Check here for latest news and pictures from the Ozark Regional Convention.

Monday March 17th

We arrived in Springfield around 3:00pm, and went straight to the Baptist Bible campus to help Bro Bell setup. Bro Bell is in charge of many events in the Academic Division such as Chess, Checkers, and PACE Bowl. He also helps setup for Photography and Arts. It was a little weird going on campus and we were the only ones present. It won't be that way tomorrow.

Tomorrow will be check-in, and competition will start at 11:00am. Chess & checkers starts at 1:00pm, and Basketball will be later in the afternoon.

Tuesday March 18th

We spent the day doing check-in and delivering projects to their rooms. It has been constantly raining since yesterday. It rained all day today and it is still raining as of 11:21pm. Hopefully the rain will clear out by morning. The rain has really affected logistics around here.

The boy's basketball team played their first game against Lowry City and won 29-24. We play tomorrow against the defending ISC champions, Liberty Faith Christian School from Norwood, Mo. at 3:15pm. It is our biggest game of the year, and if we win we will play for the Ozark Regional Championship on Friday. Otherwise we play for 3rd place again.

We don't have any pictures yet simply because there wasn't much competition yet. Jordan advanced in chess while Patrick is waiting for his next opponent. Ana lost in checkers.

During the evening rally Lauren and Justin won 3rd in their Power Point-Linear competition.

Wednesday March 19th

Music was the main event today. Most of the music performances will be completed today, and some platform events will take place too. We have many pictures, and even some movies of the students performing. The webmaster will try to convert them and post them online later. The initial feedback was that everybody did pretty well. Bro Todd seems to be having the time of his life! He really enjoys playing for the students, and the hard work is reaping dividends. Mrs Haggett came down and played as well, and she seemed to be having fun too.

Patrick and Ana played tennis today, after it was postponed due to all the rain that fell the last two days. Unfortunately, they both lost, but they gave a good effort. Ana performed her Female Solo and did pretty good. Jewelya and Jacob performed their Instrumental Duet, accompanied by Mrs Haggett.

Brianna and Jewelya performed their Dramatic Dialogue in a huge lecture room that looked intimidating, but they looked like they were having fun.

The boys basketball team lost to Liberty Faith 27-53. They are an excellent ball team with many older experienced players, and as it was said earlier they are the defending ISC champions. Grace n Glory will play Baptist Temple of St Joseph on Friday for 3rd place. The winner of this game can take basketball to ISC in Warrensburg in May.

Lauren performing her Expressive Reading

The male trio had a command performance during the evening rally and did very well!

The following awards were handed out tonight:

1st Place, Woodworking Marquetry - Justin Beaman
1st Place, Expressive Reading-Male - Justin Beaman
1st Place, Dramatic Dialogue - Mariah Overstreet, Breaha Berglund
3rd Place, Dramatic Dialogue - Brianna Wilson, Jewelya Humphrey
3rd Place, Famous Speech - Patrick Elsey

The preaching has been excellent and we had some decisions tonight. The kids are really enjoying Bro Larry Baker. This is why Regionals are so important! The kids get away from bad influences back home and under good preaching, and good fellowship with other schools. Attitudes have been good and some of the parents visiting are having an excellent time too. This strengthens support for the school.

Track & Field, One Act Play, Mixed Trio, and Archery are tomorrow.

Thursday March 20th

Track & Field was the main event in the morning. Brandon, Justin, and Jordan went to the track to compete, accompanied by Bro Eddie Pitts and Bro Brent. Bro Eddie and Susan came down with Ted and Tabatha, and they all seemed to be having a lot of fun with the students. It really frees Bro Bell and Mrs Bell up to help around the convention. Linette and Mrs Beaman have been helping around the campus and staying with some of the kids at the hotel.

We tried getting Arron to run his 100m dash, but he just didn't want to. He just felt like he was out of shape and wouldn't do well, and no matter how much everyone begged him to run he just wouldn't do it. When we got back to the hotel later and told him the winning time, he was very upset. His time last year beat the 1st place time this year by almost a full half second. He probably would have placed first this year!

Justin performed his long jump, and we all honestly thought he placed at the time, but we discovered later he just missed placing. Jordan did very well in soccer kick with his longest distance of 25 yards. 1st Place did around 30-35 yards, so Jordan did very well! Brandon threw the shot put and discus, and did very well! Bro Eddie and Bro Brent just walked around and enjoyed the competition. The only complaint was that it was little chilly and windy, but compared to earlier this week the weather was wonderful! We forgot to bring a camera so we didn't have any pictures (sorry), but we did have fun with the two-way radios we brought with us.

The One-Act Play performed and did a wonderful job. They will place as there is only three schools, but hopefully they will win first.

The Mixed Trio performed and nailed the song, although there was talk they could have been a little louder.

Brennen and Mariah competed in Archery. Both of them shot at the same target and suspiciously both lost the heads off some of their arrows in the same target. The rules state that an archer must shoot 7 arrows per round, and if an arrow loses a head it cannot be fired again as it is considered unsafe. Mariah could only shoot four arrows and three had to count as 0, but she still did well enough to win 4th place.

Justin performed a command performance with his Woodwind Solo at the evening rally.

Brennen performing his Guitar Solo

As the week wears on, everyone is starting to get tired... look at Bro Todd! Even Brennen, who is usually like the Energizer Bunny...

Friday March 21st

The basketball team played Baptist Temple for 3rd place and a chance to go to ISC in Warrensburg. We beat this team last year by 13, but this year they could not miss! They only had two players who scored but no matter what the boys did they scored and scored and scored. They made 6 3-pointers in the 1st half alone! We fell behind and made a run at them but we couldn't catch them. We lost 30-41. We won 4th place, and unless one of the top three schools decide not to go to ISC (unlikely as it is in Warrensburg) our season is over, and Jordan Humphrey played his last game. It was a good effort!

The final awards rally took place and the school did very well. The school won 3rd place overall in Platform and 2nd overall in Music. Justin won 2nd and Lauren won 4th in CAPS, which is an award for Leadership potential. Brianna was recognized for placing 12th overall in CAPS, and this in her very first year at Regionals! (Just as an encouragement to the other students to take an event in every category, listen to this story: Brandon took an event in every category except for writing. His mom and dad encouraged him to take web design but he didn't want to do it. If he had, and placed in the top 15 (There was only ONE other entry), he would have qualified for CAPS and based on his medals he would have received a perfect score of 60 points, and won 1st place in CAPS!)

Medals Won
1st Place Woodworking-Marquetry Justin Beaman Expressive Reading-Male Justin Beaman Dramatic Dialogue-Group A Mariah Overstreet & Breaha Berglund Dresses Lauren Beaman Sportswear Lauren Beaman Female Quartet Breaha Berglund, Mariah Overstreet, Jewelya Humphrey & Brianna Wilson One-Act Play Jacob Oliver, Breaha Berglund, Mariah Overstreet, Jody Sampo, Brandon Wilson Male Trio Brennen Nichols, Justin Beaman & Brandon Wilson	2nd Place Dramatic Monologue Ana Elsey Shot Put Brandon Wilson Discus Brandon Wilson Piano Solo Lauren Beaman Woodwind Solo Justin Beaman Computer Photo Enhancement Brandon Wilson Mixed Duet Justin Beaman & Lauren Beaman	3rd Place Power Point-Linear Justin Beaman & Lauren Beaman Famous Speech-Male Patrick Elsey Dramatic Dialogue Jewelya Humphrey & Brianna Wilson Bible Bowl-Group A Mariah Overstreet, Jordan Humphrey, Arron Sampo, Brennen Nichols, Brandon Wilson Instrumental Duet Jewelya Humphrey & Jacob Oliver Bible Memory Ana Elsey Sketching Lauren Beaman Male Solo Justin Beaman Mixed Trio Justin Beaman, Lauren Beaman & Brandon Wilson
4th Place Basketball Jordan Humphrey, Jacob Oliver, Justin Beaman, Brennen Nichols, Brandon Wilson, Arron Sampo & Patrick Elsey Archery-Freestyle-Female Mariah Overstreet Expressive Reading-Female Lauren Beaman Knitting Ana Elsey	5th Place Wood Construction Patrick Elsey	6th Place Female Duet Breaha Berglund & Brianna Wilson Sketching Jacob Oliver Photography-Plants&Animals- Black/White Arron Sampo

Awards Rally Pictures

Everybody seemed ready to go home this year...it was a fun week, but a little stressful. It didn't help that Ms Melody bought enough snack food to the hotel to have TWO parties on Wednesday and Thursday night, so almost everyone stayed up late the last two nights! Jordan rode the van with Bro Brent, and he and Arron had fun with the two-way radios on the way home. Outside of Buffalo, MO, everyone on the bus fell asleep ...except for Bro Bell thankfully. We stopped for supper in Warsaw, MO, and made it back home around 7:30pm. It was an EXCELLENT week!