News - Concordia Academy

New Skyline Conference Begins

Concordia Academy is pleased to announce that we have moved to a new athletic conference starting with the 2019-2020 school year.

What does this mean?

Concordia Academy left the Tri-Metro Conference at the conclusion of the 2018-2019 school year. We are grateful for our time as members of the Tri-Metro Conference and are thankful for the relationships we have developed. We look forward to maintaining many of those relationships as we move forward.

We have joined the newly-organized Skyline Conference. This move allows our students to compete with schools that are approximately the same size as CA. The Skyline conference will include eight schools: Concordia Academy and Saint Agnes from the Tri-Metro Conference; Maranatha Christian Academy, St. Croix Preparatory Academy, New Life Academy, and Trinity at River Ridge from the Minnesota Christian Athletic Association; and Cristo Rey Jesuit and Nova Classical Academy from the Twin Cities Athletic Conference.

The mission of the Skyline Conference is to “provide transformational education-based athletic and fine arts experiences for our students and communities of our member schools.”

Why is this a positive change for CA?

The Tri-Metro Conference has changed significantly over the last few years. A number of schools similar in size to CA departed the conference, leaving Concordia Academy as the school with the smallest population from which to draw athletes. Last spring, we were approached by other schools with similar challenges and began looking for different options in regard to conference affiliation. We believe that we have found a group where our students can compete with schools that are approximately the same size and share common values in our athletic programming.

Concordia Academy values high participation and cultivating multi-sport athletes. We also strive to create a culture of developmental and education-based athletics that is holistic in nature. The schools in the Skyline Conference share these values. This move will also help create more flexible scheduling opportunities. We will be able to adjust the competitive balance as necessary with our non-conference schedule.

What will change? What will stay the same?

Our conference schedule will change, but our playoff schedule will continue to include the same teams and competition that we have experienced in the past. We will remain in the same section and class as determined by the Minnesota State High School League. In some cases, our non-conference schedule will include schools from the Tri-Metro, but that will be determined on a program-by-program basis.

Football will continue with district play. Districts replaced conferences three years ago in an effort to place schools with similar enrollments in the same group. Wrestling will also be unaffected by the conference change, as we plan to continue our co-op with Brooklyn Center High School for the foreseeable future.

We want to thank our coaches for their continued hard work and input in this decision. We also want to thank the many people who gave important feedback throughout this process. Change is rarely easy, but we are excited for this new beginning with the Skyline Conference. As we move forward, please continue to pray for the mission of Concordia Academy, our students, and our athletic programming.

Track Team Members Set Records, Head to State

Congratulations to the Girls Track & Field team for taking Second Place in Section 4A on June 1. In addition, the following girls are headed to the State Meet.

Naomi Bunker (Senior) - Shot Put - Section Champ - School Record - 36'9.5"

Paige Winterfeldt (Senior)- Pole Vault - Section Champ - 10'0''

Sydney Hackett (Junior) - Triple Jump - Section Champ - 36'3.5"

Shaina Zinter (Freshman) - 100 Hurdles - Section Champ - 16.46

Shaina Zinter (Freshman) - 300 Hurdles - Section Champ - 45.52 - Section Record (Prelims - 44.62)

4 x 400: Michaella Hartinger (Senior), Sydney Hackett (Junior), Kira Fallert (Sophomore), Shaina Zinter (Freshman) - Section Champ - School Record - 4:05.14

Note: During Prelims, in the 4 x 400, Michaella Hartinger (Senior), Emily Erickson (Freshman), Kira Fallert (Sophomore), and Shaina Zinter (Freshman) broke the school record with a time of 4:09.59. (As noted above, that record was broken again in the Finals on June 1.)

Here's when you can see the above track team members compete at State:

Friday, June 7, at Hamline

100 Hurdles - Shaina - 3:30

300 Hurdles - Shaina - 5:25

4 x 400 Relay - 6:55

Saturday, June 8, at Hamline

Triple Jump - Sydney - 3:30

Pole Vault - Paige - 3:30

Shot Put - Naomi - 3:30

Pending Qualifying on Friday, June 7

100 Hurdles - Shaina - 4:20

300 Hurdles - Shaina - 6:12

4 x 400 Relay - 7:03

Live coverage is available at http://PrepSpotlight.TV/MSHSL .

Good luck to all these exceptional athletes!

"Working" Cast & Crew Honored by Spotlight Education

Congratulations to the cast and crew of CA's spring musical, "Working," for honors they recently received from Spotlight Education, a Program of Hennepin Theatre Trust.

Overall Performance: Honorable Mention
Ensemble Performance: Honorable Mention
Movement / Dance Performance by an Ensemble: Honorable Mention
Acting Performance by an Ensemble: Outstanding
Overall Technical Team: Honorable Mention

Outstanding Performance in a Leading Role: Grace Czywczynski as Delores Dante & Grace Renstrom as Maggie Holmes
Honorable Mention for Performance in a Leading Role: Noah Gundermann as Joe Zutty, Madie Harre as Kate Rushton, Cody Petronack as Rex/Utkarsh
Outstanding in Technical Leadership: Caleb Boll as Lighting Designer
Honorable Mention in Technical Leadership: Amarti Maskalo as Deck Captain
Evaluator Shout-Outs: Kayla Gundermann, Caleb Loomis, Luke Symmank

Taylor Brunn Sets State Softball Record & Is Named Athlete of the Week

At the April 29 softball game vs. DeLaSalle, CA senior Taylor Brunn set a new state record for base hits when she achieved her 249th career hit! It was the highlight of what was a pretty excellent week for Taylor: she had gone 18 for 19 at the plate, scored 11 runs, had been 9 for 9 on stolen base attempts, and had a batting average of .812! Taylor, who has committed to play at Minnesota Crookston, surpassed the total of current Gopher Maddie Houlihan, who had 248 career hits.

In addition, on May 8, she was named the KSTP TRIA Prep Athlete of the Week.

Click here to read Star Tribune coverage of Taylor's accomplishment. Click below to see KSTP Channel 5 and KARE11 coverage.

Beacons Take 4th In State

The Concordia Academy Beacons, the Section 4AA volleyball champions, wrapped up an outstanding season with a 4th Place finish in the 2018 MN State Volleyball Tournament on November 10.

Other honors during the state tournament week included Class AA All-State Honors for sophomores Kira Fallert and Brooke Weichbrodt and All-State Honorable Mention for senior Taylor Brunn. Taylor was also named to the Wells Fargo All-Tournament Team.

Congratulations to the entire team for a season that will not soon be forgotten!

Bruce Urban Named Outstanding Lutheran Educator

At the Minnesota South Lutheran Education Conference on October 18, CA’s Bruce Urban was named the 2018 Outstanding Lutheran Educator. Congratulations on this well-deserved honor Bruce, and thank you for being such a faithful servant of the Lord and a blessing to so many! Click here to read the Beacon Blog, where Tim Berner writes about Bruce's impact on his life and the culture of Concordia Academy.

CA Student Artwork Exhibited in Washington, DC

CA students were awarded first and second place in the 2017 Fourth District Congressional Art Competition. Lindsey Noyed (’18) took first place for her mixed media artwork entitled “Evermore and Evermore,” which was also CA’s 2016 Christmas Concert poster design. Rebecca Hed (’17), finished in a tie for second place with her self portrait created with torn duct tape. “The Fourth District has incredible artistic talent, and I am proud to help showcase it through the Congressional Art Competition,” Congresswoman Betty McCollum said. “My office was wowed by the quality of all of this year’s submissions. Congratulations to Lindsey, to the runners-up, and to everyone who participated.”

The winning entry is displayed as part of a national exhibit in the U.S. Capitol. In June, Lindsey was flown to Washington, DC for an opening reception for the first place winners from throughout the country. In addition, runners-up are displayed in Congresswoman McCollum’s offices in Saint Paul and in Washington, D.C. Both Lindsey and Rebecca are part of Concordia Academy’s new Emerging Artist Curriculum.

CA Final Chapel 2017

Twice a week, CA students and staff gather in chapel to pray, sing praises, and listen to the Word of God. But it's a tradition that the fun, ridiculous side of our staff comes through in the final chapel of the year. See the CAvengers Assemble in this year's end-of-year chapel! Special thanks to Beacon alum Ryan LeVahn ('15) for his great work filming and editing this year's blockbuster.

CA Offers New East Metro Transportation Option

Concordia Academy is thrilled to announce a new transportation option for families commuting to CA from the East Metro. Starting this fall, morning transportation to CA will be available from Hudson and Woodbury in our new 2016 10-passenger Ford Transit van!

We plan to create a route that will stop and pick up students at a location in Hudson, continue to Woodbury to pick up additional students, and then drop off the students at CA. Because of the number of students participating in activities after school, we only plan to offer morning transportation.

Final details, including cost and pickup times, are still being determined, and a formal signup will be happening at a later date. However, we would like to begin building a list of interested families. If you are interested in using this new transportation option or have questions about the program, please contact Pastor Tim Berner, Principal (tim.berner@concordiaacademy.com or 651-796-2677).

We have been working on this transportation option for quite some time. What a blessing that it is finally a reality!

1000 Students Celebrate National Lutheran Schools Week at CA

We were blessed to have 1000 students, teachers, and parents from Twin Cities Lutheran elementary schools celebrating National Lutheran Schools Week with us on January 23! The day openend with worship and a "rock opera" version of "The Three Little Pigs." After that, students attended a variety of sectionals, participated in service projects, enjoyed time with CA's "His People" choir, ate lunch, and ended the day with more worship. Thanks to Central Lutheran, St. Paul; Gethsemane, Maplewood; King of Kings, Roseville; St. John, Elk River; St. John’s, Corcoran; St. Paul’s, Prior Lake; Trinity Academy, Hudson; Trinity First, Minneapolis; Trinity Lone Oak, Eagan; and Trinity, St. Francis for being here to celebrate the amazing work that God does in our Lutheran schools!