This past Wednesday the seniors got back from their two week long class trip - an amazing time filled with bonding and learning more about each other. The first couple days were spent at Caye Caulker, an island off of the coast of Belize. Here, we spent two days enjoying the beautiful sunshine and crystal clear ocean.
    Many of the seniors went snorkeling with sharks or drove golf carts around the island. When asked about the trip, Lauren said, “One of the most exciting experiences I had on the island was playing volleyball on the beach. I also enjoyed swimming in the ocean that was full of starfish and conch shells.”
     Towards the end of our trip we drove to Cancun, Mexico, where we got to go Chichen Itza, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. That same day we were able to go to a giant sinkhole.  We got to jump into the hole, but you had to be a good swimmer because it was 130 feet deep. Tanner commented, “I jumped off the cliff and it felt exhilarating. When I hit the water it felt like ice, but soon after getting used to the temperature, I found it all worth it.”
   These were just a couple amazing activities the seniors did on the class trip, and we definitely will not be forgetting this trip any time soon. A special thanks to our class sponsors and others, including donors, who helped to make this trip possible for our class!

[article written by Hannah Phelps]

   Just this past week, the Campion Academy senior class returned home after a two-week trip to Belize and Mexico. Although the trip began and ended with time set apart for relaxation and sight seeing, the main portion of the trip was spent doing mission work at a small Adventist school in Ladyville, Belize.
   The seniors worked five days, with a day off in the middle to recuperate and rest up for the remaining two days. During the workdays, students fully applied themselves, and at the end of the week, the results spoke for themselves with the group completing their tasks ahead of schedule.
   Because the main task set aside for the group was to aid in the addition of a second floor to one of the school’s buildings, most of the seniors and sponsors worked in construction. This included preparing, cutting, and building the wooden supports that the concrete for the second floor would rest on. With this being the main project, many had the chance to work extensively with measuring boards and poles, cutting those boards and poles, and nailing it all together.
   Knowing that the work being done was for a good cause, senior Jordyn. recounted, “Helping build the school was extremely rewarding knowing that kids would soon be able to learn about Jesus and different subjects there.”
   Although construction is what most took part in, others blessed the local community in other ways. A small group spent time painting at a different location and one senior even led out in an evangelistic series at the nearby church. This student was Lauren. While talking about the subject of sharing God in a different environment, she commented, “Preaching for my first time in a foreign country was an amazing experience. I was so happy to share my love for God to people that I had never met before. They were so kind and friendly, and I will never forget their own passion for their faith.”
   The senior class went on this trip with the expectation of impacting others, yet many weren’t prepared for the way in which it would affect them. Simply being around the kids and building with the knowledge that the finished product would improve their lives had a lasting effect on some. Others were changed in different ways. “Living with some of your closest friends for two weeks in a different country can really change a person,” Carter stated.
     While this year’s senior class trip is over, the impact it left in the lives of the seniors and all the people they were able to bless will last for many years more. 

​[article written by Alex Fazio]

   Can you imagine traveling across the globe at the age of 14 to go to high school in another country and new language?  At Campion this year, we have 15 international students hailing from China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Japan, and Latvia.  Several local families have opened their hearts and their homes to be these students’ second families either as full-time host families or local guardians to dorm students.  Hosting a student from a widely different cultural background is an enriching experience, and families find it to be genuinely rewarding. 
 
   Hosting international students is a unique opportunity to share Christ with students who come from non-Christian backgrounds by loving them as Christ does.  Our host families may never have traveled to another country, but the mission field has come into their homes. 
 
   Teresa Johansen has hosted students from China full-time for the past two years, and this year she hosts two boys, Canson Chen and Tommy Liang.  The boys share a room in her house and she provides them with meals each day, connects with them, and takes care of them as she would her own sons.  “Opening my home up to international students has meant getting outside my comfort zone at times, but I have decided that I want to help these kids feel welcomed and accepted into my family and our community.  If it were my own children going to another country, I would want them to be treated the same way,” she reflects.  She adds that it has been a rewarding experience for her as “getting to know the students’ individual personalities and having them in my home has added a whole new dimension to my family.” 
 
   Guardian families give international students living in the dorm a local connection to a family.  They usually host the student during school home-leaves and serve as the parent-connection for events such as parent-teacher conferences.  Marilyn Jackson has been the local guardian for Rain Li, a sophomore from China, for the past two years.   “We’ve really enjoyed being guardians.  Rain is a great student, he’s always polite, kind, and helpful. It’s been fun to see his English improve; at first he relied a lot on his translator, and we’d have fun trying to figure out how to communicate, but now he understands nearly everything.”
 
   The students have a lot to share with our families and school as well. “I’d highly recommend being a local guardian or host family,” says Jackson.  “Even though many of these kids are very well-off, you wouldn’t know it by how they act and treat other people.  They are very thoughtful and helpful.  We’ve learned so much about the Chinese culture and have gotten to eat delicious Chinese food!”
 
   Other families who host students or serve as guardians include; the Harlow family, the Hill family, the Helm family, and the Marin family. 
 
   Campion is in need of more families to be hosts and guardians for the 2018-2019 school year. At this time, we have three potential students from Vietnam who are interested in applying and would need full-time host families.     
   If you are interested in hosting full-time, please contact Jill Harlow ([email protected]), or in being a local guardian, please contact Dean Helm ([email protected]). 

[written by Jill Harlow]