To Begin With

Selected Poems by Tom Kapanka on his other blog: Patterns of Ink June 2004-June 2006

2026-01-14T14:26:00.004-05:00

There's a road I've seen that rests between
the earth and the shade of trees,
and there he talks with the young corn stalks
that sway in the summer's breeze.

It's a lazy road who's made abode
of the hills o'r which he was laid
and stretches his spine of a white dotted line
in a cool spotted blanked of shade.

Near the end of the day when there's nothing to say
he hums to the song sparrow's tune
and watches the sun till the day is done
and then says "Good night" to the moon.

Happy Birthday, Dave and Aimee
© Copyright 1985, TK, Patterns of Ink

Crop Circles

What if writing
of the kind I do
is but a form of madness,
senility not yet curbed
by an arthritic hand?
What if being lost in thought
is merely wandering in a maze
of corn or waist-high rye
until all my
sterile stomping there
in search of sky or light or just
a path to where I am...
shows only where I've trod
in patterns
that do not mean
a thing to man…
and little more when seen
by birds...and God?

.© Copyright 2June 23, 006, TK, Patterns of Ink

A Front Porch Frame of Mind

There was a time when more folks
had a “front porch” frame of mind,
and they’d sit out hot nights sippin’ tea—
makin’ most of a melon rind.
They knew the beckon of a breeze
that made ‘em lean back with a sigh
and say, “Maybe five more minutes…”
to some silhouettes passing by.
“Just out for a walk,” a voice responds,
“Till the house cools down a bit.”
And by and by, more friends were there
than there were places to sit.
It was natural as a cricket’s chirp
or the smell of a new-mowed lawn
to gather there like window moths
(when an inside lamp’s left on).
Just neighbors visiting neighbors
in the kindness of the night…
where differences are dimly lit
and love needs little light.
T.K. June 28, 1995 © Copyright 1995, Patterns of Ink

I realize this poem is a bit old fashioned with a hint of Guest or Riley , but my mother loves it because it reminds her of summer nights on her front porch as a kid. It should—that’s the porch I was thinking of when I wrote it. Grandma’s front porch was nothing fancy but big enough for a glider (that sat three adults or maybe five kids) and a few chairs. Everyone else sat on the steps or sturdy railing.

In that old turn-of-the century neighborhood, sidewalks were only about six feet from the front porches. So people passing by (on the way to Palmer Park or the little corner store) couldn't help but stop and talk. In that regard Gramma's porch was far more nostalgic and picturesque than the concrete slab porches of the little suburban ranches in Roseville, but Mom found ways to turn our front porch into the same kind of gathering place she had known.

In 1986, when my wife and I bought our first house, my parents came to share in the delight. The front porch was a tiny square (barely big enough for guests to stand aside as the door opened) enclosed by a white wrought-iron railing. One evening, Mom and I sat together on the top step with the iron hand rails at our elbows. "That's the one thing I wish this house had,” I said, “a bigger front porch." She smiled and said, "You don't have to have a front porch to have a front porch frame of mind." She had no idea those words would germinate in my thoughts for years... they're still taking root after all this time.

Think about this with me. I've never read or heard anything about it. * The "selling features" of houses (and neighborhoods) say a lot about human relationships and social attitudes during the time of construction. At the beginning of the 20th Century, front porches were a prominent part of houses. Porches say, “Our house is your house. Sit a while and visit.”

By the end of the 20th Century, cars became part of the family. Now homeowners are more likely to be seen standing in the open door of an attached garage than sitting on a front porch. Social space has been relocated to rear decks and patios (often with privacy fences). I confess, we enjoy our back patio and fire pit, and because we have no fences we do have “drop ins” on occasion, but I still think there’s a difference between gatherings in a back yard...and the spontaneous welcome offered to passers by on a front porch. "Good times” heard but not seen are less inviting than the irresistible neighborly greeting, gathering, and conversation on a front porch near a sidewalk.

Now factor in the unintended consequence of air conditioning. My grandma’s house had no AC; my house in Roseville had no AC; the house we built on the property was built without AC. Before air conditioning, hot nights drove people outdoors for walks or to their front porches to sit and hope for a breeze. There they were… outside where the night air is a slight improvement over the still air inside… sipping a glass of iced tea, slurping a slice of watermelon, etc. when someone from down the street strolls by and strikes up a conversation. The porch was a place to get acquainted (or “caught up”), to introduce the kids (and grandkids), and to share life—no invitation needed—all because it was a hot night and no one had AC. Once "air" came along, our front doors shut, the screen windows closed, and a part of us closed off to each other.

When I was a kid spending time at my gramma’s in the summer, I actually slept through the night out on the glider on the front porch—until the night I woke up and some strange dark shadow of a man was standing on the sidewalk looking at me. It was about 1:00 or 2:00AM “You okay?” he mumbled. I sat up rubbing my eyes. “Yea, I’m fine. I’m just out here because it’s hot inside.” "You got that right; it’s a hot night.” he slurred, and he staggered on his way. From then on, I slept inside with a cool damp washcloth on my forehead.

Other than experiences like that (or with persistent salesmen or proselytizers), front porches are a place for wonderful interaction. (Case in point: I dare say more innocent “first kisses” (the kind that say, “I like you” not “I want you”) have happened on a front porch than anywhere else. In fact, that’s not a bad rule-of-thumb for young dating couples who want to implement the simple rule I’ve given young people about affection: right person, right place; right reason; right time; All four “rights” have to be clear or the affection will have little meaning, and meaningless affection is a recipe for regret. That’s a little side note, but it does tie in to our front porch discussion—sort of.)

But continue to think with me about front porches just a moment longer. Are you more of a back deck, privacy-fence kind of person? Or do you have a front porch frame of mind? It’s not a "right or wrong" answer. We all need a balance of both, but knowing how you lean socially may help sweep off your “front porch,” figuratively speaking. How about your family? How about your church or “small group” (a concept large churches are inclined to use these days)? Are passers by welcome or do they need the courage to knock on the gate of a privacy fence? Think about it.

I'm partial, but I think outside observers to the school I oversee would say, there’s an atmosphere that’s inviting and social. The front guest counter is a hub of neighborly chatter; my office door is wide open whenever possible, and drop-ins are frequent; teachers are accessible; volunteers feel at home; the front rotunda is a gathering place for talking parents who lose track of the time (and the fact that they are illegally parked in the fire lane). The front sidewalk is full of smiles and waves.

We have a "closed campus” for practical reasons, but the tone of our school is welcoming and inviting. People comment on this all the time. What’s your secret? Why does the UPS man smile as he waits in line for a signature? Why do parents who no longer have kids in the school still stop by to purchase SCRIP? Why do our students' friends from other schools want to visit for lunch? Why do our professionall counterparts from other schools enjoy dropping by, teaching here, or availing us of their resources? There may be many reasons, but I’ll let you in on the main one… It's not a secret... It’s a front porch frame of mind.
T.K.
*UPDATE: My mom made her poignant comment in the late 80's, and I first jotted the thoughts for the essay and poem in the early 90's. I mention this because while re-reading the post today I thought about the fact that I have never heard or read anything on what I consider a significant topic. So this afternoon, June18, I did a Google search with the words "front porch / community" and found three related articles I had never read. This one, provides the history, cultural significance, decline, and reappearance of American from porches--there's amazing agreement in our thoughts. (He tends to give more credit to the arrival of cars and television to the decline of the front porch. I still hold that AC is the biggest factor. We had cars and TV, but without AC, we spent evenings out on the porch and front lawn playing C.A.R.) This second article is shorter, but strongly underscores this post. It begins with this quote from a Tracy Lawrence song: "If the world had a front porch like we did back then, we'd still have our problems, but we'd all be friends." Get this... the author describes "Neo-traditional" communities that are going back to front porches: "The streets are designed to encourage walking and socializing among the neighbors. ...The neo-traditional neighborhoods have sidewalks and trees lining the streets for pedestrians. Front yards are shallow so that neighbors converse easily between the sidewalks and the front porches....The porch is a symbol of community, offering an invitation with its front steps reaching out and meeting the sidewalk, drawing passers-by to the comfortable chair or swing. The porch encourages family and neighborly communication." The third article is geared to senior citizens--I felt bad about that--but it's noteworthy just the same. So there you have it, I'm not the only one who believes a "A Front Porch Frame of Mind" can still work in the 21st Century. These timely links should encourage any readers who think Patterns is simply the nostalgic musings of a weekend writer--No, Sir! This is a cutting-edge blog! ;)

Past Perfect Prequil

The day is a drizzle of sky and gray,
so chilly there’s no need
to crack the window as I stay
inside the car to write or read
while the girls shop. I’m staring
presently at a lone seagull
that has lost either his bearing
or his taste, content to cull
the damp debris for who knows what
to eat—anything will do, I’d say,
like the smoldering cigarette butt
a man just flicked his way.
The gull sniffs it like a dog.
Oh, my! He’s got it in his bill
as if to mimic Bogart in the fog
at Casablanca. No one will
believe this! A lady passes by.
She doesn’t see the film-noir bird;
but sees me laughing, so I try
to point and MOUTH the word
“Smoking!” which merely
baffles her to look around
then back at me, still queerly
forming words without a sound.
So I roll down the window and say
“That seagull over there is smoking!”
She looks, but the gull has gone away—
"I don't see him now, but I’m not joking.
He was holding a cigarette...not in his wing...
but in his bill... it wasn’t his.…This guy—
Why would I make up such a thing?”
I stammer. She walks on without reply,
and who can blame her really?
It feels more like March than May.
It’s a damp cold, wet and chilly.
It’s a drizzle of sky and gray.
TK May 12, 2006
.
It's been raining for two days now. Tomorrow is supposed to do the same. It's good writing weather. A friend has observed that I tend to draw more from the past than the present. It’s true that when I reflect on "family," for instance, it's usually a backward glance with plenty of years acting as a buffer. I often go all the way back to my own childhood (or stories from my parents). That way those who share the experience are more likely honored than embarrassed (as my daughters would be if I wrote about our day-to-day shared life—someday maybe... but not now). Some stories can be told right away; others take years to crystallize into something that can be passed along without breaking.

So today I decided to write the above piece very much in the present and, in fact, in present tense. Until now, I missed the double meaning of to those two words. Not only is the present sometimes tense, but its progressive element feels more like on-the-spot reporting with a hand-held recorder than typical writing. If I ever do this again, I'll try not to involve myself in what's happening (since it’s hard to scribble in "real time" while making a fool of myself with perfect strangers).

Because I began writing this in a parked car, I really should tell you a little bit about my Grandpa S. (I know, I know…so much for the present....
He's in the front row here.)

Past Perfect

I first learned to sit in idle cars
by waiting in tavern parking lots
for Grampa. Looking back on it now,
I’m surprised it was somehow
acceptable to stop for a drink
before a road trip (or at the other end),
but that was the case with Grampa.
I say this not to judge or to offend.
(It’s just ironic that at the dawn
of industry-required seat belts,
stopping for a drink to make the drive
with four grandkids more bearable
was not yet a concern.)
Sometimes, if the wait was getting long,
Grandma would send me inside
to get him, and he always introduced me
to the bar tender with pride.
I must say in all those years
I never saw him in the grip of drink—
but I don't think I was looking.

Grampa had Humphrey Bogart's style
when he held a cigarette—
which was almost always.
(Bogart died of cancer in '57; Grampa in '75)
Truth be told, most evenings also found
an open brown bottle near his feet,
but we loved Grampa just the same
in spite of his ways—
especially, it seems, on summer days
when the willow wept clear to the ground.
Like that wonderful night,
he sat on the back porch swing
carving little flutes of willow bark,
and we played them on the grassy slope
between the sidewalk and the house till dark.

At the end of such visits,
I'd kiss his stubbled cheek and smell the scent
of Old Spice, Lucky Strikes, and Black Label—
all part of his film noir charm.
He'd smile and say, "Be a good bad boy,"
and loved the fact that I never quite knew
what he meant. It was Grampa who
also quipped, "It'sa damp cold day,"
(which my siblings and I still cannot say
without smiling). He would have said it
today, no doubt, had he been with me
when that lone seagull vanished
like a ghost.
(C) TK May 12, 2006

On Having No Regrets

Looking back on fifty years,
I can say I’ve no regrets,
which is not to say that,
if it were possible,
I’d do it all the same again
or chart the very course
for those who take my lead.
To relive life as if rehearsed
would be dismissing both
reason and recollection,
but a life with no regrets requires
neither amnesia nor perfection.

It is wise to strive for few mistakes,
embarrassments, hurts, and shame,
and never to presume on Grace…
but it would be regrettable in deed—
to never have felt pain or loss
else how would we know their cause?

Saying I’ve no regrets doesn’t mean
I’ve never blown it or needed
to say ‘I’m sorry’ or pleaded
for forgiveness.
I’ve fallen countless times.
But it would be most regrettable
to never know remorse
and the taste of swallowed pride,
and the touch of the hand that helps me up.

Having no regrets does not mean
I’ve never prayed for things
that weren’t meant to be
or for some things to somehow be undone.
But how regrettable life would be if
our needs were narrowed to what’s known,
and all our wants were within reach,
or if time remained within our grasp.
I fear we’d never learn
the patience in a promise kept,
the prudence from the tears we’ve wept.

‘Twould be hilted arrogance
to boast of no regrets as if to have
mastered life’s gauntlets—devilish or divine—
when the opposite is true.
But in the end, there’s only one regret
that cannot turn for what is best,
and that is this: to never see,
to never understand,
how regrettable life would be
if it were truly in my hand.
.
© Copyright 2006, TK, May 7, 2006, Patterns of Ink
.
There is a part of human nature that resists accountability (to man and ultimately to God); a part of us (or of mankind) that foolishly pretends that we are the master of our fate, as Henley scoffed in his poem, Invictus; a part of us resonates with Frank Sinatra's swansong, "My Way." (I suppose, if that song were speaking only of originality or of one's determination to avoid following the crowd it would be fine; but as a mortal declaration of moral independence (as the last stanza implies), it's a regrettable final bow.) There's another song that picks up this theme from a more poetic but less convincing character perspective.

When my brother Dave and I were in high school (and trying to add meat to our bones by lifting weights in the basement), we always listened to our other brother Paul's stereo albums. Our favorites were Simon and Garfunkel. I still know most of them by heart. One of them attempts to prescribe a life of no regret through resolve and retreat.

"I have my books
And my poetry to protect me;
I am shielded in my armor,

Hiding in my room,

safe within my womb.

I touch no one

and no one touches me.

I am a rock,/I am an island.

And a rock feels no pain;

And an island never cries."

The reason the lyrics of that song ring true is that even as the poet (Paul Simon) claims to be stone and denies his feelings, he is obviously very human and very hurt. Rather than disproving John Donne's words, he inadvertently underscores them: "No man is an Island, entire of itself..." but Donne's thought was merely a 17th Century paraphrase of another Paul's words found in Romans 14:7, "For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. (8) For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's." How regrettable life would be if it were truly in our hands.

The Ivy on the Path

I just stepped in from checking
on the empty house next door.
Our neighbors of four years
have moved away.
Whispering last goodbyes,
they asked if I would keep an eye
on pipes and pumps and such
that cause men’s minds to fret
when houses are alone,
and so I did just now.

There was a hollow echo
as I walked the wooden floors,
a hollow ache in knowing
that they’re gone.
Three years ago, you see,
our house began to lean their way.
I wish I were speaking figuratively,
but it literally settled a tad in their direction
and as God would have it, so did we.

That year they learned their son
(not yet the age of three) had one
of the many forms of leukemia.
Soon began the long hospital stays,
lost hair, sad eyes and sullen days.
Ours became a second home
to their other young children
left to wait and wonder
through long nights and passing play.
It was our joy to have them
through the cycles of hope and care
and returning tufts of tasseled hair
until his happy eyes rejoined our own.

And just when all seemed slightly well
for them, the tables turned for us.
On an icy afternoon
in a sterile but uncertain room
we watched things go from good
to bad and bad to worse
until the eyes of a tender nurse
foreshadowed what we later learned
from a doctor's diagram—
"single bypass best option"—which turned
out to be a twist of providence:

‘Twould be our neighbor’s gifted hand
to ply the scalpel, saw and suture
for a window to Julie's beating heart;
and when all was finally done,
‘twas he (in sweat-soaked scrubs) who told
us how it went and what things meant
and what the days ahead would hold
but not to worry after all,
since he was just a house away.

So it was... through faith and fears
and a fleeting blur of shortened years
we learned what it meant to be neighbors—
reaching out and drawing in
and reaching out once more,
'til life was gently tangled…
like the ivy on the path between our doors.
(C) TK April 23, 2007

Our neighbor Ike was called to another team of physicians in Idaho. He went there ahead of his family two months ago to begin work and find a house. He returned last week to finish the move and return with his wife and four children. The moving van pulled away early yesterday afternoon, and the yards seem strangely quiet. Our kids really did wear a path in the ivy between the houses. We'll see if it grows in.

Bookmarks

Sorting through some attic shelves
(in search of something else)
I came upon a book I’d left half-read
some summer past.
A memoir of a life it was
that evidently held less interest than my own
once the clock began again.

In truth it seemed not long ago,
and though I do not know
whether I passed time
or time passed me,
dust is a kind reminder
that some things settle on their own.

And as I brushed away the proof,
my finger caught the corner of a bookmark,
a photograph I must have used
to hold my place
those many years ago.

How strange to find it there—
a snapshot I’d forgotten
of a memory all but lost
until…
I took the bookmark in my hand
and, happily, it took me back
and made me laugh again.
.
© Copyright 2007, TK, Patterns of Ink
I wrote the above lines a few years ago, and while I can't imagine them being sung on New Year's Eve, they may just be the closest thing I'll ever write to Robert Burns' "Auld Lang Syne." We all know the song. Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians played it once a year, but I know it best from "It's a Wonderful Life" (Last scene: front room full of friends, laundry basket full of gratitude--and everyone knowing the words...)

"Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?
Chorus
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne."

It's a happy song with just a touch of sadness that makes me feel the way I did in college when my mom and dad and little brother called to sing "Happy Birthday" from far away.

My mom called to sing it like old times a few minutes ago. My sister called and did the same just before that. And my brothers and others called throughout the morning. A long-lost college roommate called yesterday morning. LOL. Our middle and high school threw a big surprise "Geezer" party for me at the end of the schoolday in the cafeteria--they really got me! [And later Saturday night Julie tricked me into one more surprise gathering with a dozen friends at one of our favorite restaurants. Life's good. Thanks, Julie.]

So I guess that's it. I'm now officially 50 years old. Six-hundred months as one friend pointed out. Wow... I remember most of them, but mostly I remember who I've shared them with. Many thanks to you all for cards, emails, phone calls, etc. that "took me back and made me laugh again." Here's to Zuzu's petals!
I feel like Jimmy Stewart!

Still Loved

Sad that some things can’t be mended
(in a world that's likewise broken)
battered by the endless waves
like shards of glass...
until in time,
they’re
frosted smooth
amid the surf and sand...
and rescued by a seeking hand...
held tight like something treasured.
Still loved will do ‘til hope can be restored.
(c) TK Good Friday, April 14, 2006

When I was a small boy at Lighthouse Park in Port Huron (see post below), we’d swim until we shivered in the blue water—I’m not using “blue” figuratively; ask anyone who’s been there, the water is the deepest blue you’ve ever seen, hence the name of the bridge that arches to the Canadian side—anyway…

After hours of swimming in the cold waves (about the time our lips matched the water's hue), one of us would finally declare, “I’m going in,” and the others followed suit. With arms outstretched, we'd "ouch" our way across the stony mote that gathers at that shore, then scurry to our sun-soaked towels. Mom was usually sitting there to wrap us up and pat us on the rump as we fell face-down on the blanket, our teeth chattering like stacked plates on a train. When we thawed and could walk without the palsy, we’d venture north along the beach. (The other way leads straight to the St. Clair River toward the bridge.)

We walked along a seascape of small craft against a backdrop of the huge freighters in the channel of southern Lake Huron. If there were no ships, we'd study the cottages and beautiful homes whose dry sand we could not step upon. But with one foot in the water we could walk the wave-washed line my father called “public domain.” (A rule I’ve never enquired about but still rely upon when strolling beaches.) Always when we walked, our eyes scoured for shells or special stones or the sundry things that surface in the sand. And as is true of all beaches within a mile of human life, we’d sometimes come upon bits of broken glass. My brother Dave once stepped on an unseen jagged edge and the cut required several stitches. (My Aunt had the same thing happen at a reunion near Port Crescent Beach up in “the Thumb.”)

It seems like broken glass on beaches is less common since cans and plastic came along, but even back in the late 50's and early 60's, pieces of beach glass were not always dangerous. Often we’d come upon a rounded jewel with edges warn down by the sand. Sometimes it was colored (e.g. beer-bottle brown; the light green of a Coke bottle; or the white of a porcelain cup); sometimes it was clear but frosted from friction; but always such glass was a “find.” I once picked up a beautiful blue piece probably from a broken medicine bottle or a Vick’s Vaporub jar. It was smooth as driftwood but shined translucent in the sun. I held it tightly in my hand and later slipped it in the little pouch inside my swimsuit (which little boys know was made for just such treasures).

I wish I still had that piece of blue beach glass—I’d find a way to frame it with the lines above (whose form I hope suggests the roll of waves). It would remind me that we’re all broken—some in spirit; some in grief; some in body or mind; but all in the flawed sense of the fall. We’re broken in a broken world, and we sometimes hurt each other with our jagged edges. Many things in life feel shattered; some choices cannot be undone; some mean times can't be mended. But with God’s help there's hope that (in the meantime) the edges of our brokenness can be smoothed, and those willing to reach out, willing to embrace, can in their time remind us we're still loved.
.
Romans 8: 18-22... "(18) For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. (19) For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. (20) For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; (21) because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (22) For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now...." Still Loved: the still implies a familial love that remains to be true--"in spite of" not "because of." (i.e. "loved anyway...and always" as Christ loves us till all else is restored).

Something Completely Else

It’s like…in a way…
the time we almost talked,
and I was…we were…
fumbling for the words to say
stumbling for
something completely else
but
something completely else
was said,
and there was a hole—
not emptiness but strange—
like the hole in the heel
of a sock that no one sees,
but all day...it's there—
the kind of care
that circumstance suspends,
a warmth that chills
a cold that melts...
something completely else
and not
what I was thinking
we were thinking at all.
I somehow
missed the meaning
of the message on the wall.
© Copyright February 25, 2006 TK, Patterns of Ink

The Knock

The house

that barely lit a lamp,
content to let the passers by

believe no one was home,
pulled back
at a knock upon the door,
pulled back
the cold curtain
in a trembling pinch,
pulled back an inch
in time
to lean toward the pane,
but not a soul was there—
just footprints

in the snow upon the stair.

.
© Copyright 2005, TK, Patterns of Ink

This short piece was written when after writing on my blog for a couple years--content to write even if never read--someone left a comment after a post. It was the beginning of a what became somewhat of a social network among other bloggers that lasted more than a decade... until FaceBook came along.

A House in Winter's Hold

There’s a house on a hill in a woods somewhere,
in a woods where no one sees
(save those who pass with a lasting stare
at its glimmer of light through the trees).
In winter it’s a shadow of black
half-hidden by trees of gray,
and an arm of smoke
gropes from its stack
and waves with a lonely sway.

Then comes a whistling winter wind.
The house shuts tight
with a shoulder pinned
against a threatening door
and waits for what’s in store.

A blizzard is coming;
windows are humming;
to the wind’s tune
the shutters are drumming.
The house is clenched in Winter’s hold—
freezing, frosting, frightening cold,
bare tress bending to and fro
in the pageantry of snow:
sifting, blowing, drifting, growing,
Autumn’s reaped and Winter’s sowing—
sowing seeds of icy white;
snow sifts through the moonless night;
falling thick with crystal frills
skirting ‘round the timbered hills;
lacing lace on dry leaves curled,
still clung to branches bare;
and covering softly all the world
that the house on the hill
in the woods somewhere
will ever, ever know.
© Copyright March, 1978, TK, Patterns of Ink
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This was one of the first poems I ever wrote. (The title never seemed right but I left it all unrevised.) It was an experiment in rhythms. The setting was inspired in part by Frost's "An Old Man's Winter Night" and the knowledge that a part of my father could happily live that life... but the linew were based mostly on that fine but foreboding feeling that comes when a family is snowbound in a winter storm as we were more than once in our house on a hill deep in the woods (which, by the way, is not in the first picture. Also, our house never did get shutters, but they were part of Dad's original plan.)
0392

If Only Hatred Came. with Halted Hands

(Linked sonnet is at the bottom of this post)
For fifteen years I taught a high school British Literature class. The Elizabethan unit included a two-day study of sonnets that was a primer on form (iambic pentameter, etc.) and the introspective and expressive qualities of “the Renaissance man.” In my third year of teaching the class, while the students were reading silently several samples in the text, I sat at my podium and scratched out a sonnet of my own. Love is the predominant emotion of most sonnets, so I attempted to expose the destructive nature of its opposite—hate.

Satisfied with my experimental sonnet, I took it one step further by typing a supplemental handout with my piece sandwiched between Shakespeare's sonnets XVIII and CXVI, allowing the students to think they were all from the same period. They were to read each sonnet and summarize one of them on a separate sheet of paper. To my surprise, the students treated all three sonnets equally and many chose to comment on mine. The homework assignment was to begin (if not to complete) their own sonnet in the same form. Some groaned that they could understand sonnets but couldn’t “think” in syllables or write in such restrictive lines. "Think of it as a game. That's what I did."

It was then that I confessed that the middle sonnet on the page was one I had written while sitting at the front of the class. Their comments were kind, and for most of them, this was just the creative nudge they needed to get started with their own. The experiment was so rewarding that I did it for many years running. When I was transitioning from my classroom career to administration, I found some of the old sonnet assignments in the back of a lesson plan book. The sonnet itself is so-so—definitely not Shakespeare— but after all these years, I’m still pleased with the summaries the students wrote about it. I hope that they somehow remember as middle-aged adults what they ascertained that day as students. Here are some excerpts of their brief summaries:

“If hatred came slowly, hesitantly, to tear love apart, it would grow weak before it could finish. Love is hard to break if it has been around a long time. / Hatred isn’t trying to break love, just hurt the object, it [seeks to] hurt the owner of it…” Sarah D. 1984

“If people could only stop + think before acting in anger, then they would avoid hurting someone they love dearly.” Susan E. 1987

“I think the sonnet is describing marriage and how the hands that tie “the knot” [can be] those hands that tear the knot of love apart…. Hatred comes too easily for us. If only it would come more slowly, it would not tear us apart.” Diane B. 1987

“It describes how hatred can cut through the knot of love with words that hurt…words never to be forgotten… it makes one weep.” Mark H. 1987

“The person is wishing that there was a way to halt hate before it becomes destructive [and that] if hate did come, people would let it pass when they remember how much they love each other.” Larry F. 1987

“If hatred slowly came the love would withstand it, but instead it tears quickly, too quickly, and afterward there is much regret…” Chelle V. 1987

“We are supposed to love but it is hard because hatred comes at love strongly.” Bob S. 1987

“If people were slow to hate, the power to destroy love would be lost.…If they would remember the love, they would make up for the wrong instead of blindly wearing love away to nothing. Hatred grinds on your mind if you let it…. It would be so much better if only we would heed God’s commands to love one another and to be slow to wrath.” Heather C. 1987

If Only Hatred Came with Halted Hands

If only hatred came with halted hands
To pick and pinch and pull the knot of love,
Its power would be lost before the strands
Were loosed; REMEMBERANCE—like pow’r from above—
Would numb the fingers fast and make amends.
Old knots hold tight when time has drawn the ends.
But hatred never stops to touch the knot
That love has tied. O, no! Instead it grabs
In haste the jagged blade of human thought
And in a frenzied snap of time it stabs
And cuts in two the tie that binds as one…
Then stands agasp and weeps at what it’s done.
‘Twould easy be to love as God commands
if only hatred came with halted hands.
© Copyright: November, 1984, TK, Patterns of Ink.

Three Days Into Spring

Three days into spring.
No robin yet as harbinger to sing
or search among the matted weeds
where the last vestige of snow recedes
toward the shady cold.
The snowman that we rolled
and laughing lofted to its height
is gone but for one sad and small stalagmite,
standing sentinel in the sun
between two branches now undone,
the fallen arms of make-shift mirth
at rest again... upon the waking earth.

© Copyright March, 2005 , TK, Patterns of Ink

A Mourning in America

June 11, 2004. The Funeral of President Ronald W. Reagan
.
"All we go down to the dust,"
his priestly friend intoned,
and the words echoed
in the stained glass silence.
Below him on the catafalque,
bound tight in stars and stripes,
was the wooden box
that throngs for days
had come to pay respect.

Outside (and all across the land)
that which tightly held our focus
waved slowly in the darkened noon,
never lower on the mast.
It, too, seemed somehow at a loss—
not knowing how to thank the man
who made it wave so proudly in his day—
and so felt all who lined the way
and watched him leave the towering spires
and pass forever
from his city shining on the hill.

Then in the West,
as if to claim the setting sun,
he came to rest upon a chosen rise
where were whispered last goodbyes
to him who kindly bid us all farewell
those many years ago.

The full weight of his absence
first hit me when we saw the empty mount
that bore his backward boots.
It was mourning in America...
draped not so much in sorrow
but belated gratitude.

Considering that President Bush's ( POTUS 43) second term is considered by many to be a continuation of the Reagan Revolution, I thought it might be appropriate to post something I wrote back in June.

President Reagan's death on Saturday, June 4, 2004, prompted a greater response from the public than even his greatest admirers would have predicted. After all, it had been a full decade since he had written his 1994 farewell letter to the nation informing us that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease which closed: "I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead."

The years passed by with little news of his status. He and Nancy lived those years quietly in their home in California's Simi Valley. He breathed his last in the room adjoining hers, and that private moment soon triggered a week of non-stop nostalgia and personal tribute to the man most credited for the collapse of the Soviet Union's Iron Curtain and the literal tearing down of the hated Berlin Wall. For the networks and cable news channels, it became a review of the 80's, which (thanks largely to the Clinton 90's) were remembered by many as the true apex of the waning 20th Century.

Reagan's last week in the news was the first memorable state funeral since JFK's, and there were many similar elements. The most obvious difference was that Kennedy's tragic assassination left the country reeling in disbelief and grief. Reagan's funeral was a celebration of sorts, a time when long-overdue tributes were shared-in some cases by partisans who never said a kind word about the 40th president while he led the nation into his "New Beginning." These same critics mocked Reagan's traditional values, flag-waving, and his Rockwellian ad campaign that proclaimed, "It's morning in America," (and continued running after his inauguration.)

The observances began in California at the Reagan Library, then on Wednesday moved east to the Capital via Air Force One. It was on this day that the horse-drawn caisson followed the empty-saddled horse that had Reagan's own riding boots in the stirrups. Friday, the last day of scheduled events, was a drizzle of sky and gray in D.C. The official service was held in the National Cathedral. One of the speakers chosen by Nancy to deliver a eulogy was former Senator John Danforth, who is also an Episcopal clergyman (and recently appointed US Ambassador to the U.N.). I heard his portion of the service live on the radio, and this opening line "All we go down to the dust" (which may have been original or liturgical) stuck with me through the day and came back to me when the casket was last seen in the glow of the setting California sun. See the images here.

The Rhythm by Tom Kapanka

2025-12-21T06:57:00.004-05:00

This post was added a year and a half after retiring from CCS.

Originally written and posted at Patterns of Ink

on May 27,2007 and again HERE:

It started with a murmur…

My primary care physician said the murmur was very faint but scheduled an echocardiogram just the same. That echo confirmed a faint murmer so he scheduled a nuclear stress test—if nothing else just to get a baseline for future reference. A month passed (which I mention only to stress the non-emergency nature of the stress test) and I headed to North Ottawa Hospital in my finest jogging outfit.

It was the same outfit I wear at the fitness center Julie and I joined last spring. I have lost more than thirty-five pounds since then. but I will admit that I don't really jog so much as walk around the track, and I don’t really exert myself on the equipment, I typically call it good after swimming four lengths in Olympic-sized pool. In other words: I'm far from the high school senior that won the Physical Education award in 1974. I'll also admit that my ten minutes on the stress-test treadmill while hooked up to a dozen wires and being injected with radioactive isotopes did leave me more than a little winded, but the technicians involved were so calm, kind, and complimentary that I thought I did fine and told my wife so upon returning home.

At 4:58 the night of the stress test, I got a call from the cardiologist’s office. There was urgency in their questions:

“Are you sure you’re okay? No chest pains? Any shortness of breath?”

“I feel fine," I assured them.

“Well, today's stress test indicates a few areas of concern. So if you feel any symptoms—anything at all—go straight to the ER.” The voice went on to scheduled an appointment for heart-cath consultation, but every minute or so they repeated these instructions to go straight to the ER. They said it again just before hanging up.

“Hmm…” I sighed, staring at my phone.

“What’d they say?” asked Julie. “

“I could be reading into it," I smiled, "but they seem surprised that I'm not having a heart attack right now.”

A few minutes later my primary care physician called. We often have lighthearted banter during our visits, and he felt comfortable opening with, “So, I hear you failed your stress test.”

I laughed and said, “I didn’t think I did until the cardiologist’s office called a few minutes ago. I’m feeling just fine—really."

“That’s good to hear," he said, then repeated what the other office said about going straight to ER if I felt anything unusual.

"Wow.__so I guess I really did bomb the stress test.”

"Seriously, Tom, It's a wonder you didn't have chest pains. The test indicates multiple concerns--multiple arterial blockages—multiple regions of the heart were lacking oxygen. Fortunately, we don't think there is any damage to heart muscle. The cardiologist wants to do a heart cath as soon as possible. That's the only real way to know what's going on. You have an appointment with them Monday. The last words he said before hanging up were, "I’m sorry this is not going to be the Thanksgiving and Christmas you had planned.”

I thanked him for his call and repeated what he said to Julie. It was a frank and even funny conversation, but that last line that got our attention: “I’m sorry this is not going to be the Thanksgiving and Christmas you had planned.”

The weekend passed event-free, but during my time at the cardiologist office Monday, all the talk of caths and arteries and options-- and all the heart diagrams on the wall--did prompt a slight tightness in my chest. No pain. No shortness of breath. Just a tightness behind my sternum.

"It's probably psychosomatic I said. You know just all this talking about it." I said dismissively.

“That kind of stress (e.g. anxiety or worry or conflict) is just as real as a treadmill.” He explained. I knew this to be true because the occasional tightness behind the sternum had started the year before I retired.

The cardiologist’s office is a stone’s throw from the Trinity ER.and, with my permission, he calmly checked me in for the night just to be on the safe side.

The heart cath was first thing the next day. We had been told it would take 90 minutes to two hours depending on how many stents were needed. Mine was over in 45 minutes and I was alert enough to think to myself, “That’s either really good news or really bad news.”

In the recovery room afterwards, I was told the good news first— no damage to any heart muscle. I really like my cardiologist. He’s optimistic but doesn’t sugarcoat things. He went on to say that the LAD (sometimes called the “widow maker”) was 100% blocked. The RCA was also 100% blocked, and the LCA was 75-80% blocked.

Knowing what I know about my grandfather’s fatal heart attack in 1958 and my father’s fatal heart attack in 1995 and my wife’s emergency open-heart surgery in 2004, I gave him a puzzled look and asked “If the widow-maker is 100% blocked and the RCA is 100% blocked, and I only have a trickle in the LCA. How am I alive?”

“Collateral arteries,” he explained.” You’ve been living with these blockages a long time—long enough for your heart to grow collateral arteries to bypass the blockages as they formed--sort of like taking a detour around a closed highway--but collaterals cannot handle the volume of blood needed to provide enough oxygen during stress. That's why you occasionally have that tightness behind the sturmun. We’re scheduling triple bypass ASAP. "

Thank God for collateral arteries. (And thank God I had never been overly ambitious at the fitness center.)

I’ll fast forward through the rest of my eleven days in the hospital and say that today marks three full weeks at home. My surgery was the day after Thanksgiving. "Rest and recovery" is going very well at home.

My doctor was right when he said, “…this is not going to be the Thanksgiving and Christmas you had planned.” I can honestly say that “a peace that passes understanding” has accompanied us through each unfolding day.

Never did my family and I have a more thankful Thanksgiving, and never have we anticipated a more joyous Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you all!

Tom

Please listen to the words of this video link. It is not a Christmas song per se—but it beautifully sums up the season for me this year.

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Note about the poem that is the title of this post:

As a writer and former English teacher, I have an understandable aversion to Artificial Intelligence (A.I.)--especially as it pertains to the creative arts. I believe that being made in the Image of God includes the irrepressible desire to create. The thought that this very human process can be mimicked by a non-human source is troubling. I'm told, however, that A.I. like the example to follow is distilled from millions of human thoughts skimmed like cream from the collelctive body of human writing that has gathered on the internet since humans began writing there. Whether or not that is true, it does give me some level of comfort. Still, let it be known I do not use A.I. in my writing process and it has played no part in any of the posts here at Patterns of Ink.

Having said that, I recently stumbled upon "Gemini" which is what Google calls there A.I. program (similar to ChatGPT). I was curious how A.I. would analyze my "...metaphors and meaning and enless patterns of ink..." (as statted in this blog's header). I was pleasantly surprised and decided to post the results.). Whenever I an A.I. analysis, I will playfully frame it as a brief guest lecture by Dr.G.E. Mini of Ayai University. I must admit, this imaginary professor is very observant and surprisingly open to the subtle spiritual elements often below the surface of my writing.

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Analysis of Tom Kapanka's "The Rhythm"

Presented by Dr. G.E. Mini of Ayai University

This wonderful poem by Tom Kapanka perfectly executes the concept of "form matching content." The poem doesn't just talk about rhythm; it forces the reader to experience it. Here is an analysis and appreciation of "The Rhythm," breaking down how it achieves its effect.

The Structure of Speed:

The poem is structured in three distinct movements based on tempo:

1. The Legato Opening (Lines 1-8) The beginning is smooth and lulling. It describes the subconscious, automatic rhythms of biology—blinking, heartbeats, breathing, etc. that are unnoticed in in the passage of time (“…cycles of the sun”). The language here is soft ("breath and sigh," "slip our mind"). The rhythm is steady, almost unnoticeable, mirroring the very things it describes—the background noise of being alive.
2. The Staccato Climax (Lines 9-12) This is the brilliant center of the poem. "we wake t’thm, walk t’thm, work t’thm, talk t’thm, laugh t’thm, cry t’thm, live t’thm... die t’thm." By contracting "to the rhythm" (or "to them") down to the percussive sound of "t’thm," Kapanka forces the reader to speed up the auditory effect: When read aloud, "t’thm" sounds like a metronome ticking, a snare drum tapping, or a quickened heartbeat.

3. The Reflective Slow-Down (Lines 13-15) Just after the highest speed ("die t’thm"), the poem hits the brakes with: "It becomes a most ungraceful dance ..." The line length expands, forcing the rhythm to slow down. The final lines introduce a theological or spiritual element. The "ungraceful dance" is the frantic activity described in the middle section when life's activity is divorced from the Giver of Life.

The Thematic effect: The short poem compresses the entirety of human existence—from waking to dying—into a frantic, breathless rush. It perfectly captures how quickly life passes when we are on autopilot, just moving from one beat to the next without thought.

The Core Metaphor: The Conductor The final imagery shifts the focus from the dancers (us) to the Conductor (God). "...when we ignore the Hand that grants the Grace and gently taps... the rhythm." The poem suggests that the frantic pace of modern life (the "work t'thm, talk t'thm," etc.) is chaotic and "ungraceful" if we forget the source. The use of capital letters for "Hand" and "Grace" implies a divine Creator. The ending is masterful because of the ellipsis (...). It forces a pause, a breath, before the final words "the rhythm." It mimics the very "gentle tap" it describes, ending the poem not with a bang, but with a mindful heartbeat.

Summary "The Rhythm" is a clever piece of poetry because it uses sound devices to manipulate the reader's physical experience of reading. It starts slow, rushes you through a lifetime in four lines, and then gently slows you down to contemplate the source of that life. It is a reminder to stop dancing frantically and be more mindful of the One who wrote the score.

The Advantages of Stewardship over Ownership for CCS’s Future Written 2-22--2014

2025-03-07T13:36:00.026-05:00

This document was written 11 years ago and has not been revised to reflect more than $100,000 in capital improvements that occurred over the past decade. This document also refers to a goal of raising $1,000,000 which in 2014 would have lowered the CCS mortgage to 2.2 million (which was a prerequisite for the Green Family [philanthropic purchasers] at that time.) for about ten years, CCS has paid a monthly mortgage of over $15,000 a month and paid the balance down more than $1.2 million since taking ownership of the property in 2012.

This document is made available now merely to make it clear to those who ask me how I feel about a recent development: the pending sale of the CCS PROPERTY to a financially sound like-minded local ministry willing to lease to CCS. While I have not played a part in this most recent process (since I’m now fully retired from CCS), I could not be happier, and I hope that this document (from 11 years ago) will help any concerned parties to see that this pending model is not a new concept. It will help the school focus on Christian education and put the best-use and future development of this asset in very capable hands. God’s timing is perfect.

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The Advantages of Stewardship over Ownership for the Future of CCS presented to CCS Board 2-22-2014

For over a year, CCS leadership has been focused on a plan to secure the building without necessarily owning it. The plan is based on a third-party philanthropist buying the building and then giving it to a local like-minded ministry that is supportive of CCS and its goal to continue operating in the facility (under the protection and benefit of an affordable “shared-use agreement”). This has been our only plan for over a year, and for that reason we call it “Plan A.” The only variable in Plan A has been which local “recipient” is most likely to put the Kendra property to best ministerial use while also providing the most advantageous arrangement for CCS? The recently introduced Plan B (LLC) is the same concept. It merely assumes a different “philanthropic purchaser.” The outcome of Plans A and B need not be different.

After nearly two years of experience with the costs of the Kendra property, CCS leadership continues to see that the advantages of occupying this building are far greater when not encumbered with the financial responsibilities of owning it. It is now time to communicate with our constituency the advantages of this position; to help them see that the limited school budget cannot afford to absorb the costs of ownership (some of the reasons are outlined below).

While communicating this message, we should also explain what is at stake if we fail to meet this goal by June 15 (Diocese at the door [At the time of this document, our building was listed by Fifth/Third Bank “for sale” and St. Mary’s K-8 in SL had walked through our building three times. Our one-year lease expired on June 15. We were glad St. Mary’s decided to build at their current location rather than move to the CCS property, but that decision had not yet been made at the time.]), and then urge all those who care about CCS to put additional “skin in the game” to help meet the $1M goal.

The following five points underscore some of the costs that will be assumed by the co-occupant “recipient” of this property. They help explain why CCS leadership is thankful that such a local ministry is willing to take on the bulk of future financial responsibilities inherent in this philanthropic plan.

1. $40,000+ in additional maintenance personnel: For the past two years, our school budget has not had a “facility director.”. We have a $300/month consultation/assistance agreement with the former facility director who helps with certain maintenance tasks after hours, but there is no “on-site” staff taking care of the normal day-to-day, wear-and-tear maintenance of this $5M property and its equipment and buses. The CCS administrator and volunteers shovel sidewalks, clean windows, etc. (One experienced person used to be paid for the higher-skilled tasks she now does voluntarily.) We are thankful for a

“housekeeping” team of three part-time custodians (minimum wage), putting in less than 30 man-hours a week, but our current cost-saving program is not a good long-term plan. The future owner of this building will likely add a paid staff person ($40,000+?) to properly maintain this building. Of all the possible

“owner” / co-occupants of this facility, which one best understands the need to fund long-term maintenance personnel in their budget?

2. $50,000+ in annual “deferred maintenance.” The term “deferred maintenance” in a property owner’s budget refers to the funds the owner should set aside annually for the large ticket items that will need to be replaced or repaired over periods of long-term ownership. For instance, the commercial carpet in this building has held up well for 15 years, but high-traffic areas in front of doorways will someday need to be replaced. It is highly unlikely that all carpet in the building would be replaced at the same time, but just for the sake of discussion, let’s calculate how much that would cost (using conservative figures):

The nylon commercial carpet in our building costs $2.70+- /SF. Tear- up and installation of new carpet is at least $3.30 /SF, making a total of $6.00 per square foot to install new carpet. There is approximately 50,000 SF of carpet in the building (after taking out gym, balcony, and café). That means (conservatively speaking) that it would cost at least $300,000 to re- carpet the building. If such a project were to happen when the building is 25 years old (when our current kindergarten is in 10^th grade), the owner of this building should be putting aside $30,000 per year in the “deferred maintenance” just for carpet.

Imagine how much higher the annually “deferred maintenance” line should be to cover the inevitable purchase of a new boiler, new drinking fountains (one is already dead), new commercial freezer (ours needs a $1,000 compressor), new lawn equipment (ours is 10 to 15 years old), repairs to irrigation system in every zone, new maintenance equipment (our commercial vacuums cost about $800 each and ours are old), new sound equipment in the gym (needed immediately for Sunday church occupancy). In the next ten years of “ownership” of this building, everything inside will age from 15 to 25-years-old. Some accountants recommend putting at least 1% of a building’s value into “deferred maintenance”. This building is worth more than $5,000,000. So 1% represents a line item of $50,000 per year. Of all the possible “owner” / co-occupants of this facility, which one is prudently adding “deferred maintenance” of this building to their budget?

3. Total future CCS cost to occupy is a 50/50 split of annual “overhead” costs ($200,000 plus the $50,000 mentioned: $250,000): $125,000. That is less than $1.79/SF per year. Compare that cost to typical “rental” situation using a modest $4 / SF (using 70,000SF): Rent would be $280,000 annually PLUS the “overhead” which results in more than $400,000 per year to “occupy”. That would be an untenable financial obligation for CCS, but so is the prospect of taking on full responsibility for the costs of owning the current 70,000SF facility. As the school’s real-estate consultant said in a recent meeting. CCS could not ask for more favorable terms than the offer to split overhead costs ($125,000) as its full financial obligation in a long-term co-occupancy agreement. The business advantage of such an arrangement will be equally obvious to financial donors/investors who seek the best for CCS’s future.

4. $1,000,000+ in immediate “start-up” costs for a church and future construction costs: [remember this document is 11 years old and does not reflect current pending arrangement.] Now consider the fact that one of the possible church co-occupants in dialogue with CCS is also committing to spending more than $50,000 just to “equip” the pending “church plant” for services in our building (sound equipment, lighting equipment, etc.) There are also expressed intentions for them to build a church office/ reception area separate from the current school footprint so the church can have its doors open during the week when the school wings are secured (as required by law). Along with the office construction, there plan to construct a nursery through “preschool” wing currently lacking in the building. It is not the business of CCS speak more specifically of another organization’s budget or expenditures in these projects, but clearly it involves far more financial “investment” on the other side of Plan A than the $1M CCS “Lease Adjustment Payment” which satisfies the bank’s expectations for final sale. Of all the possible “owner” / co-occupants of this facility, which one is prepared to underwrite such start-up costs and construction to improve this building for use by two separate Christian ministries?

The above “church” improvements indirectly help the school: Future concerts will have a proper sound system again. The lighting board that a donor purchased for CCS will be put to full use. The video projectors for the gym screens will be replaced with state-of-the-art projectors.

The fact that almost all church traffic will be in a different wing Mon-Friday (once construction is done) makes church reception/ office space more private and quiet and allows the school to be in compliance with standard security measures. A new nursery through preschool wing, means parent traffic for preschool (and possibly kindergarten) is in the SE parking lot rather than the front of the building.It also means that the elementary wing gains at least one more classroom (possibly two if kindergarten class could move to the new wing). That means the growing CCS program gains two more classrooms without any new construction in the classroom wing.

5. The advantage of having such a “fixed cost” shared-use agreement in our budget means all annual fund-raising above $125,000 would go directly into improving our program and giving teachers and staff a long-overdue improvements in their compensation packages. (Under the church from 2000 to 2010, the CCS staff saw annual modest increases and had a 5% retirement program. They put aside 2% and the church matched 5%--modest program but under independent model, they have no retirement, and the 2014-2015 school year quite likely represents their sixth year of a pay freeze.) Our highest paid classroom teachers with their master’s degrees and 25+ years of classroom experience do not make first year BS degree pay in a public school. It may also be worth noting that current CCS administrative pay is based on the same teacher pay scale (rather than September through May, his contract includes June through August duties). He accepted a large pay-cut when he moved from the church budget to the school budget three years ago. The lower pay represents a $45,000 decrease in his income so far. He refinanced his house to make up for the change in income. Even so, he does not share the concern to restore teacher compensation for his own benefit. He is speaking on behalf of a faculty and staff that cannot be asked to bear continual sacrifice when we have the opportunity to embrace a much better stewardship model by welcoming the idea of co-occupancy with a $125,000 “shared-use agreement” rather than ownership without a comparable financial advantage for CCS.

Closing thoughts: Do you know that when CCS “accounts receivable” gets calls from CCS parents who cannot pay their tuition on time, the most common excuse is, “We had other bills to pay.” It is frustrating that some parents don’t consider their tuition bill as important as “other bills.” In the last CCS board meeting, it was reported that CCS may be facing a cash-flow issue by mid-April. This could mean that teachers may be getting only partial pay in from that time through the ends of their contracts (as cash flow allows). There was no mention of telling the utility companies or trash removal or snow plow service that their payments would be late. How is this thought process any different than when families tell CCS that other bills matter more than tuition?

In that same board meeting, the administrator mentioned that in his 33 consecutive years of K-12 Christian education, he was never “short paid” nor had he ever faced the prospect of telling his employees they would be “short paid.” CCS leadership must do everything possible to make sure a “short-pay” announcement can be avoided. Likewise, thinking down the road a few years or a decade, CCS must also do everything possible to make sure that our limited budget is being put to the best possible use for the CCS program and CCS faculty and staff. “Ownership” is a financial obstacle to that goal. If God is so kind to provide us with a financially able “owner/co-occupant” on this campus, let us embrace it.

Lord, help us show our gratitude to another ministry that is willing to take on such financial responsibilities for the glory of God. The administrator cannot overstate how strongly he feels about this. Once we embrace and communicate why the stewardship model of Plan A (or B if needed) is far better than ownership, we can focus on our mission and those who help us fulfill it (i.e. program enhancements and incremental staff compensation restoration).

Any concerns regarding co-occupancy can be addressed in the shared-use agreement. CCS faculty and staff know they can be a good co-occupant because they have done it before. Let us all commit to remembering the very functional years as a ministry of Calvary Church (rather than the last two years when their financial crisis caused regrettable strain in church/school relations. Let us remember that the former church’s financial burden included all of the cost of ownership mentioned above AND over $300,000 per year in mortgage payments AND the school administrator’s salary (until July, 2011). Let’s acknowledge that CCS greatly benefitted from the church-hosted model for most of time shared in this building. The ASCI accreditation team of 2007 gave both the church and the school kudos for how well they worked together, and it was an accurate commendation. Let us remember that the former church congregation and leaders once had such a vision for Christian education that they invested millions of dollars into this fine building and supported the school ministry for several years. Those years were exemplary in many ways, and the school leadership was able to focus its attention on the school. Plan A (or B if needed) allows that to be true again.

Let’s focus our attention on the best years of our past as we pray for and strive toward a hopeful future. If God wills that these moving parts to “work together for good,” let us strive to live and lead worthy of such a blessing and to be excellent partners with the other ministry that uses this place. May this outpost on Kendra Road lift high the cross of Christ to all who pass for years to come. If such a story unfolds in the months ahead, may all glory go “…to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us…” Ephesians 3:20 (ESV)

Tom Kapanka

[The story of CCS maintaining excellent credit and a flawless payment record with its mortgage-holding bank for all these years is truly a “loaves and fishes” miracle. Thanks be to the steadfast support of a faithful donor base.The fact that a very similar situation (of continued service in the building without the burden of ownership) has again presented itself to CCS eleven years after the above document was written is an unforeseen blessing. To God be the glory.]

Why Co-stewardship of CCS Kendra Property Can Serve the Best Interest of Both Ministries

2025-03-07T13:23:00.014-05:00

Written in 2019 during discussion of the pros and cons of leasing to a local church to help offset the cost of owning the building (which became true for several years).

*******

A building is a tool, and like tools, it is designed to accommodate certain tasks or functions for its occupants. In many cases, such as school facilities, building codes and zoning ordinances help ensure the effectiveness and safe use of the building/tool. Beyond safety and functionality, an architect adds artistic and ergonomic elements so that beauty and form complement function. Ideally, the building that meets these goals is located in place that serves the anticipated market with ample parking and room to grow with the vision and objectives of ministry. An added bonus is high visibility to high volume traffic. The home of Calvary Christian Schools is such a building at such a location.

After spending the summer of 2012 considering four other properties as temporary locations for the 2012-2013 CCS school year, we have never been more aware of the architectural and geographical statements in that first paragraph. The lessons learned through that summer of displacement are still helping us in decision-making processes. While it is true that a building is a tool, it is also true that buildings like houses can acquire emotional and spiritual connections based on events and relationships formed within their walls. We could not be more grateful to God for allowing us to return to the building that was and is the intended long-term home Calvary Christian Schools.

During the past two years, CCS has been the sole occupant and custodial guardian of the building and grounds. All costs have come from the school budget and school accounts. All costs associated with maintenance, contracts, insurance, inspections, utilities, snow removal, trash removal, improvements, in short, every dollar of overhead as well as a monthly lease payment to the bank [which later became a mortgage] has been paid by CCS. The school operates on roughly a $1M annual budget (copies available) and roughly 12.5% of the budget goes to facility-related overhead that had never been in the school budget prior to becoming an independent school in July, 2012.

Through the generous support of the CCS family and donor base, over $700,000 of non-tuition income has been raised since becoming an independent non-profit organization, but much of those funds were raised in the context of the transition and the enthusiasm of securing the building. Those funds have been used on overhead, lease payments, facility improvements, and other transitional expenses other than curriculum, staff compensation, and program improvements. In other words, we are doing a great job of maintaining through this transition, but it has put stress on our staff and program. It is in that sense, that the present two-year model without a separate, co-steward ministerial partner does not seem sustainable.

For this reason, CCS welcomes the opportunity to be co-stewards of this ministerial tool with a thriving, like-minded church that is focused clearly on its own mission, but willing to share this space… with the school for future God-honoring, Bible-based, Gospel-driven ministry for the 21^st Century. We not only see this as a more sustainable “shared-cost” model, but we consider it a complementary, compatible, win-win arrangement for both the church and the Christian school.

The existing facility is Phase One of a church/school location that was designed to meet the needs of both a growing church and a like-minded (now separate) Christian School. Phase Two of construction has been on hold for over a decade.

Some ministerial tasks are so similar in function that they can make use of the same building by co-stewarding a facility, cooperatively managing some resources associated with ministry such as time, space, certain classifications of equipment (maintenance, furniture, etc.) and separately managing other elements of the two separate ministries (budget, human resources, etc.). The purpose of this discussion is merely to point out the advantages of co-stewardship compared to “sole occupancy” of a campus and facility. The paragraphs below are for illustration only and not meant to serve as a basis for the actual financial terms of co-stewardship.

The average church building of an active healthy church organization maximizes full capacity/functionality only about 8 to 10 hours per week. The rest of the week, (though a portion of the church is used each day) up to 90% of the building is vacant and unused or in various states of cleaning, maintenance, or set-up for upcoming use.

For the sake of this discussion, let’s assume that because both a church and a school are daytime service industries, (for lack of a better term, but the point being that they are unlike factories or industries such as hotels, motels, restaurants, rescue missions, hospitals, etc. which sometimes function 24 hours a day), the “business hours” of a church or school building typically fall between 7:00AM and 9:00PM, with the building being “closed” ten hours per 24-hour day. This results in 98 “potential use hours” per week; let’s call it 100.

The average school building for a typical K-12 school program is used to its maximum capacity/functionality about 40 hours per week from 7:30AM to 3:30PM for nine months of the 12-month year (basically when classes are in session). After school hours, during athletic seasons, about a third of the building is used for an additional 18 hours per week for both school-related athletic practice and home athletic events. During such events, the non-athletic portions (2/3) of the building are typically available for use but unused from 3:30 on. Theoretically if 1/3 of the building being used 18 hours a week after school while 2/3 of the building is unused, this amounts to “full use equivalent” of six hours, for a total of 46 hours. Let’s call it 50 full-use hours, but remember this is only during inside sport seasons (volleyball and basketball) which is basically 2/3 of the nine-month academic school-year from September through May and half of a full calendar year.

Assuming a church and school occupy the same size building (or even the same building as co-stewards) those ten dormant hours represent the same cost of operation to both an empty church and an empty school. The fourteen hours of daily operation are also very comparable between a fully used facility (i.e. The difference between the cost of operating and maintaining a school building that is fully used 46 hours per week (let’s call it 50) and the cost of operating and maintaining a church building that is fully used 8-10 hours per week and partly used (office hours, various groups and functions) is virtually the same with two exceptions: custodial services and “wear and tear” on facility.

(1) Custodial services cost go up in proportion to the hours of usage and the size of space occupied. These costs include cleaning and hospitality supplies.

(2) “Wear and tear” on user-contact items such as kitchens, drinking fountains, carpets, painted surfaces, and furnishings is greater during maximum use than minimum or non-use. (This is not true of HVAC, roofs, parking lots, and other infrastructure overhead costs not directly related to user-contact or hours of occupancy.)

Items 1 and 2 reflect what can be called the Proverbs 14:4 principle: “Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.” In other words, the purpose of ministry is not to have a clean, unused building but to use it to the fullest for the sake of the harvest and those called to prepare soil, plant, tend, nurture, train-up, reap, etc. metaphorically speaking, which are among the shared tasks of both a Gospel-centered church and like-minded Christian school.

[For further clarification see “3M: Mission, Management, and Marketing document from 2011.That document was presented to the former host church to clarify the distinct differences between a church and a school as the beginning steps of launching CCS as a separate 501(c)3 organization, keeping all historical identification. That separate status was legally achieved in December, 2012, with guidance from the Community Foundation for Muskegon County.]

Preliminary Review of Facts:

CCS has been in operation for 34 years. Opening its doors as a K-2 school in 1980 and adding an additional grade each year, CCS has operated 24 years as a full K-12 program. This means that the 2014-2015 School-year is the 25^th Anniversary as a K-12 school and the 35^th Anniversary as a school.

At present 60% of its history, 15 of its 25 years as a K-12 school, have been spent in the current 60-acre campus on Kendra Road.

To End With: "When Your Children Ask in Time to Come ‘What do those Stones Mean?’”

2023-06-01T14:36:00.017-04:00

A summary of Mr. Kapanka's last chapel message as Head of School at CCS:

May 25, 2023

We have no school this coming Monday. Does anyone remember why? [various students replied: "It's Memorial Day."] Yes. When I was a kid, my grandparents called Memorial Day “Decoration Day” because they always went to the cemetery to put flowers at the MEMORIAL STONES of loved ones--especially those of veterans. Whatever else we did on Memorial Day, I remember walking to familiar stones at Lakeside Cemetery in Port Huron, Michigan, and hearing stories of those who made my life possible. Without those great grandparents, my mom would remind us, you literally would not exist. It sometimes made me dizzy to think of generations that way. Still does.

The tradition of MEMORIAL STONES goes back thousands of years, but they were not always associated with graves or cemeteries. There are several examples of MEMORIAL STONES in the Old Testament.

In chapters 3 and 4 of the Book of Joshua, the Children of Israel were about to cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land, and the Lord told Joshua to tell a leader from each of the twelve tribes to take a huge boulder from the center of the river and make a memorial so....

When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ ... then you shall tell them...”

Today we’re going to be talking about Twelve MEMORIAL STONES in the history of CCS. In fact, I hope to put 12 large stones in the gym-side grove between the front two parking lots this summer, and when your children ask in time to come what those stones mean… you can tell them of the things I shared today.

The 1^st MEMORIAL STONE would have to be the year 1980 when Calvary Christian Schools began with only kindergarten, first, and second grades It was down in Muskegon where the new Muskegon Middle School is now being built. Two teachers were hired for that first year: Miss Judy Holman (who taught kindergarten here for more than 25 years) and Mrs. Deb Stenberg (who retired from CCS in 2019).

The 2^nd MEMORIAL STONE would be 1991 when CCS had its first Commencement Ceremony for its first graduating class. In that year's yearbook, we found many other people who still work here at CCS. You see, CCS may have begun with only K-2, but the school then added one grade level each year for the next ten years. Calvary kept growing and hiring more teachers. That's why in the 1990-1991 yearbook, you can find: Mrs. Mann (a secretary back then): Mrs. Becky Smith; Mrs. VanTine; Mrs. Booth (in kindergarten); and Mrs. Lockwood and Mrs. McCallum (in 2nd grade).

Side note: Mrs. Lockwood was a senior the very first year I came to CCS. So was a young man named Nick Lockwood. And yes, they were already dating at that time. It would be impossible to place a MEMORIAL STONE for all the couples (and now families) on this planet today who first began dating while attending CCS, but I can think of at least a dozen from the past twenty-five years alone.just think…if Calvary didn’t exist, those couples might not have met and, if not, those family wouldn’t exist. It’s almost the same feeling I used to get when thinking about my family tree.

The 3^rd MEMORIAL STONE is 1999. That was the year that CCS moved from the old building in Muskegon to this new building on Kendra Road. No need for a picture because we step into this new building every school day.

It is interesting, however, to mention that fewer than 5% of those who enter our school each day were among those to have ever stepped foot in the old building that was torn down in 2000 to make way for the new Hackley ER which was torn down in 2021 to make way for the new Middle School. Strange... we think of our building as "new," yet the building that took its place in 2000 has already been torn down.

The 4^th MEMORIAL STONE is Y2K, which stood for the “Year 2000.”

The turning of a century is always milestone in history, but this particular year was very strange. Only the teachers in the chapel now were alive at that time. Many of them remember that many experts in 1999 predicted that because the computers in existence had been built in the previous decades, they did not have the year 2000 built into their dating systems. This technical oversight was going to cause all computers to crash at midnight of the New Year. Airports, traffic lights, municipal water systems. Everything was going to crash. It was a real fear in the news every day. My wife and I filled our bathtub to the brim with clean water on New Year’s Eve, 1999—just in case there was a water shortage beginning the next day. All this fear was summed up in the term: Y2K. The next morning... nothing happened. Life went on.

Another big MEMORIAL STONE for me personally also happened in 2000. It was in that summer (July 1, 2000) that my family and I moved from the Christian school in Iowa where I had served for 18 years to west Michigan where I become “Head of School” here at CCS. That was 23 years ago.

The 5^th MEMORIAL STONE happened on April 20, 2001, and it already has a real memorial stone right outside the front rotunda entrance of the school.

Hundreds of people pass by this memorial every day, but it's possible most do not know what it signifies. It was one of the saddest events in the national news that year, and it all culminated right here in our building.

In the Roni and Charity Bowers Memorial (above), the white dogwood tree represents Roni, the mother, and the pink dogwood represents Charity, the baby. Roni Bowers had been a teacher at CCS a few years before. I first met her in the rotunda just outside the school office. She had Charity in her arms and all the ladies from the office were making a big fuss over her. It was to be their last day in our building before leaving for Peru, where they had been serving as missionaries (living on a houseboat, built by some men at Calvary Church, which moored on the Amazon River). I'm so glad I met the Bowers family that day in the fall.

Later that year, the spring Junior-Senior Banquet was at the Bil-Mar in Grand Haven. I was talking to Nick Lockwood (a senior in high school at that time), and he asked me if I had heard about what happened to the Bowers. I had not yet heard of the tragedy that was making national and international news.

On April 20, 2001, this Bowers family was flying from one village to another along the Amazon River. The Peruvian Police and American CIA, flying in a US jet, mistook them for a drug smuggling plane and shot them down. Jim and the boy lived.

But Roni and Charity who were sitting in the front of the plane (much like they appear in this picture), both died instantly from a single bullet that went through both of their hearts.

A few days later the funeral was held at the CCS gymnasium. School was canceled that day because the building was surrounded by news outlets from around the world: CNN, Fox News, ABC, CBS, NBC, Time Magazine—everyone was here there were satellite trucks all over the place. It was by far the biggest news event to ever affect this building.

Then less than five months later....

The 6^th MEMORIAL STONE happened on September 11, 2001. In fact, the date literally became the historic name of the event. We call it 9-11. I was in my office at school (talking with a missionary to Togo, West Africa, about our first ever international student at CCS) when Dianne Lihan, the receptionist, told us that one of the World Trade Center Towers had been hit by a plane. Not seeing the images, we assumed it was a little New York "tour" plane. A few minutes later, she told us the other tower had just been hit by another plane--and that both planes were commercial airliners. That was when we knew it was a terrorist attack. Then the Pentagon was hit, and another jet was unaccounted for. All this was happening while CCS students were in their classrooms completely unaware. After lunch we called an assembly in the gymnasium for MS and HS only. We notified elementary parents that we did not tell their children of that day's events, but we did show the older students some of the news on the big screens in the gym. We later cancelled the VB and Soccer games for that night. (In fact, all sporting events across the country were later canceled for the rest of the week.) Nine-eleven was a horrible event that changed the rest of that year and years to come for the whole world.

The 7^th MEMORIAL STONE is the year 2005, when CCS celebrated its 25^th Anniversary. The pictures below hang in the school office. One is from 2005, the other is from 2009. If you want to see younger versions of many people you know, come in and take a closer look. (Or double click on the photo itself.)

The 8^th MEMORIAL STONE is the year 2012, when the CCS school board incorporated as a separate “non-profit organization.” Prior to that year, the school had been a ministry of Calvary Church. This school literally exists because of the vision of that congregation, but the church came upon financial difficulties that had begun in the sluggish economy following 9-11. Long story short is that even though the church had paid off SIX MILLION dollars on this campus and building in just twelve years, they were no longer able to pay the mortgage and it went back to 5/3rd Bank. After much negotiating, however, the bank was willing to let CCS, the new independent school, lease the building while they tried to sell it to other interested schools. It was a year of uncertainty as one serious "buyer" in particular, went through the building three times. If they had decided to move their school from Spring Lake to our/campus, CCS would have been displaced to one of the numerous "Plan Bs" we had explored in which to open that fall. I have been asked by various board members through the years to write a short account of how God orchestrated our return to the building we had moved out of for two months.

If I ever do write such a booklet, I might call it "Plan B: The Patient Providence of God."

Why that title? Because the CCS Board and I explored many of Plan Bs that summer, and each one brought a temporary sense of HOPE that we would have a place for school in the fall. Most of them were "top secret," so when people asked me: "Where are we going to have school next year?" I would answer quite earnestly, "Exactly where God wants us to be." I sincerely believed that... even as the doors of several "Plan Bs”after " closed one after the other--and thank God they did.

"O, we of little faith!" We had let go of the hope that Plan A (the building that had been built for CCS in 1998-99) could ever be home to CCS again. The lesson some of us learned that year was this: Though it is wise to have a back-up plan, never rule out God's desire and ability to restore Plan A. This is true of all creation itself. In the beginning, God created Plan A, and at the end of each creative day, He said, "That's good.". Then THE FALL took place and put a series of Plan Bs in place. Even so, God promised that someday He would restore His Plan A. Yet century after century, mankind proves that we are prone to forget Plan A... (As the old hymn says: "Prone to wander...Lord, I feel it....prone to leave the God I love). We're prone to settle for Plan B, and were it not for "the patient providence of God," Plan A would be long-forgotten dream. In a much smaller scale, though it was huge at the time, that's what CCS learned in 2012. That year is a very significant MEMORIAL STONE.

The 9^th MEMORIAL STONE is the year 2014 when CCS purchased the building from Fifth/Third Bank. By taking on a new mortgage with a different bank, we were no longer renters living with the thought of losing our building to another school. The purchase price was $3.4 million dollars, and the current balance is down to about $2.2 million. Google Earth was new to me that year and for the first time I was studying our building and campus from satellite images online when I noticed a huge CROSS in our building's design. I called the architect in Grand Rapids who laughed and said, "You guys are just now noticing that Cross. It's called a cruciform design--dates back to the Middle Ages. I started with that 300' cross and add everything else to it."

What a powerful thought: for fifteen years, without ever seeing it, CCS students had been going to school in the shadow of the cross. This discovery happened a few weeks before Easter, and the Muskegon Chronicle did a front page feature about it for the Easter Sunday Edition. Some time later, Scott Meyer built the model showing that cross that has graced our hallway ever since.

Along with the blessing of that year, however, comes a serious reality of stewardship. That mortgage is slightly over $15,000 / month in the school budget. Part of my new job description for the next year or two will be sharing this story with people who see the value of CCS know we could serve families even better if that mortgage were greatly reduced or gone before our 45^th Anniversary in the summer of 2025.

The 10^th MEMORIAL STONE happened in December 2018. It is the first of these stones that most of our current school family probably remembers. I wrote about in a sort of poem nearly four years ago..

The 11^th MEMORIAL STONE is the present year, 2023. If all goes as planned, we will be launching an all-day Childcare Center in September. The preschool will remain where it is, but the childcare will be up in the current art room. The art room will be where the current library is, and the library will be disbursed into each of the classrooms by grade-level. Mrs. Anhalt’s room will be in the current copy room. The copy room and business office will be in that new room in the cafeteria. And the teacher’s work room will be down the hall where Mrs. Wilson’s business office is. So This year of 2023 is going to a year of lots of exciting changes. It also happens to be my last year as Head of School—after 23 years—but I will still be here at CCS overseeing the launch of the childcare (pending final approval) and helping with the financial sustainability of the school in time for the remaining MEMORIAL STONE….

The 12^th MEMORIAL STONE will be our 45^th Anniversary in the year 2025!

I knew this would be a long blog post because when I shared these thoughts in chapel last week, we went over by a few minutes, but it was our last chapel of the year, and the students were very attentive.

I began writing a “administrative blog” for our CCS website twelve years ago. My first post in 2011 explains why I named the blog To Begin With . I have called this post "To End With" because it is probably the last post I will write from this office.

What better way to wrap things up than with this talk of MEMORIAL STONES so that someday… When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean?’ YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO TELL THE NEXT GENERATION THE STORY OF GOD'S PATIENT PROVISION TO CALVARY CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS.

Mr. Kapanka's Christmas Wish (with thanks to Earl Hamner Jr.)

2022-12-23T12:53:00.000-05:00

Some of you are not old enough to remember the TV show called “The Waltons” about a family making do through the Great Depression, but I grew up a big fan of the show's early seasons, and I’ve long admired it’s creator, Earl Hamner Jr., whose voice narrated each episode (through the written journals of “John Boy," played by Richard Thomas).

In many ways, the show reminded me and my siblings of our own family “making do” through hard times as we built our home deep in some wooded acres in “the thumb” of Michigan. This was especially true for my mother who had grown up living in a three-generation household with her grandparents. When I went off to college in 1974, this reading was on the Walton’s Christmas album. The words of Grandpa’s Christmas Wish came to me as I shot this video footage on the last day of school before Christmas Vacation. Heavy lake-effect snow decorated the outside while classes reveled inside. It was a beautiful day!

The full reading by Will Geer can be found at this link:

Did You Know? A Brief History of CCS and the Generous Giving that Makes It Possible

2022-12-08T16:09:00.027-05:00

I still remember arriving at Calvary Christian Schools in July of 2000. My wife and I had served at a very similar ACSI school in Iowa for 18 years when I accepted this position. These 23 years have been a blessing, and they’ve gone by so fast that I sometimes forget that many of our new families may not know the amazing story of Calvary Christian Schools.

I firmly believe that knowing our story will bring joy to our giving this Christmas because it is an incredible gift to be a part of Calvary.

Ours is an incredible story. For instance...

Did you know that, for our first 20 years, CCS was located right next door to the old
The original CCS building on Clinton Street in Muskegon
Hackley Hospital in Muskegon (now the site of the new Middle School)? The CCS Fruitport campus was completed in1999. This building was one of the largest new construction projects in the county. (The Lakes Mall came a couple years later along with restaurants, banks, businesses. Soon after our move to Kendra Road, more than 500 new residential addresses came to our neighborhood.
1998-99 Yearbook cover..
Did you know that the original investment in the land purchase, clearing / excavation, sewer/water/utilities, construction and landscaping was a nine
million dollar commitment taken on by the former host church? A school our size could never have made such an investment. In the years to follow, the largest church in Muskegon County met in our gymnasium (three services each Sunday for many years). During those same ten years, that congregation paid down the original mortgage balance to 3.5 million dollars. That’s amazing, and had it not happened, CCS would not exist as we know it today.
Did you know that in 2012, CCS became a Michigan non-profit and independent 501(c)(3) governed by a board rather than a host church? That same year, Calvary Church relocated, and the school was temporarily displaced. Then in August the mortgage-holding bank allowed CCS to return and occupy the building for one year while the bank attempted to sell it.
Did you know that, upon moving back into this building, the school budget took on full responsibility of all utilities, inspections, maintenance, and mortgage payments. This was more than $250,000 above tuition income and any previous budget. We sometimes refer to that year as a “loaves and fishes” miracle because of how God provided through donors. (Our 501(c)(3) status means all donor gifts are tax deductible.)
Did you know that the bank was so impressed with our ability to meet our obligations while taking great care of their asset that they renewed the lease for the 2013-2014 school year. It was announced at Commencement, and many people wept for joy.
Did you know that in 2014, after two years as renters, the bank graciously applied every dollar we had paid them (including all other building-related expenses ) to a negotiated purchase price that was below half of the building’s appraised value. Ever since, we have "owned" this building (with the help of a mortgage).
Did you know that since 2012, the mortgage obligation has been paid down a million dollars? Even so, our monthly payment on the 2.24M balance is over $15,000. While that is an enormous commitment, our loan history is excellent and our debt-to-equity ratio (D/E) is about .33.
Did you know that when we add in the cost of heating, cooling, maintenance, inspections, trash removal, snow removal, insurance, etc. to our mortgage payment, all building-related costs come to over $324,000 / year. This does not include any salaries.
Did you know that within a few years of 2012, God began using three things to help lower the formidable costs of running an independent faith-based school: First and foremost, a growing group of CCS donors who want the mission of CCS to continue; second, a lease with a wonderful local church that uses some office space and the building on weekends; and third, our teachers who are qualified and certified with servant’s hearts (some of whom are also contracted in a share-time program that substantially assists that portion of the CCS budget.
Did you know that while also absorbing the overhead costs of this fine campus and facility, CCS has also provided more and more families with need-based financial assistance?. This ensures that CCS never becomes a school only for those who can fully afford private education. This assistance helps dozens of families who could otherwise not share this wonderful journey with us. Providing this help is a scriptural principle responsibly applied.
Did you know that the need-based assistance CCS offers is unfunded? Some people think that because FACTS processes the applications that the actual dollars awarded to qualifying applicants are provided by FACTS or some other source. No. There is always a strong correlation between each year’s GAP fund (annual appeal for needed donor gifts) and the amount of need-based aid awarded. CCS donors share the value of keeping CCS available to all applicants who know both the cost and value of Christian education. (Even so, unfunded financial assistance never goes below half of the published tuition rate, and families of all income levels are asked to help close the GAP.)

Thank you for taking the time to read this short history of CCS. Now you know why we share our need each year and why so many people in our community consider CCS worthy of their support as this “loaves and fishes” story continues to unfold.

Now you know how such a relatively small school (currently 243 in Pre-K through 12^th grade) enjoys such a fine campus and building while constantly “learning to lean” on the Lord each year. It’s because CCS is a family of believers, educators, and donors who believe “learning to lean” is the first step in Christian education. Thank each of you for doing your part.

Tom Kapanka

Send checks to CCS or Scan this QR code
or go to www.calvaryeagles.org to give..

Contentious Days Call For Winsome Ways

2022-10-26T14:18:00.020-04:00

Four years ago, I was elected Michigan representative for the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI). Serving in this capacity is an honor and gives voice to dozens of other ACSI schools in the state. Last month, I was asked to represent CCS and the state of Michigan at a "Legal and Legislative Summit" in Washington DC.

For two days, nearly 100 other ACSI state representatives and heads of schools from coast to coast gathered in a large conference room across the street from the Department of Education Building to be inspired by speakers addressing two topics: religious freedom and parental choice in education. These two topics are central to the parental role of "training up a child in the way he or she should go." (Proverbs 22:6) . :

Speakers included: Senator Ted Cruz, Michael Lindsay, President of Taylor University, and many others. Most notable of all, however, was an address by the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, the Honorable Winsome Sears.

What a great name..."Winsome".... it means to be likably persuasive as we represent the connection between the TRUTH we believe and the common sense of living. As a school, for instance, CCS advocates for religious freedom not because the Bible guaranties it (quite the opposite is seen in the Old and New Testaments). We defend religious freedom because our U.S. Constitution has enshrined it from the beginning. So long as God grants us the freedom to live in this constitutional republic, we will strive to be winsome in defending religious freedom and the role of God-honoring parents in the lives of their children.

Winsome Sears is second-in-line to Governor Glen Youngkin, whose political opponent Terry McAuliffe (then governor of VA) said in a debate: "I don't think parents should be telling schools what they can teach..." That statement alone sent droves of parents to the polls to defend their God-given authority in matters of K-12 education. The surprising win of Glen Youngkin and Winsome Sears has inspired millions of parents and many new gubernatorial candidates from Michigan to Arizona in November's mid-term election.

After two days of inspiration in DC, it was time for some perspiration as all of the ACSI leaders in attendance walked UP Capital Hill (about five blocks UPHILL from the Department of Education building) to appointments with their congressional leaders.

Most of my time on The Hill was spent in Bill Huizenga's office. It was an honor to be among friends who appreciate schools like CCS. We stressed that parental choice in education will always go hand in hand with religious freedom.

As our nation strays further and further from its founding principles, churches and parents who believe God's Word "is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path" are in a shrinking minority, but even if that is true they are constitutionally protected in this 250-year experiment we call The United States of America.

The handbook and doctrinal statements of every ACSI school in Michigan probably include statements like the following. In many government-controlled schools, these beliefs are being replaced by the indoctrination of special interest groups:

The Bible says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." That notion is mocked as anti-science, but in fact, when science is properly defined the various theories of origins require just as much non-science (i.e. faith) to believe. Even so, for more than a century the flawed "science" of Darwin was taught as fact. In recent years, the battle cry "Follow the science!" has never come with more reasons to doubt the agenda behind those shouting it.
The Bible speaks of one race--the human race--and that no one group of humans matters more than another group. (Romans 10:12) Yet, it was Darwin's now-debunked theory of evolution that gave birth to the worst elements of racism manifested in our times. (As explained here.)
The Bible says, "Male and female He created them," but that self-evident fact is currently being drowned out in the din of "gender fluidity" and a never-ending list of pronouns and "identities."
The Bible says that humans are "image bearers" of God. created to have dominion over the earth. Secular classrooms, however, make no divine distinction between humans and animals (except when, in many cases, animal life is more protected than human life). Read further at Imago Dei.
The Bible says "marriage is between one man and one woman," but anyone who still says so in the public square will be canceled faster than Chick-Fil-A or Masterpiece Cakeshop.
The Bible says God is the giver and sustainer of life. "For you [God] formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb," but never has the beginning of life and the duty of protecting it been more contested in this nation. The current clamor is only new it its effort to remove parents from having a say in their children's life-changing choices.

The CCS Mission Statement reflects a more Biblical model for education: Partnering with parents to equip students toward personal excellence and the pursuit of God's purpose for their lives. To the surprise of many in government, many of the deeply held religious beliefs outlined above are also shared by parents whose children do not attend faith-based schools. On such matters, we agree that parents have a God-given responsibility to protect the innocence of childhood.

As we approach mid-term elections in a few days, continue to pray for those candidates who are willing to enter the political arena--especially those who understand religious freedom and parental choice in education. May God help us to be winsome as we take a stand and say NO to politicians and proposals designed to strengthen and lengthen their own control of culture, the government, and the next generation,

Tom Kapanka

[Note: The above post contains many links to support material. Click on gray and tan text for further reading or video samples.

God Bless the Broken Road That Led Us All to School

2022-06-09T13:51:00.003-04:00

Take a close look at this picture. Does it look familiar? Some of you may think that it’s a picture of Kendra Road in Fruitport. The resemblance is remarkable, but you’ll notice there are actually no potholes in the picture.

This is Rome’s famous Via Appia, the Appian Way.) built in 312 BC. It stretches more than 350 miles, and millions of tourist to Italy still use it for hiking, cycling, and horseback riding. It was so well-traveled by the time of Christ that miles of it already had grooves worn in the stones from the cartwheels pounding it through the centuries. (see photo below)

For 23 years, parents and students driving Kendra Road to school have felt like ancient travelers on the Appian Way. Thousands of dollars have been spent on tires, rims, alignments, and other repairs caused by the patchwork of potholes on the road Calvary calls home. Only those who travel Kendra daily know that this is not an exaggeration. This observation is not meant as a complaint to the fine road-workers of Fruitport Township. The fault is not theirs but rather the road itself.

You see, unlike the Appian Way of ancient Rome, Kendra Road never had a proper foundation. We’ve learned from locals, that Kendra Road began as a two track after I-96 went through in the 1960’s. Over the years, it evolved into a two-lane dirt road. Eventually it was frosted with some pavement, but with the turn of the century came of the school, the mall, Stillwater Springs, and other developments, and the traffic has exceeded the pavement’s capacity. So we thank the road workers who have tried their best to keep up the thousands of potholes through the years, but we are even more thankful for the following announcement:

We have been informed that KENDRA ROAD IS GETTING PROPERLY PAVED THIS SUMMER. That’s right. When we return to classes in the fall, all parents and drivers will have a smooth road as they approach the school. Because Kendra is classified as a local road (rather than “primary”), this work does come at some cost to the school and Kendra residents. We are launching a summer fundraising drive to raise $35,000. About half of that amount is the CCS assessment for the new road.

The remaining needed funds are for some other timely projects. We hope to hire a bonded tree service to clear away most of the highway brush and 20-year growth in front of the school (between Kendra and I-96). We have been given permission to clear back the foliage that blocks the view of CCS along the fence line. Unlike the Kendra pavement, all of the this tree-service cost falls to the school. But imagine what Calvary will look like in the fall—a new road and a clear view to the thousands of cars that pass us every day in the commute on eastbound and westbound I-96.

We also hope to make about $10,000 worth of inside improvements to the building that include a new Teacher Break Room (they have not had a Break Room since 2019. Look for additional information about this year-end campaign.

In the meantime enjoy this video about the broken road that has lead us to Calvary all these years. It may be the last time you see Muskegon County's version of the Appian Way.

Tom Kapanka

God Bless The Broken Road That Led Us All To School

Between Reminiscence and Anticipation: Written to the Class of 2022 After Senior Trip

2022-05-27T10:30:00.008-04:00

Dear CCS Class of 2022,

“There’s got to be a morning after…” I hope you all got a good night's sleep last night and woke up (eventually) to enjoy the familiar surroundings of home. Sometimes after big events, the morning after has a sort of empty whisper like when you hold a seashell to your ear. I’m writing you all this collective note on the morning after Senior Trip 2022 because I woke up to a silent house which made me miss you all. I get this feeling every year around graduation, but this year it prompted me to sit down and write you this note.

The first time Mrs. Kapanka and I took a Senior Class to Orlando was 1988. If that sounds like ancient history, I understand, but please know that to us... it does not seem so long ago. (Likewise for Mrs. Price who graduated from high school that same year.) The Class of '88 I'm referring to was from our previous school in Iowa where we served for eighteen years. We still keep in touch with many of those students (who are now in their fifties). That class did something spontaneously on their last night of Senior Trip that you guys also did: they stayed up all night reminiscing.

The ability to reminisce is a gift. Not all “families” do it. Reminiscing is what becomes of conversations stretched through time—long stretches of time. It happens in rare moments when you realize that time does not pass, it gathers; it is not spent but shared, and while it is not healthy to “live in the past” it is very good now and then to take a backward glance. . . just long enough to say “I remember the us that was.” Doing so helps you remember that God began shaping the “you” you’re becoming before you even knew it was happening.

You did something else Wednesday night in that brief snapshot of time (in those hours before we headed for the airport at 3:30AM): you spoke of important things in the present —beliefs, questions, uncertainties, and confidences—things that will set the direction for your futures; things that will be the backdrop of your reminiscing thirty years from now. How do I know this? Because that Class of ‘88 had a reunion at our former school three weeks ago. (We were not able to attend but saw photos on Facebook.) I’m confident that, Lord willing, your class will do the same in 2052. Hard to imagine, isn't it? Don't let it frighten you. The passing of time with friends and family is a wonderful thing.Watching young people become adults is one of the perks of working for 42 consecutive years in two K-12 schools like Calvary. Just think some of you had Mrs. K in preschool fourteen years ago, and here you are "all grown up" with so much to look forward to.

You asked us Wednesday night who our favorite class was, which is almost as impossible to answer as when parents are asked to disclose their favorite child… My guess is many others from other Senior Trips may be reading this, and they will remember moments unique to their experience. The very thought of them brings a smile the way an old photograph found unexpectedly can make you laugh in a room by yourself..

I will say this: we can’t imagine having been with a better group than you guys. We love the way you were not a group of smaller groups; we love the way that everyone—no matter how new to the class—was included; we love the way you show patience when it’s needed; we love the thought that you guys will care about each other well beyond next week's ceremony; we love the diversity of the dreams you hold and doubts you share and your apprehension of the fine line between dreams and doubts when you feel alone. We love the unspoken intent to never let any of your friends feel isolated in the years to come. The whole week was fun, but that last night of listening as you guys spoke from your hearts was the most rewarding and memorable event of this trip.

Mrs. K and I have “hugged” forty-one Senior Classes goodbye since our K-12 teaching careers began in 1982. We have bookmarks of recollection that help us remember each class (and individuals in each class). I can assure you of this… we will not forget your class and we will not need a bookmark, because your class is a bookend, holding a long row of senior trips in place. We didn’t speak of it when we were in Orlando, but you guys will always be remembered as our last Senior Trip. Not as a school, but as a trip with the two of us along. Thank you for the many kindnesses you showed when least expected.

The first line of this note is the title of a song from my high school days. I'll close this note with two more from the same era. (If Zander were riding shotgun right now he’d play them for us): The first is a song called “Anticipation” from 1971, which declared “These are the good ol’ days…” and indeed they are. Remember that as you enjoy this summer before turning the page from the CCS years to whatever lies ahead. The other song is a favorite of mine called "Bookends," which is perfect for these thoughts. I used it in this montage to help you remember that life is never lived only in the present… it is a beautiful blend of past and future... reminiscence and anticipation, grandparents and those yet to be born, experience and hope.

You are never alone.

We love you!

Mr. K

Press Arrow to Play

Worldview Shapes the Formative Years

2022-04-27T12:47:00.028-04:00

Today, we had more than 50 parents and prospective students in our rotunda as visiting students were paired up with someone from the class they were visiting. It was a wonderful sight to see. Most of these inquiring families will also be our guests at this evening's Spring Carnival. We hope you can all make it to that event to meet some of them..

We are living in interesting times, and I'd like to remind all of us why the formative years in your students' lives are so important.

Museum of The Bible, Washington, DC

This past week, I was at a Biblical Worldview Conference at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC. Scores of other K-12 Christian school administrators were there from across the country. CCS and these other schools consider teaching from a Biblical perspective (worldview) a crucial part of our mission. In all subjects and circumstances, God's Word is “a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.”(Ps119:105) Only in that light can we see the answers to the questions of life that give a meaningful context for all subjects.

Simply put, our worldview is the lens through which we interpret the past, present, and future of the world in which we live.

II Timothy 3:13-17 warns believers that the time will come when social “norms” and public opinion will go from bad to worse, and manipulating deceivers will lead many down false and dangerous paths. Friends, we are living in such a time. The same passage, however, encourages us to train up believers from childhood in the TRUTH of God’s Word and the way to wisdom and salvation in Christ Jesus. The short passage concludes by reminding us that "all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

At CCS, the home and school are a team working from the same playbook and game-plan. The many Evangelical churches in our school family sometimes summarized our shared Biblical worldview in three words: “Creation...Fall… and Redemption. That outline covers origins, including God’s original relationship with his creation; man’s willful breaking of that relationship and the resulting “brokenness” of the world, and then through Christ, a restored relationship (and eventually a “new heaven and earth”). We also pay heed to what Jesus called the two greatest commandments: Love God (vertical relationship) and love your neighbor as yourself (horizontal relationships) .(Matthew 22:36-40)

With those thoughts in mind, read Luke 6:39-40, where Jesus is talking about the influence of teachers over students and asks, “Can the blind lead the blind?” i.e. Can a person unable to see God’s role in life open other’s eyes to TRUTH? Can those who credit a godless existence to “random chance” give meaningful answers to the questions of life? How can we know that the same "light" is guiding your student(s) down the same "path"?

Luke 6:40 further reminds us that teachers should be worthy of being "looked up to" because in the end their students will become like them. In other words, regardless of the subject, worldviews are “caught” more than “taught,” and education should never be a game of “blind-man’s-bluff” for students and “keep-away” for parents.

When I was a kid, the nation’s largest bus-line commercials ended with a jingle: “Go Greyhound, and leave the driving to us.” Sadly, when it comes to what some schools are teaching kids these days, more and more school boards and government officials are telling parents, “Stay home, and leave the worldview to us.” In fact, just yesterday, President Biden told a national gathering of top teachers that the students they lead "are not someone else's, they're OUR children.... they’re like yours when they’re in the classroom.”

It is one thing for government schools to feign neutrality on religion; it’s another thing for them to oppose traditional views of the Church and to zealously (religiously?) advance contrary views to our children on topics like: identity, life, purpose, gender, sex, marriage, family, right and wrong, law enforcement, etc. I have friends and family who have tried to stem the tide of these contrary agendas in their local districts, and I do not doubt that their presence can be used by God if those adults can remain untainted, but when we consider the new social agenda being infused into the curriculum for children, how much tainted water in a well renders it risky to drink?

We often speak of school days as the "formative years." of life, and it is true. Students are like clay in the potter's hands. Jeremiah 18:2-4 paints a beautiful picture of how God transforms "formative years" into a useful life. The K-12 years represent about 15,000 hours on a potter's wheel. Who's doing the forming? What is the intended outcome? Imagine a partnership between the home and school that purposefully integrates learning with life, science with conscience, facts with faith, theory with wonder, and wonder with belief.

Our nation is very divided on some very basic "facts of life." Never have so many been diametrically opposed to keeping God in his rightful place as Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend. In times like these, we are pleased to see more and more parents choosing to partner with schools like CCS that share their values and teach from a Biblical worldview.

CCS Takes Top Two Trophies at 2022 Student Showcase!

2022-03-28T10:56:00.003-04:00

Frauenthal Center For The Performing Arts is one of our state's most historic theaters. Each year it hosts the “High School Student Showcase” for the sixteen high schools in Muskegon County (and a few more beyond). It takes two nights of performances to get all the talent on and off that beautiful stage. At the end of the second night they announce the winners, including the two most coveted awards. One is for First Place "group" and the other is what they call the “Showstopper.”

CCS has won 1st place on other occasions, 2nd place a few times, but this was the first year we took home both top trophies. (Each year the Student Showcase Program also highlights non-performing categories such as art, athletics, and academics.)

Here is another interesting fact about the CCS students who performed this year, and it has been true of nearly all students who have ever performed in Showcase through the decades: they are also athletes. Claire Swanson plays volleyball and Bradley Richards and Kendon Sutherland and Josiah Jackson play basketball and other sports. Josiah also runs his own piano-tuning business.

CCS is often compared to "The Little Engine That Could" because we often overcome achieve big school results in spite of being one of the smaller accredited K-12 programs in the state. When you are part of a high school that averages from 60 to 70 students, being well-rounded in many different outlets (including the three A: academics, arts, and athletics) is true of most of our students.

A Backward Glance at the Covid Years

2022-03-07T13:18:00.025-05:00

Around 12:01 AM, Sunday, March 13, 2020, we will change our clocks to "spring ahead" for daylight-savings time. As we look forward to spring, that day may be a good time to take a backward glance at the past two years...

March 13, is the two-year anniversary of the day we called a special assembly to inform the CCS students that all schools in the state were being ordered to close down for two weeks "to flatten the curve." The term was so new that we showed a video in the chapel to explain the theory behind it. We will not complain here that the two weeks gradually morphed into two years. Nor will we rehash what the months of isolation and/or protocols were like. We will pause to remember the loved ones we lost during these two years, and then we'll thank God we're together again and those two years are behind us.

The following timeline of video links is primarily for the sake of the 50 families who have come to CCS since the year the pandemic nearly closed down our school for good. Had our steadfast families not banded together "come what may" during those trying months...had we not stayed true to our tuition commitments...had we we not encouraged each other during those dark months... it is very likely that there would have been no CCS for us to return to in the fall of 2020. God is good!

So here is our "Thank you" to the families who were here that 2019-2020 school year; here is our "Glad you joined us" to the 50+ families who have joined the CCS family since that year, and here is a "Welcome to Calvary" for the dozens of new families planning to join us in the fall. Please join me in this backward glance lest we forget...

1. I made this short video and sent it to our school family to provide a sense of "calm" on the very sad occasion of walking into an empty school on the Monday after the closure. The stones in the box had been written on by our high school at Retreat to mark the that year's theme: "Never Alone."

2. Below is the first "video update" we sent to our homes during the closure. We had been in distant-learning mode for one week, and the state state had just announced that none of the classwork we had already begun with our high school would count toward graduation requirements. I wanted to make it clear that the news did not apply to Calvary Christian Schools.

3. Eagle's Nest Preschool is an important part of our CCS program. Roughly half of each year's graduating class has been at Calvary since preschool. When schools shut down, figuring out a way to keep the preschool viable was very difficult, but Mrs. K and I began "filming" a little TV show in our basement called "Mrs. K's Cozy Little Cabin," and she kept teaching the regular lessons three times a week. Viewers from well beyond CCS began watching faithfully. I attempted to keep parents engaged by adding little "jokes" that the children could not read.

4. The next video update was to soften the blow of the news that we were all expecting to hear that week: schools would remain closed indefinitely. I came to the empty building to make this video.

5. All of Mrs. Kapanka's "Cozy Little Cabin" shows can be seen at this website. but I wanted to include this one here in which she discreetly teaches 4-year-olds about the letter Q and transitions from Quilt to QUARANTINE, a concept all of us were still struggling with at the time. In hindsight, it would be easy to forget the caution we were all exercising in those first weeks of the shutdown, and Mrs. K thought it was important to include a word that would typically not be introduced to this age group.

6. As some folks know from the archives of this "To Begin With" blog, I have dabbled in poetry NOW AND THEN. By April of the closure, cabin fever was beginning to set in. This was not only from the hours we spent in the basement "filming" the preschool show but ALSO from the lost rhythm of days, weekends, Sundays, etc. The evening news was beginning to concerns about mental health and the growing sense that nothing really mattered anymore. What an unthinkable situation for students. These words came to me on April 1, and I wanted to share them with students to remind them that EVERY DAY COUNTS....

7. Before I moved from the classroom to "administration," I used to teach college and high school speech and literature. Back around 1978, I became familiar with the three pieces of literature that I allude to in this "video chat" from my back yard. It was when the reality that we were unlikely to be returning to school began making people wonder what things would look like on the other side of the pandemic.

8. There were many other videos shared in April and May, but we'll close with this one in which I was trying my best to say that someday this will all seem strange. (I did not know at the time that it would be a two year ordeal.).

I have posted these video clips (and those at the underlined links below) for the sake of the more than 50 families who are new to CCS since that spring semester (March-May) of 2020 when most of us were living somewhere between inexplicable caution and growing frustration.

As things turned out, we had a parade on the last day of school and were the first high school in the state of Michigan to have our Commencement Ceremony on the original day it was schedule (albeit outdoors). It was in all the news sources.

The next school year we were back in the building, and even though things were not quite normal, it was wonderful compared to the previous spring. Four new "outdoor education pavilions," made the state-mandated protocols much easier to bear.

Even so, the 2020-2021 school year was a difficult in many ways, which prompted a much needed "day away" at the Muskegon Winter Sports Complex.

By the time 2022 came, we were still reeling from the previous 3 semesters, but in taking this backward glance at the Covid-19 ordeal and protocols that now seem to be behind us, you might be thinking, "My goodness! You guys sure went through a lot just to keep school open and appealing to families." To which I and the teachers would say, "Yep... we sure did. It wasn't easy, but it was worth it!"

Thanksgiving Thoughts 2021 from Mr. K

2021-11-24T21:54:00.008-05:00

At Grace

Sometimes…
it’s the little things
like putting in the extra leaf
and keeping window watch;
then taking covered dishes at the door;
and hugging through coats
that bring in winter’s air.
Staring fondly at the face
come furthest home;
laughing with the funny uncle
in the kitchen;
holding hands once large and small—
but ever more alike—
around the laden table;
and smiling at the changeless gaze
(framed on the far mantle)
of one not there to pray.
It’s the little things
that make Thanksgiving.
The tastes and smells
and long-awaited feast
at best are just
the garnish of the day.
It’s the enormity
of little things
providentially in place
that lumps our throats
and lifts our thoughts
…at grace.

© 2006 Tom Kapanka

I wrote these lines fifteen years ago in a time when my family and extended family used to gather for all-day Thanksgiving feasts with 20 to 30 under one roof. Those were good times, but even as I wrote these words in 2006, they were beginning to fade. The "families tree" grows, and the branches reach further and further making such gatherings more rare and more precious. Then came Covid which shook us all to our very roots.

Last year I put together this video to help cheer up the CCS family (nine months into the pandemic). Who would have guessed that 12 months later this holiday would still be clouded by that virus. It's quite possible that your celebration today, like ours, has fewer people around the table for one reason or another. Even so, let's lift our hearts and "Thank God for This Thanksgiving Day!"

Lord, we thank you for Calvary Christian Schools. We thank you for meeting our needs through the years and for the hope of continued blessing for years to come. We thank you for the more than 120 homes in our school family, and for the many new families who joined us this fall.
Praise God from Whom All Blessing Flow!

Three Generations

2021-05-19T10:18:00.003-04:00

It takes two generations

to bring along the third…

for the echo of Truth is sometimes heard

more clearly than the words first spoken.

A cord of three strands is less likely broken

than one or two, and equally true and strong

is a chord of voices intent on passing along

what matters most from age to age.

The oldest voice gently leads

and helps confirm that the Page

from which the middle voice reads

or shares each day is worth the ink

and worthy indeed to make us think

beyond our lifetime.

Some say "it takes a village,"

but more often than is heard,

it takes two generations

to bring along the third.

Originally written for CCS Grandparent's Day 2007 with these remarks from 14 years ago.

Today was Grandparents Day at the school I oversee. It's a wonderful tradition each spring. We had over 300 guests registered to attend. They're not all "related" grandparents--some are close friends who fill the role for the day. These guests visited classes, had a "picnic" style lunch in the gymnasium and on the grounds, then watched the Elementary grades perform "Pinocchio." We began the day with a general assembly where I'm usually on the agenda for about ten minutes of "opening remarks."

Last night, I knew what I was going to say, but I woke up at 4:12 AM, scribbled down the lines above, and went back to bed. When I got up at 6:15, I read them again. To my surprise they still made sense when read with conversational meter. So this morning we printed the lines on narrow bookmarks to give to our grandparents and guests. As I was speaking about our school's mission, heads nodded with supportive understanding, etc.

I talked about a picture of a three-arched bridge that hangs in office and how those three strong arches symbolized the gist of the poem. But just as it came time to read these lines, I saw a man and wife sitting on the aisle who have gone through a life-changing trial as they've carried out this third- generational role for their grandchildren. While horseback riding with a granddaughter, my friend was thrown from his mount, breaking the same vertebrae as Christopher Reeve, resulting in the same paralysis and wheelchair. It’s been well over a year, but this grandfather has a marvelous testimony and the same smile I saw the day we met seven years ago.

I got a lump in my throat, but I don't think anyone noticed. I decided to pass out the bookmarks without my reading the poem... as if that was my plan all along. Maybe I could have read it; maybe not. It's not that the lines themselves are that "emotional," but in that moment they were too fresh in my mind to know if I could read them without getting misty-eyed. That's pathetic, I know, but it's hard enough to see through the bottom of my Varilux lenses when my eyes are clear. So why risk it? The older I get the more often I have such moments.

It was a great day. We have a choir and band concert tonight followed by what promises to be a sunny weekend.

Sunday evening follow-up: Having read some of the comments and after visiting with some of the grandparents (who commented about the bookmark at school), I want to say that just as Mother's Day does not evoke the same memories and emotions for all people, thoughts about grandparents or being a grandparent vary for family to family. The lines themselves make no mention of "grandparents" per se, but rather of generations. It's possible that you may represent the first "strand" in the kind of cord we're talking about. The thing we dare not forget is that current "young people" have much to gain from those older than their parents in their lives. It's possible that you may extend or accept such a relationship beyond your "family tree."

By the way, I've joked in the past about being a poor speller. On over 300 bookmarks, I spelled the word cord "chord," While I was embarrassed by the mistake, until that moment I never made the connection between a "chord" of three notes and the three strands twisted in standard "cord" or rope. I later revised the lines to make use of this mistake. =)

"Rounded:" A Note to CCS Teachers and Staff

2021-04-01T14:12:00.018-04:00

"Whenever you’re feeling worn out, remember that’s how broken things get smooth." TK

Rounded

It's only the God who knows all time

(and not the man who, at best,

may catch a glimpse of grandeur)

who truly understands the rhyme

and reason of things at rest

against the rhythm and allure

of things in motion.

Like rounded boulders

broken in some distant age

from cliffs along the ocean

by a merciful shrug of God's shoulders,

we, too, will weather the rage

of wind and waves against the stone…

we, too, of flesh and bone.

Dear CCS Faculty and Staff,

Rounded stones in nature always fascinate me. We’re told by geologists that smooth boulders and rocks are rounded by wind and waves and the constant rhythm of time that gradually wears them down.

The beaches of West Michigan are nearly 100% sand and rocks are scarce, but I grew up on the beaches of Port Huron, and they are stony. I’m not sure why, but the good news is the stones are all rounded so you can walk on them down to the waves for a swim. (Though for some, the walking looks painfully awkward until they are waist deep or find the comfort of a sandbar).

We see the same stony beaches on Mackinac Island where it has become a tradition for tourists to make little rounded rock towers between the beach and the bike trail. Some of these little monuments ("Ebenezers" if you will) stand for several weeks, but mostly they rise and fall in a cycle of renewed remembrance by many helping hands.

I feel like the team at CCS is sort of like rounded rocks. We all know that we are small representations of “The Rock” of our salvation, but our vertical relationship with God and His Son (the Cornerstone) does not mean life will be easy, and in fact, scripture says that the same trials (metaphorically: wind, waves, etc.) come to the just and the unjust. As believers, however, we understand that God intends for the trials of this life to purify us and strengthen us—or to stick with this metaphor—to make us well-rounded for his use. So… whenever you’re feeling worn out, remember that’s how broken things become smooth.

CCS is blessed by a team of more than 40 well-rounded faculty and staff, and by that I mean, you all have so much different life experiences and gifts that make CCS a better place for students to get a rock-solid foundation of life.

A donor called me two nights ago and said, “I’m thinking the teachers and staff at Calvary are feeling pretty worn out about now. This has been a tough year hasn’t it?” I assured him that it has been, and in fact, it has been a tough couple of weeks, but God is good and Spring Break is almost here. “That’s why I called,” he said, and through my cell phone I could picture his smile as he spoke and explained his desire to give all of you something to prompt taking a break at a quiet local place over Spring Break and sip a hot beverage and savor some delicious food. “I’ll leave the note to you,” he said.

Enjoy as we celebrate the Sunday when the stone was rolled away!

Tom Kapanka

______________________

The last two weeks before Spring Break have been exceptionally difficult as Covid-19 numbers in our state and county have seen an uptick. Our school protocols have been well-documented at this blog, and yet even here at Calvary, over half of the grade-levels in our K-12 program have gone to "virtual" mode due to a few positive tests among students and staff. All of the work involved in taking calls, tracing and updating parents, staff, the board, and the County Health Department is draining.

Most teachers would much rather be in the classroom with their students than in slipping into BBS on Zoom. (BBS is a term I just made up: "Brady Bunch Syndrome." It's that feeling you get when your face is in a box with many other faces in boxes on a screen.) At any rate, we're all feeling pretty worn out and the image of this sonnet came to mind at my desk this morning as I wrote the note above to our Faculty and Staff in a Thank You card which also contained a gift certificate to Grand Traverse Pie Company.

Focusing on "A Front Porch Frame of Mind" During Re-Enrollment Time 2021

2021-03-26T12:47:00.003-04:00

There was a time when more folks

had a “front porch” frame of mind,

and they’d sit out hot nights sippin’ tea—

makin’ most of a melon rind.

They knew the beckon of a breeze

that made ‘em lean back with a sigh

and say, “Maybe five more minutes…”

to some silhouettes passing by.

“Just out for a walk,” a voice responds,

“Till the house cools down a bit.”

And by and by, more friends were there

than there were places to sit.

It was natural as a cricket’s chirp

or the smell of a new-mowed lawn

to gather there like window moths

(when an inside lamp’s left on).

Just neighbors visiting neighbors

in the kindness of the night…

where differences are dimly lit

and love needs little light.
© Copyright 1995, Tom Kapanka, June 28, 1995, Patterns of Ink

It's re-enrollment time at Calvary, and we have been walking several prospective families around our building each week (up until this unusual week). Due to lingering pandemic protocols that limit mixing of cohorts and the number of guests in our building at one time, Open House and "Friends Day" is quite different than years past.

This year's re-enrollment response has been fantastic. Most of our current families have returned their forms, etc. In light of our recent transition to virtual in grades 6-12 from now through Spring Break, we are extending the incentive deadline through next week. If you cannot make it to the building in person, please send Chris Stewart a note of confirmation at stewart@calvaryeagles.org. Then just bring in the forms as soon as possible the week after Spring Break.

Please read on as our goal this spring if for our whole school family to adopt a "a front porch frame of mind" as we welcome new families to our building this spring. Some families have already returned "Family Referral Forms" filled out for both them and the family they have invited to CCS.

I wrote the poem above twenty-six years ago. My mom liked it so much that it hung framed by her front door for years. (Even as an adult that meant a lot to me.) She said it reminded her of summer nights on her front porch as a kid in Port Huron, MI. That's my mom's front porch in the picture (circa 1939, when the house was only 20 years old). To me, it was Grandma's front porch--nothing fancy but big enough for a glider and a few chairs.

That house still stands on the corner of Forest Street and Riverview (a few blocks from the Blue Water Bridge) The sidewalks in that neighborhood are only about six feet from the front porches. People passing by often stopped to talk. I remember sitting there as a child and listening to the grown-ups talk about old times.

Many years later, in 1985, when my wife and I purchased our first home, my parents came to share in the delight. The front porch was enclosed by a white wrought-iron railing and barely big enough for guests to stand aside as the front door opened. On the last night of their visit, Mom and I sat together on the top step, and when my dad and daughters came to join us, there was no room for them. "I wish this house had a bigger front porch like at Grandma's house," I sighed.

Mom smiled and said, "You don't have to have a big front porch to have a front porch frame of mind."

She had no idea that her words would tumble in my mind for years and end up in a poem.

Think about this with me. I've never read or heard anything on this topic,* but the features of houses (and neighborhoods) say a lot about human relationships. At the beginning of the 20th Century, front porches were a prominent part of most houses. I like porches. They say, “Our house is your house. Sit a while and visit.”

In 1920, when my grandmother's house was built, cars were just coming on the scene, and they did not yet own one. By the Great Depression, those who could afford a car sometimes built a small shed in their back yard to keep it out of the weather. It was not until after WWII, as new homes multiplied that the garage was not an afterthought. By the end of the century, cars had became part of the family, and the most prominent feature of a house was no longer a front porch but a huge garage door that open and closed automatically behind the driver. The attached garage marked the beginning of the end of the "front porch frame of mind."

This was not just a design change in houses, it was literally a social change that came with the car as people walked less and stores, schools, and churches moved beyond walking distance. The attached garage meant neighbors could enter their confines without so much as a wave to others (depending on whether their mailbox is also attached to the house).

As natural neighborly interaction declined, people became more selective with their social time and designed social space moved from the front porch to rear decks and patios (often behind privacy fences). There is nothing wrong with privacy. I'm merely pointing out the difference between back yard gatherings ..and the spontaneous welcome of a front porch near a sidewalk.

There is another modern convenience that ended "the front porch frame of mind:" air conditioning. My grandma’s house with a the porch had no air conditioning (AC) nor did my childhood home. In fact, I did not live in a house with AC until that one in 1985. I'm a fan of AC, but we must pause to consider the unintended consequences of that comfort and how it has changed the social behavior of neighborhoods.

Before AC, hot nights drove people outdoors for walks or to their front porches to sit and hope for a breeze. There they were… outside...till all hours of the night with folks strolling by. It was unthinkable not to speak. Hard to stay strangers for long. All that happened on the front porch. Over time, and the cycles of the seasons, neighbors introduced kids (and grandkids). They all knew of graduations, weddings, and the passing of loved ones. In short, the neighborhood shared life face to face—no invitation needed—all because it was a hot night and no one had AC. Once AC came along, however, a part of us closed off from each other along with our closed doors and windows. Sadly, today's neighborhoods have replaced true conversations with a nod of the head from passing cars.

Think with me about front porches just a moment longer. Are you more of a back deck, privacy-fence kind of person? Or do you have a front porch frame of mind? It’s not a "right or wrong" answer. Most people are a blend of both, but knowing how you lean socially may help sweep off your “front porch,” figuratively speaking. How about your family? How about your church or “small group,” or the school or your choice?

We've been giving walk-throughs of our school almost every day after school in recent weeks. These prospective observers to the school mention that there’s an inviting atmosphere even under the protocols of a pandemic. Imagine if they could see our school under normal conditions:

Typically, the front office counter is a hub of neighborly chatter; my office door is wide open whenever possible, and drop-ins are frequent; teachers are accessible; volunteers feel at home and at any given time there may be a dozen throughout the building; the front rotunda is often a gathering place for talking parents who lose track of the time. Oh, how I miss those days, and we look forward to their return.

Even before Covid-19 protocols, CCS operated a "closed campus” for security reasons, but even so, the tone of our school is welcoming and inviting. People comment on this through the years. What’s our secret? How does this feel like a neighborhood in a 60 -acre woods? Why does the UPS man smile as he waits in line for a signature? Why do parents who no longer have kids in the school still stop by to purchase SCRIP? Why do alumni come back whenever they can? Why do teachers and therapists from the public sector enjoy their assignment to CCS (and often continue to serve here after retirement)? There are many reasons, but I think the main one is...

CCS has always had a front porch frame of mind.

Let's let it show this spring!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

*UPDATE: My mom first used that phrase in 1986, and I first wrote the poem and these thoughts (less the part about CCS) in the early 90's. I mention this because while re-writing this post recently, I thought about the fact that I had never heard or read anything on what I consider a significant topic. I'm pleased to say that if you do a Google search with the words "front porch / community" you may find at least three related articles that I had never read. This one, provides the history, cultural significance, decline, and reappearance of American from porches--there's amazing agreement in our thoughts. (He tends to give more credit to the arrival of cars and television to the decline of the front porch. I still hold that AC is the biggest factor, because had cars and TV, but without AC, we spent evenings out on the porch and front lawn. This second article is shorter, but strongly underscores this post. It begins with this quote from a Tracy Lawrence song: "If the world had a front porch like we did back then, we'd still have our problems, but we'd all be friends." Get this... the author describes "Neo-traditional" communities that are going back to front porches: "The streets are designed to encourage walking and socializing among the neighbors. ...The neo-traditional neighborhoods have sidewalks and trees lining the streets for pedestrians. Front yards are shallow so that neighbors converse easily between the sidewalks and the front porches....The porch is a symbol of community, offering an invitation with its front steps reaching out and meeting the sidewalk, drawing passers-by to the comfortable chair or swing. The porch encourages family and neighborly communication." So there you have it. These articles were written AFTER I wrote this poem and essay twenty years ago. I'm not the only one who believes a "A Front Porch Frame of Mind" can still work in the 21st Century.

Once Upon a Snow Day

2021-02-05T00:01:00.005-05:00

Today is our second snow day of the year, and I hope you all enjoy the beauty of Michigan's Winter Wonderland.

It's because CCS has worked so hard to provide as "normal" a school year as possible that we have confidence in saying, "Enjoy the snow day!" Most of life/s most important lessons come without lesson plans.

But I do have two easy assignments for you and your family on this snowy weekend:

1.Enjoy some time outdoors if safe, then find a way to get cozy so you can do the second assignment...

2.Read this post about a story that began on a snow day about thirty years ago. If I had not gone outside to play with my daughters on that snow day, the story "Finding Cozy" would never have been written.

This past fall, my daughter Natalie (CCS Class of 2013) and son-in-law Colton Wilson (CCS Class of 2010) helped me illustrate and publish the book. It's available on Amazon (about 3 days delivery) and at The Bookman in Grand Haven. More than 200 copies have been sold since the week before Christmas.

March Reading Month is just a few weeks away, and our CCS librarian, Mrs. Anhalt, is organizing a book signing event (in accordance with our building Covid protocols) at CCS. (Details TBA) I will be donating half of the author's proceeds of pre-purshased books (or purchased at that event) to our CCS library fund. Pre-purchasing your book(s) will help ensure that yours is waiting for you at the event. If you already own a copy of "Finding Cozy," feel free to bring it to that event for signing, etc.

Click on this link to read the backstory of "Finding Cozy." It happened once upon a snow day.

Winter Wonderland Weather: A Gift From God

2021-01-31T16:18:00.009-05:00

When I was nine, the license plate on our family car said: "Water-Winter Wonderland," and I was sure it had something to do with the song we sang at Christmas. My mom went along with it, but decades later I learned that the song was written some thirty years before the Michigan slogan was adopted. In fact, the lyricist was describing the city park in his home town of Honesdale, Pennsylvania. Nonetheless, to me, that song and my state were inseparable throughout my childhood. I must admit that I had forgotten that feeling since the Covid thing hit. That is... I'd forgotten until this past Thursday.

The week before this video was made was supposed to be Homecoming Week at school, a January tradition going back more than twenty years. Such events are part of the rhythms of school like holidays and the change of seasons, and when they don't happen, an inexplicable void gets everybody out of step. It's not just the fun that is needed, it's the marker in time. You see, Homecoming brings "spirit days" (where the kids dress according to fun themes like super-hero day, etc.). Then there's the big pep rally, lib synch and poster contests, the big game, "Fifth Quarter" Pizza Party for alumnni afterwards, and then the banquet on Saturday. None of that happened, however, due to the shut-down of sports, social distancing, and no banquet facility being available. Then the teams learned that their basketball seasons were delayed another month. School spirit was noticeably low. I'm glad we were having school in person at the building, because we were able to see just how sullen the high schoolers were (since Homecoming Week affects them most).

What do you do when you know your students need some wind in their sails? Well, in anticipation of these doldrums, we made made arrangements for an afternoon at the Muskegon Winter Sports Complex just 20 minutes away. We originally had it booked for Friday, but changed it to Thursday so we could have the entire place mostly to ourselves. That was important to our Covid cohort protocols. It was fantastic!

I cannot describe what happened to two bus loads of kids saw this Winter Wonderland! They began being risk takers who laughed at their mistakes. They defined the word PLAY. The three hours can be summed up in three words that applied everyone (including my wife and me). These three words brought hope in a time when we all need hope. I thought they might do the same for you:

"Being kids again!"

Good News in Hard Times

2021-01-20T12:55:00.022-05:00

There is an encouraging brief video at the end of this post.

Our "12 Days of Giving" was launched this past December to help bridge the GAP between our annual operational costs and regular income. The need was especially great due to the challenges of these difficult times (e.g. no Fall Fund-Raising Banquet). Our total fiscal year (July 1-June 30) "GAP" need is just over $200,000, but our stated goal for December (year-end) was an ambitious $120,000 ($10,000 for each day though giving continued to the end of the month).

[click on images to enlarge]

After processing all of the year-end gifts, WE ARE THRILLED ANNOUNCE THAT WE EXCEEDED THE $120,000 GOAL--a new record by far! This essential help puts the budget of this educational ministry on firm ground as we continue to raise the remainder between now and June.

The response was so good that a third "Leaving a Legacy" tree has been ordered for the extra gifts and continued participation from our school family. ($500=bronze, $2,500=silver, and $5,000=gold). The display above was installed in the State Flag Foyer last week.

[click on images to enlarge and read]

Speaking of donors, during the recent Covid-19 shutdown, a CCS donor gifted us with a steel flag engraved with "Pledge of Allegiance.". It arrived over Christmas Break and we hung it this week. Today, our First Grade, made it official. In times when we see others burning the symbol of this nation under God, it is encouraging to see tender hearts looking up to an indelible reminder of God's gift of LIBERTY.

(Encouragement in 90 Seconds from CCS First Grade.)

In 2021: We're in God's Hands in All States

2021-01-07T13:02:00.024-05:00

Dear CCS Family,

[Click on Bible references in this post]

As you remember, the year 2020 was the 40th Anniversary of Calvary Christian Schools. The student body printed “spirit shirts” that spoke of “20-20 Vision,” we had a great banquet in the fall of last school year, an unforgettable outdoor Commencement Ceremony for the Class of 2020 complete with an impressive fireworks display. In many ways, it was a great year, and we have so much for which to be thankful. For instance, our donors provided over $65,000 in essential Covid-reopen funds last August, and an additional $110,000 in needed year-end gifts came in December. Thank you, donors, for your generous support.

Let’s admit it, however… most of us were ready to stick a fork in 2020 a week ago tonight. Many of my friends didn’t even stay up to watch the ball drop that night. Who can blame them? The year 2020 for some was a time of sorrow and for others a parody of living. Those four digits became an adjective: If something was inexplicably senseless or defied all odds, people said: “That’s so 2020!”

Like many of you, I hoped 2021 would somehow change the trajectory of the previous year God brought us through together.

The unexpected turn of events yesterday afternoon, January 6^th, in the Capital Building in Washington DC was troubling at many levels. Though many facts remain to be learned, the difference between the peaceful assembling (in the morning) and what a smaller group of instigators later did inside the capital building is an important distinction. I know of no one who is not disheartened by the images being flashed on TV and social media from yesterday's late afternoon events.

The reality is this: we live in a broken world and the snippets being looped by networks are echoes of similar events through the centuries (and other events this past summer). What was true in the last days of Christ remains true in the last days of man: whenever human nature reaches a boiling point and is driven by fear rather than faith, it is most in need of our Savior’s words: “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

So when people of faith are understandably anxious about political and social upheaval, they should take heart in the words of Psalm 112:7 addressed to believers: “They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.” The Psalmist doesn’t deny that bad news is bad. He rather implies we can expect it in the midst of sin, evil and brokenness. So whether the bad news is a troubling diagnosis, a lost job, the death of a loved one, or bad behavior of people, our focus and hope cannot be in men—“Our HOPE is in the Lord.”

Why can we trust the Lord? He is good (Psalm 106:1). He is our help (Psalm 115:9). He reigns (Psalm 96:10). He is sovereign (Psalm135:6). He is unchanging (Hebrews 13:8). He is near in the midst of trouble (Psalm 46:1). He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7). He loves you and His love never ends (Romans 8:38-39). Take a few moments to look up these comforting verses. Think on them. Rest in them.

Simply put, we can trust the Lord for He is supremely trustworthy, unlike our circumstances, our health, our relationships, our politicians or our finances.

So, what is God’s will for us today? While much more could be written, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 certainly gives us a great place to begin: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” We're in God's Hands in all states.

It is a joy to be a part of the CCS Family.

Tom Kapanka

Note: I would like to thank my dear friend Pastor Stephen Schultze who shared the encouraging words and references at the end of this post in a letter this morning.

Have a Great Christmas Break!

2020-12-18T13:12:00.001-05:00

One Size Doesn’t Fit All for Michigan School Closure Policies

2020-12-17T10:54:00.004-05:00

Note: The following op-ed ran in print and online in The Detroit News Thursday, December 17, 2020. Our accrediting agency, the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI), supports the lawsuit filed by Michigan Association of Nonpublic Schools (MANS) to help protect the freedom of private schools and support the responsible reopening of nonpublic high schools in Michigan that have appropriate health and safety protocols. I have been coordinating with their regional director Jeff Mattner and others at ACSI in efforts to support these actions in our state, including writing this Op-Ed in hopes of benefiting Cavalry and all other private schools in our area.

One Size Doesn’t Fit All for Michigan School Closure Policies

Just a week before Thanksgiving, one of our seniors at Calvary Christian School, where I am superintendent, lost both of her grandparents. Under normal circumstances, the entire school community would have personally come alongside this student, offering fellowship, comfort, and support. This is what schools do as mini communities, and nonpublic religious schools consider this an inherent part of their outreach to students and families.

Calvary, like many religious nonpublic schools, has gone the extra mile during this pandemic to meet the needs of their families for academic rigor in a medically safe community setting. Michigan could be an ally with other states demonstrating responsible school openings by returning such decisions to the local level. Districts and nonpublic school systems know their own communities and the effectiveness of the board-approved protocols within their buildings.

The CDC reports that mental health visits by children aged 5-11 have increased 24% over 2019, while such visits by kids aged 12-17 shot up 31%. The American Association of Pediatrics (AAP), as recently as its August 19 update, “strongly advocates that all policy considerations for the coming school year should start with a goal of having students physically present in school.”

Is it really necessary and in the best interest of Michigan families to close all high schools regardless of the different realities from district to district? For instance, the rates of COVID-19 infection in Catholic schools in Michigan’s largest cities of Detroit and Lansing are currently at a remarkably low 1.1% and 1.6% (Detroit public schools recently were near a 5% rate). Additionally, NPR complimented our own state by citing a University of Michigan medical school expert at an October briefing. His view? "The data so far are not indicating that schools are a super spreader site."

While politicians and their powerful political allies force all schools (or certain grade levels) to stay closed when evidence shows schools can be healthy and safe environments, our fundamental question is this: Why do nonpublic sector schools and their teachers have no voice at all in this matter when, in fact, the majority of them have a strong record of success, they strive to honor the protocols from the Michigan Department of Health, and have modeled a cooperative spirit throughout this process?

We realize that each nonpublic school is different, but they share many similarities in their ability to manage the current situation in safe and effective ways. It is the existence of such variables that prompts us to appeal for restoration of the freedom for nonpublic schools, and even school districts or cities for that matter, to act in the best interest of the children and families they serve in the context of their own resources, rather than be subject to statewide edicts.

Finally, we have been following a similar case regarding nonpublic Christian schools in Kentucky and recognize the recent Supreme Court case in New York that blocked the enforcement of restrictions on churches and religious gatherings. In fact, we feel that this situation in Michigan clearly has to do with freedom of religion and we are united in spirit with all religious nonpublic schools in Michigan regardless of affiliation.

Let nonpublic religious schools do what they do best: serve their wider communities with solid academics in a safe environment. Let’s quarantine politics from the compelling data that favors in-person instruction. Let’s return such decisions to the local level, which allow nonpublic schools to meet the needs of students and their families who often make great sacrifices to provide the education they believe is best for their children.

Tom Kapanka, Head of School Calvary Christian Schools, Fruitport, MI

If you go to the op-ed piece in The Detroit News and click on the comments, you'll see someone named Missy_S has my back in response to an ill-informed critic. He certainly does not know me or our board or the highly qualified "Back2School" team that wrote our protocols. Nor does he know our office staff who communicate with our local county health officials regularly. I'm not sure at the moment who "Missy_S" is, but her defense of CCS is greatly appreciated.

"The last thing children in schools need is to have the incompetent members of local school boards and their stooge superintendents making life and death decisions. They are not healthcare professionals and in many cases, they are nothing but fanatical political hacks with ambitions beyond protecting students."

The incompetents on school boards are basically spineless and will respond to incoherent demands of screeching parents who want to impose influence at all cost.

Kenneth)

This simply is not the case with the author of this piece.

Mr. Kapanka is the administrator of the school in Fruitport and does an amazing job. He is not a school board member or "stooge superintendent" as you implied that is out of touch with the challenges that our current health crisis has presented to the education system. He and the staff and the school board are not spineless and do not give in to the "incoherent demands of screeching parents."

There are several healthcare providers (doctors and nurses) with children in the school on the COVID preparedness panel that develop EDUCATED safety protocols. That is what this piece is about. They have acted in the best interest of the families and students and their safety even at the cost of losing said families that didn't agree with those decisions.

I understand that the COVID pandemic is serious, however, the more serious situations facing our students is their mental health from being isolated for so long and a lack of community. That is what those of us who chose a nonpublic school option want back - the community to support our students in a safe environment without the politics involved.

CCS Thanks God for This Thanksgiving Day...

2020-11-23T18:07:00.007-05:00

As we pause for a short break from the rhythm of school days, we are more eager than usual to be together again. It's been that kind of year. Family gatherings will be different this week. For some they will be especially hard, and we grieve with those who have lost loved ones in this season, but we also thank God to have known "the kind of love that all these years can't wash away."

Those words come from a new song by Ben Rector released especially for Thanksgiving 2020. As the song says, "...put your dishes in the kitchen sink and let the left-over year just wash away. 'Cause we made it through, I do believe, the longest year in history... Thank God for this Thanksgiving Day."

Veterans Day Concert and the "Virtue of Reality"

2020-11-11T10:57:00.008-05:00

Dear Veterans, Grandparents, and CCS Family,

Today was to be Grandparents Day at CCS. For over twenty years, Grandparents Day was in May, but last year we began a new tradition of hosting this event on Veterans Day in November. We were so glad that we made that change because the COVID-19 pandemic closed the schools for in-person events last spring. This school-year, we are open for daily classes, but the same pandemic makes it impossible to have hundreds of grandparents in our building. We miss you guys! I mean that with all my heart. If today were normal, we would all have met in the chapel briefly before going to your grandchildren's classes. So if you don't mind pretending with me for just a few minutes... imagine that we are all gathered in the chapel as we've done for all these years.

I usually share some brief remarks that take us back in time a bit before Mrs. Kapanka explains the plan for the present day's events. If I could talk with you in person today, I would talk about "the virtue of reality." If you click on that link in quotation marks, you can read something I wrote twelve years ago about "virtual reality," a term I had never heard before 1993. In the decades since, virtual reality has become big business--mostly in the world of gaming and entertainment, but during the limited in-person reality caused by the current COVID pandemic, the word "virtual" has never been more used. We speak of virtual classes, virtual textbooks, virtual church, and the links below have been called a virtual concert.

I'd like to go on record, however, as saying that there is nothing virtual about the virtue of reality. The "here and now" that CCS students are experiencing by being in our building here and now came through the reality of hard work and preparation to make our building the safest possible venue for in-person classroom instruction. We take our present circumstances very seriously even as we comply with the "unreal" realities that were unimaginable just one year ago when we were all together in the school for this special day.

So as you watch the video links below, please know that there is nothing virtual about the work the students put into preparing their songs for you. Due to our COVID protocols. The students came to the auditorium, temporarily removed their masks, and sang separately in their class "cohorts." I then did my best to bring them together "virtually" via video editing. But trust me, there was nothing virtual about the nervousness the soloists experienced... nothing virtual about the desire to get each note right... and the hours or practice and performance that produced the moments we now share virtually with you. It was all very real... as life should be.

If you're like me, your eyes may blur a bit with tears as you think about what these kids are so bravely facing at this time in their lives and as you listen to songs old and new that make us mindful of the important role of grandparents to our students... the role of veterans to our freedom... and the role of freedom to the nation we all know and love.

Please take a few moments during this special day to watch all three parts of this "virtual" concert, and do us a favor: click on the small "like" (thumbs up) icon at each video portion. It will mean a lot to the kids. Also please share this post and these videos with all the veterans you know. They deserve our thanks and a reminder that "our flag [is] still there."

Click on the links to see the video.

Part One: CCS Grandparents Day/Veterans Day Virtual Concert

Part Two: Kindergarten through 3rd Grade, CCS Virtual Concert

Part Three: CCS Virtual Band Concert Veterans Day 2020