Every year around this time we hear the same things: “Happy Holidays,” “Seasons Greetings,” and “Merry Xmas.” I’m going to just come out and say that I find so much joy in worshiping Christ, and one of the ways I can do that is by keeping Christ in Christmas. Westlake is so blessed because we, truly, do not have to worry about offending someone by saying, “Merry Christmas” and that is a wonderful thing.

Last week, each student attended the ‘All School Christmas Chapel.’ The students sang traditional Christmas carols that celebrated the birth of our Savior. Mr. Fleming then talked about the reason the song “The 12 days of Christmas” was written. From 1558 until 1829 the Catholic Church was not allowed to openly practice their faith for fear of persecution, so they came up with a song where each phrase correlated to a statement of faith or a Biblical truth for the church to remember and honor. For example, the three french hens stood for faith, hope, and love, and the ten lords a leaping represented the ten commandments. This way they could actually sing about Christ without getting persecuted.

Sometimes we, as Christians, face persecution from other people when we talk about anything that pertains to Christ. I remember living in New Jersey and people would make fun of me for it and I still get those stares even when I go to work. It is very encouraging to be able to walk into an environment where saying “Merry Christmas” is not only accepted, but encouraged. Just another reason to love Westlake!

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” Isaiah 9:6.

At the start of the All School Christmas Chapel the students got a special surprise from our Bible teachers, Mr. Tantillo, Mr. Flemming, and Mr. Lovelace. Enjoy the following video: The Twelve Days of Christmas - Westlake Style

- Shelby Nicholas
Marketing Intern (and older sister of a Westlake student)

“We’re supposed to love our neighbor, if you need them, it helps.” -Wendell Berry

Who even thought of this crazy idea called “school”? It’s an amazing amount of work. Assignments, projects, drama (on stage and off), papers to grade, kids to drive, events to plan and attend. Blood, sweat, and tears are an almost every day occurrence. Ask Mr. T, he’ll tell you about middle school’s desperate need for regular showers and quality deodorant. (Axe doesn’t count). Either we have a good reason for all this or we’re just nuts. So, why school?

Thankfully, there are good reasons. One very good reason is that God made all of us to be kings and queens. In the very beginning when God spoke and the world burst into existence, God also formed humanity and commanded them, “rule!”, “reign!”, and “Have dominion over the birds, and the sea, and the land.” School is like a kingdom training ground where we work the muscles of our minds, bodies and hearts. Our Creator calls us as his little governors to say along with him, let there be light, beauty, and order. We are called to give shape to the chaos of numbers and letters; to form paint into portraits; to turn brass, wire, wood, diaphragms, and air into the Hallelujah Chorus. We are the keepers of the earth and of one another. The little kings under the King of Kings.

Still, some of us might feel like our work doesn’t accomplish very much. It’s not hard to know that our world is broken. That we ourselves are bent. That the flood of sin and chaos constantly threatens to undo even our best efforts. Why school then? Is it really worth the struggle? Education might be worthless except that God himself says, “I will complete the work I began in you.” (Phil 1:6) Over and over again God reassures us that our labor in him is not in vain because as we are working, living, and striving he works behind all of it. What Christ accomplished on the cross was more than just forgiveness of sins. He made a promise that one day everything will be right. Why school? We work, and study and strive because Jesus “is making all things new!” (Rev 21:5)

- Andrew Metzger
Junior High Social Studies

I have gone to many different schools throughout my 23 years of living, all ranging from private to public. All of the schools I have gone to had over 300 students. The only small school I had ever attended was Saint Rose of Lima for kindergarten because it’s location was close to my babysitter. I may not know a lot, but I would like to tell you why I think Westlake is such an amazing school.

Ella Nicholas on her way to 4th period

My brother and sister attend Westlake and when I first walked into one of their classroom parties, I was shocked that each class was small enough to have one classroom with the same students. I was used to having 3 or 4 different classes per grade, so there were about 60 students in each grade. But, I think it’s amazing that students will get to graduate with friends that they have gotten to know and become great friends with. I wish I had gone to a small school. A small Bible-believing school. At Westlake, the teachers care. They really, truly care about their students. They strive to give them the best education they can, and the best part? Their love for Jesus shines in their teaching.

Some of my experiences in public school were great. I did have some great teachers. I went to a catholic high school as well, and to be honest, the only difference between the two schools was that I had to go to mass once a month and we did some type of prayer before class. I didn’t receive the authenticity of my teachers until I had gone to college. I think it’s so important for others to understand that allowing your children to attend a school like Westlake, is probably one of the best things you could do for them. The integration of Christ into education is so important.

There are things that I wish I could erase from public school; the bullying, foul language that I learned at a VERY early age and the absence of Christ. I once handed out church tracks to all of my classmates in third grade. My teacher collected them all and told me, “You can’t hand out things about God,” straight to my face. My wonderful mother then stepped in and handled the situation. Then in fifth grade, one of my other friends decided to “play a joke on me” and pretend that her family was a family filled with witch craft; when I decided to tell her about Christ she told me she was kidding. That’s not a funny joke! I’m not trying to say that public school is horrible, I just wish I had gone to a school like Westlake where Christ is the center of everything. I want to take back all of those horrible things and I can, honestly bet that my early education and outlook on the things I learned, would completely be different. In 6th grade, I was taught that the Ziggurat (a type of Mesopotamian temple) was built taller than the Tower of Babel. It was a lie laid out in plain sight in my Social Studies book.

Even though I never attended Westlake, I genuinely appreciate it and I am very happy that my brother and sister will gain the best, Christ-centered education. I thank the Lord that they will not experience half of the things I did while at other schools. I truly believe that this school is here for the furthering of the kingdom and that is something that you can’t get in a lot of places.

-Shelby Nicholas, big sister

2012. The happiest year of my life, or so I thought. I had graduated college with a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education from my dream college! I couldn’t find a job, but that didn’t bother me so much. I loved substituting in all the area schools and eventually, I found two part-time teaching jobs where I got to teach music (and Culinary Arts). I then quit teaching altogether and worked full-time at an Amish restaurant in Ohio as a floor manager and cashier supervisor. I was very happy with my job and I loved everyone I worked with, but my life was about to change in a BIG way!

One day, I decided to look for a teaching job and came to the conclusion that anywhere was fine. I just wanted to look for something different and I think that was God’s way of putting Westlake Christian Academy right before me. I typed “Christian school music teacher jobs” into Google and there it was: Westlake Christian Academy. I started looking at the job description and every part of the document screamed my name! After I had applied, Dr. Healan invited me to check out the school, along with Grayslake and I accepted.

Wednesday morning, I pulled into the parking lot for my first time ever being in Illinois. I stepped out of my car and instantly felt God’s presence at Westlake. As I began interacting with the staff and the students, I could tell that everyone was bursting with the joy of the Lord!

As I started my journey in Grayslake, I found that 2012 wasn’t the year I was happiest. 2015 was! Here I am, living out my dream in a school that so boldly puts God at the forefront of everything. Westlake Christian Academy is not so hidden, being that it’s on the corner of a fairly busy intersection, but some of it’s treasures are.

Mr. Pugh and Mrs. Kurtz serve at a WCA Culver’s night

Hidden in an older building off of 120, some of Illinois’ nicest people work and learn. The people that are in Westlake’s well-loved facility day in and day out are people that love Jesus, no matter what. Through experiencing the WCA culture I, almost instantly, got to become a part of the family that all parents, students, faculty and staff get to be a part of. Just stepping into the school for the first time I felt welcome because of everyone’s kindness. The faculty and staff regularly pray for each of the students and their families. We (I’m so glad I can say I’m a part of Westlake!) love each one of our students and our goal is to draw them closer to the Lord through our lives and what we teach.

Hiding God’s Word in our hearts as we learn more about Him is something the students do as part of their daily curriculum. Being a faculty and staff member, we try to encourage each student to be active in their church and the community, striving to spread the Word that they have hidden in their hearts.

Mr. Pugh gets “pied” for the senior missions trip

Last, but certainly not least, I believe that the hidden gem of Westlake Christian Academy is our music program. Now I understand that this may come off as biased because I’m the music teacher here, but I firmly believe in music education taking a big part of the students’ lives here at Westlake. Ever since I stepped foot in the building for the first time, I have revered the students who are in Concert Band. Some of you may not know that our Concert Band meets at 7:30 am… BEFORE school starts. The 30 students that are part of Concert Band are in it because they love music and love making music with other Christian teenagers. But the reverence for music doesn’t stop there! Even the groups that meet during the day strive to become better musicians because they WANT to! Our elementary program immerses each 1st-6th grader in 70 minutes of music instruction a week – more than any other school I’ve worked at!

Westlake Christian Academy is set apart from any other school in the area because of the loving, family-centered atmosphere, our constant discipleship and mentoring each student to be a disciple of Christ, and our focus on music education. If you haven’t considered sending your student to Westlake, please do. We are a loving, growing, educating, Christ-focused school and would love to have YOU here! Please visit www.westlakechristian.org or call the office at 847-548-6209 for more information on our amazing school!

-Mr. Pugh

As part of their study of waves and sound, Physics students engaged in sound exploration stations. At these stations, students investigate various properties of sound and how it is produced. They use everyday household items, like straws and glass bottles and seashells, and more sophisticated tools like a stroboscope and kazoos (okay, maybe a kazoo isn’t that sophisticated) to learn about things like frequency, pitch and wavelength. There was a good deal of energy in the room as students chimed, whistled and clanged their way to a deeper, more experiential understanding of the physics that drives the world we hear.

Could they play Taps on a whirling tube? Can you make only one of three strings and washers hanging from a stick oscillate while the others sit motionless without touching any of them? How do you build your own straw trombone? When we experience the concepts and equations that we are writing in our notes, and put those notes to work with the toys (make that technical apparatus) we are manipulating it and it makes the abstract concrete…and a lot more fun. One student, not in the class, was heard in the hallway after class saying, “That class sounded like so much fun! I wish I were taking that class.”

The next stop for the physics class on their journey of understanding the world around them is light. Any bright ideas on the subject?

Mr. Flemming

William Cowper, an 18th century poet and hymn writer, once said, “Satan trembles when he sees the weakest Christian on his knees.” On Wednesday, September 28th, students across the United States gathered around their school’s flagpole to worship and pray for our country.

“See You At The Pole” is an initiative that encourages students to pray for our country as well as their family, school, fellow students, and anything else the Lord lays on their heart. It is amazing to see God work all over the country through this program. This is a special day for thousands of Christian students throughout the US as it is a public opportunity to display their faith. But for the students of Westlake, this day does not hold the same amount of significance, because prayer is practiced every day.

This daily practice of prayer is one of the things that makes Westlake such a powerful environment for our students. Praying together in class, outside of class, at sporting events and many other moments in between, brings togetherness and deeper relationships not only with each other as one body in a school, but as one body together in Christ.

Students also get to witness when prayer has been answered and celebrate together. For example, if you ever had Mrs. Jackson in third grade, she had a unique way of celebrating answered prayer. When a prayer had been answered, students would take their prayer, already on a strip of paper ,and they would add it to the paper chain they had, hanging on the wall around the classroom. When you walked into that classroom, you were able to witness the amount of answered prayer that those students had experienced and praised God for. “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” 1 John 15:4.

“Prayer is the voice of the Psalmists,” said Mr. Tantillo, Jr High discipleship director & Bible teacher here at Westlake. “It is angry, it is passionate, it is doubtful, it is joyful and it is above all things, real.”

Prayer is our direct line to Christ. It is how we communicate our praise, our sorrows, our passions, our sadness, our worries and so many other things, to the one who created it all. Mr. Tantillo also makes a point to say that prayer should either celebrate faith or grow it, through wrestling and listening.

To a student who attends public school this day, SYATP, is likely a unique and exciting event because they are able gather with other believers, at a place where God is not seen as the main focus. And at WCA we join in that day as a show of support and prayer for those students stepping out in faith. However, the very next day, Westlake will gather together and do it all over again because that is what we are called to do. “Pray without ceasing,” 1 Thessalonians 5:17.

The Pirates of Penzance has been offering laughter to audiences for over a hundred years. The Operetta began in 1879, and this year our families of will get to experience this comedy for themselves from the stage of Westlake Christian Academy.

This musical will offer students the opportunity to showcase their acting, dancing and singing abilities along with a love for the theater. Sixth grade teacher Paula Coombe will be the show’s director this year, alongside music teacher Andrew Pugh, who will be the chorus director, and Jean Ptasienski, who will be the show’s choreographer.”Being in The Pirates of Penzance was the best part of my college career,” said Pugh. “To be able to teach these students something they will need for years to come is a great opportunity.”

The Pirates of Penzance is a show that will offer students the opportunity to showcase some of their talents with music and acting, but all the while, still having fun putting on this production. One of the attractive aspects of Westlake, is that students are given the opportunity to play sports, act and be in clubs at the same time. Often, in bigger schools, students have to choose between one or the other; soccer or musical? That doesn’t happen at Westlake. Students are able to participate in an array extracurriculars without having to make that tough decision. Many WCA students are engaged in many different extracurricular activities this year; the musical and volleyball, band and soccer, or all three! When given this opportunity, most students take it without hesitation and teachers are always available for tutoring if their schedule gets overwhelming.

“All of the teachers sit down and set up a schedule for all of the practices,” said Coombe. “We come to a compromise so that we can give students the opportunity to do the things they want to do.”

Noah Steiefelmayer is a current senior here at Westlake and is also a major character in the play; he’s playing Sam, the Lieutenant to the Pirate King. Noah has been in countless productions here at Westlake and also plays soccer and basketball, so he understands when his schedule gets busy and he gets help from his teachers.

“Westlake does a great job of allowing students to do everything that they want,” Stiefelmayer said. “The directors and the coaches work around each other so students can have that opportunity.”

One of the ways Stiefelmayer works everything into his schedule is he uses his time management skills to the best of his abilities. If he is at rehearsal for the play and is not in that particular scene, that’s when he is catching up on his homework and if he needs help, his teachers are more than willing to help him.

Teachers and staff here at Westlake are always striving to give their students multiple opportunities to experience those things they wouldn’t if they had gone to another school. Additionally, they hope to teach our students important life skills that can’t found inside the classroom, which will equip them to be better prepared for college and to so serve the kingdom of God. We are excited about The Pirates of Penzance and we think you should be too!

Last week the high school students took a three day retreat to Camp Fairwood to kick off the school year. Victoria Fabrie, senior and president of Student Council, and the Student Council Committee put together different activities and competitions for each class to compete in, such as a synchronized swimming contest, a skit, and many other fun and friendly competitions.

“I really liked the obstacle course,” Fabrie said. “I’m really competitive, so that was my favorite activity to plan.” Each class had a team of 10 people that had to work together to complete the whole course. The first few steps had to be completed by the entire team before individuals could advance. One of the hardest parts of the course was scaling a 12′ vertical wall - many team members pushed and pulled to make sure the whole team made it over. It was a great way to build teamwork within each of the classes.

Among the other competitions were a balloon toss, Kuub, a Survivor Puzzle, and Infiltrate the Trenches. On the last day of retreat skits were also performed by each of the classes which were judged by faculty members. The seniors won with their horror story spin-off. There was also a synchronized swimming contest, which was really fun for the students to plan, as well hysterical for each of the classes to watch.

Of course there was a valiant effort made by the Senior boys to prank the Senior girls. They put toilet paper and string all over the girls’ cabin so they wouldn’t be able to walk through, and they even put a baby mouse in the bathroom! Unfortunately, they were caught, but it still made for good laughs. The girls got back at them by putting the boys’ mattresses out on the dock in the middle of the swimming lake.

While the retreat was a time of fun, it was also intentionally set up so that students and teachers alike would grow closer together and closer to Jesus. The bonfire and small groups were a great way for all of the students to connect with each other on a deeper level. “There were some really amazing moments around the bonfire. Some students just spoke from their heart and were really intentional with what they told others,” said Kurt Flemming, the Director of Discipleship at Westlake.

“The small groups really showed a lot of us that we can be spiritual leaders, even if we don’t think we can,” Fabrie said. “Our small groups had some really great talks and there was a moment when we just stopped and prayed over (fellow Senior) Ethan and I think that moment really showed us that we can lead spiritually.” They realized that the skill of spiritual leadership and ownership is one of importance and is good to be learned now before the voices around them compete even louder for their attention.

This year’s spiritual life theme is “Voices.” Daily we are bombarded by voices; some good, some bad. Advertisers, friends, culture, the Spirit, and others are all competing for our attention. Alex Connell, youth pastor at Mundelein Church of the Nazarene, preached at the retreat on various voices: the voices of possibility, our voice, the voice of forgiveness, the voice of service, the voice of power, and the voice of change. The students enjoyed Alex’s fresh and funny perspective. Many of his sermons were focused on the disciple Peter and how “sometimes Jesus calls us to do the impossible.” One of the major takeaways was when we listen to the voice of Jesus and let all other things fade away, that is when we truly can do the impossible.

Overall, students grew in ways they didn’t even imagine. Allowing the students to disconnect from everything else at home made their experience more intentional.

Thank you for the prayers of safety and growth for the students. If you would like to see photos and videos of the retreat, head over to Westlake’s Facebook page and check them out!