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Local Church Newsletters Recognize Covenant Youth
GREENSBORO, NC (May 6, 2003) - Brandon Blue of Community Covenant Church in
Calumet Park, Illinois, has made the most of his educational training in
photojournalism at Western Illinois University in Macomb and his work was
noticed during a professional seminar recently at North Carolina A& T State
University.
Blue, a senior broadcasting major, was one of 30 students selected for the
National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Broadcast Short Course, a
three-day seminar designed to acquaint African American college students
with behind-the-scenes jobs in the broadcast industry. He was named the
best photojournalist at the seminar after helping produce a timely weather
story about flash floods and their effect on the East
Coast.
Lawrence Coleman from Charlotte's NBC affiliate WCNC was the instructor.
Sharon Stevens, education reporter at NBC's St. Louis television affiliate
KSDK-TV, helped Blue make contacts for the seminar event. Blue graduates in
May and hopes to attend graduate school. He wants to write and direct
movies, having gained valuable collegiate experience working with the
university's television and radio outlets.
Blue is one of many young Covenanters making news. Following are excerpts
from the more than 200 local church newsletters received by the Department
of Communication, grouped by conference and region.
CENTRAL
- Chicago, Illinois: Senior Paul Dorman of Grace Covenant Church in
Chicago, recently was awarded a $2,500 National Merit Scholarship, one of
99 high school students in Illinois so honored in the Chicago area. Winners
were chosen from a pool of 16,000 semifinalists who were selected based on
standardized test scores (known as the PSATs). Paul recorded a perfect
1,600 on his Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT) and recorded a perfect score
of 36 on his ACT test. An active member of a Saturday night worship service
band and active in his youth group at church, Paul enjoys swimming and
water polo at the local park district and is an avid computer programmer
(he updates his
church web page). He will attend the University of Michigan this fall,
majoring in aeronautical engineering.
- South Bend, Indiana: Megan Laskie of the Evangelical Covenant Church of
South Bend has been named to the Indiana All-State Choir for 2004. She will
sing alto in the mixed choir for high school students at the All-State
winter concert. All-State Choir is an activity sponsored by the Indiana
Choral Directors Association (ICDA), which includes three choirs: a
women's, men's choir and mixed. Approximately 475 students participate each
year and perform at the annual Indiana Music Educators Association's
convention,
held in Indianapolis during the second week in January.
EAST COAST
- Attleboro, Massachusetts: Ashley Root, Amy McEvoy and Kent Pigeon of
the
Evangelical Covenant Church of Attleboro had roles in the musical "Honk,"
which was presented by the North Attleboro High School Theatre Group.
Junior high students collected and delivered 635 pounds of food to the
Attleboro Council of Aging recently
after being challenged to bring in enough food pantry items to equal the
weight of the group.
- West Peabody, Massachusetts: Community Covenant teen Jenna Ward was a
tri-captain on her Peabody High School basketball team that received the
Massachusetts Alliance for Promotion of Sportsmanship (MIAA) state Division
I schools award for sportsmanship. The team was invited to the Fleet Center
to be given the award at a Boston Celtics professional basketball game.
Ward was also busy last fall as she captained her soccer team, earning
All-League honors as the Tanners qualified for state.
- Worcester, Massachusetts: Karl Murwin of Salem Covenant Church was
honored during the Eagle Ceremony at the church May 18 as he completed
requirements to become an Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America. For his
Eagle project he installed a sound system in the Salem Covenant Church
gymnasium. Murwin lives in nearby Paxton, Massachusetts, and attends
Wachusett High School.
ECCAK
- Jason Battiest of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, a student at Alaska Christian
College in Soldotna, Alaska, recently received the KICY Radio "Iditarod
Scholarship" for educational excellence and community service. Battiest
assisted with news coverage of the internationally known Iditarod dog sled
race in Nome and received a small stipend as well as airfare and housing
for his work as an on-air radio personality. Battiest also helped cover the
region's annual meeting in Koyuk.
MIDWEST
- Sloan, Iowa: Amanda Tower and Sidney Kounkel of the Evangelical
Covenant
Church of Sloan were members of the seventh grade math squad that placed
fourth
at the regional math competition in Sioux City.
- Clyde, Kansas: Brantford Evangelical Covenant Church seventh grader
Rachel Lundquist was a member of a Clifton-Clyde Scholar Bowl team that
finished first in a recent 12-school academic bowl competition. Meanwhile,
another Brantford youth, junior Nick Uhlrich of Washington High School, was
recognized by a local Elks Club for his academic achievement. The top four
students for the school's junior and senior classes were invited to the
dinner.
- Salina, Kansas: Seven of First Covenant Church's college students took
a spring break to Spring City, Tennessee, t
o help build a sea wall along the shore where Cedine Bible Camp is located.
Rob Johnson said the group worked four days hauling rocks to help prevent
shoreline erosion.
- Topeka, Kansas: Brookwood Covenant Church's Matt Swedlund is competing
with the Kansas State University men's cross country and track and field
teams this year after a stellar distance running career at Washburn Rural
High School. He is running the 3,000-meter steeplechase in track this
spring. In an April meet at Emporia, Kansas, he finished sixth in the
steeplechase after placing eighth in an invitational at Arizona State
University the previous weekend.
NORTH PACIFIC
- Helena, Montana: Youth from the Evangelical Covenant Church of Helena
were among a group of 37 from the church recently traveling to Juarez,
Mexico, for mission work at the Hands of Luke Ministry Orphanage. The group
was involved in projects such as painting a mural on the courtyard wall of
the orphanage, painting churches and roofing buildings. But, in a recent
church newsletter, youth intern Regina Tode, stated that far more happened
than work-related events. "We came to Mexico to be changed, not to change
Mexico," Tode said as she described her hopes for the trip. And that is
exactly what happened. One evening, three students were baptized in a small
church the group had just painted at the children's home. Three students
rededicated their
lives to Jesus Christ and one received Christ as savior and Lord. "We will
forever thank the Lord for how He changed our youth that night," Tode
stated.
- Seattle, Washington: Sophomore Shannon Seidel of First Covenant Church
is competing in the heptathlon for the University of Massachusetts-Lowell
track and field team this spring and has made her mark in numerous meets.
At the Penn Relays in Philadelphia in April, she took eighth among 13
athletes in the heptathlon and placed fifth among the Division II and III
entries. Seidel finished with 4,202 points and
highlighted the event by placing fifth in the javelin (96' 7.0''); tied for
fifth in the high jump (5' 1.0''); and sixth in the 800 meters (2:26.97).
She placed fifth in the long jump with a personal best distance of 17'
5.5'' and sixth in the 100-meter hurdles in 16.23 at
the University of New Hampshire Invitational.
- Yakima, Washington: Wiley Heights Covenant Church youth Scotty Wilson
was among eight students from Ahtanum Elementary School to participate in a
team math competition with 32 other Eastern Washington schools. Wilson's
school finished third overall and was invited to compete this month in a
master's competition with schools from other regions of the state.
NORTHWEST
- Dawson, Minnesota: A number of students from Dawson Covenant Church
have
been active in their schools this spring. Nine recently were part of a
Minnesota subsectional solo ensemble music contest. They are Dawson-Boyd
High School's Brittany and Nicholas Benson, Joe and Jeff Griener, Diedre
and Jenna Thompson, Nathaniel Fondell and Adam Miller, along with Candy
High's Terra Goplen. Fondell and Thompson are high school seniors. Another
senior, Tanner Ulstad, is playing baseball for
LQP Valley High and two other high school students, Kelly Gerbig and
Elisabeth Fondell play softball at Dawson-Boyd High.
PACIFIC SOUTHWEST
- Redwood City, California: Peninsula Covenant Aquatics, a swim club from
the church's community center, recently sent two swimmers, Elizabeth
Whiteley and Elizabeth Balassone, to compete in a two-day swim meet in
Pichilemu, Chile. The church made connections with a Youth With A Mission
Christian Community Center in the city. Whiteley and Balassone of Menlo
School helped PCA director of Aquatics Dave Knochenhauer run a swim stroke
clinic for a few days prior to the swim meet.
- San Diego, California: College Center Covenant Church's Brian Paff
turned in a fifth place performance for Calvin College of Grand Rapids,
Michigan, in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Track
and Field 10,000-meter race. His time was a career best effort of 32
minutes, 25 seconds. An elementary education major at the school, Paff also
runs for the nationally ranked cross country team, with one year of
eligibility remaining.
- Santa Barbara, California: Montecito Covenant Church's Noah Bryant has
been competing at the University of Southern California (USC) in Track and
Field this spring, throwing the shot put, discus and hammer. The freshman
recently placed second in the shot put during a meet at California State
University-Northridge with a throw of 54 feet, 7.25 inches. He also placed
fifth in the discus and sixth in the hammer. A week earlier at the Stanford
University Invitational, he was sixth in the shot put in the elite division
with a toss of 54-8.75. Bryant was a state champion high school shot putter
at Carpinteria High School and was an All-Section football player before
heading to USC.
To keep current with youth activities throughout the Covenant, regularly
visit this news report. Newsletters can be sent to Communications at
newsdesk@covchurch.org or by regular mail at 5101 N. Francisco Avenue,
Chicago, IL, 60625. To telephone information to Communications, call
773-907-8333.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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