News

Cypress Christian Alumni Newsletter September 2012

September 10, 2012

Alumni Spotlight

Lindsay Ehrhardt ('05)
Lindsay has been cast as Ms Fizzle in Main Street Theater's touring production of The Magic School Bus. She'll do the tour for the Fall semester which runs from Oct. 8 - Dec. 14, 2012. In January and February, she has the lead in Main Street's production of A Wrinkle in Time. Photo: Lindsay in the dressing room at Main Street Theater in costume for production of My Wonderful Day.

In Memory
Ashley Jenkins ('05) lost her mom, Tracey Jenkins, in August. Mrs. Jenkins was a wonderful wife, mother, and friend to many. She spent countless hours volunteering at CCS and was a HUGE Warrior fan! We will miss her contagious smile and laughter. Please keep Ashley's family in your prayers.

Ashley is the Department Chair of Science at Harmony School of Fine Arts and Technology. She teaches sixthh grade science and "loves every minute of it." She says, "I never thought I would love classroom teaching. I always thought I would be a P.E. coach and volleyball coach. Now that I'm in the classroom full time, I can't imagine being anywhere else during the day. I also coach club volleyball at Texas Alliance Volleyball Club in Houston. I love that too. I feel like I have really found where I am meant to be."

More Alumni News...

Chase Heller ('02) and Rachel Jasper Heller ('02)
Chase, Rachel, and their 9 month old daughter, Camryn, recently joined Rachel's parents, Robin and Lauri Jasper, in Germany (Frankfurt, the Rhine, and Berlin) for a  family vacation. They saw the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gate, and the Memorial for murdered Jews in Europe.

Leigh Ann Walston Ashby ('02)
Leigh Ann attended her first Open House as the parent of a student. Leigh Ann's first born, Michael, started kindergarten this year.  She says, "It is a BIG change for our family, and we are going to need prayer to get through it. He will be going all day every day right off the bat starting September 4 here in Canada."

Megan Jasper ('04)
Megan is engaged to be married to Kevin Mattison on November 16, 2012. He is a project engineer for Enerflex. They met at and are members of Bayou City Fellowship and enjoy being active in their community group and teaching a 2's Sunday school class. Also, Megan will lead a women's bible study this fall. She is working on a Trust Based Relational Intervention Certification through TCU while seving as day-time care giver for her niece, Camryn Heller, daughter of fellow alumni Chase and Rachel Heller ('02). See above.

Jessica Van Rieg ('06)
Jessica is a full-time teacher at Cypress Springs HS teaching freshman Algebra. and loving it! She also continues to volunteer at Community of Faith Church assisting with the worship music program.

Michelle Burchfield West ('06)
Michelle and husband, Justin, are enjoying new baby boy, Asher, who is now 2 months old. Michelle is a full-time student at Texas School of Business studying medical billing and coding.

Hunter Floyd ('07)
From Hunter: "God has really shown His favor on us, His laborers. We have put on block parties on the campus of UNLV reaching out to the 29,000+ students. Because of the favor God has worked out for us on that campus, we have had over 500 students sign up for our club. That means that on a campus where Campus Crusade, one of the largest college Christian organizations, died out, God has shown us the favor to have 500 people sign up for our club and hopefully come to our Tuesday bible studies.

In addition to our UNLV ministry starting, we (Grace City Vegas) had our third preview service with a solid 85 people there and will be baptize some of these very soon!!!!  Also, I have officially been made the Middle School Youth Pastor. God has blessed us in our relationship with our local middle school and I was able to put on a luncheon for the teachers allowing for a great partnership with them.

If I could give a quick encouragement to you, it would be to live and pray expecting God to do things. Many times we pray for things asking and asking. We need to expect God to do things when we ask because He promises us He will, if we ask in faith. So ask in faith and see God work! "

For more information about Hunter's ministry, click on Grace City Vegas above.

Whitney Green ('07)
Whitney is engaged to be married to Adam Marquardt on September 7, 2013. Whitney will graduate from nursing school in December 2012.

Kelsey Salmon ('07)
Kelsey is engaged to Kent Moore and will be married in Arlington on 12/16/12. Keeley Lambert, ('07), will be Maid of Honor. Hallie Salmon, sister and Class of 2010, will be a bridesmaid. Kelsey is continuing to pursue her graduate degree in Communications at Dallas Baptist University while working for DBU-Hurst/Colleyville as Coordinator of Student Services. Kelsey and Kent will reside in Arlington after the wedding.

Alayna Matranga ('07)
Alayna and her family are still very involved in the Zambian orphan mission. Coming home from their trip this past June, the whole family felt the call to step out in faith to raise the funds to add onto the orphanage. The new little house will hold 12 orphans and the name the Lord prompted them to give it is "Messiah House.” Alayna helped coordinate the first benefit concert with Rob Landes on September 2 by sending out post-cards, flyers and organizing a small auction.  She will be fundraising all year for the “Messiah House” project. Please email or call Alayna if you would like more information or help with this project: almatranga@gmail.com or 832-875-0501.

Austin Teague ('07)
Austin is attending graduate school at Texas A&M for a Masters in Marketing.

Evan Weppler ('07)
Evan graduated from Baylor University (University Scholars- Concentration on Communications and Religion) in May 2012 after finishing his thesis called "The Virtuous Pevensies" on the role of the cardinal virtues in CS Lewis's "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe." Over the summer, he served on the summer leadership team and helped run day camp programming at Forest Glen Camps in Huntsville, TX. Most recently, Evan moved to Wheaton, Illinois, to study at Wheaton College in the Christian Formation and Ministry Graduate Program focusing on ministry to children and families.

Kristin Francis ('08)
Kristin is working hard in therapy. She has new goal which is to go to college. She is doing well. Welcomes visitors.

Michelle Van Rieg ('08)
Michelle is engaged to be married to Brett Stanton (graduate of Baylor University) in December 2012. Michelle graduated from Sam Houston State University this past summer with a BS in Psychology and is currently living and working in Waco.

Catrina Beaty ('09)
Catrina says: "My mom, Jeff, and I are working at our newly opened shop, "The Prickly Pair" together. As we like to say "The Prickly Pair is a tribute to both Texas and generational lives from around the world. The inspiration you will see here is what pair treasures and people together. We've got antiques, retro, re-purposed furniture, and fun finds that would make great gifts for friends or something to take home for yourself to enjoy. What's great about it to me is that I get to use my history major in a completely different way than I ever would've imagined. Before opening the shop, I had planned on being a history teacher. Now, I look forward to spending my life working along side the people I love while being able to find and share these great treasures of history with those who stop by the shop!"

Ashley Teague ('11)
Ashley (sophomore at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor) was named female athlete of the week last week and was named offensive women's soccer player of the week for the American Southwest Conference last week. She scored winning goals for the Crusaders in the two games played.

Chelsea Vincent ('11)
Chelsea recently participated in an internship in the fifth ward helping underprivileged students prepare for high school and college under Dr. Michael Emerson of Rice University and Mr. Joel Goza of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church. She will be transferring from Lonestar College in Tomball with her Associates of Liberal Arts to a four year college to earn a Bachelor of Music degree. She will be training with Mrs. Cobb who is a voice coach (recommended by Amy Sheehan of Houston Northwest) to prepare to apply/audition for colleges such as Baylor, Rice Shepherds School of Music, HBU, and U of H. She is currently working at Senior Partners Madison Avenue Securities – Financial Planning for Seniors – located on 13231 Champion Forest Dr. Suite 200.

Natalie Moore ('11)
Natalie was an intern/volunteer at Focus Academy in Houston, which is a school for kids and teenagers on the autism spectrum. She volunteered with the youngest kids in the mornings and helped with their social camp program in the afternoons. Natalie says, "It was really awesome to get to work with the kids and see their progress throughout the summer." Natalie is a sophomore at The University of Texas at Austin in the Liberal Arts Honors Program majoring in Psychology and minoring in Spanish and hopes to become a clinical counselor. She says, "I love UT because of the amazing diversity on campus. If you want to do something (no matter how silly or crazy), there is most likely already a group and if there isn't, you can start one yourself. Austin is such an amazing city and there is always something to do."