ALUMNI NEWSLETTER – MARCH 2021
Welcome, Little Warriors
Evelyn Renee Finley, born on December 17, 2020, is the daughter of Samantha Ridder Finley (’08) and husband Micah. Olivia Kate Stanton, born on June 16, 2020, is the daughter of Michelle Van Rieg (’08) and husband Brett. Just like their mommies, these two girls are destined to be life-long friends!
Adalynn Baylor and Braelynn Sader Fagnant were born on October 7, 2020, to Ashley Teague Fagnant ’11 and husband Nate, and after much love and care by medical professionals in the NICU and mom and dad, the twin girls arrived home in late January 2021. Ashley and Nate say they are so thankful for how God provided for their family over those three months and how blessed they were to see their girls make wonderful progress along the way. Ashley says, “Life has been SO sweet just enjoying home life – going on walks, changing outfits 10 times a day, lots of diaper changes, bath time, waking up in the night to feed, washing a million bottles and the list goes on. We wouldn’t want it any other way.”
Nick Hanson (‘11) and wife Stephanie welcomed their son Truett Samuel Hanson on November 25, 2020, in the heart of New York City. “He is a precious little boy who has enriched our lives greatly!” They are serving as Campus Pastors for Chi Alpha Campus Ministries in New York City. They lead a team of missionaries to reach university students to transform the university, the marketplace and the world with the Gospel! “We have found so much joy walking out this call from God and plan to pour out our lives here for the foreseeable future.”
Sabrina Tovar Metcalf (’15) and husband Paxton are excited to announce the birth of Lewis Murray Metcalf, born February 23, 2021. Sabrina says, “We’ve been overwhelmed by the goodness of God during this time of getting to know our little one. He is perfect, and we are honored to be his parents.”
Sabrina and Paxton are missionaries for Chi Alpha on the campus of the University of Alabama. Sabrina says they have had to be creative with reaching students in the middle of a pandemic, but they’ve seen that students’ need for the Lord has not changed, and if anything, has grown even more. They’ve seen the Lord’s faithfulness in the fact that the campus has remained open over the past year, and they have been able to meet for worship gatherings and for small groups. More specifically, she says, they have seen the Lord’s faithfulness in reaching some of the new friends they have made – students who are desperate for truth and life, and have now either found it in Jesus or are still seeking Him out alongside them. “The Holy Spirit is moving on the UA campus as He always has been, and it has been such a pleasure getting to be his hands and feet, even in the midst of the pandemic.”
Jessica White Whites (’07) and her husband Malachi are happy to announce the birth of their daughter Alyssa Celeste Whites who was born on January 7, 2021. Her siblings, Zoe (11), Micah (10), Isaiah (9), Julia (8), Noah (6) and Elisha (3), welcomed her with open arms and lots of love to their home in Seguin, TX. Jessica is thankful to be a busy mom and thankful for her husband’s career as a master plumber.
Warrior Wedding
John Dingman (’13) and wife Elaina were married on December 19, 2020. John is currently working as the Production Manager at Nash Printing Company in Cypress, TX.
Photo by Laurie Franklin
Warrior College & Career
Sydney Crofton (’17) graduated from Texas A&M University in 2020 with a degree in economics and has started her career at BP in the Trading and Shipping Development Program (Analytics). The program allows her to rotate through three different positions over the next three and a half years and will give her opportunity to learn the business while getting exposure to different teams.
Photo by: Claire McAdams Photography
Cat Kaliszewski Perri (’09) is working on her master’s degree in social work at the University of Texas at San Antonio with plans to graduate in December 2021. As part of her education and to obtain her license as a Chemical Dependency Counselor, she is interning as a counselor for those who are struggling with opiate addiction at a methadone clinic in San Antonio. Cat says, “I have really enjoyed working with this population over the last two years. It can be hard at times, but the small victories are big ones too. My goal is to earn a clinical social work license and work with student athletes – hopefully at a collegiate level – to focus on mental health and overall life needs.”
Josh Graber (’06) and his wife, Taylor, recently started a “cool” new endeavor when they purchased an ice sculpting business from some friends. In October 2020, Josh and Taylor officially became the owners of Ice Designs Houston – located just 1.5 miles from the CCS campus. “Most of our jobs,” says Josh, “are for weddings, birthday parties and corporate events, but we’ve gotten to do live carvings, promo videos and a handful of other really creative projects as well!” Tyler Seidel, who Josh met during his time at Cypress Christian School, has joined him at the shop and helps with business development. You can check out their creations on Instagram and Facebook.
Instagram.com/IceDesignsHouston/
Facebook.com/IceDesignsHouston
Josh also continues to work with Kevin Poppe (’06) at Dynamic Sports Training, where they’ve worked together since 2014.
Josh Clark (’01) is the owner of Neverland Balloons and Facepainting and says that his business has really been growing. His TikTok account, @BalloonJosh, which provides fun, family-friendly content, has grown to over 1.4 million followers in just five months. He now gets paid to make TikTok videos, and is also listed as Balloon Josh on FamousBirthdays.com.
Josh is a graduate of Columbia International University where he earned a B.S. with a double major in Youth Ministry and Biblical Studies. His wife Amanda is a second-grade teacher at CCS and the couple attends Greater Houston Church.
Alumnus in Heaven
Ryan Morgan (’12) passed from his earthly home to his heavenly home on February 11, 2021. He was loved by so many and will be greatly missed.
Ryan attended CCS from K-12th grade where he participated in sports and loved spending time with his friends including Liz Hilton Lilly (‘12) and Jason Groll (’12), who honored Ryan at his Celebration of Life Service with a tribute of quotes from many of his CCS friends. They all agree that anyone who knew Ryan knew that his loyalty to family and friends were his top priority. Ryan’s kind heart, joyful attitude, unmatched wit, loving personality and the ability to naturally lift the mood of everyone around him is how he will be remembered. We are thankful for the time, memories and friendship that made life more colorful just knowing him. Please click here to read the entire tribute full of fun stories and memories shared by his former CCS classmates.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. John 3:16-17
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