Morgan Brown will graduate from ICS with the class of 2024. Morgan’s first day as an ICS student was also the first day of his senior year…
Choosing ICS for Senior Year
Rooted in Love: How ICS Encourages Your Student to Pursue Jesus
In our effort to allow more time and opportunity for parents and students alike to be “Rooted in Love,” we have made the following changes for this school year…
Meet the Delaney Family!
While eating breakfast in a local hotel (near ICS), my wife and I met an Alumni of ICS who shared his family's experiences with the school and encouraged us to visit the school to see if it might be a good fit for our kids…
Meet the Glenn Family
Alumna Spotlight: Natalie Renaud
I attended ICS for three years and graduated in 2018. I am extremely grateful for my time at ICS and how it equipped me to find purpose and meaning through God’s will for my life…
Music Tour 2022
Before August 2022, the last time I was in a school, I was a student. A nervous wreck, I entered ICS on my first day, a teacher. I handed out the syllabus to my first class and shakingly asked if there were any questions. Several hands shot up, and the question was asked, as if no other questions mattered, “Is there going to be a Tour this year?” All other hands went down…
Meet the Cizik Family!
After Googling “Christian Schools in Salt Lake City” the Cizik family found Intermountain Christian School. The Cizik’s were moving from Seattle to Utah and finding a Christian school for her son, Luke, was important to Amy. Upon touring ICS during the summer of 2019, Amy was struck by the natural light in the hallways and the friendliness of everyone she met while at the school. The spiritual emphasis of the school solidified Amy’s desire to have Luke attend. The Ciziks moved to Salt Lake on August 11, 2019 and Luke started kindergarten on August 14! The family is grateful for the experience they’ve had thus far.
For Amy, the strong community at ICS is vital. She is assured that Luke’s teachers are caring and that he has great friends in his class. Amy appreciates that parents are able to connect and talk amongst themselves. The fact that there are 14 grades on one campus is a bonus, too, as Amy’s family likes to support the school’s sports teams and theater productions! Luke looks forward to when he is old enough to participate in ICS sports! The Ciziks attend Hope Church and see many of their church friends at school, too, solidifying that sense of community.
The Ciziks feel well supported at ICS and Amy says she knows of many teachers, administrators and staff that she could call/text if she were to ever need anything. Amy trusts that while at ICS, Luke, among his teachers and his friends will continue to “increase in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.” Luke 2:52
Steadfastness in the Midst of a Most Unusual Marathon
Knowing that the COVID-19 crisis will eventually end, working backward from that point into all of the details, decisions, and attitudes of our lives today helps us determine a realistic, maintainable stride for daily life.
I AM STRONG: KENADIE JACKSON AND MSLT
“She came to me in early October to ask if MSLT could start a middle school Worship Night at ICS once a month. To be honest, I was a little reluctant about this at first because that would mean two events per month (instead of one).”
THE PRACTICE OF SABBATH
What does it look like to practice Sabbath today? While I encourage every reader to consider incorporating a full 24-hour period of Sabbath into his or her weekly rhythm, I honor the freedom Christ gives to interpret the discipline differently. As you ponder how to orient your life around three-fold communion, here are some ideas that have inspired me.
COURAGE TO RUN THE (STATE) RACE
Big Canyon Ranch HS Retreat: A mama's perspective
He washed me with His grace as I entered into a knowing that He’s used ICS, this community, these friends, mentors, and teachers to come alongside him.
TRUSTING THROUGH TRAGEDY
“This past week our family experienced an emotional and unexpected journey. Our oldest son, who is an ICS Alum (c/o 2016), is a Cadet at West Point Military Academy in New York. He was home for our youngest son’s 2019 graduation from ICS and headed back to WP for field training.”
The Teacher Effect
Let’s take a trip together- traveling into your memory-mind’s eye. Do you see whose face appears when I ask who was your favorite teacher? Did you take it back to your kindergarten days with his/hers undoubtedly kind smile, or perhaps that one awesome basketball coach who pushed you harder than any other during sophomore year? Do you have him or her in your mind? Now hold on to the feeling- not the image of their face, but the feeling they left in your heart which you are revisiting now- The peace you received during that rough personal time, the laughter bubbling up because they had a killer sense of humor, or the immense pride you feel in yourself at this moment because you know your life could have turned sideways if they had not crossed your path at that exact moment they did. Welcome to the teacher effect.
I would argue that whether you were a total school-loving, high-performing nerd to the max (like myself) or the kid who couldn’t wait to bust through the doors of your school for the last time and never look back (like my husband)- No matter where you stand on the grading scale, there was that one teacher who you had and currently have this undeniable fondness for. For me, it was my third-grade teacher, Mrs. Greer. She was the eldest teacher I ever had, and my goodness gracious her strict disposition was palpable, but she had this effect on me throughout the remainder of my schooling days that set the tone for my drive toward achievement. I was drawn to her teaching style- her almost military-like standard of focus really hit a note for me and to this day I still sing her praises (obviously).
Let’s return. We’re here watching our children make their own relationships, evaluations and memories with teachers of their own. A greater sense of appreciation has hit us as we see from the parenting perspective how each teacher molds, uplifts and pushes them to greatness better than we can ourselves. This year alone, I never knew how monstrously impatient I could be until attempting (ahem, *failing*) to help my son learn to read. That is, until Mrs. Brown came along to take the reins with a calm confidence, followed with Mrs. Veldhuis coming in with the assist (like a perfectly timed “alley-oop”) in “Reading Intervention.” With months of frustration internally building and often times spilling over at my son’s expense, he came home from school one day, sat himself at the counter and began to read me a book as I prepped dinner. Slowly and all at once, my kindergartner was reading and I wasn’t sitting next to him painfully going through each. and. every. word with him. HALLELUJAH! Something clicked for him in that classroom, at the side of his teachers, that spurred a realization to greater achievement than I was able to. As a parent, welcome to the teacher effect.
Being on the outside looking in to a life building within and around your children is one of the hardest realities of becoming a parent. But, man oh man, when I see the beauty through pain, the accomplishments through hardships, and the blessings through steadfastness, I experience that same calm confidence that Mrs. Brown had brought to the table. The stronghold of control in making sure my kids are okay easily slips away. I have the calm confidence in the molding of their minds and characters because of their teachers.
They are cared for.
They are loved.
They are heard.
They are stretched and challenged.
They are held to a higher standard.
They are becoming who they are in large part due to their teachers.
3 John 1:4
“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in
the truth.”
Remember that teacher in your memory-mind’s eye? The good work he or she has done in your own life is the same good work your son or daughter’s teacher is doing right this very moment. The teacher effect is generational. I encourage you, do not hold back your tongue in thankfulness for those men and women who show up displaying God’s goodness in your kids’ lives. May the position of gratitude in your heart be expressed outwardly toward them today. If she were still alive today, I would track down Mrs. Greer and thank her for instilling a love of learning in my life, for giving me a king-size Snickers bar when I finally mastered my times tables and for keeping me in line when I was easily distracted by my crazy friends. Go thank a teacher today and let him or her know that their impact is tangible, life-bringing and ever so important.
Comment below who your favorite teachers were and share on Facebook!
Written by Erica Smith, ICS Mom
Equipped, Inspired and Thriving!
ICS involved me in small groups, mentorships, and Christ-centered community through all twelve years I attended. Coming to college, I realized that this familiarity and solidarity in Christ was what I missed most. I am so thankful that I knew what a healthy body of believers looked like so I could find and create a similar type of uplifting and life giving community in my new home.
Not Unto Us: Unsung Servants at ICS
Behind the scenes of ICS, faithful women and men labor each school day in loving service to their Savior and the school. The unsung nature of their lives echoes the words of the psalmist,
“Not unto us Lord, not unto us, but to your name be the glory!” Psalm 115:1
These selfless servants play key roles at the school including secretarial, reception, organization, finance, marketing, admissions, maintenance, technology, and special projects.
What do operational team members do? They make it easy for faculty and staff to educate their students. They implement the vision of the principals and head of school. They meet the practical needs of 55 staff members, 340 students, and over 200 families.
But what do they really do?
They tirelessly coordinate hot lunch and parent-teacher conferences, while answering phones, and comforting a sick or injured child, ALL AT ONCE!
They faithfully note the weekly MS and HS student birthdays and ball games, schedule daily subs, and email report cards out on time.
They carefully calculate tuition, needs-based assistance spreadsheets, and bank deposits, then graciously answer any and all monthly billing questions.
They creatively design snazzy MAROON Lion T-shirts and keep the website and school-wide announcements up-to-date and on point.
They joyfully introduce the school to new families and patiently walk with them each step of the way as new students apply and enroll.
They dutifully book soccer fields and basketball gyms, corral the myriad of school activities and events into a usable master calendar, keep score at games, and schedule buses to get all the students safely to their various destinations right on time.
They meticulously set-up Surface Pros and Chromebooks, reconnect printers, align projectors, maintain wireless networks, and troubleshoot equipment errors.
They amazingly pull off memorable events like Annual Fund Celebration and Day of Service, rarely missing a detail.
They humbly plunge clogged toilets, change burnt out light bulbs, and setup and tear down the cafeteria and gym for chapel, lunch, and basketball games.
Whew - it’s a lot of work to help a school operate!
While these servants may often go UNNOTICED, let's hope they never go UNAPPRECIATED.
How thankful we are to God that ICS can offer an exemplary education because of their tireless work, their joyful smiles, and their constant example of faithful lives serving the God they love!
By Matt Parker