International Student Blog
International students at CVCS participate in many activities and leadership. This blog highlights many of those and is primarily written by the Director of International Students along with contributions from CVCS international students.
Learning to be Grateful: Community Service and More!
![food drive]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1733857231/cvcsorg/ay9ayia94kk3unh2sskv/IMG_7900.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1733857231/cvcsorg/ay9ayia94kk3unh2sskv/IMG_7900.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1733857231/cvcsorg/ay9ayia94kk3unh2sskv/IMG_7900.jpg","width":600}])
Heidi Zameni
November brought cooler weather to our beautiful beach-close campus, and our students had much to be thankful for (and we for them!) during the past few weeks.
At CVCS, we have four core values: spiritual transformation, academic excellence, physical education, and social responsibility. To encourage students to develop the core value of social responsibility, we require all high school students to complete at least 20 hours of community service. We strive to be an "academic community that models Christian character, conduct, accountability, and service." Recently, several international students served at the Serra Food Pantry. Cheng Luo and Thomas Zheng sorted food and helped unload boxes of food at the Mission Basilica Parish in San Juan Capistrano. The mission of the food pantry is expressed in this section from the Bible: "‘I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine you did for me'" (Matthew 24.40). Cheng and Thomas exemplify this Biblical mandate to help those less fortunate. We are thankful for their service.
November was also a fun month to be grateful for the talented CVCS theater members! CVCS's Performing Arts Department is a proud recipient of the prestigious Macy's Award. That award recognizes excellence in high school musical theater and celebrates "the talent, hard work, dedication, energy, and boundless enthusiasm" of the high schools that produce musical theater (The Macy Awards). Yoyo Lyu is new to CVCS, yet she had no fear as she performed in her first CVCS theatrical production of Mary Poppins. She sparkled as she took the stage with the rest of the cast to sing, dance, and sometimes even fly across the stage to the delighted audience.
Our numerous Winter sports teams (Boys Basketball, Girls Basketball, Boys Soccer, Girls Soccer, Cheer Basketball, and Club Co-Ed Surf) are off to a strong start, and we have many international students competing:
- Boys Soccer: Cheng Luo, Charlie Huang, Kosuke Toyonaga, Zehao Zheng, Danniel Llaurado, Haohui Gu
- Boys Basketball: Mark Ma, Benjamin Makelela, and Harry Hu
To celebrate the season, students enjoyed a Thanksgiving Feast cooked and provided by our wonderful CVCS kitchen, but before lunch, many students gathered around classroom tables to discuss their observations, ideas, and questions from their readings, such as Angel Wang did during her English 12 class with Mr. Montes de Oca. We utilize a method called Harkness, which is a discussion-based practice that empowers students to explore complex topics and learn from each other. This prepares students for higher education and is used by many Ivy League prep schools.
I hope that your Thanksgiving was filled with togetherness and gratitude for the many blessings in your life.
Dr. Heidi Zameni
P.S. Our international student admission window has opened for the 2025/26 school year. We'd love to see you on campus!
