CHS Blog

Can you imagine graduating from high school with the confidence that you not only know what you believe, but also know how to effectively share it?  At Christian Heritage School we train teenagers to know and love the Word of God, apply it to their lives, and preach it winsomely to a world that needs it. Our hope is that they will be able to start living out the Great Commission long before they become adults. Most of the best preachers we can think of started formal training as adults. Imagine what the church could look like if we were to equip teenagers to read the Bible and share it with others.  

To this end, we teach our students how to preach starting in 6th grade. Each year, students are taught the basics of exegesis and how to understand the Bible in context.  They are taught how to write a sermon that is Biblically accurate and applicable to the students in their classes. Each year we build on the fundamentals of preaching that they have been taught. By the time they are in high school, they can effectively exegete and apply scripture in a way that brings the Word of God to life.

Sadly, in our culture, both teens and adults alike are afraid of public speaking. By training our students how to read the Bible in context and then giving them both the tools and the opportunity to communicate what they have learned, they are becoming speakers who boldly proclaim the name of Jesus. Not only are students able to preach in class, but they are also given the opportunity to preach in chapels, for both the lower and upper schools. What an encouragement it is to have our 3rd graders see an 8th grader preach a first-person narrative of the Christmas story. 

Our students are not only equipped but genuinely very good at preaching. Our Bible faculty is regularly amazed at the quality of preaching that is coming from students: 8th graders who can modernize a parable that will bring you to tears, a 9th grader who exegetes a passage in a way that brings to life what you’ve never noticed before, or an 11th grader who gets choked up sharing all that God has done in his life.  

It is a privilege to teach students the Word of God, but my greatest joy at CHS has been helping students find their voice and preach!

Mrs. Jennie Higenyi is our Upper School Bible Department Head.  She received a Bachelors of Psychology and Pastoral Ministry from Nyack College, and a Masters of Divinity and a Masters of Preaching from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary.  Jennie has worked as both an Associate Pastor and a Preaching Pastor, and began her teaching career as a Professor of Pastoral Ministry.  She has lived as a Missionary both in Italy and in Africa. This is her fourteenth year working at CHS, and she teaches 7th, 8th, and 11th grade Bible, and 12th grade Syracuse University Presentational Speaking. 

When I first stepped into the Café at Christian Heritage School, it was not yet a café.  It was 1981; I was a CHS student and Mrs. Wahlberg was the librarian and that space was her domain.  She had it neatly arranged with posters on the wall encouraging us to read just for fun. The books were all in their place on the shelving, and the tables were in clusters, allowing us to sit with large groups of friends. Mrs. Wahlberg knew that the small school I had just transferred from did not have a library, so she greeted me warmly and took extra time to show me how to find books and sign them out.  I spent the next five years creating many of my favorite memories in that room; some of them actually involved studying. Though if you know me, you would know that the memories I cherish the most are the ones where I was sitting beside my friends, talking, giggling, and sharing in one another’s lives. Ultimately, building relationships, some that would last for generations.

When I came to the end of my senior year, I stood in that library, wearing my blue cap and gown.  I had anticipated the excitement that my graduation would bring, but I was surprised that it was woven with hints of sadness.  Christian Heritage had become my home away from home and my heart hurt at the thought of leaving it.  That was forty-four years ago.  Since then, three of my daughters have attended and graduated from Christian Heritage, and although I spent some time away, I never quite left entirely.  That’s the way it is with “home”, isn’t it?

Our world has seen many changes in the last forty-four years, among them is a very different way of enjoying a cup of coffee.  Coffee shops have become a place to hang out with friends, a safe place to meet acquaintances. They’re a quiet place to study or write papers; a common ground to hash out relational issues or just to get to know someone better.  People go there to unwind after work, treating themselves to their favorite drink as a means of celebration or consolation.   In short, it has become less about the caffeine and more about community.   The Kingsmen Café is much the same, with one major difference: the community that we are striving to cultivate is a Christ-centered one.

The world’s view of community is often me-centered.  “How can you improve my life? Make me feel better? Bring me more income? Further my career?”  But throughout scripture Jesus commands us to love one another. He calls us to do life together, not for the good of ourselves, but for the good of our neighbors; ultimately to bring glory to our Father. I Peter 4: 8-11 says: Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.  Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.  If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God.  If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength that God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory and the power forever and ever.  

This verse is the heart of what we hope to emulate when encouraging community in the cafe.  

If you were to wander into the Kingsmen Café at any given time you would be able to witness tables of students with a warm cup of coffee and open books, studying side by side.  Or you may see students huddled in the corner quizzing one another on their bible verse for an upcoming test.  If you are truly fortunate, you may be treated to the harmonizing sounds of the boy’s ensemble, practicing in the loft, their voices low and barely detectable, but beautiful nonetheless.  After school is another story; the excitement of the day's end is palpable and sometimes deafening.  This is the time that the younger students are given access to the café and are able to enjoy picking out their treat. They choose their snack, then count out their money and hand it over the counter to one of the women who work here.  You can see their faces light up in the process, delighted by their newly acquired independence.  Sometimes the older children in line will step in to help, much to the joy of the star-struck little ones. The laughter at that time of day is contagious.  The conversation is fluid; creating a continuous hum from 2:30 to 3:30.   Every thought that the students have had to hold in throughout the day seems to overflow once they reach their friends in the café.  In this room, it doesn’t matter if you’re five or one hundred and five; you’re welcome and you belong. 

I’m going to use this opportunity to make a pitch to all who are reading this.  Come check out our little café.  Stop in when you drop your student off and witness the beauty of our children gathered together around the tables.  Or bring a friend during the day and sit down for a cup of tea or coffee, letting them see for themselves the value of the God-centered community that you are investing in for the sake of your children.  It doesn’t matter how many years go by, that is one fundamental thing that has not, nor will ever change in our school.   

It is my prayer that one day, when your student has completed their time at CHS, they too will stand in the room that was once my library but is now their café, and think to themselves: “there’s no place like home.”

Lorna Tyrrell is the Kingsmen Café Manager.  She graduated from Christian Heritage in 1986 and went on to major in Early Childhood Education.  She taught preschool for many years before becoming a stay-at-home mom to daughters: Olivia, Rebekah, Mary and Naomi.  Lorna began a career in baking in 2013, learning her new craft of cake art at a local bakery.  She has continued this passion while helping at the Kingsmen Café; stepping into the Manager position 2 years ago.  When she's not baking or creating coffee, she can be found soaking up the joy that her six grandchildren bring. 

The digital age has revolutionized the way we work and access information in many positive ways. It has also revolutionized entertainment and how we spend our free time. With the click of a mouse, mousepad, or screen, a world of information and entertainment is available to us. All parents know the challenges of managing their child's appropriate use of devices, but in this blog, I would like to address the benefits of hands-on STEM electives in a world where we spend a lot (perhaps way too much) time interacting with two-dimensional screens.

Hands-on learning is a major part of all our upper school science classes at CHS, which all incorporate a lab component. However, recognizing the importance of STEM in our technological age, CHS offers Engineering Design with 3D Printing (ED3D) for high school students. Meeting twice per week, students are introduced to the engineering design process, which begins with defining a problem to solve, generating ideas and researching possible solutions, creating and building a prototype of the best solution, evaluating the prototype, and finally completing the final product.  

The class begins with an introduction to Computer-Aided Design (CAD) using Tinkercad, a solid modeling program for designing three-dimensional models. Tinkercad allows students to add three-dimensional forms to their ideas. Once student ideas are captured in Tinkercad, they can be exported for printing on CHS’s 3D printers. Once printed, student ideas can be evaluated for performance against design specifications. Often, the objects students intended to create have incorrect dimensions, feature placements, or other significant flaws. Thus, 3D printing helps our students to better understand how to transform things they see on their two-dimensional screens into the three-dimensional objects they intend to create.  

Each year, our ED3D students compete in a product fair for cash prizes, judged by our Grade 5 students. In preparation for the fair, students develop product marketing information in addition to designing and fabricating their products. Following the fair, students design and print projects of increasing complexity. Later in the class, students learn the challenges of takeoff and landing using a flight simulator. In the spring, students build, decorate, and race CO2 drag racers, which can reach speeds of 50 miles per hour. As a final design project, students, working as a team, design and fabricate rocket nose cones, which are attached to water bottle rockets for testing. Students learn about rocket altimetry and the principles of aerodynamic drag. A final project investigates the aerodynamics of flight where students build powered paper airplanes. 

But why should the high school students have all the hands-on engineering design learning and fun? That is a good question. Starting this year, CHS has created a new STEM class for all Grade 8 students. Introduction to Engineering meets once weekly and begins with an introduction to Tinkercad and 3D printing, where students fabricate projects of their own design. It continues with a brief introduction to the engineering disciplines, including mechanical, electrical, computer, software, optical, chemical, environmental, aerospace, and biomedical engineering. As with our high school class, students are introduced to the engineering design process and will participate in a product design fair in the spring. Additional projects will include building electrical devices using Snap Circuits, programming a robotic car, and building and testing CO2 drag racers with experiments to understand Newton’s Second Law of Motion (F = ma).  

Before my teaching career, I led the engineering group of a major semiconductor equipment manufacturer. As an engineer, I could not deny that creation requires a Creator. The Holy Spirit used science and engineering to lead me to God and faith in Jesus. It has been my pleasure to guide many CHS students into science, technology, and engineering careers. My love for science stems from an understanding that science reveals the greatness and majesty of our God, and I hope to pass that on to all our students. Our science classes and STEM electives at CHS are a good step in that direction.

Daniel Cote is the Science Department Chair at CHS. He teaches science, philosophy, and apologetics. He has a passion for encouraging students to consider science as a career and has been doing so at CHS since 2009. He is also a pastor and the founder of Multimedia Apologetics, an apologetics website ministry explaining and defending Christianity whose primary goal is evangelism. He greatly appreciates the opportunity to teach apologetics to CHS seniors. He holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maine, an MS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Bridgeport, a Master of Ministry in Apologetics from Southern Evangelical Seminary, and a Doctor of Ministry in Theology and Apologetics from Liberty University. Dan is the author of Jesus Is God and Savior: How Prophecy, Science, and History Affirm the Truth of Christianity.  

Luke’s Gospel tells us what Jesus came to do. “The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10).” But it also tells how He uniquely went about doing it. “The Son of Man came eating and drinking (Luke 7:34).”

Meals matter. Food sustains our bodies. And the people we eat with are usually the ones who sustain our soul. The word “companion” comes from the Latin words “bread” and “together”, because a friend is someone who breaks bread with us.

Jesus ate with everyone – the renegades and the religious; He ate with a few and with the masses, with His best friends and His betrayer.

Our theme this year is Come to the Table. While this is Jesus’ free invitation of grace to all, it is hard to RSVP “yes”.  Accepting this invitation comes with some stipulations. You have to acknowledge you are hungry for something that only God can satisfy. You also have to be okay being in the presence of your enemies at this table, because the grace of Jesus does not play favorites. And you have to eat what is served at the table.

We are going to journey through the book of Luke and stop each time Jesus sits down with someone for a meal. And we are going to learn about grace, humility, and the mission of God. And I pray that we will also live these out in greater measure. Come to the Table.

And we are going to practice this as a community right at the start of the year! On August 29th, we will kick off our first week of school with our annual Dedication Picnic. We share a meal and ask God to sustain us and empower us to learn and love in the year ahead. Then, on September 12-13, we’ll take the high school to HUME New England for our overnight retreat. Again, we will be sharing meals and marveling at the grace of Jesus offered to sinners like us. 

Mark Persson, aka “Chappy P,” is the Chaplain at CHS. He is married to Michelle, and they have three children: Karis (starting Kindergarten at CHS!), Micah, and Asher. Mark likes baking (read “eating”) bread, running, reading, and building forts with his kids. He is an elder at his church. And, he is blessed beyond belief to work alongside the incredible staff and faculty at CHS as they serve students and families!