Indiana News

CHRISTY AVERY
[email protected]

 November 19, 2025

 NEW ALBANY – Christian Academy Indiana students saw the culmination of weeks of work Wednesday as K-12 students gathered to bless hundreds of shoeboxes that will be delivered to children in need around the world.

Around 1,200 students gathered in the gymnasium to pray and sing over the boxes of essential and recreational items collected to help people during the holiday season.

Anticipation swept across the crowd as students stomped in the bleachers, creating excitement for the final count: 775 boxes. Students filled the gym with cheers and applause.

“To be a part of kids’ lives is a privilege and an honor, and it’s also a challenging thing, but to be able to be a part of collaborating and watching them all come in here and bring their boxes and be so excited about it, it’s a very moving thing to see,” said Elementary Spiritual Life Director Wendy Wagoner.

Wagoner said students started gathering materials for boxes in October. Each box includes personal hygiene items and goods specifically requested by recipients, such as art supplies or stuffed animals. A list of ideas was provided to families by Operation Christmas Child, but Wagoner said staff encouraged students to think intentionally about what someone might need or want.

Wagoner said a challenge is to find ways to help younger students take initiative and ownership over identifying ways they can help others. Because the boxes are by kids, for kids, Wagoner said students gravitated toward the project to learn about the lives of their peers in other countries.

“I lived in Africa for 11 years, so they love to ask me questions about that, and we love to talk about how, even myself, we can’t go,” she said. “We can’t get on a plane because we have a job to do here. But it’s encouraging and cultivating that heart to have a desire to see needs and figure out how to meet them as best they can, to look out for others around them.”

The school has a personal connection to the drive: a parent, who lives in Romania, of a Christian Academy student received a box, and recently came to the school to speak to students about his experience.

“It’s been really encouraging with our students for them to understand all the different steps a shoebox can take to get to the other parts of the world,” Wagoner said.

First-graders and senior students will load the boxes Thursday before traveling to Graceland Church, where boxes will be finalized and packaged. After the boxes are sent, students will have the option to sign up for a 12-week discipleship where they can continue doing similar work.

Director of Bands Aleshia Shouse and a group of students played various worship songs, including “I Thank God” by Maverick City Music. Students sang along, holding hands and swaying to the music. They also assisted in leading a group prayer over each location boxes will go, including Europe, Africa, Asia, the Pacific Region and the Americas. Wagoner prayed the boxes would be agents that “shatter the darkness” and change lives.

Christian Academy Louisville school counselor Ty Barnett delivered a speech titled “The Greatest Gift,” focused around the value of not only material gifts, but faith and love.

Wagoner said staff and students do not know exactly where each box will be sent, but each one includes a scannable QR code to track its location. Boxes were stacked and placed Wednesday on a world map spread across the gym floor, representing where they might end up.

Christian Academy will host more drives for the holiday season, including food and sock drives starting when students return from Thanksgiving break and continuing until Christmas.

“I’m really proud of our kids and their heart for worship and just their desire to make a difference,” Wagoner said. “Obviously in the name of Jesus, of course, but in nature there’s a part of their character and who they’re becoming that’s just a leadership thing that we’re really proud of.”

Christian Academy Students Explore Career Options During ‘Careers on Wheels’ Day

CHRISTY AVERY
[email protected] 

NEW ALBANY — The parking lot of Christian Academy Indiana was filled with the excited shrieks of elementary children Thursday morning as lights, sirens and even a cow arrived to share their work with students.

Several organizations and departments came together as part of Christian Academy’s “Careers on Wheels” day, an interactive career exploration event allowing students to tour career vehicles and speak with professionals about the jobs they see in their communities every day.

Students from kindergarten through second grade had the chance to climb into New Albany Police Department vehicles, high-five the Chick-fil-A cow mascot and learn about everything from life as a plumber to what it’s like to ride in an ambulance.

This year marks the third “Careers on Wheels” day, which K-4th grade counselor Kristi Richards said takes place every other year. She said she appreciates the event as a way to get students thinking about what careers they’d like to do and broaden their perspectives by showing the value of not only college education, but trade and labor-based work.

“Using your own individual, unique gifts and abilities and passions – how does that look? That looks different for everybody,” she said.

To gather a variety of professionals, Richards said she reached out to all K-12 families to see who was interested in participating. Nearly all of the experts who attended the event already had established connections to staff and students at Christian Academy, helping kids bridge the gap.

Parent Relations and Marketing Manager Aimee Games said students often connect the jobs they see with experiences they’ve had or people they know in their community, normalizing those jobs and giving them a deeper understanding.

A local farmer piqued the interest of one little girl dressed as a florist Thursday morning, admiring the tractor he brought and asking questions about his work.

“They’re making family connections,” she said. “They’re saying, ‘My grandmother rode in an ambulance,’ and being able to go in and see makes it not as scary. These kids are firing off and making connections, and I love that.”

Many students came to school dressed for the occasion, wearing firefighter hard hats, white doctor coats or brightly-colored scrubs. Before career days, Richards said students fill out questionnaires encouraging them to identify their areas of interest and showing them potential jobs based on their answers.

After seeing the jobs up-close, they fill out a reflection form looking back on their favorite parts and what they learned.

“They’re able to write down ‘I didn’t know I could do this job,’ so it kind of gives them a little bit of a heads-up,” she said. “With kindergarten, we made some community helper hats and we talked about the different jobs that are out there. It just kind of gets them started thinking and dreaming. Nobody has to know what they want to be when they grow up in kindergarten.”

Christian Academy Indiana Elementary Principal Krystal Morrow said the event reiterates students’ faith by showing them they are worthy no matter what path they choose.

“Especially as a Christian school, realizing we’re all uniquely made,” she said. “Not everyone’s going to be a doctor, and that’s okay. That’s not your purpose.”

While many career days are geared toward middle or high-school students, Morrow said introducing younger children to potential jobs gives them an appreciation for different lifestyles and teaches important life skills early on.

“They’re so impressionable right now, and we want them to have gratitude and thankfulness for the people that are serving them when they go to Chick-Fil-A or get their heating and air fixed,” she said. “That’s a big character piece.”

Around 10 a.m. came the big moment.

Lights and sirens flashed, horns honked and students jumped and cheered as members of the New Albany Fire Department, the New Albany Police Department and New Albany EMS showed off the sounds and sights of the vehicles they work in each day.

Firefighter Paul Grace has participated in career day twice. He said his department’s presence teaches kids fire safety and keeps them aware of what firefighters do in the community.

“Talking to the kids helps show them how to be safe in a fire, and a lot of the kids love the firefighters,” he said, laughing. “It’s always great spending time with the kids.”

As students began to make their way back inside around 10:30 a.m., they made sure to shower Grace and his colleagues with appreciation. “Thank you for showing us the truck!” said one kindergarten boy, giving Grace a big smile.