Insider News

INSIDER NEWS

Greetings from our nation’s capital, where 190 high school students just started the academic year. This number represents exponential growth from when ICHS welcomed our first freshmen and sophomore classes of 30 students in the fall of 2019. Our strategic location, just a few miles from Washington, D.C. and as the only K-12 Christian school inside the beltway, partly explains our growth. Yet, the true essence of our success lies in our commitment to a challenging college-preparatory curriculum, taught from a biblical worldview, delivered by our outstanding educators who are passionate about fostering spiritual and academic growth.

Thanks to supportive individuals like you, we successfully raised over $14 million for this extraordinary Christian high school within the Beltway. Insider News is a periodic e-update providing a brief overview of how your contribution is utilized daily to shape the future leaders of America.

A New Era

PASSING THE BATON

Former Head of School Emeritus, Mr. Steve Danish, reflects on his 34 years of service at Immanuel Christian School.

The recently renovated building for Immanuel Christian High School has four floors. At the entrance to each is a caption identifying one of the four pillars of an Immanuel education — FAITH, KNOWLEDGE, THINKING, and COMMUNICATION.  These represent four ways Immanuel prepares students to engage with the truth — believing the truth, knowing the truth, using the truth, and sharing the truth.
 
In a world where truth appears to have become a negotiable commodity, we are used to seeing people manipulate, twist, distort, and spin the truth to serve the ends they desire. But this problem has been around for a long time. When Pontius Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?”, he was responding with skepticism to what Jesus had said about Himself — “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world — to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice” (John 18:37).
 
I am convinced that nothing is more important for this emerging generation of students than preparing them to seek and to find the truth God has revealed through His world, His word, and His work within us. Jesus was very clear about the priorities with which this must be done when he said, “I am the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6).
 
This summer represents an important transition in my life personally. After 34 years I am retiring from my role with Immanuel Christian School. While I remain connected through prayer and support, I am grateful for the strong leadership God has brought to ICS through Dr. Nathan Stevens, our new Head of School. It is deeply gratifying to me to see the vision and legacy of Immanuel Christian School carried forward as we continue to prepare students to explore the truth with their head, heart, and hands.

Mr. Steve Danish and Head of School, Dr. Nathan Stevens, during our recent building dedication.

Dr. Stevens shares his appreciation for the legacy of wise and faithful leadership of ICS of
which he is now the beneficiary.

I am deeply grateful for the faithfulness of God’s people here at Immanuel Christian School over the past 49 years. I serve alongside faculty and staff members who have been called and committed to our mission, standing on the foundation laid by God’s faithful stewards, like Mr. Steve Danish.  I had the honor of introducing Steve as our speaker during the commencement ceremonies for the class of 2024. In my introduction, I shared the following anecdote, 

I remember the first time I walked into the office; I was surprised that a table of this size was the first thing I saw when I entered the space. While I appreciate the opportunity to collaborate, and I was thankful that this was clearly an important part of the work of the previous head of school, the reality was this table had a different purpose. In addition to the table, I saw a credenza that included several spoons, forks, paper plates, and napkins.  What an interesting combination of findings. Mr. Danish must have hosted many parties in this space. As I explored further, it became clear that this table was for collaboration, but it was specifically for engagement with small groups of students. The forks, spoons, plates, and napkins were for students who could sit around the table with Mr. Danish and discuss one of his favorite subjects, God’s word. 

Steve kept the main thing the main thing.  As he so clearly communicated in his letter, Immanuel Christian School continues to be committed to elevating the truth “God has revealed through His world, His word, and His work within us.”

Inspiring Purposeful Lives

DEDICATED TO SERVICE

Immanuel’s purpose is to “partner with families to inspire purposeful lives of learning, godliness, and service”. These three pillars form a foundation to equip our young people to become faith, thought, and culture leaders. Service is an integral because it provides the opportunity for our students to put their faith into action. During the school year, our students serve in various non-profits throughout the area to fulfill academic requirements. Summer is typically a time when high school students focus time on family, friends, rest, hobbies, and work experiences. But, it is incredibly rewarding when our students invest part of their summer in serving others. A number of our high school students joined Immanuel Bible Church for short term missions trips to Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic, hosting Vacation Bible School (VBS) programs for local children and working on construction projects..

Over in Europe, with the help of a McNally Fund Scholarship, Hannah L. (ICHS Class of 2024) shared the gospel by hosting a Liya Music Camp. While the camp had a smaller attendance the expected, the team helped to train worship leaders for a church of Ukrainian refugees and host a worship service for pastors from all over Poland. Hannah shared, “Leading worship is something that has been a huge part of my life and I’ve been blessed to have experienced how different cultures worship…I’m glad that I was able to use my gifts to bless the body of Christ.”

Transforming Tomorrow’s Leaders

A FOUNDATION BUILT ON FAITH

Three ICHS students had the privilege to attend a two-week conference at Summit Ministries headquarters in Manitou Springs, CO this summer. Summit Ministries’ states their goal, “Young people have so many questions: BIG questions about life, love, the Bible, God, and faith. Summit Ministries helps inquisitive students examine their faith and gives them confidence in biblical truth.” This is the same approach for our Biblical Worldview class where students discuss their faith and wrestle with foundational ideas concerning apologetics, culture, and worldviews.

One of our attendees, Audrey, reflected on her time at this transformational conference. “Coming back from the Summit Ministries Conference yesterday has given me time to reflect on how grateful I am. Over the two weeks, I have learned so much about apologetics and how to defend our faith in a secular world. This experience has changed the trajectory of my life and my faith. I was able to make so many friends along the way, but also make stronger bonds with the two other ICHS students who attended, Grey and Jonathan, of which I am so appreciative. I have learned a great amount about how to be a leader for others and be a Christ-like example. Thank you for giving me the ability to go to this camp, I will forever be grateful that I had this opportunity. Thank you!”

National Impact

ICHS CO-HOSTS NATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR EDUCATORS

Nearly one hundred Christian Educational Leaders from all across the United States gathered in DC, July 17-19. The Herzog Foundation, which exists to catalyze quality Christian education, hosted Spiritual Formation training for board members, heads of schools, principals, spiritual formation directors, and teachers. This three-day event started out at the Museum of the Bible and ended at Immanuel’s state of the art High School campus. ICS leaders, Jennilee Miller, Rachel Reno, and Jake Kounter were featured speakers as well as coaches for this event. In many ways, these three days of educating, encouraging, and equipping Christian educators, realized a dream and prayer for ICS as we were able to leverage the excellent meeting space of the high school to bring together, support, and elevate Christian education at a national level. We thank the Lord for his provision and look forward to more opportunities to partner with Herzog and other organizations who are championing Christian education.

A Future in Law Enforcement

ACHIEVEMENT RECOGNIZED

Senior Kiana May A. attended the Virginia Youth Cadet Law Enforcement program over the summer and was awarded the Jessica Cheney Memorial Award. The Youth Cadet Law program is a weeklong training curriculum for high school students who have completed their junior year. Cadets experience a life similar to a trooper-in-training, complete with daily room inspections and instruction by state police troopers on department operations, crime scene investigations, officer survival, undercover operations, driver improvement, scuba training, defensive tactics, and firearms safety. 

Kiana May was selected to receive the Jessica Cheney Memorial Award. The annual award is presented in memory of Trooper Jessica J. Cheney who was the first cadet to graduate from the program and go on to become a trooper.

Top-Notch Facilities

READY FOR BATTLE ON THE COURT

Our K-8 campus is currently getting a fantastic upgrade with the installation of a new, smooth gym floor. This is not just a win for our K-8 students, but also for our high school sports teams who will reap the benefits. The contractor, who has been diligently working throughout the summer, is projected to finish this state-of-the-art improvement soon. Your generous support has made this upgrade possible, and for that, we express our deepest gratitude! Once complete, we eagerly look forward to hosting volleyball and basketball games, as well as conducting PE classes in our newly updated gym. This advancement will undoubtedly enhance our sports and physical education programs.

Raise The Flags

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT

We deeply appreciate your support in making this project a reality! Your generous support allows us to honor our American and Christian traditions as we proudly display these symbols of faith and freedom to all who visit our campus.

Earlier this summer, we announced an opportunity for the community to partner in supporting the efforts of the 2024 Senior class gift. The students contributed $2,000 toward the cost of two flagpoles with lighting for the high school campus: one for the American flag and one for the Christian flag. At a time when many educational institutions are disrespecting our flag, ICHS students are honored to have these flags greet campus visitors. They symbolize our shared values, bear testimony to our resilience as Americans, and inspire unity and reflection on God’s goodness to our school and nation. This campus project was completed in early August and was ready to welcome our high school students back on campus.

Equipping Students

YEABOOK EDITORS EXPAND SKILLS

This summer, a trio of our diligent yearbook editors, Reagan, Grace, and Isabel, embarked on a four-day journey to Charlotte, NC, to attend the valuable Walsworth Yearbook Camp. A fourth editor, Edwyn, was unable to attend. Attendees invested their time and creativity in developing the yearbook’s theme, selecting the perfect colors, designing an eye-catching cover, and meticulously planning the page spreads. This endeavor is just one instance of the many opportunities our high school students have to acquire and apply skills that will be useful not only during their high school years but also in their future endeavors. Participating in this conference was both demanding and gratifying, offering an excellent way to commence the academic year. Their efforts will contribute significantly to documenting the vibrant life of our ICS community in the forthcoming school year.