FCA Begins a New Year
The prayer box in the commons.
The FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) is a club dedicated to making our school a better place while giving students an opportunity to find community with other club members. They have invested time into a number of events this year.
One of the events the FCA tackled this year was hosting professional motivational speaker Bobby Petricelli to talk at Maury River Middle School. Sophomore and FCA member Gage Pooley attended this event.
“Bobby had a great message and his experiences were really eye openers. He is a great and faithful person, and that is what helped him through his struggles,” said Pooley. “His message really made me think of the future and the question ‘what if?’”
The FCA has not only done local events, but they have participated in National events such as “See You at the Pole.” SYATP takes place on the third Wednesday of September. Senior FCA member Noah Campbell shares more on the event and his experience.
“It felt great to be there and continue to pray over the school in hopes of having another great year,” said Campbell. “It did feel as if I was part of a bigger movement, because SYATP is a country wide event practiced at thousands of high schools across the nation.”
At this year’s See You at the Pole, there was a larger number of participants than previous years.
“We had about 20-25 kids attend, which I believe was a record high for our FCA group here at Rockbridge,” said Campbell.
The club had a bonfire to bond with each other and have some fellowship. Junior Carson Funk was an important leader for setting up this event.
“The bonfire was held to connect students of all ages for food, fun, and fellowship,” said Funk. “It was an amazing event, and I think my favorite part of the bonding experience was being able to share with everyone about God’s treasures and how accepting him as our savior is all you have to do to achieve his riches.”
The FCA’s plans for the year continues. The club is going to host a post-game tailgate after the Homecoming game against Waynesboro and in the Winter, they are going to assemble shoeboxes filled with school supplies for children in other countries. The FCA has a prayer box in the Commons and meets each Thursday morning at 7:50 a.m. under the Pavilion.
Senior Blake Darmante is a third-year member of The Prowler staff. In Journalism lll he is looking forward to the epic final chapter that will be his senior year and working alongside his little sister, Hallie Darmante, who thinks she can steal his position. Outside of class, Darmante is a part of the National Honor Society, Student Council Association, FORENSICS, and the RCHS lacrosse team. His influences/role models include the legends that are Bruce Lee, Dwayne “The Rock'' Johnson, and Mr. Gallagher. The majority of Darmante’s free time is spent in his sketchy basement honing his martial arts skills while also listening to a Spotify playlist of his called, Zen Hype. Darmante has recently started a number of new endeavors like learning the splits from Jean-Claude Van Damme and making movies with the Original Wildcat Weekly Poll Guy, his best buddy, Dylan Hostetter. Darmante survives off of dumplings, matcha, and most importantly, the All-Star Special at Waffle House. Future plans for Darmante involve him competing on American Ninja Warrior, taking a trip to the Philippines to become a certified “escrimador,” and slow-dancing the night away with a dynamite gal.
