Knight’s tale Issue III, Volume III Faith Christian Academy October 2016
More Than Just A
Fall Festival
By Kristina Montes
What happened
at the Peter Piper fund-
raiser? This fundraiser
took place in the Peter
Piper Pizza at the Tuc-
son Spectrum shopping
center from on October
6th from 5pm to 8pm.
At least 70 peo-
ple attended and made
purchases under the
school’s name. The
money from this fund-
raiser was utilized for
the general funding of
the school. About $150
was raised for the school
during this event.
Some of the
games were Stack the
Cups, Pie Face, a ball
tossing game, pizza box
folding, karaoke, and
more. There was also a
pizza dough contest.
The object of the game
was to stretch your
(continued on Page 2)
On October 29th,
2016 Enchanted Hills
Baptist Church hosted a
fall festival. This festival
was an event for church
members to spread the
word of God to those
who came.
That wasn't all;
the festival had the fol-
lowing activities: games,
a cakewalk, and trunk or
treat. There was also
free food and drinks and
a prayer request table.
People could come to
the table and pray with a
church member or write
down their prayer re-
quests.
Although there
wasn't a costume prize
almost everyone came
dressed up in their fa-
vorite costume. There was so
much to participate in
and many ways to re-
ceive candy of all sorts.
There were six families
that participated in the
trunk or treat by decorat-
ing the trunk of their car
and passing out candy.
Some of the themes in-
cluded football, spooky,
and starry nights.
Aracely said,
"My favorite trunk or
treat car that I visited
was a trunk that had
many creative decora-
tions inside and out.” Many people
that came mentioned
that their favorite part of
the fall festival was the
prayer table because
they could see God do
His work throughout the
whole night. As the
night went on and the
members realized people
were nervous to come
up to the table, the
church members came to
them instead.
"It was exciting
to see; throughout the
night prayers were lifted
up to God. In years past-
ed we have been hosting
our Fall Festival event
for a total of 7 years, and
for the pass six years
they were geared more
towards an alternative
for treat or treating but
this year it was more
toward it being an out-
reach and for prayer,”
said Mrs. Misty.
Pizza Fundraiser
Brings in $150!
By Brianna LaRoque
Mrs. Laurel focuses on winning the dough stretching contest
(Photo by Tori Hammond)
PPP Fundraiser (continued)
dough the farthest with-
out making any holes.
Kristal said, “It
was awesome! I loved
the cup stacking game!”
The way people
earned raffle tickets
(provided by the school)
was by coming, making
a purchase, and winning
the games set up by the
school.
Different games
had different point val-
ues to determine how
many raffle tickets you
would receive. Every
half hour, a number
would be drawn.
Some of the priz-
es included gift cards
and porcelain dolls.
Many people that
came to the fundraiser
had fun and enjoyed the
games, hanging out with
friends, and more.
“It was a lot of
fun! Jessica did a great
job getting it organized,
and I’m excited that I
won the pizza dough
contest,” commented
Mrs. Timblin
Most of the stu-
dents liked being able to
hang out with their
friends outside of
school, according to
eighth grader Victoria.
“I thought it was really
fun to see everyone,”
she said.
FCA will be hav-
ing more of these Peter
Piper Pizza fundraisers
next year, one on Janu-
ary 26th, and one on
March 16th. Look for
more detailed infor-
mation after winter
break.
Page 2 Issue III, Volume III
In the month of
October, three FCA stu-
dents celebrated birth-
days: Katmen, Kristina,
and Mathew.
Karmen celebrat-
ed her birthday on the
7th. On her birthday she
went to youth group and
had dinner. What made
her happiest on her
birthday was the foster
babies that her family
received.
Karmen likes to
read, write, draw, and
watch movies.
Her favorite Bi-
ble verse is Acts 2:38,
which says, “Peter re-
plied, ‘Repent and be
baptized, every one of
you, in the name of Je-
sus Christ for the for-
giveness of your sins.
And you will receive the
gift of the Holy
Spirit’.” (NIV)
Kristina’s birth-
day was on the 14th. She
celebrated the weekend
before, because she had
a doctor’s appointment
and had to get shots on
her actual birthday.
She had a party,
went shopping, saw a
movie, and went to the
mall. Kristina received
many birthday presents
like makeup, clothes,
books, and more.
Out of all this,
she likes her Bible that
her parents gave her.
Her favorite Bi-
ble verse is John 16:22,
which states, “So with
you, now is your time of
grief, but I will see you
again and you will re-
joice, and no one will
take away your
joy.” (NIV)
She says she is
good at most sports, be-
sides golf and tennis, as
well as drawing, paint-
ing and being sarcastic.
The last birthday
in October was Mat-
thew's, which is the 27th.
To celebrate his birth-
day, he ate a delicious
dinner with his family,
which included steak,
French fries, and peas.
When he gets
older he wants to be a
pararescue jumper for
the Air Force.
Some of the
things Matthew likes to
do include swimming,
drawing, playing games,
cycling, hunting, and
flying. His favorite class
is his Philosophy class at
Pima.
He says, “My
favorite Bible chapter is
Psalms 15 because it
gives me good guide
lines to live by.”
October Babies
By Gabbana Madrid
From left to right: Kristina, Matthew Kristal (Photo by
Gabbana Madrid)
OPINION
Come and Dance to the
Beat of the Steel Drums!
By Yvonne Lara
Page 3 Issue III, Volume III
Tucson Meet
Yourself is a festival
held in downtown Tuc-
son. This festival is full
of a variety of different
cultures and local organ-
izations. There were ta-
bles that had free items,
such as information
packets, pins, and book-
marks. The representa-
tives talked about how
you can get involved in
the community.
One table was all
about pet clinics, health
products and how to
stay healthy. I got mos-
quito repellant and a
bookmark that has tips
on washing your hands.
Another table
had information about
Kino Stadium and the
events happening there.
I got some really cool
purple sunglasses from
one station!
(continued on Page 4)
This year, on
October 7, 2016, my
Journalism class went to
Tucson Meet Yourself.
Tucson Meet Yourself
was a very fun experi-
ence for me. I really
learned a lot!
Noah had a lot of
fun at Tucson Meet
Yourself this year. He
learned how to make
soap and his favorite
part was the art section.
While there, he enjoyed
all the dances and art.
Brianna also en-
joyed the event, and she
liked walking around
and seeing all the
booths. Her favorite part
was “the old ladies tap
dancing”, and she would
like to go back next
year. Brianna feels that
she did not learn any-
thing new.
On the other
hand, I believe there
was so much to learn,
that one mind could
never contain it all.
For me, Tucson
Meet Yourself was ex-
tremely fun, and I en-
joyed spending time
with my classmates and
(continued on Page 4)
Looking For Entertainment? Come
Experience Culture at TMY
By Sam Ledford
This was the first year that FCA’s journalism class went on a field trip to Tucson
Meet Yourself. There was an essay contest to write an editorial on their experi-
ence. Yvonne and Sam tied for 1st Place. Congratulations to both winners!
Yvonne and her classmates Kristal and Kristina dancing to the
steel drums at Tucson Meet Yourself (Photo by Miss Jessica)
Kristal practicing her roping skills to win a prize in the Pima
County Info tent at TMY (Photo by Miss Jessica)
OPINION Steel Drums (continued)
Issue III, Volume III Page 4
Sam said, “I
think that Tucson Meet
Yourself was fun and I
enjoyed walking around
with my friends and see-
ing the booths.” At the festival,
there were different
foods from various cul-
tures. One drink I found
really interesting was
Boba; a Chinese tea
with little edible balls in
it. The Boba drink was
good but the texture of
the balls was not my
favorite. Kristina got
some mini cinnamon
donuts. They were deli-
cious!
“It was an amaz-
ing opportunity to go
out and experience other
cultures,” said Kristina.
There were so
many cool performanc-
es. One of my favorite
performances was the
tap dancing. The tap
dances were performed
by some highly skilled
elderly women.
They also teach
the next generation to
tap dance, which I
thought was really cool.
I might even take tap
dancing lessons myself.
Another perfor-
mance that I really en-
joyed was the steel
drums. There were
many people dancing to
the beat of the drums.
My favorite part
was dancing with all my
friends during this per-
formance. I'm surprised
I was even brave enough
to do that. It was abso-
lutely the highlight of
my day because I love
dancing.
Kristal also said
that her favorite part
was the steel drums per-
formance, as well as the
artist painting on water.
She thought it was very
interesting to see differ-
ent forms of fine arts. The last part we
checked out was really
cool. There were tables
covered with different
crafts people have made.
There was even an artist
who would write your
name in Turkish callig-
raphy.
You could also
make drawings or paint.
One lady had all
of these handmade
soaps that were unique
and really pretty. “It was really
fun and I liked seeing all
kinds of different people
from different places,”
stated Gabbana. I definitely en-
joyed myself! If you
like trying new things
and getting the feel of
different cultures, then
Tucson Meet Yourself is
the place for you.
friends, walking around,
seeing all the booths and
tents.
My favorite part
was all the different
types of cultural music,
such as the bluegrass.
I also liked the
Tohono O'odham and
Yaqui artists. I learned
that there were fifty-six
authentic cultural food
vendors, seventy-five
community groups and
exhibitors.
There were also
557 folk artists, musi-
cians, dancers, and tra-
dition bearers.
The last thing
that I learned was that
there was forty-five dif-
ferent cultural groups,
ethnicities, and national-
ities represented, in just
three days, on two
blocks, in the middle of
Tucson.
Miss Jessica, the
Journalism teacher who
came up with the idea of
taking our Journalism
class, says this: “I like
Tucson Meet Yourself
because I feel that it is a
good cultural event that
everyone should experi-
ence at least once. I feel
that everybody can gain
a lot from the perfor-
mances as well as the
booths, but my favorite
part is the performances.
I've never seen the tap
dancing before. I
thought it was cool be-
cause they were all real-
ly fit.”
She also says
that she’s been going
every year since 2012 or
2013 and tries to go
once or twice a year.
She thinks she will take
her Journalism class
next year if they are in-
terested.
Tucson Meet
Yourself was utterly
amazing and fun, and I
personally thank Miss
Jessica for taking us go
again, next year, hope-
fully with my friends
and classmates. That
day I learned a lot that I
will never forget. I
strongly encourage eve-
ryone who is reading
this to go next year,
learn a lot, and have a
blast!
Experience Culture (continued)
For more information about this event,
visit www.tucsonmeetyourself.org/
OPINION
My experience
at Illuminate was abso-
lutely amazing. Illumi-
nate is a conference for
youth who want to
know more about God.
The guest speaker was
T.J. Lewis. I thought it
was fabulous how he
walked us through
James in three lessons.
I learned that
everyone has broken at
least one of the rules
God’s given us in
James. The first mes-
sage was on James 1:1.
The Aaron Petri
Band was absolutely
awesome. They are a
Christian band that
plays upbeat songs.
Their performance was
one of my favorite parts
of the event.
On the first night
we played Hunger
Games and we all en-
joyed ourselves. The
way you play is by tap-
ing ribbons to your
shoulders and trying to
pull off your opponents’
before they get yours.
We teamed up with oth-
er churches and got 2nd
place and 1st place dur-
ing the two rounds.
The next day, in
my first breakout ses-
sion, I learned that so-
cial media is the main
cause of divorce and
suicide. I also learned
that even though girls
attempt suicide more
often, boys' suicide at-
tempts are more likely
to succeed because they
usually go towards more
dangerous methods.
My second
breakout session was on
leadership. I thought
this was interesting be-
cause the teacher com-
pared leadership to a
meal. He used common
eating phrases to explain
how to be a good leader.
He said that his reason
for this was because
food was an easy topic
for everyone to under-
stand. He gave the ex-
ample of enjoying the
people put under your
leadership, just as you
would enjoy your com-
pany during a meal.
Out of every-
thing we did during the
weekend, I think the
closing ceremony will
be the most memorable.
I feel that everyone who
came on this trip learned
information that will
stay with them forever. I
can’t wait to go next
year with more of my
friends.
Issue III, Volume III Page 5
Illuminate! By Kristal Starr Ried
Gabanna (left) and Tori (right) pose as Tori’s mom takes a
picture to commemorate the day (Photo by Tami Hammond)
The One Where I Almost
Melted At The Pumpkin Patch
By Victoria Hammond
During Fall
Break, for my mom’s
birthday, my best friend
Gabbana, my mom, and
I went to Buckelew
Farm.
We went on a
Friday so there weren’t
that many people there.
The only people were
boy and girl scouts there
for Scout Day. None of
the petting zoos or
games were really set up
either. Only the pump-
kin patch, the corn
maze, and a couple of
food booths were open.
Right away we
got on a tractor that took
us to the pumpkin patch.
We spent about twenty
minutes looking for the
perfect pumpkins until
we finally found them.
It was extremely
hot being in the sun for
that long. I almost melt-
ed standing there in the
billion degree weather.
There were no
other people in the patch
because, honestly, who
wants to be in the sun in
the middle of the day
(continued on Page 6)
OPINION
Page 6 Issue III, Volume III
when it feels like you're
standing in a volcano.
Our pumpkins
were so heavy that we
immediately took them
to our car.
After we put the
pumpkins in the car, we
re-entered the place and
went to take some pic-
tures.
My friend and I
didn’t want to take pic-
tures but my mom said,
“It’s my birthday, you
have to.”
We took lots and
lots of pictures until my
mom’s phone had no
memory left to take any
more. The sun was right
in our eyes, so they
were half closed in most
of the pictures.
My mom still
posted them, despite us
begging her not to.
The three of us
then walked over to get
some food and cold
drinks. I started to order
an iced pumpkin spice
cappuccino when the
lady, very rudely, said
that they don’t actually
have all the items on the
menu.
I was really dis-
appointed, so I asked for
a slice of zucchini
bread. No one could ru-
in bread, could they?
Wrong. It was dry,
crumbly, and gross.
Gabbana ordered
a watermelon slushy
that she described as
sour and sweet at the
same time.
They had some
burgers and fries at an-
other food booth, but
they looked disgusting;
so even though we were
starving, we decided to
not get anything from
any of the other food
booths.
As we were on
our way out, my mom
made me give her my
phone so that she could
take even more pictures
of us. As if we didn’t
have enough already.
Even though it
was hot and we were
hungry, it was actually
really fun to just hang
out with my family.
We kept laugh-
ing and just had a super
fun time. We still want
to go back to do the
Corn Maze at night
time.
In my family, we
really dislike Hallow-
een; so instead of going
trick or treating, we give
our neighbors some can-
dy and tell them that Je-
sus loves them. We also
give them a flier from
our church.
My sister Kristal
said that she likes it be-
cause she gets to go out
and share the word of
God, and I agree with
her.
Sometimes we
get something back, but
we really just want our
neighbors to know more
about who created the
world. We focus on how
God loves them and talk
more about that.
When we were
little kids, we would ask
our parents if we could
go trick or treating with
the other kids. They al-
ways said no, because
our family doesn’t cele-
brate Halloween.
My dad, Mr.
Ben, said, “As a Chris-
tian, I want to give
someone a gift that is
eternal.”
He came up with
this idea because he
heard that another pastor
was handing out gospel
tracts to trick or treaters
that would come to his
house.
Because we
would always ask my
dad to go trick-or-
treating, he decided to
take gospel tracts to the
houses with us.
I like doing reverse
trick or treating because
we get to give to other
people, and it is cool to
go out and give the gos-
pel while doing some-
thing fun.
Trick-Or-Treating with the Rieds
By Noah Ried
Buckelew Farm (continued)
“And He said to them, ‘Go into all the
world and preach the gospel to every
creature.'”
— Mark 16:15 NKJV
What’s Going On?
By Myra LaRoque
What's happen-
ing in classes? This Oc-
tober, there has been
many fantastic lessons
and experiments going
on in all grades. This month the
Family & Consumer
Science class (Home
Economics) started
learning about nutrition
and how much calorie
intake teens and adults
need every day. The
class is currently learn-
ing how to make fruit
salad and will be making
their own healthy men-
us. Mrs. McKinnon will
be assigning the kids to
pick three meals from
their menus and make
them.
Miriam said, “I
like the projects and
love the way we get in
depth with it and we get
to use our hands.”
The students in
Earth Science did an ex-
periment to explain the
process of erosion using
steel wool and water.
Returning from fall
break, they found that
the steel wool had rust-
ed. Brianna said, “The
experiment was both
interesting and factual. I
like that we were in
groups this time.” Mrs. Leisa's Art
class has been drawing
different objects that
they find around the
room, using shading and
colors. They will be
starting to crochet next
month.
“[I am] teaching
them how to draw what
they see, not what they
think they see,” said
Mrs. Leisa.
“We get to color
(continued on Page ?)
The theme for
Spirit Day this month
was costumes. Some of
the costumes included
Little Red Riding Hood,
Wonder Woman, Pluto,
a deer, and a pirate. The challenge
was to guess the number
of rubber bands it would
take to make a pumpkin
implode.
The students
stood in two lines, and
one person from each
line would go up and
work together to put the
rubber band on the
pumpkin. This was cool
because it split in half
perfectly. It took 231
rubber bands to make
the pumpkin implode.
“In the past we
did teamwork challeng-
es, I liked that it was out
of the ordinary from
what we usually do,”
said Kayla, who is on
the winning team.
After it imploded
everyone went up to see
what happened to the
pumpkin when it opened
and they seemed
amazed. They kept pass-
ing the two halves and
the part surrounded by
the rubber bands to each
other. Some even felt
the inside of the implod-
ed pumpkin. Sleepy Scholar
Zoo won Spirit Day
with their guess of 275
rubberbands to make the
pumpkin implode. The
Panthers won 2nd place
with the guess of 175.
Tori said, “I
thought that it was excit-
ing to see everyone's
costumes and see the
pumpkin implode.”
Page 7 Issue III, Volume III
How Many Rubberbands
Does It Take To Get To The
Center Of A Pumpkin?
By Kristal Starr Ried
Shelby (wonder Woman) and Noah (Pluto) put one of the last
rubber bands on the pumpkin (Photo by Mrs. Laurel)
Mrs. McKinnon lets her class sample different kinds of cheese
(Photo by Mrs. Laurel)
Knight’s tale staff
Junior Editor – Myra LaRoque
Field Reporters – Victoria Hammond, Yvonne Lara, Brianna LaRoque, Myra LaRoque, Sam Ledford, Gabbana Madrid, Armani K. Martinez, Kristina Montes, Kristal Starr Ried, and Noah Ried
Photographers – Victoria Hammond and Gab-bana Madrid
Debates Gone Wrong
By Gabbana Madrid
Page 8 Issue III, Volume III
This month the
government class was
going to do a debate on
the Presidential candi-
dates Donald Trump and
Hilary Clinton. They
were going to do their
debate in front of the
school. The teams were
Yvonne and Pedro for
Trump verses Matthew
and Kristina for Hilary.
The reason they
ended up not doing the
debate at FCA is be-
cause the presidential
debates have become
centered on personal
issues of the candidates,
rather than the current
issues in America.
Mrs. Lucy said,
“This general Presiden-
tial Election has unfortu-
nately focused on im-
moral and corrupt is-
sues, rather than what
matters the most to all
Americans. Just to name
a few are foreign and
domestic policy, immi-
gration, the economy,
and the most important
one of all, is the protec-
tion of every American's
constitutional rights.”
All but Pedro
said that it didn’t matter
which candidate they
argued for because they
don’t like either one.
Pedro wanted to debate
in favor of Trump.
Matthew didn’t
really mind what candi-
date he got.
He said, “I was
indifferent because I
knew I could defend ei-
ther one.”
Since Pedro was
the only one that wanted
a specific candidate, he
got Trump and everyone
else was assigned either
Hilary or Trump.
Kristina said, “I
thought it would have
been a great idea for us
to do the debate if it
would've happened be-
cause it would have
been a great opportunity
for those at our school.”
What’s Going On? (continued)
“We get to color and we
get to express our crea-
tivity,” said Shelby, who
is one if Mrs. Leisa’s art
students.
Government
class had planned to do
a debate focused on the
presidential candidates
Hillary and Trump and
what they stand for.
However, the presiden-
tial debate was more
focused on personal is-
sues rather than political
or national issues. Be-
cause of this, Mrs. Lucy
decided to cancel it.
Are you a young
lady in middle or high
school who would like
to know more about the
word of God? If so, join
us while we dig deeper
into God's wonderful
creation! Bible studies
will be held every other
Saturday at a variety of
breakfast spots around
Southwest Tucson from
9:00am to 10:30am.
Bonnie Ledford
will be leading the stud-
ies. If you don’t already
know her, she is one of
the parents of two stu-
dents that attend FCA.
Bonnie got this idea
when she was in Mexico
this summer, praying
early one morning.
She had asked
the Lord what He want-
ed her to do for Him,
and He gave her the de-
sire to pour into the lives
of young women, teach-
ing them His word and
how to live for Him.
Bonnie said, “I
remember how older
woman impacted my life
as a teenager, and I hope
God can use me a little
in that way.” At the first
meeting, we learned
about Hannah. She suf-
fered as a wife, for she
could not bear any chil-
dren and her husband's
second wife was disre-
spectful to her. When
God finally blessed her
with a child, she gave it
up to the Lord. Anya says, “I
think it's pretty awe-
some. I like to hang out
with just girls and not
have boys around all the
time.”
We hope to see
you at the next meeting
where we will learn
more about God's mar-
velous creation, woman!
The study will cover
Eve, one of the women
from the Bible.
Come Dive Into The
Word Of God By Yvonne Lara