|
Home
Scholarship Winner Highlights List of Youth Activities
CLYDE, KS (April 14, 2003) - Brantford Evangelical Covenant Church's Valerie
Brax recently competed in the State Junior Miss Scholarship Pageant at
Belleville High School, finishing as first runner-up.
Brax, a high school senior, was among 16 contestants. She won the interview
portion of the event and received $800 in college scholarship money. An
honor student at Washington High School, Brax plays three high school
sports - volleyball, basketball and track and field - while participating
in cheerleading and various clubs.
She will pursue a dual degree program at Manhattan Christian College and
nearby Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. Brax became interested
in scholarship
pageants after watching her older sister, Lynette, compete. "I met 15
wonderful girls and had a great time," Brax said of the state pageant. "I
was honored to have been there."
Brax is one of many young people in local churches of the Evangelical
Covenant Church who have distinguished themselves in school and community
activities. Following are notes on other young people gleaned from the more
than 200 local church newsletters received each month by the Department of
Communication, grouped by conference or region.
CENTRAL
- Mount Prospect, Illinois: Mark Jaeschke was part of the Thomas Middle
School Jazz Ensemble that won first place at the recent Illinois Grade
School Music Association competition in Mount Prospect. Mark also received
an "Outstanding Musician Award" from the judges. Both Mark and Mark's
brother, Michael, earned a 1-plus score for a music solo during
competition.
- Stillman Valley, Illinois: Valley Evangelical Covenant Church sixth
grader Hannah Smith won a spelling bee in Stillman Valley competing against
other sixth, seventh and eighth grade students. She later competed in a
regional spelling bee in Dixon. Another youth from the church, seventh
grader Aaron Deets, was first at the Byron Middle School spelling bee and
also competed at the regional in Dixon. At the high school level, Emily
Smith participated on the state champion Scholastic Bowl team at Stillman
Valley High School.
- Portage, Indiana: David Hinojosa of the Evangelical Covenant Church of
Portage helped his Portage High School team to sixth place in the Indiana
State Academic Decathlon competition. Individually, Hinojosa was first in
his speech division.
- Iron River, Michigan: Grace Covenant Church teens Kyle Fish, Brandon
Hakari, Tim Lindahl and Krista Lindwall were honored by the Crystal Falls
Rotary Club for their academic accomplishments - all are in the top 10
percent of their high school class. Another teen, Karla VanWagner, was
named to the All-Conference team for girls volleyball. Meanwhile, eighth
grader Cassie Bekkala won a community schools spelling bee and will compete
in an event in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
- Beloit, Wisconsin: Redeemer Evangelical Covenant Church's Chrissy
Nilson was part of the Clinton High School girls basketball team that
captured the Wisconsin Division 3 state championship. Her team won 20 of
its final 21 games to finish 22-4 overall.
ECCAK
- Eagle River, Alaska: Community Covenant Church's Renee Hammett won a
gold medal and Lukas Brown won gold and silver medals at the recent state
Taekwondo championships.
GREAT LAKES
- Jamestown, New York: First Covenant Church youth Sandi Walrod received
a
National Science Merit Award for Physics at Bethel Baptist Christian
Academy.
MIDWEST
- Wausa, Nebraska: Chris Rodenborg of the Evangelical Covenant Church of
Wausa won the sixth grade spelling bee for Knox County.
NORTH PACIFIC
- Yakima, Washington: Wiley Heights Covenant Church students A.J.
Melcher, Kristin Hull and Emily Bates perform for the pep band at West
Valley High School while Jessica Bitz-Richards is a budding volleyball
player in the area. Bitz-Richards' Team Yakima Volleyball Club squad placed
sixth out of 32 teams in a recent tournament in Yakima in the under-14 age
division.
NORTHWEST
- Minneapolis, Minnesota: Bethlehem Covenant Church student Maria Balogh
qualified for the finals of the Minnesota State History Day competition for
her efforts on a school project. Her performance is based on the story of a
brother and sister (Hans and Sophie Scholl) who were part of a resistance
movement called the White Rose in Nazi Germany.
- Clear Lake, Wisconsin: United Covenant Church's Deanna Helgeson was
named valedictorian for Clayton High School, culminating an active high
school career. She plans to attend the University of Wisconsin in Madison
this fall. Besides maintaining a 4.0 grade point average on a 4.0 scale,
she has participated in art, forensics, drama, jazz band, marching band,
concert band and choir, dance team, softball and
yearbook. In art, she has received state recognition for her paintings and
sculpture projects during the past two years. In forensics, she made the
state tournament in the areas of poetry, prose and farrago. She has played
a saxophone at a state music competition and played violin at the Northern
Lakes Center for the Arts with the
community orchestra. She has served as class president for Student Council,
is current president of the National Honor Society at Clayton High and was
nominated for a scholarship through her school.
PACIFIC SOUTHWEST
- Hilmar, California: Hilmar Covenant's Anna Keevy, a senior music major
at California State University-Stanislaus, was a featured performer in the
"Young Artist Showcase." The event features musically gifted young people
between 18 and 25 years of age who reside in Turlock. She received a $500
scholarship for her efforts. Keevy is part of Hilmar Covenant's adult choir
and serves as a piano accompanist.
SOUTHEAST
- St. Petersburg, Florida: Faith Covenant Church's Tess Mullinax, one of
the top girls basketball players in her area, recently scored her 2,000th
point as a varsity player for Shorecrest Christian High School. She has
been playing varsity basketball since eighth grade. Another Faith Covenant
youth, Melissa Tomlin, has done well in club gymnastics, recently placing
second at the Dawg Classic Meet at the University of Georgia in the All
Around competition (combination of scores from four events). Tomlin, a home
schooled sixth grader, was second in the parallel bars event and second in
the balance beam
- Greensboro, North Carolina: Trinity Church's Trudy Li was a member of
the Grimsley High School varsity Science Olympiad team that took first
place in a regional competition at Guilford College.
To learn more about what some of our Covenant youth and teens are doing,
regularly visit this Covenant news report at www.covchurch.org. To send
information about youth and teens at your church for inclusion in these
updates, email Covenant Communications at newsdesk@covchurch.org or call
773-907-8333.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
|
|
|
