Bible Awareness Week, by Dr. David Lawrence

Bible Awareness Week, as remembered by Dr. David Lawrence, former WCS Faculty Member

When I joined the Collegiate faculty in 1971, I was asked to take the position of Chair of the Christian Studies department and told that there were parents who would be willing to help me establish a viable curriculum and campus-wide program to offer students spiritual encouragement and nurture.

Two parents in particular, Bill Brunson and George Fooshee, worked closely with me. One of the suggestions that came out of those meetings and subsequent meetings with Headmaster Storms was holding a Bible Emphasis week with a nationally known speaker to address students daily. For the next five years this event became a Collegiate tradition. 

Our first Bible Emphasis week featured John MacArthur who went on to become one of the nation’s best-known and popular conference speakers and authority on evangelical theology. The second was Dave Breese, a recognized national radio speaker. Others included Frank Kik, senior pastor of Eastminster Presbyterian Church; Willie Franklin, ex-major league football player and popular speaker on the youth circuit; and Mike Andrus, pastor of the First Evangelical Free Church in Wichita.

The five years of the Bible Emphasis Week provided the students not only with theological information but with the opportunity to think critically about spiritual issues and their application to their lives as they heard a variety of approaches to Christian theology.

 

 

Chapel, by Lynda Dawkins

Chapel
Remembered by Lynda Dawkins, former WCS Faculty Member and Middle School Head

Chapels date back to the earliest days of Collegiate. Students gathered in the basement of the Rounds Fine Arts Building on Friday morning, seated by class, and dressed appropriately which for the boys included coat and tie for the younger students and  blazers for seventh through twelfth grades. Ties were always available from Mr. Storms' office for anyone unfortunate enough to have forgotten to wear one that day. However, the ties available were not ones that would have been a student's choice, so those were always a last resort. Programs for chapel involved music, often hymns sung by the entire student body and led by Harold Kruger, but there were also special treats of performances by individual students and on occasion, the faculty members formed a group and sang. The remainder of the program was left to individual classes and included outside and in-house speakers, as well as skits and plays students wrote themselves based on Bible stories or a particular book that had a meaningful message. As the student body grew and it was impossible for everyone to fit in the chapel, each division had a separate time.  Chapels continued as part of Collegiate's tradition into the mid to late eighties.

Please share your remembrances about Chapel!

Booster Night

Bill Messamore Remembers Booster Night

Each year a few days after school starts and before we really get into our difficult academic schedule, the entire Collegiate community gathers for a preview of our fall sports teams. It’s Booster Night, one of our many traditional gatherings here at WCS. Every team is undefeated and optimism runs high.  The Booster Club volunteers have worked hard cleaning and fixing to make the football stadium, the grounds, the tennis courts and the gyms look their best.  A silent auction precedes a hamburger feed where you can bid on choice parking places for games or even a signed helmet of this year’s seniors.  After supper we gather in the gym for introductions of both the middle school and upper school teams.  The coaches give us a preview of their upcoming season and then we get down to the business of the evening.  First the volleyball team puts on an exhibition in the gym, then we head to the tennis courts to see what the new tennis players can do and finally we end the evening with a scrimmage by the football team at the stadium.  Booster Night is a family affair; it’s a chance to reconnect with friends you haven’t seen all summer and bring everyone together supporting the Spartans.

Back-to-School Assembly and Flag Raising

Back-to School Assembly and Flag Raising

by Tom Davis
In 2006, a new tradition began to celebrate the beginning of a new school year and serve as a reminder about the importance of the Collegiate community. This continues today with the Collegiate Boy Scout troop raising the American flag as the Star Spangled Banner is sung and the Pledge of Allegiance is recited. As Headmaster, I speak about the history of Collegiate, our country and the similar founding principles of freedom, loyalty and liberty for all.

In 2011, the ceremony moved to the Ockerman Amphitheater. Each class is represented by a colorful blue and gold flag. A current year’s senior class representative escorts each class from their classroom to the amphitheater. Bunny Hill and the senior class president join me in sharing comments for the morning.
The tradition of displaying the flags was extended to the commencement ceremonies in 2012. A student representative from each future graduating class processes to the stage and posts the flag behind the seniors. This message of the pageantry once again demonstrates the unity and continuity of our school.
Proba Te Dignum, evermore.

 

 

 

 

The Ice Cream Social and Lower and Middle School Assemblies

ICE CREAM SOCIAL
by Kaye Myers

 

The end of summer and the beginning of the new school year is a transitional time for both students and adults.  It is a time filled with feelings of excitement and apprehension.  What better way to calm these feelings than to get together with old and new friends at the annual Back-to-School Ice Cream Social.  Regardless of the weather there is always plenty of ice cream to enjoy while catching up on the activities of friends and meeting new teachers and classmates, many of whom will become your life-long friends.

 

 

 

LOWER AND MIDDLE SCHOOL ASSEMBLIES
by Suze Anne Norton

Wichita Collegiate School has always recognized the many benefits gained from gathering our school community together. From the small beginnings of our school, we have regularly gathered students together to celebrate individual and school successes, enlighten our students of important topics with school and community speakers, and reinforce the universal values that have been the foundation of our school.

These universal values were originally shared through a Christian perspective. As our school community became more diverse during the mid-eighties, our weekly gatherings changed from chapels to assemblies. This change also coincided with the flooding of the chapel in the summer of 1986 in the basement area below the Lower School/Middle School lunchroom. 

 

 

 

Assemblies are a very important part of student life at Collegiate, and Lower and Middle School continue to hold weekly assemblies. They are a time of sharing, entertainment, and sharing a common vision of our school community.

 



 Please share with us your memories from the Ice Cream Social or assemblies!