College Preparation after 13 years at WICS
School Focus in the Right Direction
Senior Spotlights 2005
What College Officials Say About WICS
I Am Midshipman Ryan Dorn

College Preparation after 13 years at WICS...
Our children have both attended Oshkosh Christian and now Valley Christian
High School since they were in kindergarten. Our daughter Laura is a 2000 graduate of OCS. When she attended college she was told "nobody gets an A from that English professor." She got an A in the course, thanks to the excellent English preparation she received from Mrs. Sue Donker in high school. Laura was well prepared for rigorous college classes in Aeronautical Science because of the education she received at OCS.
Our son John will graduate from VCHS in 2005. Once again he also has
received a quality Christ-centered education which has reinforced the Christian
values we teach in our home. He looks forward to technical college in the fall
knowing he is well prepared academically and spiritually for his study of Music
and Recording Technology.
The investment of our time and money for Christian education over the past 18
years was well worth it.
Sarah and Gary Troxell

School Focus in the Right Direction

An open letter to all OCS and VCHS parents: March 17, 2005
A few months ago, my wife and I were faced with the need to place our youngest child, a
5th grader, in school, and we explored the options that were available to us. Since we
were formerly involved with OCS, and had heard about some good things going on at the
school, we made an appointment to speak with the “new administrator”, Mr. Benson.
I had my list of questions for Mr. Benson. Even before the “merger mess”, I had serious
reservations about the spiritual condition, academic quality, and general direction of the
school. Eventually, my wife and I prayerfully withdrew our children and our support of
the school as concerns and suggestions continued to fall upon what seemed to be haughty, deaf, human ears. As a parent, a pastor, and former part-time teacher at the school, I wanted to be certain that the focus of the school was again aimed at glorifying God and teaching the students to pattern their lives after Jesus’ example.
I didn’t have the opportunity to ask all of the questions that I had formulated for Mr.
Benson - I didn’t need to. In our conversation, we observed a humble servant of God
whose sole desire is to please Him, acknowledging his total dependence upon Him,
focused on reproducing that attitude in the staff and students. Needless to say, we were
pleased and enrolled our daughter that afternoon. I realize that just as you cannot judge a
book by its cover, you cannot judge a school by its administrator – but – you can get a
pretty good idea about its content.
Over the past few months, I have seen the evidence of a positive change at the school. I
can sense that the Lord is doing good things at the school. Our daughter has been
welcomed with open loving arms. The spiritual emphasis at school is quite
complementary to our teaching and example at home and church. She is being
challenged academically. There is an attitude of respect and compassion among the staff
and students. It has been a testimony to God’s grace and providence that Oshkosh
Christian School’s doors are open this year. By that same grace and providence, in
conjunction with the continued obedience of the school’s constituency, we can trust that
God’s blessing will continue to rest upon the school, for His honor and glory.
In the Service of the King of Kings,
Pastor David Eisley

Senior Spotlights 2005

Following are excerpts from “The Spirit of One” Newsletter from April 29, 2005 in
which the seniors this year gave their reflections of VCHS and also advice to younger
students.
“The biggest impact VCHS has had in my life would be just how all of classes
tied God into every area of my life. I loved being surrounded by other Christians
that encourage and challenge me. For all my fellow students—live each day as if
it were your last, have fun and let it be full of joy and laughter.” --Maureen
Abbrederis
“I liked playing basketball this year. I also liked chapel, the teachers, the new
people I met here, and the way I felt getting closer to God. Follow God, and put
him first in everything. Believe in Him; keep doing your best.” --Taylor Anderson
“…I feel God leading me to use the talents that He’s given me. VCHS has
impacted my life the most by preparing me to look at the world from a Biblical
perspective. My advice to the younger students is to remember that actions
speak louder than words: act like Christ. Always keep Psalm 27:14 in mind.”
--Chelsey Benson
“The Biggest impact “Sweet Valley High” has had on me is how it is just a big
family to everybody. My favorite part is how much fun we can have with the
teachers. ..Don’t slack off freshman year, and never give up no matter what
anyone tells you.” --Josh Dodge
“The biggest part of VCHS is the quality teaching I see here. My words of advice
are: listen to Mr. Davis!” --Matthew Hanna
“VCHS has had such an impact in my faith; it has challenged me in my walk and
helped reaffirm my beliefs. To other students I’d like to say, always stand up for
what you believe in.” --Laura Knurr
“My favorite part about VCHS is the people. All the teachers and students have
helped me so much in every aspect of my life. It’s incredible how God just sends
the right people into your life.” --Danny Lande
“VCHS has had a major impact on my spiritual walk with God. I am encouraged
in my faith every day. To other students—your words are powerful to each other,
so keep on using them to build each other up.” --Alisa Lingnofski
“My favorite thing about VCHS is the Christian fellowship I enjoy every day. To
the younger students, remember to love each other deeply as our Lord Jesus
Christ commanded us.” --Anna Lingnofski
“The biggest impact VCHS has had on me is how all the teachers and all the
students are so friendly and encouraging. Underclassmen, you should stick with
your studies because it all pays off in the end.” --Austin Martin

What College Admission Officials Say About WICS
February 24, 2004
I’ve been asked to speak with you briefly as a parent whose kid has recently gone through the college application process. My son Chris has been attending here since 8th grade. He’s now a senior and he has been accepted at the college of his choice. I wanted to let you know how his being a Valley Christian High School student affected his efforts to get into a good college.
When we talked about college with people whose kids are in public high schools, we got
a lot of conventional wisdom about what you need to have a chance to get into a good
college. As with most conventional wisdom, it was wrong. These so-called requirements
focused on extraneous or material things—expensive, taxpayer-financed things—and had
nothing to do with fundamental knowledge. Here are just some of the things we heard
out there that were supposedly necessary:

* Access to state-of-the-art computer equipment and expensive software;
* expensive science labs;
* “Advanced Placement” classes;
* lots of exotic electives (by the way, did you know you can take a class in horse
grooming at one of our area public high schools?);
* lots and lots of extra-curriculars to list on your application;
Thanks to this conventional wisdom, we started our college visits with some worry--
because it didn’t matter what we thought of these so-called “requirements”—what
mattered was what the college admissions officials would think.
What we actually heard from admissions people was not what we feared. These are
people whose job depends on fishing through a vast sea of high school students and
landing only the ones they think would make their colleges look good. We learned that
colleges are looking for is kids who have a command of the basics: English, Math, and
Science--and who show some focused interest in worthy extracurriculars—the sports,
drama, choir, Key Club, student newspaper, Forensics and others offered at Valley
Christian seemed to be quite sufficient.
Anyway, what we learned from all our visits and conversations with admissions people
and others was quite reassuring: if you pay attention and do your homework at Valley
Christian, you are better prepared than most college applicants.
Here’s what we heard from various people during the application process (I’ve
paraphrased the best I can from memory):
* An admissions counselor told us: “We consider a small graduating class a plus. It
means the student got lots of attention. When we see someone from a private
school like Valley Christian--we know the student and the family were serious
about his education. Being from a small school also means his teachers know him
very well and we can rely on what they say in their recommendation letters.”
* Another admissions counselor said: “If you work hard, have good teachers and a
good curriculum, you can test out of intro classes in college and earn AP credit.
Advanced placement classes, like the ones in the public high schools, are overemphasized and over-rated. We can tell from your son’s test scores that he had
good teachers and a good curriculum. His classes may not have been called
‘advanced placement,’ but some of them appear to have been advanced placement
anyway.”
* The Chairman of a graduate architecture department said: “We want to teach our
architecture students to draw. It doesn’t matter to us at all whether your son had a
$200,000 computer lab or architectural drafting electives in high school. By the
time he needs to begin using computer-aided design software in our curriculum,
anything he used in high school would be obsolete anyway.”
* Another Admissions Counselor: “The kids we see from small schools like Valley
Christian tend to do very well in college.”
* Department chair: “Your son is the only kid in his calculus class? What a
wonderful opportunity! He must be learning a lot!”
* Admissions counselor: “Your son’s language test scores are really good. He had
the same English teacher for five years? She must be an incredibly good teacher.”
* And finally, a college student tour guide: “We have a very small studentinstructor
ratio—about 11 students for each instructor. It’s what sets this college
apart from its competition—lots of attention--kind of like your son’s high school,
I guess.”
We made it through the college admissions process because of what Valley Christian is;
what it isn’t didn’t hurt us at all.
--Brad Bauknecht

I am Midshipman Ryan Dorn

I am Midshipman Ryan A. Dorn, a 2003 graduate of Valley Christian High School in
Oshkosh, WI. My thirteen years of Christian education are having an enormous
impact on my life and my future goals. I received a firm foundation to meet the
challenges I now face and the even greater challenges I have yet to face. My
Christian high school had not only addressed the superior academics I needed, but it
also addressed my spiritual, athletic, social and ethical needs required to prepare me
for my future goals.
I am presently a Plebe at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD and am
facing the many challenges here much better than I thought possible. Many of the
high standards now expected from my Ethics and Leadership classes were already
instilled during my years in Christian education.
It is difficult to gain appointment into the academies. This year there were more than
14,500 applicants for 1,200 openings for each academy. The admission process is
lengthy and arduous, with paperwork, deadlines, letters of recommendation to solicit,
interviews by liaison officers, applications to my congressmen and the Vice-President,
physical performance tests, medical exams and security clearances. I had to be
scholastically qualified by admissions boards and receive an official nomination from
a congressman.
Besides the scholarships I received upon high school graduation, I also received a
four-year Air Force ROTC scholarship to the college of my choice, an appointment to
the U.S. Military Academy at West Point (nominated by Congressman Mark Green), an
appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD (nominated by Senator
Herb Kohl), and an appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy (nominated by
Senator Russ Feingold). I humbly declined all but one, and I was inducted July 2003
into the U.S. Naval Academy.
My spiritual and athletic leadership skills acquired during high school helped me
through the six-week program of the rigid discipline of Plebe Summer. I am
successfully just completing my first semester of college academics, athletics and
military professional training. Because of the choir training I received in high school, I
have been chosen to sing with the Protestant Choir and the prestigious U.S. Naval
Academy Men’s Glee Club. We have already traveled to 7 states and will sing at the
White House this December. Next summer I will be serving on a 3-week cruise, which
could be anywhere in the world.
Valley Christian High School and my family prepared me well with a positive attitude,
a tenacious and disciplined work ethic and the virtues that are so vital in the quest of
my goal—those of the Honor Concept at the Academy—that I will never lie, steal or
cheat. I never had to abruptly start living honorably, thanks to my Christian
education.