The Horizon Prep Christmas Boutique was this week and Melissa took the microphone on the floor to talk to vendors, customers, and teachers looking for great presents for their loved ones.

This episode will set the HP record for most guests on a podcast with 14. The people you'll hear from on this episode are (in order): Shawn Kush, Vanessa Roy, Annie Simmons, Robin Maiocca, Eva Deiters and Joy Toro, Rashae Taylor, Yvette Williams, Clark Smith and Ryan Gianni, Susan Hargif, Jasmine Pattynama, Laura Prince, and Khara Serrato.

The Christmas Boutique was a great success. If you missed it, make sure to plan on coming next year.

Carly Gammel was interviewed by Will Hicks at the most recent PTF meeting. 

Carly is the first graduating senior from the Horizon Prep School of Rhetoric. She started at HP in Preschool and will complete 12th Grade at the end of this school year.

She talks about the good parts of the School of Rhetoric and some of the challenges she had over her four years. Her Ninth Grade class was small and her Twelfth Grade class is even smaller: Just her. 

Carly talks about her college preparation and how her admission applications have gone so far. She also talks about what advice she would give an Eighth Grade student thinking about their plans for next year.

All the students have the week off from school for Thanksgiving break. Will and Melissa took the week off from regular programming to talk about Thanksgiving plans and their family's Thanksgiving traditions.

Share your family's holiday traditions in a review on iTunes and we'll share it on a future episode of the podcast.

This is our third and final episode with questions from the Horizon Prep All-Hands meeting at the recent PTF Meeting.

0:36 Announcements with Melissa Smith

2:40 Kathy Towner talks about public education vs. private education and the difference between Horizon Prep and other private schools. (The difference is the teachers. Having the very best teachers.)

4:57 Chris Maiocca talks about "The greatest educational breakthrough in the last 2000 years", The Harkness Method. 

7:27 Dr. Kush answers the question: "How are tuition rates determined?"

10:00 Dr. Kush discusses the Logic and Rhetoric policies and procedures manual.

11:19 Coach Salas talks about the Horizon Prep athletic facilities and who is allowed access to them.

At the most recent PTF meeting Shane Wetmore and Heidi Gianni led a question and answer session with the faculty of Horizon Prep. Today's episode covers some of the topics discussed, including:

Matt Davis on the homework expectations for Logic and Rhetoric students.

Abby Mayall on how many minutes a night your grammar student should be spending on homework.

Andrea Needham on the preparedness of our students for college admissions.

Dr. Jeff Pratt on sex education and what HP teaches and at what age,

Dr. Pratt on evolution and worldview.

Coach Dan Salas joins us to talk about the Horizon Prep Sports Program and their recipe for success. He follows up the conversation we had in Episode 004 about winning and losing and the nature of who Christ is. 

If you'd like to learn more about the sports program at HP, check out Episode 4, Episode 12, and Episode 21.

The first PTF meeting of the year was held last week in the Lion's Den, and this episode of the Lioncast has some of the highlights if you were not there in person.

This episode has Will Hicks speaking briefly, followed by a testimony from another HP dad, Brooks Hoven. Dr. Ken Kush, the Director of Schools at Horizon Prep is the third and final guest on the episode.

As Dr. K begins he asks the question "What is a hedgehog?" If he ever asks you, the correct answer is "That thing that we are passionate about here at HP, and that we do well; Providing a Christ-centered Biblical worldview Classical Education." 

Melissa Smith takes over the podcast to interview Will Hicks and Christopher Bohannon about Family Fun(d) Night. Will and Christopher are the co-chairs of the event celebrating the end of the Annual Impact Fund and they talk about big night happening on campus on October 21st.

For more information on Family Fun(d) Night or to volunteer to help Christopher and Will please call the school office. Ask for Melissa Smith.

We continue week 2 of 4 of the Sports Report, talking about the Rhetoric Sports programs at HP.

Jacob Richardson and Meredith Madden join us from Cross Country and Abby Gammel and Madison Berggren join us from Volleyball. 

If you think the podcast should continue with the sports results and schedules drop us an email at hplioncast@gmail.com or leave us a review on iTunes.

Suzanne MacInnis and Dianne Tag stop by to talk about First Grade at Horizon Prep. They talk about how they got into education and the one simple thing mom and dad can do to help their kids school performance and test scores. (Spoiler: Make sure they're on time for school).

Two of the Horizon Prep Rhetoric students stopped by at the end of the podcast to give the first HP Sports Report. Shelby Sutton and Ellie Smith talk about the week in sports and how the HP Volleyball team performed. 

The HP Sports Report is a limited-time engagement. It will run for four weeks, subject to popular demand. If you would like the Sports Report to continue please email us at hplioncast@gmail.com or leave a review for the HP Lioncast on iTunes with your comment.

Save the dates: October 13 is the first PTF meeting of the year. We're moving to the Lion's Den on the main campus. Come to the gym after dropoff and get a free dress pass for your students.

October 21 is Family Fun(d) Night. Bring the family for a full night of activities including camping right in the middle of campus. You can drop off your tent in the morning and it'll be set up for you when you arrive that afternoon.

Liezl-Marie Watt and Suzanne Bocanegra join us to talk about the Spanish and Latin programs at Horizon Prep. They have many years of experience teaching languages, and they both bring their experience to Horizon Prep this year.

Liezl-Marie Watt is the Latin teacher for the Grammar and Logic schools. Although this is her first year teaching at Horizon Prep, she’s no stranger to the school. Her daughter has already been at HP for five years as a student and is now in third grade.

While majoring in Latin at school, Mrs. Watt studied ancient Greek, English, German, and French. She also studied languages overseas in France.

Suzanne Bocanegra is the Spanish teacher for the Grammar and Logic schools. She talks about her 31 years of experience teaching.

When she started school she was a dance major. In her junior year she started thinking about getting a job after school and moved into language training. She learned her fluency while living with a host family in Mexico City.

We take a tour of the Horizon Prep library with the HP librarian, Kelly Hendrickson.

Mrs. Hendrickson talks about the emotions she felt the first time she walked into the library. She also walks us around the library and explains the different programs and incentives the school offers to encourage the students to get reading.

Don't forget new episodes are on iTunes every Monday morning. To get them before anyone else, subscribe and leave a review.

With tons of activity on campus right now, Abby Mayall joins us to talk about what's going on and what's coming up soon. Mrs. Mayall also talks about back to school for the grammar school students and what the teachers have been doing to prepare for the students return.

Also, Math Night! Field Games! And which class holds a special place in Mrs. Mayall's heart.

Dr. Kush joins us with a preview of the upcoming school year, updates on each school within Horizon Prep, from the Early Education school, up through Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric.

He also talks about what's ahead for the school and the importance of developing the students of Horizon Prep into the leaders of tomorrow.

Derric Waller is the new baseball coach at Horizon Prep! He joins us to talk about his background and his vision for the baseball program at HP.

Athletic Director Dan Salas is also with us and he talks about how baseball fits into the overall sports picture at HP and what we can expect in the future from the sports program at the school.

Cathy Towner joins us again to talk about getting the whole family ready for the first day of preschool.

Some of her tips include:
Don't wait until the first day of school to set up your morning routine. Get your schedule up and running a few weeks before school starts to make the first day of school run smoother.

Make sure your student gets plenty of sleep the night before school. Because we are in the tail end of Summer, this might mean putting them to bed when it's still light outside.

Give them a breakfast with lots of protein. Eggs are an easy way to do this. No sugar cereal!

Here are some important dates for the early education classes:

August 26, 11:00am-12:30pm: Meet and Greet your new teacher and give your student a sneak preview of their classroom.

August 29th and 30th, 9:00am: Early Education Orientation. After you drop your early ed student off for their first day, come to the 300 room for all the information you'll need for the school year.

Heather Downing and Heidi Groesbeck join us to talk about Fifth Grade at Horizon Prep. 

Heidi and Heather talk about the best part of being a teacher at HP and what their new students can do over the summer to prepare for the new school year. (Spoiler Alert: Reading and Math Facts.)

The once-yearly uniform sale is this week! If you're reading this in the future you should subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss next years uniform sale.

Amy Caster and the newly married Corey Reschke join us to talk about Fourth Grade at Horizon Prep. Corey got married over the summer, so there's no more Miss Davidson. Mrs. Reschke runs Fourth Grade now.

Amy tells how she almost went into Criminal Justice instead of teaching and how a little sign on the side of the street led to her becoming a teacher at Horizon Prep.

For Corey education was just a side job until she felt God calling her to work with families and children through teaching to help them become better versions of themselves. 

The Third Grade teachers of Horizon Prep join us today! Erin Rose and Michelle Hitchcock talk about how they got into education and how they came to Horizon Prep.

We talk about the best parts of their job and the hardest part of being a school teacher.

We also talk about the events the Third Graders can look forward to, including Charlotte's Web Day, the Invention Convention, and a field trip to Medieval Times in Buena Park.

Be sure to subscribe and leave a review on iTunes. Search iTunes for "Horizon Prep" and click on "Ratings and Reviews".

Today we talk to Mrs. Morey and Mrs. Martinez about Kindergarten at Horizon Prep.

We talk about what incoming Kindergarten parents can do to help prepare their student for the year, as well as what they expect to learn while they're in Kindergarten.

If this is your first time listening to the podcast be sure to subscribe and leave a review on iTunes. By subscribing you'll get the newest episode to your phone as soon as it's uploaded on Monday morning. By leaving a review you'll make it easier for other HP parents to find the podcast.

Chris Maiocca joins us for a special 4th of July episode of the Lioncast.

Chris talks about the role Classical Education played in the lives of some of the Founding Fathers and the history of the United States.

Chris also talks about how he came to be at Horizon Prep and how classically trained chefs can give us insight into the best way to educate our students.

Melissa Smith and Natalie Moser take a break from Lioncast announcements to talk about their other responsibilities on the Horizon Prep campus.

Melissa and Natalie both work in the Development Office and talk about the best part of their job and what their favorite events are.

We are also joined by a surprise guest toward the end of the episode.

"I think that the truth has nothing to fear" -Natalie Moser, HP Lioncast 013

Coach Matt Roy joins us to talk about the Horizon Prep School of Grammar Athletic Program.

Coach Roy also talks about the beginnings of the athletic department at Horizon Prep and the future of the program through the recent membership in the CIF.

Matt Davis joins us to talk about the Year in Review for the Logic and Rhetoric schools.

Matt talks about the three main areas he uses to gauge how successful the year was; Students, Teachers, and Events. Matt goes in depth in each of those areas.

Don't forget to vote for Horizon Prep in the Ranch and Coast "Best of San Diego" contest. You can vote for Horizon Prep twice; Once in "Best Preschool" and once in "Best Private School. Horizon Prep has won the "Best Preschool" category seven years in a row. You can vote once per email address and voting closes on June 26. Tell your family to vote too!

Abby Mayall joins us for the Horizon Prep Grammar School Year in Review. She talks about events, activities, and academics for Kindergarten through 5th Grade.

Matt Davis will join us next Monday for the Logic and Rhetoric Year in Review.

Be sure to check for new episodes of the HP Lioncast every Monday morning, all summer long.

Dr. Jeff Pratt joins us to talk about the Programs and Curriculum at Horizon Prep.

Dr. Pratt talks about his motivation for what he does at the school and about the importance of every follower of Jesus being a minister of the Gospel. 

As the episode wraps up Dr. Pratt talks about his love of Taylor guitars and how important it is for students to have the opportunity to get hands-on experience as part of the education process.