Johnson and Queen Marta Adamiec returned to crown the new court.