The CBA Times

Corn, OKLA. — Each summer, Corn Bible Academy hosts a work day to prepare the school and grounds for the upcoming year. Many families and supporters of CBA join together to spend a day working on different projects and find that not only do they help spruce up the landscaping and make the classrooms shine, they enjoy getting to know each other better and take pride in providing a service for the school.

This summer is no different. Work Day is scheduled for Saturday, July 24, from 8-12 in the morning. Lunch is provided for all who choose to participate and many projects are planned for the morning, including painting, shrub and tree trimming, pouring concrete, and landscape
work.

CBA welcomes organizations and church groups who are looking for a place to serve to join school families and supporters for the day. For more information or to sign up to serve, call the school office at 580.343.2262.

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Media Contact:
Clare Goering
580.343.2262

Corn, OKLA. — After intensive preparation by the Administration, faculty, and staff at Corn Bible Academy, the school received notification on Thursday, July 1, that it has been re-accredited through 2015 by the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI). In April, a five member visiting team arrived on campus for a rigorous three day evaluation process. When they finished their assessment of the school and completed their report for the ACSI South-Central Region Accreditation Commission in Dallas, the Administrators and faculty waited patiently for the outcome, knowing it would take at least two months for the result.

Superintendent Clare Goering remarked, “I would like to thank all of the Board members, faculty, staff, and students who were involved in this lengthy but important process for the benefit of the future of CBA. Principal Mark Thiessen was instrumental in spearheading the planning process among the faculty and organizing the materials for the self-study that made this endeavor a huge success. I know that this accreditation is very important for the school and allows our students to continue their education at the colleges and universities of their choice.”

Congratulations, Corn Bible Academy for achieving the goal of re-accreditation!

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Media Contact:
Clare Goering
580.343.2262

Carrie Kliewer, 2006 CBA graduate

Corn, OKLA. — Corn Bible Academy students come from diverse backgrounds and when they leave CBA, they embark on many different paths to pursue their futures. Students who receive their education at the school may choose to take the traditional path and attend colleges and universities for degrees in education, medicine, business, or other disciplines, or students may choose to enter the workforce immediately and begin to make their mark on the world. Because of the 108 years that Corn Bible Academy has been in existence, there are CBA graduates all around the world in all types of vocations. The school has a reputation for sending out students who are ready to face the world and are ready for the rigorous, challenging courses they will face at the university level. 

One such alumnus is Carrie Kliewer, from the CBA class of 2006. On May 15, at Oklahoma Panhandle State University’s commencement ceremony, Ms. Kliewer was honored with the J.R.P. Sewell award.  Established in 1949, the award honors the memory of the late J.R.P. Sewell, a former Texas banker and civic leader who was instrumental in establishing and organizing the Panhandle Agricultural Institute, now known as Oklahoma Panhandle State University. The award promotes and encourages scholarship, leadership, and citizenship among OPSU students and the Sewell family gives each recipient an engraved gold watch.

Kliewer was selected from a competitive group of seniors and graduated with two degrees – a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science and a Bachelor of Science in Equine Science, and she earned magna cum laude academic honors in both. During the School of Agriculture’s annual banquet on Friday evening before Commencement, Carrie was presented as the Outstanding Animal Science Student and Outstanding Equine Science Student, receiving awards for both. She has been an active member of the Equestrian team, serving two years as co-captain. She also participated as a member of the OPSU cross country team and was selected OPSU Female Student Athlete of the Year in 2009. In addition, Carrie competed with OPSU’s programming team at Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP) contests.

Carrie’s future plans are to work with horses in some aspect, and this will involve heading back to Hugoton, Kansas, where she will train horses for W Bar H Training Stable. “I need more experience in horse training and want to work under the leadership of the trainers at the stable,” remarked Carrie.

So in what way did CBA play a role in the success of this bright young woman from a small farm just outside Corn?  “My parents have always been very supportive of me and made the financial sacrifice to send me to a private school. I really appreciated the fact that when I entered college, I was prepared for the amount of homework and studies that come with college life. I was also prepared to deal with understanding what people believe and why they believe what they do because of Mrs. Creed’s class on worldviews.”

Carrie Kliewer is just one of the students who represent Corn Bible Academy beyond the walls of the junior high/high school in rural southwest Oklahoma. No doubt there will be many more who graduate from the oldest Christian school west of the Mississippi, making their mark on an ever-changing world.

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Media Contact:
Rhonda Goering
580.343.2262

Dakota Tilton enjoys his first visit to the Regional Food Bank.

From L to R: Leah Boese, Alyssa Friesen, Serli Rumbiak, and Morgan Pearce package shredded carrots at the Regional Food Bank.

Corn, OKLA. — The last week of school is always busy. Semester tests, projects to complete and turn in, awards assemblies, grades to be tabulated, and preparations for graduation are all squeezed into the last days of school. And then there are the field trips and class parties, and everyone agrees that the anticipation of summer is in the air. At Corn Bible Academy, it is no different; however, the school has another activity that has become a tradition during the last week – a service project at the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma.

On Wednesday, May 12, 68 students and six adults boarded two buses and headed to Oklahoma City for the day to volunteer at the Food Bank. CBA has volunteered at the Regional Food Bank for several years and most of the students look forward to the opportunity to do something different on a school day and help others.

The day was a success, according to Liz Brandon, Volunteer Supervisor with the Food Bank. “Corn Bible Academy did 12, 245 pounds of food which averages out to the equivalency of 9,419 meals for Oklahomans in need.”  The students and adults were divided into groups with one group sorting and packaging cereal, crackers, cookies, and snacks, while the other group bagged 5, 280 pounds of shredded carrots into two pound packages. 

The Regional Food Bank feeds over 70,000 people each week in the state of Oklahoma, and they are always looking for volunteers to help. If interested, call Liz Brandon at 405-604-7110. CBA is already scheduled for the next school year – after all, it’s tradition!

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Media Contact:
Rhonda Goering
580.343.2262

Jordan Penner, seventh grade student, carefully chips away at a fossil during a field trip to the Arbuckle Mountains.

Corn, OKLA. — The Corn Bible Academy seventh and ninth grade students participated in a field trip to the Arbuckle Mountains near Davis, Oklahoma, on Thursday, April 29.  Junior high science is taught by Todd Smith, and his wife, Dana Smith, teaches high school biology at the school. The instructors had a full day planned for the 27 students, and the trip was led by the Creation Truth Foundation from Norman.

The day began at the Arbuckle Mountains Observation Area where they observed several geological features and discussed their relation to Noah’s flood. The formation of mountains, continental drift and catastrophe were also discussed. After a picnic lunch at a park in Davis, the group stopped to dig for fossils near the Arbuckle Lake Dam, finding clams, crinoids, and other fossils.

“The final destination for the day was at an area called Crinoid Hill, where the crinoid fossils were so numerous they could be found laying on top of the ground,” remarked Dana Smith, biology instructor.

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Media Contact:
Dana Smith
580.343.2262

Chandler Smith, seventh grade student, works to uncover a fossil.

CBA students and their grandparents at the Grandparents Day event

Corn, OKLA. — Today, there are 70 million grandparents in the United States, and according to grandparents.com, 1.7 million new grandparents are added to the ranks every year.   Most grandparents like to spend time with their grandkids, and on Friday, May 7, Corn Bible Academy hosted 93 grandparents at the the annual Grandparents Day activities, honoring them with a program, refreshments, displays of classroom projects, and lunch. 

Even though the end of the year is packed full of activities, CBA students and faculty members take time out of the schedule to make time for these beloved family members. This year was no different. Students of Dana Smith, Home Economics instructor, baked several cakes and decorated them to demonstrate their new culinary skill. These students also served the cakes and coffee at the refreshment table.  Other students, under the direction of Charles Regier, sang during the program and recited scripture learned in Christian Studies classes taught by Joyce Creed. Kenny Schimmer, high school history instructor, came up with a current events quiz bowl, pitting four grandmothers against their grandchildren, with the wisdom of the ages easily defeating the younger minds.  Mark Thiessen, Principal, and Clare Goering, Superintendent, finished off the morning’s program with door prize give-aways. The grandkids then escorted their grandparents to the cafeteria for a homemade pizza lunch provided by the school.

More facts from grandparents.com? How about this: 90 percent of all grandparents enjoy talking about their grandkids to just about everyone, and 72 percent of all grandparents say that being a grandparent is the single most important and satisfying thing in their life. It was evident at Corn Bible Academy on Friday that there is plenty of love to go around, and this is an event that is here to stay at CBA.

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Media Contact:
Rhonda Goering
580.343.2262