Central Christian preparing for start of new school year
Central Christian School will begin the 2024-25 school year on Aug. 20.
Even though Central Christian School in Kidron won’t have its first day until Aug. 20, there has already been lots of activity at the school.
A four-day volleyball camp was recently held, and about 25 high school girls participated in strengthening their skills. And on the week leading into August, various students, retired faculty and staff, parents, grandparents, and community members assembled new furniture for the cafeteria and saved nearly $20,000 for the school.
“In just a few weeks, we will be eating our school lunches together in our newly renovated and expanded cafeteria. There will be an updated commercial kitchen as well as a concessions area, which should generate a lot of attention,” said Nathan Holton, Central’s superintendent.
Other changes at the school include the addition of Abby Maibach as the new kindergarten teacher, Wyatt Ammon as a social studies teacher and Christa Moore as the art teacher. Two new positions this school year will be filled by Corinne Nussbaum, who will teach a pilot first-grade cello class, and Christa Wolf, who will be the performing arts coordinator.
Holton said Central provides a Christ-centered education from an Anabaptist perspective that he thinks lends to deep relationships, nurtured learning and a focus on how that learning equips students for service in Jesus’ kingdom. The CCS theme verse for 2024-25 comes from the letter to the Romans in Romans 12:12 (NIV):
“Therefore I urge you brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God — this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
“I absolutely love working for Central Christian School,” Holton said. “Every person I work with is advocating for the mission of the school and each other’s highest good. I love that we can talk about Jesus every day, all the time, any place, in chapel and Bible classes, yes, but everywhere else too — math, science, social studies, language arts, in classrooms, hallways and offices.
“The greatest challenge for me — and our school — is the recent loss of our dear friend and servant Tina Burkhart (the school’s finance director), who died suddenly this past May just before school let out for the summer.”
Some dates and events of note for the first half of the school year include the following:
—Friday, Oct. 18: high school concert.
—Friday, Oct. 25: Central Christian Community Service Day.
—Friday and Saturday, Nov. 8-9: high school play at 7 p.m.
—Friday, Nov. 22: middle school concert.
—Saturday, Dec. 7: “Christmas in the Woods,” walk through the CCS wooded property.
Additionally, a Fine Arts Symposium for the high school students will be held Nov. 26, and the Mennonite Schools Council Choir Festival will be April 11-13, 2025.