Insider News

INSIDER NEWS

Greetings from our nation’s capital, where 178 high school students recently concluded the academic year, with 36 seniors graduating from Immanuel Christian High School.

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 that provides a brief overview of how your contribution is utilized daily to shape the future leaders of America.

Big News

$2 MILLION IN SCHOLARSHIPS AWARDED

Our 2024 graduates, 36 young men and women, are ready to take their place as the next generation of Christian citizens equipped with a thoroughly biblical worldview and a commitment to civic responsibility. We are honored to celebrate the success of the senior class, who achieved 100% college acceptance to 68 universities, and boasted an average SAT score of 1210. In addition, we had a Commended Student in the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program, one student attending West Point, four students awarded Army ROTC Scholarships, one student awarded a Navy ROTC Scholarship, and two students signed to play at the NCAA Division 1 level.

This year, our K-12 student body completed over 10,000 hours of service to our community. Our commitment to providing developmentally appropriate service opportunities is foundational to our mission – inspiring purposeful lives of learning, godliness and service – and allows students to embody the gospel message as they serve others.

At the graduation ceremony, three seniors reflected on the school’s mission to inspire purposeful lives of learning, godliness, and service. We hope you are inspired by their thoughts.

“God’s creation is bursting with things for us to discover. Will we have the curiosity and ambition to plumb the depths of His creation?” –Caitlin M., Valedictorian, Student Speech on Learning

“God will enable us to move forward into the next chapter of our lives with confidence that only Christ can give. Jesus endured hell so that you wouldn’t have to. The worst possible thing you could experience was defeated over 2,000 years ago. That’s the gospel. Share it boldly.” –Evelynn M., Student Speech on Godliness

“As Christ served us, we also must serve those around us, and those we lead, always keeping in mind Christ’s mindset of humility…Serve others with no intention of reward, sacrifice your own comfort for the comfort of others, do not boast in your service to others, but hide it in your heart to cherish.” –Ethan T., Student Speech on Service

TravelTerm Abroad

EXPERIENCE KENYA THROUGH THE EYES OF OUR STUDENTS

The annual TravelTerm for our juniors and seniors this year was spent on a service trip to Kenya, where they had the opportunity to connect with our partner school, Camp Brethren Christian School in Eburru. This trip was filled with relationship-building, teaching and service, encouraging our students to minister together.

At the heart of this service trip to Africa is our belief that God calls us to be “doers of the word and not hearers only.” This is the message of Jesus’ parable about the wise and foolish builders in Matthew 7:24-27. What is the firm foundation Jesus speaks of? The secret to successful spiritual formation and Christian maturity is being a “doer of the word.” It’s not just about listening to the truth and ignoring it; it’s about putting it into action. Community service opportunities are about exercising the muscles of Christian character, not just by hearing the truth, but also by living it.

TravelTerm Abroad in 2025

GREECE, ENGLAND & SCOTLAND

Next year, our students will embark on a transformative journey through powerful first-hand study experiences. TravelTerm is an annual condensed semester integrated into our high school curriculum. It allows every ICHS student to travel abroad and undertake intensive coursework in history, geography, biblical studies, and practical life skills. This rapid, immersive educational experience helps students discover new strengths, tackle fresh challenges, and expand their understanding of the world.

Next year freshmen and sophomores will travel to England and Scotland and journey from Runnymede, where the course of Western civilization’s government changed in 1215 with the Magna Carta, to Westminster Abbey, the resting place of the great Christian abolitionist William Wilberforce.

Due to unrest in Israel, our juniors and seniors will experience a change in their expected itinerary next year and will travel to Greece instead of the planned trip to Israel. However, the format and purpose remain the same. The students will engage in an open-Bible approach, with the itinerary anchored in the Apostle Paul’s missionary routes through the region.

Fine Arts

DYNAMIC AND INSPIRED PERFORMANCES ON STAGE

In April, our high school and middle school students delivered multiple sold-out performances of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Ahead of their performance, the cast watched Prince Caspian at the Museum of the Bible and had a special backstage experience with the cast. This visit left them inspired and eager to bring their show to life. This unique opportunity, made possible by Logos Theatre, demonstrates how our students leverage the unique offerings of the DC area. Additionally, our actors participated in a stage combat workshop at the Academy of the Arts stage, under the guidance of combat coach Christian Lamas. They focused on choreographing their battle scenes and thoroughly enjoyed learning stage combat techniques. Looking ahead, they are already excited about next year’s show!

College and Career Prep

INSPIRING FUTURE SCIENTISTS

The ICHS Anatomy and Physiology students embarked on a trip to the Uniformed Services University Anatomical Cadaver Lab in Bethesda, MD. The director of the Anatomical Lab provided students with a comprehensive tour of the facility, introduced them to current medical students, and facilitated a question-answer session. Our students had the guided opportunity to touch and explore cadavers in a medical school setting. The facility, which has undergone major renovations over the past year, is impressive. This trip offers our students a chance to see the systems they have been studying throughout the school year in the real-world. Students often return with a reinforced conviction about their desire to pursue a career in the medical field, which leads to insightful conversations and explorations.

Future Leaders

DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY

Eight students from ICHS attended the 17th Annual West Point Leadership and Ethics Conference (WPLEC), a prestigious leadership symposium on the East Coast. This event drew more than 200 delegates from 50 different schools. West Point cadets, ROTC cadets, and junior Army officers led sessions teaching students how to navigate leadership and ethical challenges using West Point’s ethical decision-making model. This model is taught to cadets at West Point and serves as the basis for their training. The students then developed skits using this decision-making model. One ICHS group received 2nd place, and another group 3rd place in this activity. Three ICHS delegates were recognized as top-performing students and were selected to compete for scholarships.

Building Character Through Athletics

BOYS SWIM VARSITY TEAM 2ND AT STATE

The ICHS Boys Swim Team secured the “Team Runner Up” title at the VISAA State Championship Meet at Virginia Tech. They scored the second most points among all DII schools and ranked 10th overall out of thirty-one DI and DII schools statewide.

This level of athletic success was not unique to our swim team. In our first year of state eligibility, ICHS sent seven teams to the state championships: boys soccer, boys cross country, girls cross country, boys basketball, boys swim, boys track & field, and girls track & field. Congratulations, Warriors!

Our athletic program aims to provide a God-glorifying avenue for student athletes to compete interscholastically. We value the life lessons that sports can offer to our students, lessons that cannot be taught in a classroom. These include teamwork, honoring God in victory, and trusting in the Lord’s sovereignty in defeat. We purposefully hire coaches who can instill wisdom and Christ-centered disciplines in our athletes. While we strive for competitive excellence, we are also committed to upholding God’s truth. We continually demonstrate to our athletes the Apostle Paul’s words to Timothy that “physical training is of some value, but godliness holds value in all things, promising benefits in this life and the next.” (1 Timothy 4:8).

In Other News

VARSITY SPORTS OPTIONS EXPAND

Our athletic program continues to expand with new sports offerings, providing an engaging and challenging environment for our students at the highest levels of athletic competition. This year, we added five new teams – girls’ tennis, girls’ cheer, boys’ baseball, boys’ tennis, and co-ed golf, bringing the total to 17 Varsity sports options at ICHS. However, given that ICHS does not yet have a sports complex, this expansion creates additional challenges as we juggle practice and game scheduling needs. As our sports programs continue to grow, we are actively considering and praying for solutions that will best support our Warrior athletes in the years ahead.

INTERNATIONAL THESPIAN SOCIETY INDUCTIONS

Immanuel Christian School’s chapter of the International Thespian Society inducted five new members this past spring. This is a tremendous honor and the culmination of hours of diligent work in theatre. Congratulations to these outstanding performers!

NATIONAL IMPACT: ICHS TRAINS EDUCATORS NATIONWIDE

It is a privilege to share our resources, experiences, and unique educational model with other Christian educators around the nation. Recently, our Lower School Principal, Jennilee Miller; our High School Principal, Rachel Reno; and our High School Bible Teacher, Jake Kounter, traveled to Nashville to teach the principles of “Spiritual Formation” at a Herzog Foundation training conference for Christian school educators from across the country. Heads of schools, board members, and other leaders gathered to learn from our faculty and administration about best practices for creating a robust spiritual development environment for Christian schools.

SIGNING DAY FOR OUR WARRIORS

Our students are exceptionally well-prepared for the challenges they will experience academically, spiritually, and athletically. Two seniors, who also happen to be twin brothers, are standard bearers of this preparation. These two students join other ICHS graduates who have gone on to compete athletically at the highest collegiate levels. Caleb and Joshua will swim for Virginia Military Institute, a NCAA Division 1 school focused on producing leaders and individuals whose daily lives reflect the integrity, fairness, and appreciation for the value of hard work that is instilled at the Institute. We are proud of these two brothers as they continue to pursue excellence in their future athletic endeavors.

SENIOR GIFT HONORS GOD & COUNTRY

Congratulations to the Immanuel Christian School Class of 2024! They are embarking on new adventures, equipped with a firm spiritual foundation and academic skills to build their lives upon. They have also left a legacy marked by service, leadership, excellence, and generosity for future classes to emulate.

We are delighted to announce the 2024 Senior Class Gift of $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. These flagpoles will symbolize our shared values, bearing testimony to our resilience as Americans, and inspire unity and reflection on God’s goodness to our school and to our nation. We plan to install the flagpoles over the summer, ready to welcome our high school students back on campus in August. Although we still need $10,000 to complete the Raise The Flags project, we are forging ahead on this important goal as we celebrate the graduation of the senior class, the next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs, artists, and faith leaders.