Student Life
"Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another." Romans 14:19
Doing life with our students
The mission within Student Life is to provide students with a place to belong in community, a place to believe and encounter God, a place to grow in their relationships with each other and with the Lord, and a place to serve others.
Our Commitment
We are committed to providing opportunities for students to lead and serve during their time at LCA. Student Life fosters a community built on partnership with the parents by involving parents in volunteer opportunities to assist with many of the programs. Programs within Student Life are designed intentionally to support our mission. We believe when students have the opportunity to engage in these ways, they experience transformation and growth.
Spiritual Growth
Programs in Student Life create intentional opportunities for students to be spiritually nurtured, discipled, and for them to encounter God in authentic ways.
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, the secondary school comes together for a dynamic chapel program called Higher Ground.
In many ways, Higher Ground is the heartbeat of our secondary school and is intentionally scheduled during the middle of the day. The mission of our Higher Ground program is for our students to encounter God through worship, teaching, and testimony; to encourage one another by building and strengthening relationships; and to equip them with teaching on relevant, real world topics within a biblical worldview.
On Mondays in Higher Ground, students participate in small groups in an effort to build relationships and strengthen bonds with their classmates and mentors. Wednesdays, we focus on leadership and life skills within a biblical perspective. Fridays, our talented Praise Bands lead us in worship, followed by professional or student speakers that encourage our community by addressing a wide array of relevant topics and cultural issues from a biblical perspective.
Our small group discipleship program provides opportunities for our students to study God’s Word and discuss practical application with both student and adult mentors.
Providing these mentorship opportunities builds a culture of family among the student body. In Student Life, our goal is that each student would be known and connected to at least one adult who can provide support and biblical counsel.
Small discipleship groups present relevant topics and discussion time on Mondays. Communication with parents provides follow up information and questions to continue the conversation at home.
Each school year, the student body chooses a male and female chaplain for both junior high and high school. These chaplains work closely with Student Life to lead the student body spiritually. Chaplains are responsible for leading our Saturday Night Live (SNL) and Jr. High SNL program, which is a student-led ministry of worship, teaching, and prayer.
The chaplains are leaders and role models in our school that want to encourage and lead the student body in their walk with Christ.
Student Life is committed to providing opportunities for our students to grow in their faith and in their leadership. Within Higher Ground, our chapel program, we engage in small groups. Each school year, upperclassmen have the opportunity to sign up to be a mentor for small groups. Student Life places high school mentors with an adult mentor for every small group.
The mentor program provides a safe place for our students to grow in leadership, deepen their faith, and build relationships with younger students. Mentoring is a vital part of Student Life and builds a culture of family among our student body.
The purpose of Chapel is the corporate worship of the Lord and godly character teaching.
Students will be taught short messages from the Word using Character First! meant to nurture a sincere and growing love for Christ and develop godly character. Chapel will include Bible Dash (drill) for third through sixth grade.
Elementary teachers in the classroom and Chapel program teach, encourage, and celebrate students as they “live out” godly character. Students are celebrated during elementary Chapel with a certificate highlighting an LCA Root or character trait where they stood out; parents are invited to this presentation. Comments from teachers and classmates about the student are also read aloud during the special Chapel presentation.
Servant Leadership
Student Life strives to create a culture where students have many opportunities to be involved and serve within the school and community.
Student Council promotes positive role models who are growing in servant leadership.
Students in seventh through twelfth grades have the opportunity to grow in leadership by serving and leading their classes through student council.
LCA has grade-level Student Council for seventh through twelfth grade students and Executive Student Council (ESC) for eleventh and twelfth grade students. ESC leads and oversees the Student Council program for the whole school. Student Life provides leadership training through our Student Council Boot Camp during the summer and LCA Student Council Corps meetings during the school year.
The Department of Student Life internship program was established to create a leadership opportunity for students wanting to serve behind the scenes.
Interns are involved in planning for all Student Life programs including Higher Ground, small groups, retreats, events, social media and more!
Giving back and serving our community is a high priority for Student Life.
Led by our executive and grade-level student council, each secondary class participates in an annual service project. Annual elementary service projects are coordinated by our room parent volunteers.
Service projects range from local to global impact, such as cleaning up at a local church or park, to food and clothing drives, to packing boxes for Operation Christmas Child or Feed My Starving Children.
Sixth graders participate in a parent-led program called “big d.o.G.s,” which stands for big disciples of God.
This is a leadership program based on biblical truth and is designed to train students to exemplify Christian leadership principles.
As the oldest students on the LCA elementary campus, they are called to be examples to the younger students who will look to them as leaders. This program aims to help encourage and equip the students in this new role and to prepare them as they transition to Secondary.
Each week our big d.o.G. students will spend quality time engaging and sharing with their high school mentor while diving into biblical principles of leadership and life through small groups and meaningful games and activities.
Authentic Connections
Lucas Christian Academy is truly a place where students can belong and grow as individuals and with one another.
One of the most impactful ways this happens is through retreats, which are designed to promote spiritual growth and class unity. The high school girls’ and guys’ retreats are themed on a topic that will challenge the students to deepen their faith, walk authentically with each other, and pursue God more.
The junior retreat has an additional leadership component and is intended to prepare juniors to step up into leadership for their senior year.
Saturday Night Live (SNL) is an after-hours ministry led by our student chaplains in partnership with parent advisors. SNL is hosted off campus and is an evening of student-led worship, speakers, and prayer.
SNLs are conducted monthly for high school students. Jr High SNL is led by our Jr. High Chaplains and held twice a semester.
Homecoming week is a beloved tradition for all LCA students! We start the weekend before by coming together by class and decorating every inch of LCA. We have dress up days and spirit competitions every day of the week, concluding on Friday with our Blue & Gold Pep Rally!
Friday night we partner with athletics to host our LCA tailgate full of food, fun, and music at the Homecoming football game. During halftime, we crown our Homecoming King & Queen.
We top this off on Saturday night with our Homecoming dance, the Warrior Bash!
In our elementary program, student connections are encouraged, facilitated, and fostered with the assistance of our parents in the forms of class parties, socials outside of school, special event days, and service projects. Our parents even build strong connections.