Happy 40th Birthday, ICS!

By Tonya Baskett, ICS development assistant

When Intermountain Christian School opened in 1982, it was a kindergarten through 9th grade school with a student body totaling 122. The second year grew to include pre-k through 11th grades. As ICS turns 40 this year, the school celebrates four decades of God’s faithfulness. This year, the student body numbers 293 and will graduate 26 seniors in May. ICS has had 30 years in a beloved school building that we moved into in 1991, a move that many alumni will remember helping with in October of that year. The school said goodbye to 10 years in the “Fortuna Flying Saucer” with its circular racetracks, otherwise known as hallways, and said hello to the new 47,000 sq. ft. building that ICS rents from Evangelical Free Church of Salt Lake City. It was the culmination of nearly seven years of prayer, planning, hoping, giving, negotiating, cajoling, sweating, and sacrificing for the future of the school. God’s grace provided and the alumni numbers now include over 600 graduates!

ICS middle and high school in 1996

When ICS opened its doors, there were high hopes to provide exemplary education in academics, athletics, fine arts, and community outreach. There have been many successes in all these areas. ICS has produced many plays over the years starting with the first ‘real’ play: “Our Town” in 1986. Other shows include “Charlotte’s Web” in 1994 and this year’s theater program will wrap up with “The Little Shop of Horrors.” Music Tour has been a long-standing tradition at ICS, leading to many memories and successful trips. Intermountain Christian School has had many students represented in the Utah All-State High School Art Show, including this year. There have also been State Tournament runs in cross country, baseball, girls volleyball, boys basketball, girls basketball, speech and debate, boys soccer, girls soccer and track. This year, the teams achieved two state championships in HS Girls Volleyball and HS Speech and Debate. ICS has always strived to be one of the highest academic achieving schools in Utah and with a current SAT average of 1280 and ACT average of 27, the standard continues to be met. Intermountain Christian School has truly built upon its foundation of God’s love.

ICS will be hosting an Alumni Weekend, August 5th and 6th. All past graduates are invited to spend the weekend reconnecting with each other and celebrating 40 years of Intermountain Christian School. There will be time for alumni to reconnect over conversation, sports, a family picnic, and a formal dinner. Special guest speakers representing the last 40 years of ICS will be on hand to entertain us with memories from their time at the school. Mr. Bob Payne fulfilled many roles on faculty and administration at our school from 1982 – 1996. Mr. Bill Postma was part of the faculty from 1995 – 2002. Mr. John Gutman and Mrs. Sally Gutman were both on faculty for periods between 1990 and 2003. Mrs. Andrea Townsend was part of the faculty between 1993 – 2005. Mrs. Denise Buckley has been part of our school’s staff since 2017 and 2003 – 2012 before that. Mrs. Becky Schumacher has been part of the faculty since 2015. You don’t want to miss this event!

If you have not already received any notifications regarding this weekend, please be sure to update your contact information on our alumni website: intermountainchristian.org/alumni

Isaiah Menning's Lion Story

Community. I don’t think it's a secret that the past twelve months’ intense social isolation and political polarization have challenged our personal experience with this word, and maybe even our faith in various communities’ usefulness at all.

But I should probably just speak for myself. From age five to eighteen, ICS was my primary community. Across elementary capture-the-flag games to Jazz Band in middle school to high school’s Speech and Debate, I found many common goals with so many peers and mentors, but the defining experience and glue amidst and through it all was a dedication to each other and God. There were definitely times when that wasn’t felt, but whether through Ms. Potter’s teaching us to respect each other on the elementary playground, a God-delighting attitude in playing music with Mr. Hope, or Mrs. Croswhite guiding us to use Debate as a powerful tool to serve Jesus, it is very easy to see the throughlines. The palpable and utterly consistent chapel throughout my ICS experience easily comes to mind too. In a new way, I miss my specialized and broad ICS communities that could get rowdy at basketball games, equip me well, and love me powerfully. And I also miss chapel.

Both the pandemic and graduation have changed that. In a healthy and exciting way, the past term in college has offered bounties of opportunities for new growth and stretching. I would be lying if I said there was no personal struggle, especially under pandemic conditions where real community seems far off. But by total Providence, and definitely working through my experience in valuing community at ICS, in a real way, I have found it at Dartmouth. Yes, in freshmen rashness, I signed up for far too many extracurriculars, but whether in publishing for The Dartmouth Political Times on my passion of wolf politics, contributing to the college’s science journal, or competing against other Ivy League debate teams, I feel I have meaningfully contributed to the broader Dartmouth community. But, in large part through a freshman, Zoom-powered student bible study we started prior to arriving on campus, I have found deep community built on eternal goals beyond what I could ask for. Outside of our study, but with many of the same people, I have stayed up all night exploring the nature of sacraments in Church history, had the privilege to see a fellow student come to faith, and in a mutual dedication to following King Jesus, felt free to openly explore the deep and even doubt-ridden parts of what I believe. 

In many ways, the past few months have been genuinely trying in what was a  term like no other. But from my formation as a dedicated community-member at Intermountain Christian, I’ve been provided with an inspiration to continue similar pursuits in college. And ultimately in greater appreciation for my Creator’s nature as a unified Trinity of community through sermons at my Hanover church, I have seen God’s gifts of provision and learning. And as I write this a few hours after my first second term class, I can’t wait to see how I and my communities further progress.

Written by Isaiah Menning, Class of 2020 alumnus