The Yearbook Staff

By Melinda De Jong

On Monday, February 11, the entire student body began work on our high school’s first yearbook, The Sword and Shield. We have been divided into four sub-committees, each with a different task. We will be working with our sub-committee and with our yearbook advisor, Mrs. Looyenga.

The first sub-committee is the Editorial Staff. These people (Grace De Jong, Meghan Looyenga, Katie Van Baren, Gina Verburg, and Rachel Warner) will write captions under selected pictures. They will also write some editorial notes in various sections of the yearbook.

The Photographers (Bonnie Boer, Emily De Jong, Melissa De Jong, and Jennifer Kooy) make up the second sub-committee. They will sort and choose from several candid pictures taken by all of us.

The third sub-committee, Layout, is going to be working with Adobe PageMaker software. They (Melinda De Jong, Josh Dotson, Josh Poortinga, Jacob Wiersma, and Michelle Zandstra) will be using the computer to organize the layout of the yearbook’s pages.

The final sub-committee (with Alyssa Zandstra in charge) will be contacting businesses in order to sell advertisements so that we can defray some of the costs of the yearbook.

We hope that our work on the first Sword and Shield at Heritage Christian High will be fun, unique, and God glorifying. 

Hot Lunch Schedule

February 21           BBQ / Ice Cream

February 28           Hot Dogs / Donuts

March 7                 Pizza / Mom’s Choice

March 14               Open Lunch / Ice Cream

Letters to the Pope

By Michelle Zandstra

 In Church History we just finished learning about Pope Gregory the Great. When Mr. Van Uffelen started talking about Gregory, my first impression was that Gregory was a good, strong Christian, ready to defend the faith by using the Word of God. He was a self-denying monk, a successful mayor, and an unwilling pope.

Gregory didn’t want the title of “pope.” He didn’t want to be famous. He didn’t want people to worship him. What Gregory did and said seems right in our Christian eyes, right?

Wrong. Actually, Gregory corrupted the church more and more. He denied total depravity and taught that man can do good works in and of himself. He taught that baptism was the actual forgiveness of sins. He said that there is a place between heaven and hell called purgatory. He said that we can seek help and defense through dead saints and holy relics. He also taught that Christ was actually physically present during communion. Gregory made many, many errors.

In Church History class we wrote letters to Pope Gregory, defending our faith. It was really fun. We had to use the Bible to prove our points, which is what we always must do if we have to deal with someone who is teaching the Word of God incorrectly. The Word of God is the only way we can and must defend our faith.

Latin Presentations

By Meghan Looyenga

This past week the Latin students of Heritage Christian High School went to our Protestant Reformed Grade School to teach the sixth grade students a few things about the early Roman Empire. They are currently learning about this dominant empire in their Ancient World History class with Miss Bleyenberg.

We decided on our own topics and studied about them so that we could present interesting and fun topics to the sixth graders. Emily De Jong chose Roman education and games. Grace De Jong chose Roman weddings. Jacob Wiersma chose gladiators. I chose Roman fashion. We each got involved in our own areas of study. The students were free to ask questions about anything they wanted.

It turned out to be an enjoyable opportunity, fulfilling to both the Latin students and the sixth grade Ancient World History students.

Bacteria

By Rachel Warner

In Freshmen Biology class, taught by Mr. Lubbers, we have been learning all about bacteria. “Bad” bacteria cause infections and diseases, including cholera, diphtheria, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, tetanus, Hansen disease, syphilis, and the bubonic plague. But did you know that most bacteria are “good?”

Bacteria do so many things for us.  Bacteria make up a major cleaning crew in our environment. We saw this happen when we took a field trip to Cognis last November. The chemical plant puts all of its wastes into big waste pools where bacteria purify the water before it goes back to the water plant.

They decompose garbage and wastes and clean up oil spills. Without bacteria decomposing, we would have garbage piled up all over. Bacteria also help in the production of foods. We wouldn’t have cheese and other dairy products without bacteria. Yeast wouldn’t work in bread without it either. Bacteria are also used in spot removers, household detergents, and in the synthesis of drugs. They are used to remove impurities in water and to separate minerals.

So don’t ever say that this world would be a better place without bacteria.