LCA Lions

It is with great excitement that we welcome Lillian Kettlewell to the Pridelands!

Ms. Kettlewell serves LCA as a 7th/8th grade English teacher. She’s earned an AAS in Early Childhood Education (Exceptionalities) and a BAES Special Education.

When asked what she is most excited about working at LCA, she said, “I'm very excited to mentor students and help them learn how to find deeper meaning in their reading.”

Interestingly, Ms. Kettlewell was an eSports coach at her former school and has been playing video games for over 20 years.

Let’s give Ms. Kettlewell a huge welcome to the Pride when you see her on campus!

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: MORGAN WILLETT

As our alumni forge their paths in life and careers, we celebrate those who have overcome adversity to achieve their dreams. Morgan Willett, a 2020 graduate, co-founded The Selling Sisters real estate. She attended LCA for all 12 years and has become a trailblazer on the real estate scene.

We celebrate Morgan’s accomplishments in our latest Alumni Spotlight available on our website at lcalions.com/our-story/willett.

LCA’s class of 2025 has been introduced to a new, useful tool called, Scoir. Its aim as a college and career readiness platform is to help parents and students navigate the college selection and application process.

Scoir has many capabilities. It will help students discover the best-fit colleges, send electronic application documents, schedule visits and assist through the search and selection process.

For more information, contact LCA’s Director of College & Career Counseling, Laura Nabors.

My Hot Lunchbox is once again offered for the 2024-25 school year. It will provide an alternative to packing school lunch.

Check out how to take advantage of this delicious opportunity by following the guidelines attached to this post. My Hot Lunchbox’s app can be downloaded via Google Play or the AppStore.

Today, we continue to introduce new members of our team to you. Mr. Phillip Hubbard joined us the first week of August as our Social Media and Communications Coordinator.

Mr. Hubbard is from Union Point, Georgia. He attended the University of Georgia where he graduated with a BA in Journalism, a minor in Sport Management, and a Sports Media Certificate.

He looks forward to using the skills God has given him to highlight LCA’s students, staff, alumni and entire community. He said, “this place has a lot of wonderful things to offer and being in the position to showcase that is a huge blessing I do not take for granted. I cannot wait to see what God has in store for the 2024-25 school year. Go Lions!”

Fun Fact: While he attended the University of Georgia and earned a degree, certificate and minor, he is an avid Georgia Tech sports fan and has been since he was a kid. He even sported a Georgia Tech license plate while parking on campus at UGA. Additionally, Mr. Hubbard has been a licensed minister since 2017.

Join us in welcoming Mr. Hubbard to the LCA family!

Ms. Rylee Harrison’s Essentials in Healthcare students were caught in a pickle Wednesday.

Students are learning about all of the body systems functions and purposes along with different diseases and disorders related to them as well as ways to diagnose those and treatment options. They are also learning hands-on healthcare skills.

Ms. Harrison decided to use pickles for the Autopsy Lab during 2nd period for students to apply the medical terminology — directional terms, body planes and body cavities — to a more real world situation. Pickles allowed students to better see internal structures “organs” and it was good practice in cutting.

This is the first year LCA is offering this elective to our students and Ms. Harrison is pleased with how Wednesday’s lab went.

She said, “Throughout the entire activity students utilized the terms we learned well, and they even were diving deeper with critical thinking to better understand how these terms benefit us in the medical field, how autopsies function, and the why behind it all.”

One of LCA’s first-year educators, Ms. Praise Apata hit the ground running with her students on Day One last week.

Ms. Apata’s AP Computer Science Principles class experienced the Egg Challenge. Students were commissioned to develop a way to safely drop an egg from a height of 25-plus feet.

The aim was to teach problem-solving skills.

Whatchamacallit Camp was a huge success!🎊

Middle School students participated in the two-day camp last week centered around the theme, “Rooted and Established” based on Jeremiah 29:11.

There were eight “clans” of students: Roaring Lions, Renegade Raiders, The Terminators, Storm Surge, Tsunami Wave, The Green Machine, Team Dynamite and Space Invaders. Clan councils were also a part of the camp where the focus was on building team unity, creating clan battle cries and discussing the Middle School theme from Jeremiah 29:7, “Seek welfare of the city.”

Students also competed in a variety of challenges such as trivia, water games and relays as well as played pickleball, dodgeball, spikeball, co****le, card and game room and inflatables.

Whatchamacallit Camp has been named by the students and concluded year No. 6 at LCA!

LCA is excited to welcome Ms. Marilyn Arredondo to the Lion Pride as a member of our finance team.

Ms. Arredondo is a Monroe, Georgia, native and earned a BA in Business Administration from Georgia Southwestern State University.

Ms. Arredondo has two daughters, Eleanora and Rosalyn with Eleanora beginning kindergarten at LCA this school year. Being new to LCA along with her daughter is “bittersweet.”

Growing up, Ms. Arredondo attended church with her family and was also a youth leader right after high school for five years. As a baby, she was baptized but personally accepted Jesus Christ at 13 years old.

Ms. Arredondo said, “The Lord has carried me through some difficult life challenges and I am also blessed with a family that supports me spiritually as well. I am thrilled to be joining the LCA Community both as a parent and an employee!”

Help us welcome Ms. Marilyn Arredondo to the LCA Family!

A tradition that began just five school years ago at LCA is seniors painting their parking spots for their last hurrah as a Lion. This year’s work featured themes around the Atlanta Braves and Spongebob Squarepants while others were more personalized with favorite Bible verses and colors.

Check out our students’ handiwork in the rear parking lot across from the baseball field.

The Lions Are Back! 🦁

Day One of the 2024-25 school year was a huge success. It was amazing welcoming students back to the Pridelands for what is sure to be a great year.

Full albums of photos from throughout this year will be available via lca.smugmug.com.

We officially kicked off the 24-25 school year on Friday night as families gathered for our annual back-to-school event, LAUNCH. Families had the opportunity to meet the Beyond the Bell instructors, join the Fine Arts Alliance and Lions Athletic Association, and learn more about the Nehemiah Initiative. Visit www.lcalions.com/startofschool for details from the night.

The evening concluded in the gym as we gathered to worship and to hear from David Snell, Board President and Rachel Ernst, Head of School.

Lower school students, Aiden (rising 1st grade) and Annalee White (rising 5th grade) had the opportunity to take their first mission trip to Belize this summer! They volunteered at the Kids Summer Literacy Camp and each took part in teaching a literacy program for the week. Aiden and Annalee led devotions and worship songs based on Ephesians 2:10. “We are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.”

We are very proud of their leadership skills in teaching others about God’s purpose in every one of us!

The Marching Lions are hard at work at Band Camp. Last week, first-year members learned the basics of being a part of a marching band. Today is day 2 of the entire band working together. We can't wait to hear them under the lights on Friday nights this fall!

🏈 USA Football First Down Camp 🏈

On Saturday, LCA hosted the USA Football First Down Camp for football players in elementary and middle school. Led by former NFL players, campers ran drills, worked on agility, and had fun!

Thank you to the NFL Grant Foundation and the Former Players Atlanta Chapter for providing us with the opportunity and funds to host this event.

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: GAINES ROBERTS
At LCA, we truly believe in the saying, “once a lion, always a lion,” and we love to celebrate alumni in the current chapter of the story God is writing in their lives. Today, we proudly celebrate Gaines Roberts, class of 2017, the founder and owner of Bravo Film House. Visit lcalions.com/our-story/roberts to read more about Gaines' journey building Bravo and a few of his most impactful memories from LCA.

It's time to introduce the newest members of the LCA Team! Every Friday, we will be highlighting new team members. Today we welcome Mrs. Samantha Davis. Mrs. Davis joins our upper school team as the Upper School Administrative Assistant.

Mrs. Davis is excited about working in a Christian environment that is pouring into the students daily, sees and loves each student and staff member, and meets them where they are.

Fun Fact: Mrs. Davis is very competitive and loves to play all kinds of sports, especially basketball and volleyball! She played college volleyball as a middle blocker.

Join us in welcoming Mrs. Davis to the LCA family!

**We have a few remaining positions open for the 24-25 school year. Go to https://www.lcalions.com/employment-opportunities for more information.

We're looking for you!

As we prepare for the upcoming school year, we are looking to hire a team member for our finance team. The ideal candidate will have a finance background and become a part of a team responsible for the daily functions of the LCA finance office.

Visit lcalions.com/employment-opportunities to learn more about the different positions we have open.

Know someone who might be a perfect fit? Make sure to like and share!

Day 2 of WinShape-Loganville is in the books. It’s been a blast having the campers on campus this week. What will day 3 bring?

FORWARD CONFERENCE 2024

Our middle school students closed out the month of June at the 20th annual Forward Conference. Hosted by Free Chapel, Forwardcon gathers 10,000+ students for an amazing weekend of building relationships and deepening faith through worship and relevant speakers! Swipe to see highlights of our students, members of the pink tribe!

Shout out to Monica Landress, School Counselor, and the amazing senior chaperones who made this experience possible!



📸Christie Snell

This summer has been filled with amazing opportunities for Senior Kendra Collier. She kicked off the month of June serving on her first mission trip to Belize. She helped build a home for a single mother, paint the walls of a primary school, pass out meals, and pray with residents. She also got to snorkel for the first time on the last day of the trip!

Upon returning home, Kendra immediately started a paid 8-week internship through the Hutton Junior Fisheries Biology Program. This program is a paid internship and mentoring program for high school juniors and seniors. The program is sponsored by the American Fisheries Society. Students who are selected to participate are known as Hutton Scholars. This year, thirty-seven students nationwide were selected to participate. Kendra is the only participant from Georgia.

Kendra’s internship is with the UGA Forestry and Natural Resources department in Athens. She works 1:1 with a staff member who also serves as her mentor. One of the experiences she was able to be a part of was helping spawn fish in a UGA Lab. It was super exciting for her to see the eggs hatching! In July, Kendra will participate in a weeklong Scholar’s Summit where the students will attend workshops, and career panels, and participate in field stream experiments.

Congratulations on being a Hutton Scholar. We are proud of you, Kendra!

It's time to introduce the newest members of the LCA Team! Every Friday, we will be highlighting new team members. Today we welcome Mr. Trent Corbett. Mr. Corbett joins our upper school faculty as a 7th grade History and MS Physical Education teacher. Mr. Corbett is also the Offensive Coordinator for the Varsity Football Team.

Mr. Corbett brings seven years of experience working with student-athletes. He is passionate about helping young people reach their potential by finding their own patch and using the unique gifts that God has given them. Mr. Corbett is excited to be a part of the LCA family and can’t wait to meet his students in August.

Fun Fact: Mr. Corbett was published in the Virginia Outdoor News for catching a 2 ½ lb bream when he was only 6 years old!

Join us in welcoming Mr. Corbett to the LCA family!

**We have a few remaining positions open for the 24-25 school year. Go to https://www.lcalions.com/employment-opportunities for more information.

It's time to introduce the newest members of the LCA Team! Every Friday, we will be highlighting new team members. Today we welcome Ms. Lauren Head. Ms. Head joins our upper school faculty as a high school math teacher.

When asked what she loves about teaching math, Ms. Head said "I love teaching math because I get to help students build their logical understanding of the world around them. I am so excited to join LCA where I will be able to not only help students grow in the classroom but also mentor them spiritually at LCA.

Ms. Head loves to travel! She has been to six countries and 26 of the 50 states in the U.S.

Join us in welcoming Ms. Head to the LCA family!

**We have a few remaining positions open for the 24-25 school year. Go to https://www.lcalions.com/employment-opportunities for more information.

Senior Corbin Smith went on his first mission trip this summer. A small team from Journey Church ministered in Puerto Rico. While there, they partnered with a local church and its Mercy Ministry to make repairs to widows’ homes and deliver gift baskets in the community. Corbin reflected on his time and said,
“The bond that we formed with the local church of Puerto Rico was one that I’ll never forget.”

We are proud of you, Corbin, for putting your faith into action and serving the people of Puerto Rico.

It's time to introduce the newest members of the LCA Team! Every Friday, we will be highlighting new team members. Today we welcome Ms. Praise Apata. Ms. Apata joins our upper school faculty as a Computer Science Teacher.

Ms. Apata is excited to participate in LCA’s commitment to partner with families to provide an excellent educational experience. She has several years of experience teaching computer science and coding to veterans and other students. She was able to see firsthand the transformative power of education. Ms. Apata is passionate about bringing that same energy and dedication to the students at LCA. She is looking forward to creating a classroom that is engaging and welcoming where students feel motivated to not only learn and explore but also to innovate.

A few fun facts about Ms. Apata, she plays the cello and violin and is celebrating her 10th year of service at her church.

Join us in welcoming Ms. Apata to the LCA family!

**We have a few remaining positions open for the 24-25 school year. Go to https://www.lcalions.com/employment-opportunities for more information.

It's time to introduce the newest members of the LCA Team! Every Friday, we will be highlighting new team members. Today we welcome Mr. Ryan Baker. Mr. Baker joins our upper school faculty as Assistant Band Director.

A Walton County native, Mr. Baker graduated from Walnut Grove High School and continued his studies at Shorter University. Holding a degree in Music Education, with a percussion primary, he brings experience to LCA both in the classroom and on the field for marching band. Mr. Baker is excited to meet our band students and begin creating memorable harmonies on stage.

Join us in welcoming Mr. Baker to the LCA family!

**We have a few remaining positions open for the 24-25 school year. Go to https://www.lcalions.com/employment-opportunities for more information.