HoughtonAcademy News

“...that they may be trees of righteousness...” Isaiah 61:3

Volume 30, Number 2 Fall 2012

What a joy it is to have the privilege to serve alongside of so many wonderful servants and to continue the legacy of Christian edu-

cation at Houghton Academy. Phil Stockin influenced so many for decades at Houghton and he continues to be a wonderful counselor for me as I’ve begun my tenure. The verse from Ephesians at left almost always brings me a sense of awe regarding God’s desire to be present in our lives and through us. As we’ve launched into a new chapter at Houghton Academy, I’m remind-ed of how He speaks to us through His stories. I get a sense of Christ doing immeasurably more through Gideon or Deborah when I read the Bible, but it also inspires me to what Christ wants to do today. The following story from Janyce Smithley about one of our students and the Houghton Academy/Houghton Col-lege community also brings me a sense of Christ doing immeasurably more right now.

Our connection with the college students and our Academy students continues to thrive and have a positive impact on our relationship. One of our Vietnamese students has ap-plied to Houghton College, and, when asked why, he said that it is because the Houghton community is the first he has lived in where people have been nice to him. He went on to say that he appreciates the Houghton spirit and how friendly everyone is to international students. When he eats in the college dining hall students stop and say hi and ask him how he is, even though they don’t know him. He dis-cussed how he was discriminated against before coming here, and he is confident he will not encounter this at Houghton College. Although he is not a Christian, he admires the way Houghton people live their lives, and he is willing to stand up to that challenge and wants to be a “Houghton man.”

May Christ continue to do immeasurably more through us.

Head of School George Wiedmaier has a doctorate in education, has written to millions of parents and spoken to thousands all over the world as an executive at Focus on the Family, has served in many roles at the Milton Hershey School, and has helped K-12 schools launch and become ac-credited. He is most proud of the God-anointed conversations he is able to have around the dinner table with his wife and his two daughters.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasur-ably more than all we ask or imagine, ac-cording to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus through-out all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”—Ephesians 3: 20, 21

Immeasurably More2

FeaturesPages 6-7: Future FocusWhat’s next for Academy students? Guidance coun-selors help them answer.

Pages 8-10: Clay in the Potter’s HandsSpiritual formation is a critical part of Houghton Academy’s mission.

Pages 11: How I Spent My Summer Vacationby Robin PawlingScience teacher Robin Pawling spent part of her sum-mer visiting students and alumni in Asia.

DepartmentsPage 2: From the Head of School

Pages 4-5: News and Notes: See You at the Pole, Compassion Child, Video Shoot, Civil War Field Trip

Pages 12-13: Sports Report: Soccer, Volley-ball, Coaches for Cancer

Pages 14-15: Alum-notes

HoughtonAcademy NewsVol. 30, No. 2 • Fall 2012

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Table of contents:

On the cover: Gary Baxter, professor of art at Houghton College, created a pot as he talked about the image of God as Master Potter and people as the clay in a recent Academy chapel.

Houghton Academy News, published three times a year, is sent free of charge. To be placed on the mail-ing list, contact Houghton Academy, 9790 Thayer Street, Houghton, NY 14744 • 585.567.8115. Editor: Doug Roorbach ’77. © 2012, Houghton Academy.

Pages 6-7

Page 11

News and NotesCivil War Field TripStudents from sixth, seventh and eighth grades went to nearby Angelica, NY, on Friday, September 21, to visit

the Civil War re-enactors encampment held there each year (pictured at left). The students visited a Confederate officer’s tent and field hospital, spoke with a Union recruiter, played 19th-century kids’ games, met a Confeder-ate spy, saw a blacksmith demonstration, heard Union field music and witnessed a weapons dem-onstration.

Video shootOver a year ago, the school embarked on a project to overhaul the site, including shooting new sup-porting video segments (such as the one pictured below). Electronic Field Productions shot and produced the video, approximately six minutes long, comprised of an introduction by the head of school and four seg-ments—Live, Learn, Lead and Love—each capable of standing on its own. Ryan Cramer Designs has done the work on the website, which integrates information from the Academy’s school management software, thereby reducing the duplication of effort to keep the website fresh. The videos will be placed throughout the Acade-

my’s website (houghtonacad-emy.org) and hosted on the Academy’s YouTube channel. The Academy is also working on connect-ing the website to its Face-book page in an effort to develop and maintain a web-based community.

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See You at the PoleBefore the start of school on September 26, the students met by the flag pole in front of Bowen Hall to take part in “See You at the Pole.” The event is part of a national day of prayer for schools, students and students’ communities. Student Senate President Aaron Schue ’13 led the Academy’s meeting.

Back-to-School PicnicMore than 100 from the Acad-emy’s “school family,” went to Letchworth State Park (pictured at right) for Houghton’s traditional back-to-school picnic, including a two-hour softball game. It was “an incredible time,” said Dr. George Wiedmaier, the Acad-emy’s new head of school.

Compassion ChildThrough the auspices of Com-passion International, Academy students and employees support Yerleidys Guzman Acosta, a 15-year old girl from Columbia, collecting money during weekly chapels to raise the monthly support of $45.

Rock the LakesApproximately 45 students traveled to Coca-Cola Stadium in Buffalo on Septem-ber 22 to join a crowd of about 11,000 for Rock the Lakes, a music and outreach event put on by the Billy Graham As-sociation. (See photo at right.) Popular music acts included a rapper named Tedashii, Lacey from Flyleaf, Flame, Building 429 and the well-known group Skillet. After the music, Franklin Graham spoke, inviting people to ask Jesus Christ to be Lord of their lives. Dozens responded, including several Academy students.

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Late in October, 27 Academy sophomores, juniors and seniors—the most from any one school—attended a college fair sponsored by

the National Association of Christian College Ad-mission Personnel in Buffalo. The students had the opportunity to speak with representatives from more than 30 Christian colleges. Academy students also attended a college fair at nearby Genesee Valley Central School to which more than 50 colleges sent representatives. The Academy has already scheduled visits to two more college fairs in the spring. Representatives from the admission departments of five separate colleges have made personal visits to the Academy this fall, with more invited for the spring semester. Academy juniors and seniors continue to prepare for and take the SAT and ACT college entrance exams, as well as the TOEFL test for international students. As of this writing, the 30 Academy seniors have submitted 76 college applications. Three of them have been granted early admission. Of course, after gaining admission to college, the next hurdle most students and families face is how to pay for their college educations. To that end, in De-cember the Academy will host a session for parents re-garding financial aid and has arranged for a total of 68 appointments with college financial aid counselors for seniors and five individual consultations for parents. For students whose academic performance or language skills may need more attention, the Academy also offers individual and group tutoring. As of this date, Houghton College students tutor 21 Academy students in all subject areas. In addition to improving grades, another benefit of the student-tutor relation-ship is the fostering of communication skills and a bet-ter understanding of American culture. Also in late October, members of the eighth grade class attended a career exploration day at the Career

Future FocusHoughton Academy long has described itself as a “college-prepara-tory” school, and that focus on students’ future endeavors remains constant, as recent activities have made clear.

Representatives

from the admission

departments of five

separate colleges

have made personal

visits to the Acade-

my already this fall,

with more invited

for the spring se-

mester.

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and Technical Center in Belmont. Students had the opportunity to hear about 16 different careers as well as learn about what employees are looking for. Nilda Liu ’13 and Hannah Banks ’13 attended a recent Art Opportunity Day at Houghton College. They met with college art students and professors, toured the art facilities, participated in workshops, learned about off-campus opportunities, and took turns with a printing press to create their own piece. Previously, Banks took third place in an advertisement competition that included more than 20 high schools in Western New York and took first place in the Al-legany County high school art show. Together, Banks and Liu designed a poster for the Academy Junior-Senior banquet last year.

Above: Academy students attended a college fair at nearby Genesee Valley Central School to which more than 50 colleges sent representatives.

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The Bible describes Jesus as growing “in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” (Luke 2:52, NIV). Houghton Academy strives to bring growth in these same four areas.

Weekly chapels are an important part of that spiritual formation. Some of the speakers who have highlighted the Academy’s chapel schedule so far include:• Dr. Jon Arensen, a retired professor from Houghton College and the director

of the Houghton in Tanzania program. Dr. Arensen shared stories about his time as a missionary to the Merle people in the South Sudan and about the dif-ficult conditions they are facing with their country in a civil war at this time.

• Pastor Jonathan Finley from the Rushford Baptist Church• Dr. Shirley Mullen, president of Houghton College, who brought with her a

beautifully carved walking stick that she used to demonstrate how God can take something that was cast aside and transform it into something beautiful.

• Jon Cole, youth pastor from the Houghton Wesleyan Church, who challenged students and faculty alike to surrender daily to the Lord.

• Pastor Matt Gold, from Alden Community Church, who introduced a theme for the month of October: joy.

• Professor Gary Baxter, art professor and potter from Houghton College, who fashioned a pot using his wheel on stage, weaving Scripture verses into his commentary as he did so (pictured below). Baxter used the image of God as the Master Potter and us as the clay. He told the story of the Old Testament Prophet Jeremiah, whom God directed to go watch the potter as he shaped pots, then used the metaphor of a pot marred in the formation process, which the potter shaped into another pot. God used this to show that the people of Israel were like clay in the hands of the potter and He would shape them into the nation He wanted them to be, which is certainly a lesson for today, as well.

continued on next page

Like Clay in the Potter’s Hands

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Like Clay in the Potter’s Hands

10

If I had not come to

Houghton, I would

not have been able…

to actually have a

relationship with

Christ.

Of course, chapel (pic-tured above) isn’t the only place Academy students come across a Christian message. As part of a recent English class as-signment, students wrote first-person accounts of some aspect of their lives. Here are some excerpts:• “I spent my junior and senior years at Hough-ton Academy, where…I started to hear about Christianity and God…The more I sought Him and the more I knew about Him, the more I loved Him.”• “This school is the com-plete opposite of every school I have ever been to. It is small, interna-tional, and religious…the school brought out the best in me; it made me stop and think about who I really want to be…I am

my true self at Hough-ton.”• “If I had not come to Houghton, I would not have been able…to actual-ly have a relationship with Christ. Houghton has made me stronger and it has made me understand more about Asian and American cultures.”• “Houghton Academy has shaped my inner quality and behavior…Although I was quite reluctant to change, the faculty in the school did not give up on me...Most importantly, Houghton Academy has showed me who Jesus Christ is…My arrival at Houghton Academy was the turn-ing point in my life, since this school was the only school where people were concerned about me with their real heart.”

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Overwhelming Hospitality

For many years, Houghton Acad-emy staff members

have visited Asia, and I’ve often thought about do-ing so myself. I had been advisor for both the class of 2011 and the class of 2012, which included 27 students from China and 17 from Korea, so when Dean Dover returned from his trip last year and told me that our stu-dents and their families took good care of him, I decided that the summer of 2012 would be an ideal time for me to go. Dean and the others were absolutely right. I landed in Hong Kong and navigated to my hotel just fine, thanks to helpful tips from Iresa Cho ’12. In Guangzhou I had two days full of sightsee-ing and visits with recent graduates that Tobey Li ’11 and Michelle Deng ’11 had planned. I stayed with Jessie Chen ’11 and her mom in Shanghai. They arranged sightseeing and rest and a meal with Jack Li ’13 and others. When I flew to Beijing, Mike Ding ’12 met me at the airport and Sherry Yang ’11 drove us to my hotel. I spent three days

there sightseeing and visiting with friends. I found Chinese hospi-tality both overwhelming and humbling. For ex-ample, while at a restau-rant with Tobey’s family, they discovered that I like carrots, so they asked the kitchen to prepare some for me. They did, after sending a worker to the market to buy them! I learned to be careful about the comments I made. Hospitality in Korea was just as generous. David Oh ’98 stayed elsewhere so that I could have the use of his apart-ment for four days while I visited Seoul. Robin Park ’11, Ron-nie Lim ’06 and David coordinated my schedule

by Robin Pawling

so that I was able to see more than a dozen alumni in three days—many of them at a birthday party they threw for me. I worshipped with David, Ronnie and Julie Park ’12 at Seoul Pres-byterian Church. The service was in Korean, but they sang familiar tunes and David provided me with a hymnal that included English lyrics. He also arranged for a headset through which a translator spoke so that I could follow the sermon. It was an exhausting, rewarding fortnight. I was very glad to have a chance to see both current and former students in their home cities and to experi-ence a bit of their coun-tries and cultures.

Sherry Yang ’11 and Mike Ding ’12 escorted the author when she visited Beijing during the summer of 2012.

Fall Sports Report: Soccer Turns Tide

The boys’ soc-cer season didn’t start well—the

team lost its first four games—but a league win over Andover in game five turned the tide for the Panthers, triggering a run where they won seven out of their next eight games. They finished the regular season with a 7-7 record, and were 4-2 in league games, giving them a share of the Al-legany County Division II title. The team earned the fourth seed in the sectional playoffs, but lost in the quarterfinals to fifth-seeded Lima Chris-tian School. Derek Brooks, Liam Vair and Robert Leete made the Division II All County first team; Devin Poorman (pictured at right, heading the ball ), Koty Smith and Jesse Smith made the second team. Brooks also earned a spot on the Section V Class D All-Tournament team. Poorman and Koty Smith both played in the Allegany-Steuben Senior Game. The modified team (pictured at far right) went 3-3-1 while focusing on learning skills, using pass-ing techniques and team play. It was a highlight to

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see the players demon-strate such good sports-manship. One of the referees even commented that he would nominate them for a sportsmanship award if he could. The girls’ varsity volleyball team lost six seniors after last season, leaving a young team with little significant experi-ence at the varsity level. Their record reflected that, as they went 0-14, but “our record definitely does not tell the whole story,” said first-year coach Aaron Newell,

“The team made incred-ible strides of improve-ment throughout the season. We even almost pulled out a win the last week of the season, losing an epic 5-set match to rival Belfast.” Most of the players from this season’s young roster are return-ing next year; “the future of Houghton Academy girls’ volleyball is bright,” Coach Newell says. Moriah Reinbold earned second team status on the All-County team. The modified squad went 1-6.

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One referee com-

mented that he

would nominate

them for a sports-

manship award if he

could.

Renovation to Philip G. Stockin Field has begun (pictured at left), with new bleachers and a scoreboard added this year.

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Alumnotes

Andrew and Susie (Brautigam ’08) Roor-bach ’09 (pictured above, front row, left) married August 18 in the Hough-ton Wesleyan Church. The Academy could have held a reunion using just members of the wedding party and particpants in the nuptials. David Roor-bach ’11 ( front row, second from right) was best man; the groom’s other brother, Jeff Braaten ’05, read a scripture passage. Sean Douglas ’09 (back row), John Rutledge ’09( front row, right) and David Haywood ’09 ( front row, third from left) were

groomsmen. The bride’s sister, Sharon Brautigam ’10 (back row, right), was maid of honor and the bride’s other sister, Sarah (Brautigam ’06) Moore and her husband Joshua sang (as did Douglas). Bridesmaids included Betsy Rutledge ’03 (middle row, right) and Kara Collings ’08 (middle row, left). The mother of the bride was Amy (Konz ’80) Brautigam and the father of the groom was Doug Roorbach ’77. Nu-merous Academy alumni attended, as did faculty and staff both past and present.

Jon and Sarah Ries ’99 have a new baby: Lewis Colson Ries, born Octo-ber 23, weighing in at 7 lbs., 3 oz., and measuring 20 inches long. Proud grandfather Dan Ries ’72 attended to Lewis’ brothers—Levi, 4, and Lincoln, 2—during the birth. (Pictured at right are Jon—holding Lewis—Levi, at left, and Lincoln.)

Tim and Adina Nielsen ’86 are the proud parents of Tilba Garrett Nielsen, born August 8.

John Greenlee ’86 died recently as the result of a scuba-diving accident

15Houghton Academy welcomes your news—births, deaths, marriages, promotions, awards. memories of the Academy, life lessons learned. Please e-mail HANews@houghtonacademy.org with your information and digital photos.

at the Olympia National Park; he was 44. After leaving the Academy following his junior year, Greenlee joined the Navy, then settled in the state of Washington from where he drove a truck around the country.

Mary (Reed ’78) DeY-oung lives and works in the Asheville, NC, area. She invites classmates from the mid-1970s to contact her via e-mail: maryrdy2002@aol.com.

Elizabeth (Phillipi Spicer) Mole, who served as bookkeeper at the Academy from 1978-1981, died August 24.

Margaret Hester Thorp, a cook at the Academy in the late 1950s and early 1960s, died May 9 at the age of 95 in Corinth, NY. Thorp later was a nurse at Strong Memorial in Roch-ester and Glens Falls and Saratoga Hospitals and taught at BOCES. She is

survived by her daughter, Ginni Faller Christo-pher ’59

Wittenburg Univer-sity named Roberta Rowland-Raybold ’56 Alumna of the Year for her outstanding accom-plishments in the music field. “I am thankful for the early education and values received at the Academy that has enabled me to reach so many goals in my life,” she wrote.

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