🏐🎉Congratulations to our Girls Volleyball team!! This program has made it to the Section Semi-Finals for the first time in school history. 🎉🏐
👍Wish them luck, cheer them on, Roll Thunder!
Thursday, November 2, 6:00 pm @ West Lutheran
Ticket link: https://mshslr4a.hometownticketing.com/embed/event/129
#ucathunder #ucaathletics
💜“Moments like this are the heartbeat of UCA” -Dr. Morrison, Elementary Principal
🎃✂️🍞Mrs. Brown’s and Troost’s students spent time together recently celebrating all things pumpkin, working on crafts and eating homemade bread. But more importantly, they are able to build relationships with students from different grade levels. We value placing students in mentor/mentee relationships from the beginning of each school year. Watching them grow throughout the year is amazing!
#ucathunder #ucaelementary
🇲🇽 Our upper elementary learners embarked on a journey in their Spanish classes as they explored the vibrant world of colors and the awe-inspiring migration of monarch butterflies. They marveled at how these tiny creatures travel thousands of miles.🦋🌎
🎨 In the classroom, our students delved into a spectrum of colors, learning their names in Spanish and getting creative with a beautiful “mariposa” art project.🖌️🌟
#ucathunder #ucaelementary
🏐 Next Girls Volleyball Match:
Thursday, 11/2, 6:00 PM at West Lutheran High School
Ticket link: https://mshslr4a.hometownticketing.com/embed/event/129
🏀 Girls Basketball Meeting:
Thursday, 11/2, 8:30 PM
All levels via Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84254846829?pwd=d7HueDS8l8Nbl6S6pxaVGJZE0H6tpN.1
Meeting ID: 842 5484 6829
Passcode: 1A48CF
🏀 Boys Basketball Meeting:
Monday, 11/6, 6:00 PM
All levels
At the Upper School
Putting skills to the test in the real world! 📸🍁🌎
Our photography students have left the classroom to explore nature and put their newly acquired knowledge into action. Mrs. Taylor and her students recently visited Minnehaha Falls with their cameras in hand. 🌄📷
The Photography 1 students are venturing into shooting in full manual mode, and the Photo Editing students are tapping into their creativity and mastering their photo correction techniques. 🎨💻📷🔧
#ucathunder #ucafinearts
#tuesdaytestimonial - New Family Edition
💜 We love to hear from our families about their experiences at our school. This week, we feature a family that is new to UCA this year. Please help us welcome the Gilchrist family!
"This is our first year attending UCA. We started looking at schools a year ago when one of our kids was having a hard time academically and started asking to go to a smaller school with less distractions. We started our search and we’re drawn to UCA’s Christ centered mission. We knew immediately after touring the school that it was the right fit. During the tour, our daughter, who we weren’t originally intending on enrolling, fell in love with the school as well and we ended up enrolling two of our kids. They are loving the smaller class size, chapel and calmer class environment. They have made great friends already and look forward to school each day, which rarely happened before.
We live in Farmington so the distance was a factor for us when making our decision with schools. However, seeing how happy and settled our kids are makes us happy with our decision and would make UCA our choice again and again."
UCA is so blessed to have the Gilchrist family as part of our community!
#ucathunder #tuesdaytestimonial
🦛 Hungry, Hungry Hippo - Middle School style!
🏆 Last Friday's Middle School house competition was a life-sized version of a childhood favorite. Each house team competed against each other for some coveted house points.
😂The laughter and team spirit were contagious, and the memories will last forever!
💙 Contratulations to Gratia for pulling out a win!
#ucathunder #ucahousesystem
🎃 Pumpkin Prayer 🙏
Mrs. Berry took our youngest students through a pumpkin art project as a Halloween alternative. It focused on different things to think and pray about while you carve a pumpkin this year. 🎨🧡
“Open my eyes so Your love I will see” 👀❤️
“Open my mouth to tell others You are near” 🗣️🙌
“Let Your light shine in me so others can see” 💫🕯️
Once the students finished their pumpkins, they lit a candle behind them to let their light shine! 🕯️🌟
#ucathunder
🤔What is your WHY?
🌱📖 Using our Deep Roots Bible curriculum, Mrs. Nerdahl led her 4th graders in a discussion about universalism and the idea of free will. How free will allows for good and evil in every situation, and how we get to choose how we act. 👍👎
💬 She then challenged them to talk in small groups, to practice sharing their faith with other kids at the neighborhood playground. Being able to explain to others WHY they choose to follow Jesus is so important. The students hear about it at school, and in family conversations, but could they defend their faith to a stranger at the playground? What is their WHY?
The students also had time to use their Chromebooks to do some Bible review time in this curriculum, working on scripture memorization, character traits, and root of knowledge vocabulary.
#ucathunder #ucaelementary #christcenterededucation
🌎📚 History Class Showdown 🏆🗺️
Mr. Hendrickson has embarked on a mission to make learning not just educational but incredibly exciting. Using a friendly competition format, his four classes have been transported to a group of fictional countries, where they're vying for supremacy. 🗺️🏰
🏞️He uses content review questions for the 9th and 10th grade students to earn land tiles to place on the map. Beyond knowledge, strategy is key. Students must plan their moves wisely, defend their territories, and use their resources to gain the upper hand.
🌟 We are thrilled to see our students so engaged, competitive, and passionate about history. This unique approach is turning our classroom into an epic battlefield of knowledge, where every victory is a lesson learned.
#ucathunder #ucaupperschool
🍝🦴 A Pasta-tively Creative Lesson in Anatomy! 🧬📚
🍝Our talented anatomy students have been cooking up something unique in the lab, and it's not your typical pasta dish! They transformed ordinary pasta noodles into an extraordinary model of the human skeletal system.💀
🤔Each type of pasta represented different bones in the human body. Each group had ten minutes to build their skeleton. They had to consider the size, shape, and position of each pasta bone, which encouraged critical thinking and problem-solving skills. At the end, they all voted on which was the most accurate and complete.
🙌 This hands-on project allowed students to explore the intricacies of the human skeleton in a fun and interactive way. It's a tasty twist on traditional anatomical studies!
#ucathunder #ucastem
🏐 🔆 Brighten up the gym at our neon-themed night! 🔆🏐
Our girls are playing in a Section Quarter-Final match this Thursday night, 7pm, at the Bethany Gym.
The Thunder earned the 3rd seed out of the 12 teams in the section. The visiting team will be Liberty Academy, who gave us an exciting run of 5 sets in a recent match!
Tickets for this event are all digital and can be purchased at the gate or prior to the event (https://mshslr4a.hometownticketing.com/embed/event/116) Adult Tickets: $10 All Student Tickets: $5 No cash will be accepted at the door.
Follow along with the playoff bracket here: https://www.mshsl.org/tournaments/2023-section-4a-volleyball-girls-tournament
We still need help with volunteers for this event. If you want a free ticket, please consider signing up to help run the match. https://www.timetosignup.com/ucathunder/sheet/1350917
#ucathunder #ucaathletics
🎃🍂 Preschool Pumpkin Adventures! 🍂🎃
Last week was full of pumpkin fun for our little preschoolers! 🧒👧 They turned our back grassy area into a pumpkin patch and picked their very own pumpkins.
🎃 The kids used their tiny hands and keen eyes to find the most "pumpkiny" pumpkins they could lay their hands on. 🧡
🎨📏 Back in the classroom, the pumpkins became the center of all classroom activities. Art, science, you name it! They were measured, drawn on, checked to see if they sink or float, and more. 🕵️♂️
🌾As we celebrate the magic of the fall season, we're grateful for the opportunity to nurture creativity, curiosity, and friendships. We can't wait to see what our preschoolers come up with next! 🍁🌻
#ucathunder #ucapreschool
Changes to today's Cross Country meet:
JV races have been canceled.
Boys Varsity will start at 4:30 p.m.
Girls Varsity will start at 4:35 p.m.
🍂🍁Celebrating Fall, Celebrating Friendship! 💜
🔎 Ms. Flaga and Mrs. Shogren’s students recently paired up for a fall-themed scavenger hunt. Time together in God’s beautiful creation, working together as a team, and building relationships across the grades. It doesn’t get much better than this!
🍎🍪 Top it all off with some cider and cookies. It warms you to your soul.
#ucathunder #ucaelementary
🧠 Learning Beyond the Classroom 📚
⛳Dr. Morrison used disc golf as a fun class activity to teach his students that Kinetic Energy is the energy of motion. It's the force that makes things go and significantly impacts our everyday lives, even when we're having fun! His students discovered the fundamental principles of kinetic energy:
🔵 Speed Matters: The faster the disc flies, the more kinetic energy it possesses. Just like a moving car has more energy than a stationary one!
🔴 Mass Matters: Heavier discs store more kinetic energy than lighter ones. Think of a large truck having more energy than a bicycle.
✨By mastering the principles of kinetic energy while playing disc golf, students gain a deeper understanding of the physics behind sports, transportation, and countless other real-world scenarios.
#ucathunder #ucamiddleschool #ucastem
🏐🌟 Heartfelt Thanks for an Unforgettable Evening 🌟🏐
Friends, family, and alumni rallied around Coach Larson last week at her last home game coaching volleyball for UCA.
Denise, you have been a guiding light for countless players over the years, instilling not only the skills of the game but also the values of teamwork, perseverance, and sportsmanship. Your legacy will forever inspire us! 🙌
To our family members, your unwavering support and encouragement have meant the world to our athletes and to our retiring coach. Your cheers from the stands have been a source of motivation. To our friends and alumni, it was truly special to see familiar faces from different chapters of our volleyball journey.
Thank you for making this event an unforgettable one. 🙏
#ucathunder #ucaathletics
👏 Congratulations to our very own Mr. Chris Palmer for his induction into the Faribault Sports Hall of Fame!
Chris is a 2009 graduate of Bethlehem Academy and was an outstanding multi-sport athlete in Football, Basketball and Golf.
-Basketball conference champions in 2007, 2008 and 2009 culminating with a State Tournament appearance in 2009.
-3 time all-conference basketball, all state as a senior and team MVP
-All time leading scorer and rebounder in BA history
-Played in the MBCA all-star game
-Played at St. Mary’s University and UW River Falls. Chris was in the top 5 in scoring and rebounding as a freshman, top 2 in both as a sophomore as well as 1st Team all MIAC as a sophomore
-Managed and coached at various camps after college
💜 We are blessed and privileged to have Mr. Palmer on our staff! He pours his passion for learning, sports, and the Lord into each and every athlete and student he works with.
#ucathunder
♥️ 💛 💚 💙 At the end of each quarter we highlight students that are portraying what we call “House Essentials”. These essentials are behaviors, skills, and gifts that we pray will shine through each and every one of our students.
Teachers take notes and vote on who they see is consistently being a good leader in these areas. One student is chosen for each school level, Elementary (preK - 5th), Middle School (6th-8th), and High School (9th-12th). Each student is awarded house points, and a personalized, special edition sweatshirt! They are recognized during chapel in front of their peers.
The first quarter ended today, and our winning students were:
Julia - High School (12th)
Isaiah- Middle School (6th)
Lagatha - (2nd)
Keep shining the light!
#ucathunder #ucahousesystem
🖍️✍️Our elementary students recently held a coloring contest for our House System. All of the entries were voted on anonymously by teachers and staff, and a winner was chosen for each grade.
🤔💡Creativity abounded as the students were given free reign to color their House logo however they wanted.
🥪The winners were rewarded with the opportunity to eat their lunch in a classroom with Dr. Morrison. They were also treated with homemade brownies, made by our very own Mrs. Troost!
#ucathunder #ucaelementary #ucahousesystem
