alumni highlights

Andrew Ntzouras - class of 2005

Andrew Ntzouras has served as a public-school teacher and a thought-leader in the field of education. He began his career in teaching after earning his BA in History and Political Science and Multiple-Subject Teaching Credential from Vanguard University of Southern California, a Christian school in Costa Mesa, CA. Andrew earned his M. Ed. with a focus on curriculum design, assessment, and instruction.

Currently, Andrew works for the Orange County Department of Education creating content to support Social-Emotional Learning, Restorative Practices, and Inclusive Academic Instruction. Andrew also serves as an adjunct professor at Vanguard University teaching courses such as Introduction to Education and Integrating Technology into Classroom Teaching.

In the Spring of 2020, he will teach a course based upon the book he co-wrote titled, The Show Matters: Inspiring Ideas to Ignite Hope, Wonder & Imagination in Your Classroom. Andrew has been invited to be a guest speaker throughout California, at various institutes such as California State University Fullerton, Irvine Unified School District, and for the Orange County Department of Education.

In 2018, Kobe Bryant visited his classroom after hearing Andrew wrote curriculum based on the podcast, The Punies, which Kobe produced. For alumni with kids, you can listen to The Punies with them on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Andrew attended CCCS from kindergarten through 12th grade and shared how thankful he is for the caring teachers and staff that continually supported and guided him both academically and spiritually while at Calvary. Andrew credits his success to God blessing him with a strong foundation at Calvary. Andrew’s parents both served as teachers at CCSS, positively impacting the lives of so many Calvary alumni. Along with his parents, Andrew shared that the teachers and staff at Calvary were always there to guide, support, and motivate him to work hard, love God, and share Christ’s love in both word and deed.

Andrew continues to be inspired by Kobe and the Mamba Mentality, and encourages everyone to find their purpose and passion to positively impact the lives of others. As Kobe once said, “The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to do.”

For more information on Andrew’s book, visit www.theshowmatters.com

Ethan Jahnkow - class of 2009

Ethan graduated from Calvary Chapel Christian School in 2009 and was a member of the Kindergarten Klub.  He spent one year at CC Bible College in Murrieta before starting his college studies at Long Beach City College.  He received his AS in Fire Science in the spring of 2013.  He completed the Rio Hondo Wildland Academy and worked as a wildland firefighter in the state of Washington in 2014.  He then completed his Basic Fire Academy in the spring of 2016.

Ethan became a cadet (volunteer) for the Alhambra Fire Department and got hired as an EMT for CARE Ambulance in the fall of 2016.  All of this hard work and determination finally paid off as the Alhambra Fire Department hired him as a firefighter in 2018.  He began with Alhambra at Station 73 and is now at Station 74.

In June of 2019 he married the love of his life, Cassy Coleman.  She works as a Speech and Language Pathologist for the Los Alamitos Unified School District.  They honeymooned in St. Lucia and are now living in Huntington Beach.  They have been attending Calvary Chapel Refuge in Huntington Beach for many years and give all glory to the Lord for His goodness and blessings!

Thank you for your service Ethan!

tony carranza - class of 1997

CCCS is proud to highlight Tony Carranza.  Tony was raised at an orphanage in Mexico, Reino de Los Niños, since he was 4 years old (CCCS still visits that same orphanage several times a year).   We were honored to have Tony attend our high school for 3 years and graduate from our school in 1997 with a standing ovation.  Tony then proceeded to attend a school of evangelism in Queretaro, Mexico and graduated in 2001.  While there he matured a lot spiritually and learned how to depend on God.  In 2003, he enrolled in law school and graduated as a lawyer.  He has been part of planting two churches in Baja California and also graduated from Calvary Chapel Bible College, Rosarito.  While in Rosarito,  he had the opportunity to serve as an assistant pastor to Pastor Mike Vincent. Through this experience, God taught Tony many things that were later used when Tony and his family headed to Mazatlan to plant Calvary Chapel Mazatlan. 

Tony is a pastor focused on missions, church planting and local evangelism.  He loves the calling that the Lord Jesus left for us in Matthew 28:19-20.  His desire is to transmit this same love to all those around him.  Tony, his wife Angela and their son Kaleb Itai are so in love with Jesus and committed to God’s calling of loving and building the body of Christ.  Tony’s desire it not to receive any glory for himself, but to fulfill what God has put in their hearts and to give God the glory!  They want to see the young giving their lives to Jesus, couples restored, men on fire to preach the word of God, and women who give their lives to serve Jesus with everything they have.

We are proud of Tony and the work he is doing, allowing himself to be used by God and for God.  To God be the Glory!

Elizabeth Kravig- Class of 2006

Elizabeth graduated in 2006 as part of the Kindergarten Club. During high school, she was on the swim team, participated in choir and worship band, and was part of the journalism and yearbook staff. She studied Kinesiology and Music at Vanguard University and later transferred to Cal State Long Beach, where she ultimately earned her bachelor’s degree in Sports Psychology.

From 2008-2013, Elizabeth came back to work at CCCS as the Jr High Worship Band Teacher and High School Swim Coach, where she lead the team to multiple league victories and CIF appearances.

In 2014, Elizabeth accepted an offer to join the California Highway Patrol and entered the 27 week long live-in paramilitary academy in Sacramento. She was one of two females to complete the intense training and was assigned to the Central Los Angeles area office where she worked for over two years. Since then, she has worked as a Public Information Officer and media liaison for the CHP for all major traffic incidents in LA County.

Elizabeth still gives back to CCCS and loves investing the little free time she has helping with the choral and music programs at Calvary. She enjoys her job as an officer, but truly loves being involved in ministry and spending time with her family.

We are proud of you Elizabeth!

Emily Hibard-Class of 1998

We are proud to highlight our CCCS alumna, Emily Hibard. Emily studied Modern Political Thought at Oxford University, earned her bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Azusa Pacific University, and completed her master’s degree in Public Administration (MPA), specializing in Nonprofit Management, from California State University, Northridge.

Emily is the author and creator of the Starting Your Nonprofit book series, step-by-step guides to launch nonprofit organizations.

Emily has held public office twice. When she was twenty-six, she was a Commissioner with the Los Alamitos Cable Television Commission (Orange County, California). She recently served as the youngest Board Member to sit on the Studio City Neighborhood Council (Los Angeles County).

An adventurer and risk taker, Emily has climbed Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro, kayaked in Antarctica and the Arctic Ocean, explored Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, climbed Petra’s ancient caves, floated on Lake Titicaca, boated down Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, walked Israel’s Via Dolorosa, and kissed Ireland’s Blarney Stone.

Before her thirtieth birthday, she had traveled to all seven continents.

In 2012, Emily founded Idle Tuesdays Recording Studio. She is a member of The Recording Academy, Los Angeles Chapter (Grammys).

One of her latest accomplishments is the “Honor Project Documentary” which is a film about fatherhood that explores personal and parenting experiences that every father can relate to (https://honorprojectmovie.com/).

TESTIMONY ABOUT OUR DUAL CREDIT COURSES

After visiting my academic counselor and requesting that they’d take a look at my transcript from Hope University, thankfully,  all of the units I received from my Early College Program (ECP) classes transferred over to my University of California Irvine transcript. With the ECP courses I took, I started my freshmen year with already 25.5 units. I am currently in my Winter quarter and I already have 43.5 units completed. I am technically considered a sophomore according to my unit count. Also, thanks to my ECP Calculus course, I am able to skip the first Intro to Calculus course I would have needed to take. Instead of taking two calculus courses I'll only have to take one. Additionally, my ECP US History course satisfied one of my GE requirements. In order to receive all of the benefits I did from the ECP courses, I did have to visit my counselor. The courses I took at Calvary are considered transfer courses. I had to submit a course equivalency petition where I had to include the syllabus of the ECP course I wanted credit for; this is how I was able to skip the Intro to Calculus course. In the end, it was definitely worth it. The ECP courses from Hope International University are definitely worth taking. Students just have to make an effort in requesting their transcript from Hope then talking to their academic counselor about the courses. (Alumna-Vanessa Hernandez)

kasey Brann-class of 2015

Congratulations to Kasey Brann who just graduated from Grand Canyon University, Class of 2019 with a Bachelors in Communications and a minor in Business Management. She is now working with Bob Hope USO as a Programs and Development Assistant. She recently reached out to Mrs. Matranga, our Grizzly Acadamy Director to thank her for helping her succeed in high school.