The Light
March 2023
Preparing Next-Generation Leaders for Christ
"Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'" -John 8:12
We pack a lot into these newsletters- be sure to hit "View Entire Message" so you don't miss a thing!
FROM OUR ADMINISTRATOR
Dear Harbor Light Christian School family,
I hope this letter finds you well and enjoying the transition to a little more light each day. As we approach the midpoint of the semester, I wanted to take a moment to express my deep gratitude for everyone's support of our annual fundraising dinner, the Jubilee, this past Saturday, thank you! Whether you provided a dessert, served in Kids Zone, or bid on some fun auction items, thank you for helping make a Christ-centered education accessible for families across northern Michigan. Thank you also for your financial generosity.
Fundraising accounts for roughly forty percent of the revenue we bring in annually. We were able to raise a significant amount of money for the school. These funds will be used to support our teachers, enhance our curriculum, and provide resources for our students. It warms my heart and brings me great joy to see such a strong community come together to support our school's mission and vision. The message of hope that we instill in our students is of vital importance. Hebrews 6:19, says, "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure." I am grateful for the hope and stability that our school provides to our students and families, and I am inspired by the faith and commitment of our staff, faculty, and numerous volunteers.
As we head into spring break, I encourage everyone to take some time to rest and recharge. Whether you're traveling or staying close to home, I hope this break offers an opportunity to spend time with loved ones and reflect on the blessings God provides in our lives.
Thank you again for your continued support of our school, and I look forward to seeing you all when we return from break.
Yours in Christ-Centered Education,
Kelly Dutcher
Mark your Calendar!
March
20- Board Meeting (6 pm)
24- Spring Break starts
April
3- School resumes
6- Parent/Teacher Conferences
7- Parent/Teacher Conferences
7- Good Friday
9- Resurrection Sunday
27 & 28- Local Missions (7th - 12th grades)
Our HLCS Calendar is updated continually and can be viewed at http://www.harborlightchristian.org/calendar
HLCS Sports
- Please confirm events prior to attending
- "vs." indicates the game will be played at home.
- "@" indicates the game will be played at the opposing team's school.
April:
- 4/6 - Baseball & Softball @ Pellston - 4:00 pm
- 4/11 - Baseball & Softball @ TC Christian - 4:15 pm
- 4/13 - Baseball & Softball @ Brimley - 4:00 pm
- 4/14 - Baseball @ Gaylord St. Mary's - 4:15 pm
- 4/17 - Baseball & Softball vs. Ellsworth - 4:00 pm
- 4/20 - Baseball & Softball @ Boyne Falls - 4:00 pm
- 4/24 - Baseball & Softball vs. Inland Lakes JV - 4:00 pm
- 4/27 - Baseball & Softball vs. Wolverine - 4:00 pm
Please click HERE for the school calendar, which is updated continually.
Our Month in Pictures
Bible Illustrators
Featured Family- the Coles
This month we shine a spotlight on the Cole family! Mrs. Cole is teaching drama this year, and she also leads parent prayer in the mornings. Her mother accompanies the drama students on piano and helps lead rehearsals. Ella is a full time student, and Ana is doing some homeschooling while attending HLCS for ??? Being the creative thinker that she is, Mrs. Cole wrote a poem inspired by Dr. Seuss's "Horton Hatches the Egg," since March 2 was his birthday! Perfect, since the students have been celebrating Reading Month!
Sighed Steph’nie, the Light writer, trying her best,
“Which family to feature, I’ll make a request.
Michele’s doing drama. I’m sure she won’t mind.”
So the Cole’s she did ask, a family in kind.
Our family’s quite large and it varies a lot
Comings and goings but we’ll give it a shot
We moved to Petoskey 2018
We like it alot. You could say we’re quite keen
On beautiful summers, winters, and fall
The spring’s not my favorite so this May…a ball!
(shameless plug for Cinderella May 12 and 13 - mark your calendars)
Grandma Horn is the oldest and wisest of us
9 months of the year never making a fuss
The other 3 months volunteering’s her thing
Playing dorm mom and piano and loving to sing
The dad of our group is the engineer kind
He’s working for Great Lakes with his brilliant mind
Michele is a nurse, and in her spare time
She love to teach drama and make up this rhyme
The kids are all varied as 5 kids can be
Our young man, named Caleb, works in a deli
The oldest a teacher of English abroad
In Czechia making her home she does trod
Viola’s in college at NCMC.
And next year a senior our Anna will be
Ella is rocking her 3rd year at school
They all do their best which I think is quite cool
Our church home’s Walloon, and it’s there we do serve.
In Nursery, with music, AV no reverb.
We also do foster care. 6 years in all.
Taking kids of all ages, some big and some small.
We’ve come to the end and I can’t help but cheer.
We hope that you all have a really great year!
-Mrs. Cole
Jubilee Recap!
The Jubilee was a great success!!
We are so grateful to have had the time to celebrate with our community and raise much-needed funds for Harbor Light Christian School! With your help, we were able to generate over $150,000 for our students, whether it be through direct scholarships, or funding materials and curriculum!
We would love to thank the following businesses who generously sponsored the evening:
Dr. Anton Sharapov of Petoskey Surgeons, NIVA Lab and Great Lakes Vein Specialists
Dr. Dwayne Griffin of Center for Pulmonary & Sleep Medicine
Ronin Jiu Jitsu Academy of Petoskey
Pro Billiards Pool Table Services and Sales
Northern Michigan Property Management & Construction Inc.
and the Schieffer Family!
Once again, thank you for supporting Christ-centered education in Northern Michigan!
Deliberate Diffusion with Mr. Ernst
No Strings Attached
Recently, Pastor Matt gave a powerful message during a high school chapel about the importance of reading scripture through the lens of “a window” in which one can cast it upon the external world, but also, in “a mirror”, that lets it reflect upon our own lives. Or in other words, not only recognizing who you know that “needs to hear it”, but opening ourselves to letting it convict our own hearts. The imagery of a mirror and a window struck me, and I found myself reflecting on the idea of how it can be applied to so many different areas of our lives. In particular, how everyone around us can watch what we do, they can observe us through a window and see our actions, but only we have the ability to look in the mirror and know the truth of our intentions. How often are we kind because we are hoping for something in return? How often do we give with the expectation of gain? How often do we secretly leverage who we are, or what we can do, or what we have to offer – to get something that we want? Or how often do those around us assume that to be the case?
When you start asking those questions, the mirror can become a pretty scary place to look. We live in a society that is very much built upon the idea of transactional relationships. From a young age, we are taught to treat others the way we want to be treated. We don’t tell kids to be kind because it’s the right thing to do – we tell them to be kind so that people will be kind to them in return. And in turn, we become upset and enraged when we feel as though we put in the effort, and the reciprocated results we were expecting don’t arrive. “Look at everything we did. We deserve…”
I would like to believe that my intentions are always pure. I want to be able to live a life with my hands wide open. A life where I see a need, and fill that need. A life where I pour into others with absolutely no expectations at all. A life where I don’t feel entitled to anything and deeply understand that there is nothing that I could ever do that could make me more deserving than anyone else. But I know, for sure, that only one man has ever met those goals – and he was much more than just a man.
But one thing I have noticed, both personally and through the window, is that when we can achieve that goal, even momentarily – when we can act with pure intentions and give with no strings attached – God shows up and blesses those efforts in ways that we could never have hoped for, even in our grandest of schemes.
If you haven’t heard, our school recently opened a small addition off the north end of the building. This addition, a vision that was downloaded upon Jeff Jakeway, provided STEAM classrooms, a new cafeteria with a professional kitchen, top of the line locker rooms, and one of the most unique and borderline extravagant high school basketball arenas you are going to find in a small school anywhere in the country.
Bringing the dream, the vision, to reality was no easy task. And as many, many people helped carry the project across the finish line, nobody carried more of the weight than Mr. Jakeway. For five years, through a pandemic, Mr. Jakeway pushed this project forward. When people told him it was impossible, he kept working. He sacrificed his resources, his time, his peace of mind – and he did it all while being told that he would never be able to finish it in time to watch his kids take advantage of it. And in January, we opened the Solid Rock Center to the public, and he watched both his kids play basketball on that impossible court.
But God wasn’t done. The day after Laney Jakeway played her very last home game at Harbor Light, with the regular season over and District week just 5 days away – the host school for the MHSAA Division 4, District 103, reached out to us – saying their school would not be able to host districts after all, and asking us to host in their stead.
This might not seem like a big deal, but in the 37 years of this school, we have never been able to host a basketball district. Schools apply, sometimes years in advance, to host MHSAA postseason tournaments. And even then, only a few get chosen every year. The possibility of hosting a district tournament, just a few months after opening our new facility, having never even applied to host – simply didn’t exist. Until it did.
From February 27th – March 3rd, Harbor Light Christian School opened the Solid Rock Center doors to teams and families, fans and friends, from 6 different area schools. We sold thousands of tickets, hosted radio and tv crews, popped all the popcorn, let loose the walking tacos, and put on a show. The winning coach commented that the SRC had the feel of a professional arena. An official stated that it was the best district venue he had ever visited.
And then there was Mr. Jakeway, Coach Jakeway, standing in the midst of the physical manifestation of a vision, watching his daughter play her heart out, in an impossible gym – fighting for a championship on her home court, in front of a thousand fans – while hosting a district tournament that was 37 years in waiting, and yet arriving years earlier than expected.
Watching through the window, watching a man realize his dreams, watching God rain down impossible blessings in unimaginable ways – well, it was definitely worth the price of admission.
I don’t know if there is such a thing as pure intentions amongst men. There is always that small part of us that is thinking about what we can get out of whatever we are doing. That being said, it sure is a beautiful thing when you see something that comes close to it. And even more amazing when you get a front row seat for what God does next.
All-Conference Athletes
We are exceedingly proud of all of the basketball players this season. It was a high-adventure season with many firsts in the new Solid Rock Center. We will miss our seniors who played their final games here- Laney, Jade, Kallie, and Ambria! We also look forward to next year's teams, which are sure to be exciting!
All-Conference honors are awarded to players from across all the teams in the conference whose performance stood out.
Ava Kenwabikise
Jade Evoy
Laney Jakeway
David Chamberlin
Kirk Rose
Landon Jakeway
DO YOU HAVE A TESTIMONY?
Has HLCS had a positive or life-changing impact on your life or that of someone you love? Please share these stories with us so we can keep letting others know what a wonderful difference we can make! Send your experience to jcope@harborlight.org.
Giving to HLCS
He also poured out His blessings at the recent HLCS Jubilee helping us fund scholarships and providing unrestricted funds if we have emergent needs - praise Him, again!
With that said, we still have ways you can partner with us to bless HLCS. We still have some minor needs to be addressed and would love to talk with you about what those are. If you would like more information on how you can make a kingdom impact with your giving, please contact Jennie Cope at 231-347-7859 or jcope@harborlight.org
TURN YOUR GROCERY RECEIPTS INTO MONEY FOR THE SCHOOL!
We are grateful to partner with Oleson's and D&W this school year. Receipts collected from these grocers may be dropped off in the office at any time! This is such an easy way to help the school raise money!