Friday, February 15, 2013

HCA Promotional Video

Enjoy the following promotional video, produced by HCA Junior Max Hammons, which premiered at the annual HCA Auction on Saturday, February 9th.


Monday, February 4, 2013

HCA Students Excel Outside the Classroom

HCA students are pretty busy in our community outside the regular school day.  I am happy to highlight three students:

Sophomore Michael Alemayehu was a member of Russ Miller's bridge building class during Winterim.  Students in the class learning a little about bridge design (tension and compression) and built bridges according to the rules of  Kansas Society of Professional Engineers annual competition.  In this competition (Saturday, February 2nd), bridges are weighed and then loads applied until the bridges failed.  The bridges were then ranked according to their efficiency (load/weight); in other words, how many times its own weight a bridge supported.

Over 80 students from high schools in the eastern Kansas region were represented, including St. Thomas Aquinas, Gardner-Edgerton, and several of the Blue Valley high schools.  Michael's bridge supported over 1,000 times its own weight and finished 13th in the competition. Before and after photos of Michael's bridge are shown below.



Junior Anna Lipscomb was recently named a Distinguished Finalist for the state of Kansas in the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program, conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals.  Anna was recognize for her work in raising $90,000 over the past four years to help build four orphanages in Haiti and her numerous speaking engagements where she tells how God has used her to help orphaned children in Haiti and inspires others to help make a difference for those in need.

Senior Abbie Schutte recently submitted an article to a new magazine, Kansas City Metro Cares, a publication that focuses on non-profit communication and awareness in our community.  In the February issue, Abbie talks about the HCA partnership with Mission Southside where HCA students plan and implement a weekly neighborhood Bible study for elementary children in a Gardner neighborhood.  These ministry is now entering it's third year, and many relationships have been formed during that time.  You can view the newest edition of Kansas City Metro Cares here, and look for Abbie's article on page 17.  We also have printed copies of the magazine available in the West Campus office.

This a just a small sampling of the impact HCA students are having in our community ... these are just the ones that came across my desk this morning!  I am so thankful to be a part of a school that is actively preparing its students to be servant leaders to the glory of God.