To introduce our final day of rodeo events, Mr. Wilson taught several of our young men how to present a color guard, complete with rifle handling and a flag exchange. After that, Mr. Blake sang the National Anthem while Mr. Trainer started a brief fireworks show. Just after the song, an airplane started to circle overhead and a skydiver jumped out with an American flag while “God Bless the USA” played over the sound system. He landed right in the arena while the students and visitors cheered him on!

We are thankful to report that there were no major injuries to anyone this year, although Mr. Martin, who rode in the bull-riding competition, did injure his arm. This will require surgery, so please pray for him.

We had a great time and would like to thank all of those who participated or helped with this year’s rodeo. Now it is time to begin preparations for next year!

You can view video and pictures at our media site, within a day or two.

Pics from the Father Son Golf Tournament in Bolivar. Enjoy!

We will make up the rodeo day sometime within the next couple of weeks, probably on a weekday.

Thanks for your understanding!

First, our last Saturday rodeo will be held September 5.  This is the last of the monthly summer rodeo series.  The final rodeo events will be held from October 5-10, 2009 and will close out the 2009 rodeo events.  Please continue to pray for safety for the riders and the helpers during these times.

Stockton’s annual Black Walnut Festival will be held September 23-26.  The staff select students to help with parking and trash cleanup issues for the festival.  Of course, the boys that work the festival get to go off campus and eat plenty of junk food, so they enjoy being able to work at the festival.

Basketball season begins on October 1 with our pre-season tournament, which is held in Lebanon, Missouri.  Basketball season lasts from October to February and includes two away tournaments, one in Oklahoma City and the other in Hot Springs, Arkansas.  I will post the finalized schedule in a few days.

Before you know it, June graduation will be here!  I am sure we will  have to endure a major snowstorm or two, but that is the fun of living in southwest Missouri!

Rich

These are from the June 2009 Rodeo!  Enjoy!

I will continue adding more over the next few days.

This event is for fathers only! This is an important time for fathers and sons to bond. We also expect you to follow the rules just like you expect your son to follow rules, both yours at home and ours here. Failure to follow this rule could jeopardize future visits, so please, Moms, let the men fellowship for this one weekend.

Fathers may arrive anytime on Saturday, September 12 through Monday for a free visit with their sons. If your son is eligible for an off-campus visit then he may go off campus for those two days. Please contact the office to ask Ma’am if your son is eligible for an off-campus or overnight visit, which must be pre-approved. (These visits do not count against your regular visits.) Fathers may arrive on Saturday, September 12 at 8:00 AM to enjoy our regular Saturday morning breakfast. Then on Sunday, we encourage the fathers to attend Sunday school at 9:40AM and church at 11:00AM. Church and chapel attendance for all students is mandatory regardless of the type of visit.

On Monday, we will meet at the school at 7:30AM, have early registration, and head out to the course for a 10:00 “shotgun” start. We have a limited time to play, so please play “ready golf.” Plan on being there all day, so do not schedule flights until at least Monday night after 8:00PM. For those of you without clubs, the course does not rent clubs, but we do have an extremely limited supply at the school.

Please call the office and let us know if you plan on coming. Money will be due in the office by September 1st.

Feel free to call me if you have any questions, and I look forward to seeing many of you there!

The schedule for the rodeo is as follows:
Saturday, June 20
Saturday, July 4 (followed by a fireworks show that night)
Saturday, August 1
Monday through Saturday October 5-10

You can view a short video of last year’s rodeo on our Media page at

http://www.agapeboardingschool.org/why_agape.php#media.

Just click on the 2008 Rodeo link and enjoy!

Due to the recent outbreak of the H1N1 virus, commonly called the “Swine flu,” the Agapé administration is taking the following steps to minimize any potential problems:

First, we routinely encourage the students to wash their hands using either soap and water or products such as Germ-X and are again reminding the students to do this. This practice, along with covering coughs and sneezes, is the best protection against exposure to the virus. In fact, these are the first two pieces of advice that the Centers for Disease Control lists for parents (http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/parents.htm).

Second, since we have approximately 250 people in close quarters, we usually have several students each year catch other types of the flu, so our staff routinely deal with mini-outbreaks. We have the ability and the facilities to quarantine sick students once they become symptomatic. The heightened awareness of the “Swine flu” alerts our medical staff to watch for the symptoms and enact the policies already in place to take care of these students.

Lastly, we work closely with the doctors in town, so if a situation were to develop (and there have been no cases in Missouri to this point) we would contact the local health department and the local doctors for further instructions. Communication with these agencies has been and will continue to be the basis for our medical care for the students.

Please rest assured that we are watching these developments carefully and working towards minimizing any problems. If you have any questions regarding our policies, please feel free to call me at (417) 276-7215.

Rich