Basketball Upset!

Congratulations to the boys 7/8 varsity team for pulling a shocker at Southwest Florida Christian Academy (SFCA) in the first round of the playoffs! The boys won 49-37 and move on to the semifinals Thursday at St. Michaels.

Alumni Congratulations

My wife and I had the honor to attend a ceremony ar Grace United Methodist for FMCS alumni, Jacob Derums. Jacob reached the level of Eagle Scout - only about 5% of all Boy Scouts achieve this honor, 1.7 million SINCE 1912! Congratulations to Jacob and his family! FYI - it just so happens that his Scoutmaster is FMCS alumni, Steven Howard ('87).



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Thank You Grandparents!

The fact that it was "Friday the 13th" had no impact on an excellent Grandparents Day at FMCS! We were blessed with over 200 in attendance, a great music program led by a special "make-shift" Jamaican band, Dorothy Gulbronson and the kids, Pastor Dan Betzer, and activities in the classroom. The school was also blessed by the new members of the Grandparents Club who have already given $4849 and pledged $2285 for a total of $7134!!! Grandparents continue leaving a legacy in providing financial assistance to help students attend FMCS. It was a great day! Many thanks to Mrs. Liz Allen, parent volunteers, faculty, staff, aides and teachers.

Underground Railroad

The 8th grade was busy again today! This time with Mrs. Mitchell's on-campus reanactment of the Underground Railroad for history class!
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Basketball Playoffs Update

From the "office" of the Suncoast Junior High League: junior high boys and girls playoffs begin next week. The regular season ends this week.

The boys finished fifth in the league, and will start next Tuesday at SFCA.

The girls finished sixth in the league and next Tuesday will play at St. Andrews.

The semi-finals and finals would all be at the Highest Seeded team school. Semi-Finals on Thursday 2-19-09, and Finals on Tuesday 2-24-09.

Eighth Graders Participate in Natiional Assessment Today

The eighth grade class participated in the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress this morning. Our school and 19 other private and public schools are involved in the assessment. The NAEP will administer assessments in mathematics, reading, and science to over 50 million students. For more information, go to http://nces.we.gov/nationsreportcard/


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Academic Standouts

Today the middle school spelling bee was held in the Colonial Chapel. The winners who will represent FMCS at the Lee County Bee are: first place, Jordan Gulbronson and second place, Maria Swiersz! Special thanks to our judges: Mrs. Crouch, Mrs. Leatherman and Miss Shrader.

The certificates for the FMCS science fair were passed out by Mrs. Leatherman - first place was Zach Liebetreu for his study on the best contact lense solution that kills germs (Clear Care); Maria Swiersz was second with her study on Gatorade vs. Water.

Parent University Cafe

We had a great turnout this morning of over 20 parents for the Parent University meeting. We have had an excellent year in leadership and involvement and look forward to a great second semester! Please check the calendar for the Chuckie Cheese Family Night, Coldstone Night, coin drive, gold tournament and more. Next meeting (which we had free coffee donated from Starbuck the last two meetings) will be March 16th.

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Over 70 Dads and Daughters Enjoy Breakfast Together!

After a great WAY-FM Concert Friday, I had a great morning back at the school with our first Parent University Dads and Daughters breakfast. We had a great turnout - over 70 dads and daughters - enjoyed pancakes, sausage, bacon, OJ and coffee! We packed out the Children's Center cafeteria and then made our way over to the Kidztown chapel and a special message from Pastor Dave Richards on becoming Superdads! He took the word "hero" and challenged us to make sure we do four things with our daughters:

H - hugs

E - encourage

R - recreation

O - observe

I want to thank our donor for providing the funds to pay for an outstanding breakfast from Rene's Catering, Pastor David for the message, and my volunteers who did a great job: Joan Faux, Nancy Romstadt, Wendy Fulton, Joni Schopke and Courtney Schokpe. (I also want to thank my daughter Robin for helping me also)

The Father/Son breakfast is coming March 7, 2009. If we have anyone that would like to volunteer to help, email me at MMitchell@fmcs-fl.com

I want to continue to encourage the dads to plug into http://www.allprodad.com/ (even moms should check out http://www.imom.com/

Great Night at First Assembly: WAY-FM Concert Rocks and Packs the House!

A sold out crowd had a great time Friday night at the WAY-FM concert at First Assembly of God. The school and church partnered with WAY-FM and World Vision to provide a great night with Sanctus Real, Matthew West and Jason Gray. Their music and words blessed us, challenged us, and invited us to strengthen our faith in Christ!

I want to give a HUGE thanks to Colleen Marinello for all of her hard work coordinating the concert with the school, church and WAY-FM! Thanks to Brian Finger for setting this concert up for us months ago!

A THOUSAND thanks to the team effort of First Assembly staff and FMCS's staff, faculty, school board and parents who volunteered in many different areas before, during and after the concert.

WHAT A BLESSING to hear the comments from WAY-FM and each of the concert groups on how they were treated by the church and school! Jason Gray even bragged about Mary Snyder's food from the stage during the concert!!!!

I am not sure what the final count was but at one point over 61 African children were sponsored at the concert through Worldvision!

FMCS and Grant Writing News

When Pastor Brian Finger was with us at the start of the year, we was very instrumental in helping us get the assistance of a professional grant writer to help us at the school. We would like to introduce to you Mrs. Mindy Hoeth to help you find out who she is, understand how this process works and let you know how to pray for funds for FMCS:

My name is Mindy Hoeth and I'm blessed to be working with FMCS. I'm a member of First Assembly of God, volunteer as Dean of Students at Fort Myers Master's Commission, and serve in various ministries within the church. Pastor Finger asked me, last year, if I'd be interested in working with FMCS to identify grant resources. I immediately said "Yes", as I'm a fan of the school, but more so - believe in and support Christian education. I'm grateful to Pastor Finger - a mighty man of God and a man I'm honored to call friend.

After Pastor Finger's departure, I was uncertain as to how we would proceed. However, after meeting with Mr. Mitchell, Mr. Ryba, and Mrs. O'Brien a few weeks ago, we decided to proceed in the grant identification, grant writing, and grant administration process - and as they say in the movies, the rest is history! I'm grateful for the opportunity to work with such an esteemed group of people and looking forward to meeting teachers, parents, students, and other important stakeholders as I undertake the grant writing phase.

The grant identification phase is complete and I'm now in the process of relationship building with Foundations and the actual grant writing. Please pray that God opens the doors to the right people and the right people are receptive. As I continue to build these relationships, pray that our needs meet their scope of giving; i.e. our priorities are programs they will fund. Please pray that the information required is easily accessible and that God anoints my writing.

These are tenuous times in the grant-making and grant-seeking industry. Many Foundations' funds have been severely impacted due to the financial crisis. Many are freezing their giving for two or three grant cycles. All Foundations are being more selective than ever in granting monies only to programs and organizations that meet their scope -- to a "t". Some Foundations have been so severely impacted that they have been forced to shut down. It's vital that we all understand what we're facing as we seek money in a day and time of economic turmoil. I'm not ignoring the reality of the situation but I'm choosing to keep my eye on my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who tells me that "All things are possible to those who believe" - and I believe.

I appreciate your support and prayers . . . there is power in prayer.

FMCS is blessed and thankful to have Mindy with us - we will continue to support and pray for her as she looks for grants to help us improve our technology, supplemental academic programs, playgrounds, programs, and find opportunities to help our teachers in their professional development. Look for more of her updates in the future as news breaks in this area...

Student Scholarship News!

FMCS is proud to announce that 8th grader, (in order from above) Wray Burgess, Brian Richards and Jordan McBreen will be receiving partial scholarships from Bishop Verot High School. The school is sponsoring the 3rd Annual Father Chris Hudgin Scholar Awards. During the first semester students from FMCS, St. Andrews, St. Michaels, and St. Francis qualified. To earn this recognition, students must achieve a 90 percent or better in math or reading as seventh-graders on the SAT. They were then invited to take the Preliminary Scholarship Aptitude Test, or PSAT. (given to high school juniors and seniors) A score of 50 or better in any of the test´s categories - critical reading, math and writing -will earn them a $500 scholarship; two, a $1000 scholarship; and three, a $1500 scholarship. Wray was awarded a $1500 scholarship; Jordan was awarded a $1000 scholarship; and Brian was awarded a $500 scholarship.

A "Special" Email

A surprise email in my inbox tonight as we start Kingdom Assignment V:

Dear Principal Mel -

What a joy it was when your blog got "google alerted" to me because of the words Kingdom Assignment. My name is Leesa Bellesi and my husband, Denny and I founded Kingdom Assignment International when we handed out 100 dollars to 100 people to our congregation back in November 2000.

Sounds like you have carried on the message in a most beautiful way with your students.
Would love to hear more.

Please check out our website at www.kingdomassignment.org (see the WELL DONE Awards).

God's richest blessings to you, your family and your daily assignments for Him -

Leesa Bellesi
Kingdom Assignment International
"turning heads and hearts into the hands and feet of Christ"

Middle School Spelling Bee Finalists

The "spell-downs" have been completed in the middle school classrooms and here is the list of finalists that will compete in the middle school spelling bee on February 10th:

- Zachary Leibetreu
- Janine O'Reilly
- David Faux
- Taylor Rezzatano
- Maria Sweirsz
- Jessica Miller
- Jordan McBreen
- Jordan Gulbronson

Each student received a reward of a free ticket to next Friday's WAY-FM concert with Matthew West and Santus Reel.

The winner will advance to the LEE COUNTY SPELLING BEE! If they win there, they move on to the Scripps National Spelling Bee and ESPN fame!

100 Days!

The kindergarten has their annual celebration of 100 days of school! Parties and posters with 100 items mark the event -see some examples below:








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