Dear WA Community,

As we come to the close of another school year, please join me in thanking our faculty, staff, coaches and volunteers for keeping the love, grace and wisdom of Jesus Christ at the center of everything we say and do at Westminster Academy. Their unwavering devotion to Christ and steadfast dedication to excellence is a wonderful testimony to our school community.

I would also like to thank all of our students and their families as well as all of our donors and friends of WA. We are truly blessed by a community of witnesses who love Jesus and Westminster Academy. We are extremely grateful for everyone’s prayers and support.

At the end of each school year, WA faculty, staff and coaches gather together to praise God and celebrate His blessings at their annual Employee Fellowship Brunch. This year’s Employee Fellowship Brunch was held on Friday, May 24.

During the program we were blessed by outstanding student performances by Elisabeth Hunter, Camila Yalale and Cayla Coningsby. Please join me in thanking them for sharing their gifts with us during this special time of worship and thanksgiving.

We were also blessed by the food prepared by Becky Lenardson and her dining hall team. A special thank you goes to Becky Lenardson and her dining hall team for their extraordinary meals throughout the school year. From fellowship gatherings and large school events to feeding more than 1000 people every day for lunch, we are truly blessed by Becky and her team.

Also during the program we recognized many of our outstanding employees for their faithful years of service. From 5 to 40 years of service, we give monetary gifts of thank you to our exceptional faculty and staff. We also recognized Ken Key for his extraordinary forty years of faithful service to WA. Ken recently shared that he will be retiring in December of 2013. We will have a special time of celebration in December for Coach Key when he officially retires from teaching. Even though Coach Key is retiring from teaching, he will continue to coach cross country and oversee our track program (please see a separate article about Coach Key in today’s eNews).

One of the major highlights of the Employee Fellowship Brunch is our recognition of four Kingdom workers for their exemplary Christ-honoring Kingdom work at WA during the school year.

The employee awards for exemplary Christ-honoring Kingdom work at WA are as follows:

• Minister of the Year—(demonstrates God’s love and grace with their words, work and witness)
• Educator of the Year—(inspires students and others to seek Truth, wisdom and knowledge)
• Citizen of the Year—(a great encourager and proactive promoter of others as well as school unity and spirit)
• Employee of the Year—(a Christ-honoring witness who works extremely well with others and the school community)

Employees recognized for these awards have their name placed on a special plaque that hangs outside the lower school library. They also each receive a $100 gift card.

Please join us in congratulating the following exemplary employees for their remarkable Christ-honoring Kingdom work during the 2012-2013 school year.

2012-2013 Employee Awards

• Minister: Melinda Woodburn
• Educator: Sharon Fagley
• Citizen: Jen Casey
• Employee: Rob Baxter

Please also join us in thanking past winners…

2011-2012

• Minister: Margie Metzger
• Educator: Eric Matthews
• Citizen: Jimmy Laurent
• Employee: Becky Lenardson

2010-2011

• Minister: Sam Kastensmidt
• Educator: Holly Wettrich
• Citizen: Shannon Wallhoff
• Employee: Leslie Briggs

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres — 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Praise God for His people, provisions and providential blessings for 42 years at Westminster Academy. We hope everyone has a safe and blessed summer.

Blessings of grace and peace to you and your family in the Name of Jesus Christ,

Leo Orsino
Headmaster
orsinol@wacad.edu

Dear WA Community,

Please join me in praising God for what He showed us the past week in Boston. Praise God for our armed forces, police, fire, medical and citizens who were hero’s in Boston. Praise God for all those who protect our freedom and safety every day locally, nationally and internationally.

Please also join me in praying for all those who lost loved ones and for all of the victims and their families in Boston. May God’s love, grace and peace be with them in a profound way.

There is no doubt that there is evil in the world. God teaches us through Paul in Ephesians that His full armor is to be our defense against the evil one. God calls us to prayer, faith and Truth so we can stand firm against the schemes of the dark side. God doesn’t say if, He says when the darts from the devil come our way we are to put on the full armor of God, (Ephesians 6:10-18).

May we be ever mindful of the victory that we enjoy every day through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior against the evil one (John 11:25-26, John 19:30, John 14:6).

At WA, we celebrate the good news of great joy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in all areas of God’s school ministry, (Ephesians 2:4-10). We are blessed with the calling to teach and enjoy the timeless and timely blessings of God’s Truth as a community of believers with our students, one another and our school community every day, (Romans 8:28-29).

Thank you for your prayers and your commitment to WA!

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people, (Ephesians 6:18).

Prayerfully in Jesus Christ,

Leo Orsino
Headmaster
orsinol@wacad.edu

Dear WA Community,

Please join me in praising God for His providential blessings during the Christian Schools of Florida (CSF) re-accreditation Peer Review Team visit on April 9, 10 and 11. As you may know, every five years accredited schools like Westminster Academy go through a re-accreditation process. This past week we had our re-accreditation visit by a Peer Review Team to review our school and to review how well we are meeting the standards of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), Middle States Association (MSA) and CSF.

The CSF re-accreditation Peer Review Visiting Team was extremely impressed by our students, faculty, staff and coaches. They were very blessed by their visit. They commended WA on how well we teach, model and live our mission, as a Christ-centered, biblically-based covenant comprehensive college preparatory school. Well done and kudos to our students, faculty, staff, coaches and volunteers at WA.

You may view/download the CSF Peer Review Visiting Team exit summary conference report. The official CSF re-accreditation report will be sent to WA later this month. After we receive the CSF report, we will share it with you. We will also be sending you the summary of the parent, student and employee survey by Monday, April 22.

A very special thank you goes to Diane Showalter for her exceptional leadership with this process. We would also like to thank our chairs and all those who served on one of the eight committees. We would also like to thank all of the students and parents who participated in the CSF Peer Review Team Visit.

We are truly blessed by an extraordinary assembly of brothers and sisters in Christ at WA. Their faithful devotion to Christ and steadfast dedication to excellence is a wonderful testimony.

Praise God for His people, provisions and providential blessings at WA.

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people, (Colossians 1:3-4).

Grace and Peace to you and your family in the Name of Jesus Christ,

Leo Orsino
Headmaster
orsinol@wacad.edu

Dear WA Community,

As believers in Jesus Christ we have the wonderful privilege to celebrate Easter Sunday on March 31. As we prepare our hearts and homes for Easter, I hope you find the Scripture readings below helpful for family devotions as we look forward to the celebration of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the greatest event in human history. As believers and followers of Jesus Christ, all of Christianity hinges on the miracle of His resurrection. When we celebrate Easter, we are recognizing and embracing His victory over sin, death, and Satan and we are celebrating His gift of salvation and eternal life through the righteousness, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. May your family enjoy the blessings of Jesus Christ at Easter time. Praise God for the amazing love, grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  John 3:16-17

Thursday – March 28
The Preparation for Passover
(Matthew 26:17-19, Mark 14:12-16, Luke 22:7-13)

Good Friday – March 29
The Twelve (Matthew 26:20-35)
Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-56)
The Trial (Matthew 26:57-27:2)
The Roman Trial (Matthew 27:11-31)
The Crucifixion (Matthew 27:32-66)

Easter Sunday – March 31
The Resurrection (Matthew 28:1-7)
The Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20)

“Jesus said…‘I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.  Do you believe this?’” John 11:25-26

“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.’” John 14:6

May the good news of great joy in the powerful and most amazing resurrection of Jesus Christ bring you true freedom and profound peace this Easter Break.

We hope you have a wonderful Easter Break in the grace and peace of Jesus Christ.

Happy Easter,

Leo Orsino
Headmaster
orsinol@wacad.edu