Dawn Snellenberger interviewed Class of 1992 alumna Jennifer D'Appollonio.  Jennifer currently lives in Maine and works as the Assistant to the Maine State Cooperative Extension Specialist.

When Jennifer was an elementary student in a public school, she had difficulty making friends because she was so shy. Her parents were not pleased with the school in her town, so they decided to send her to CCS when she was in fifth grade.  That was the beginning of a new chapter for Jennifer!

Once she started attending CCS, her grades improved dramatically.  She believes the smaller class sizes and the personal attention she received from the teachers were the keys to her success.  She speaks highly of her teachers and their influence on her life. She  credits the teachers with setting good examples of how to live as Christian adults.  A few teachers stood out to her.  Mrs. Kathy Peck helped her have an appreciation of theatre, and Mrs. Kara (Kozma) Connor, her biology teacher, cemented her decision to major in science once she attended college.

Jennifer graduated as the valedictorian of her class.  She feels the small environment at Cornerstone even helped shape her college choice, as she desired a school where she would receive more individualized attention from her professors.  She selected the University of Maine at Machias and majored in environmental science where she graduated in 1997.

In 2002, Jennifer was forced to move back home with her parents due to detached retinas.  She began working at her grandmother’s antique shop in Ashford, CT, where she encountered God in the most miraculous way!  As she was polishing silver, she heard a voice in her ear saying, “Go sit behind the cash register and be still.”

She obeyed, and immediately a full-sized Ford pickup truck came flying through the front window of the building where she had been standing!  She could feel the wind of the truck on her face; after the truck came to rest, she could feel the truck’s grill in front of her.  She was wedged behind the counter and the cash register.  Other than a cut on her cheek and arm, she was spared!  After she survived that ordeal, she knew God had saved her because He had a plan for her life.   She decided to continue her education and pursue her master’s degree in forestry.

Today she has a job at a university where she researches wild blueberries for the state of Maine.  She continues to give to the ministry of CCS as an alumna, because she feels it is critical for students to have the right education from the start.  She strongly believes in teaching kids to live for Christ and feels CCS is able to train children in the way they should go.

We are blessed by Jennifer’s testimony and faithful giving to Cornerstone.  We would love to hear from additional alumni about how God has used CCS in their lives.  Please contact Dawn Snellenberger at dsnellenberger@contactccs.org if you would be willing to be interviewed. 

Dawn Snellenberger interviewed Class of 1996 alumnus Vin McCauley. Vin currently lives in  Edgewater, Florida, with his wife Elise and their two young children. Vin also happens to be Dawn's brother!

Vin began attending Cornerstone in the middle of his fifth grade year.  At the time, he had a friend who was enrolled at CCS, and he asked his parents if he could switch from the parochial school he was attending.  They agreed, and he ended up remaining through graduation.  He says that CCS provided several “core benefits” which have helped him throughout his life.  

First, Vin believes the uniforms provided a “normalizing” experience.  Because of the school's uniforms, students were not trying to impress each other with designer clothes, and it created a level playing field for everyone, regardless of one's economic status.  Second, the small classes provided extra accountability. The well-rounded Christian education he received allowed him to transition well to college.  However, Vin says that the biggest benefit he recalls is that he was forced out of his comfort zone.

For sports, Vin played on the soccer and basketball teams.  If he had attended a large public school, he knows he would not have been selected for the teams, but at Cornerstone he was able to participate.  He saw that character development was woven into the sports arena, which also taught him the value of being part of a team. 

Another challenging, yet beneficial, activity was getting involved in a large CCS theater production called Narnia.  While Vin wasn’t necessarily interested in drama, the group needed participants, so he volunteered. It taught him the value of seeing something through to completion and being part of something larger than himself.

After graduation, Vin attended Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts, and he took some general education classes at Manchester Community College. 

Vin acquired a job at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., a premium global investment bank in Boston.  After working there, he moved on to the car business, where he worked for Honda, Mini Cooper and BMW.  At BMW he was the youngest general sales manager for a tier one (largest sized) dealership in North America.

Over the years, Vin has also had the opportunity to become involved in several entrepreneurial efforts, including a restaurant, hair salon and Internet start-up businesses.  Currently Vin is the owner of a small boutique Web firm called Level One Sites with offices in Florida, the Philippines, and India.  He also became involved in the early stages of a successful start-up company called ButcherBox.com.  It is a Christian-run, grass-fed meat subscription service with revenue in the tens of millions.  Vin says that it has been proven in his experience that foundational Christian principles align well with great business practices, and this has contributed to any success he has experienced.

Cornerstone is blessed by the ways that God uses His school to equip students for His calling!

Dawn Snellenberger interviewed Class of 1998 alumna Carrie (Benson) Butler. Carrie lives in New Hampshire with her husband, Greg, and children Luke, Maddie, and Jacob. She teaches Humanities and Writing at Laconia Christian School.

When Carrie was young, she and her family lived in the Berkshires, but she had family ties in Manchester where her grand-mother owned a children’s clothing store on Main Street.  One day Evelyn Banning, a CCS board member at that time, entered the grandmother’s shop, and they struck up a conversation about Christian schools.  Even though the shop was on the same street as CCS, Carrie's grandmother had never heard about Cornerstone! Evelyn encouraged the grandmother to find out more about the school.

On that recommendation, her parents investigated CCS, compared it with other Christian schools, and eventually enrolled her.  This was a huge decision, as it required Carrie and her mom to stay with her grandmother during the week and only be reunited as a full family on the weekends; however, her parents were willing to make the sacrifice because they valued the Christian atmosphere, small class sizes and the individualized instruction.

Eventually, Carrie's family relocated to Connecticut, and she was able to graduate from CCS. Carrie said she loved the core of students from her class, because they felt like an extended family. That's a big deal when you're an only child! She also felt loved and cared for by her teachers, and she was well prepared for the rigors of college after graduation.

She began attending college at Gordon College and then transferred to UCONN, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English. She then went on to receive her Masters of Education degree, where she hoped to become a teacher and follow in the footsteps of her CCS English teacher, Karen Orfitelli.

After graduation, Carrie realized her goal of becoming a high school English teacher!  She also realized two other large milestones:  marriage and motherhood.  In time she enrolled her oldest son, Luke, in preschool at CCS.  During that school year, her husband felt a call to full-time ministry, so they moved to New Hampshire where Greg began working for a church.  While in New Hampshire, their family expanded.  They also chose Christian education for their own children.

In November, 2016, Carrie received horrifying news that she had breast cancer.  With her characteristic optimism, she tackled the biopsies and treatments while holding onto her faith.  At times the treatments made her unable to read or focus, but she was able to recall the memory verses she tucked away in her heart while at CCS.  Her parents didn’t know at the time that God would use their investment in their daughter’s education to strengthen her through her illness.

Today Carrie is feeling stronger and taking life day by day.  She said, “Bad things happen.  Life doesn’t ever go back to the way it was, but we make adjustments.”  She chooses to live in the present and does so by reminding herself of the important verse found in Exodus 14:14:  “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Thanks, Carrie, for your willingness to share how God used CCS to shape and prepare you for where you are today. If you would like to share your CCS story with us, we would love to hear it.  You can reach Dawn Snellenberger at dsnellenberger@contactccs.org.