IMPACT Program

What is IMPACT?

IMPACT is a week-long leading, learning, and serving opportunity for all of our high school students outside of our classroom walls during the week before Spring Break. Everything we do at Cornerstone Prep is done to help fulfill the Great Commission, and IMPACT furthers this goal by encouraging students to live out the gospel in their community here and elsewhere.

What kinds of opportunities are available during IMPACT week?

IMPACT teams are both academic- and mission-related as students make real life connections between their faith and classroom learning. Team opportunities change each year to provide our students with a variety of different experiences from which to choose during their high school career. Some teams stay in the local area, while others travel regionally, nationally, and globally. Typically, there are 12-15 teams from which students can choose each year.

Examples of past team experiences include:

• Sewing Kindness (on campus) - students learned sewing skills to make pillowcases for children with cancer, pillows for breast cancer patients, and washcloth toiletry kits for the homeless. They then delivered the final products to the ministries they served.
• Backyard Adventures (local) - students participated in outdoor activities such as rock climbing, ziplining, rappelling, and horseback riding around the Atlanta area. They were challenged to overcome their fears, work as a team, and trust in the Lord. For their service project, they loved on animals at the Etowah Valley Humane Society. 
• Ark Encounter (regional) - students spent the week in Kentucky visiting the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter. The team increased their biblical knowledge as well as their ability to engage the culture with biblical apologetics that confirm and support the teaching of scripture. For their service project, they helped clean cabins, the game room, and bathrooms at Camp Sunrise.
• Vamos a Ecuador (global) - students spent the week around Quito investing in the people of Ecuador by being the hands and feet of Jesus. The team interacted with students and helped complete classrooms at Bethel High School, spent time with children with cerebral palsy at Funapace Ecuador, and distributed Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. 

How are teams selected?

IMPACT teams are led by at least two Cornerstone staff members and typically consist of 10-12 students per team. Each student will have a chance to sign up for the team of his or her choice at the beginning of the school year. Not every student will receive his or her first choice because team size is limited. For those teams that are extremely popular and fill up quickly, we will try to offer the teams again the following year. At that point, students who have already been on that team will not be able to register and take the spots first. If the spots do not fill, then students who have already been on that team will be able to participate in that trip again.

How do teams prepare for IMPACT week?

Teams meet six times prior to IMPACT week to prepare for their mission, develop leadership skills, and bond as a team. During these meetings, students are taught and encouraged to engage and impact the world for Jesus.

Are there graded assignments?

Written reflections are due at the end of IMPACT week, providing an additional opportunity for students to cultivate and improve their communication skills, enhance their college resumes, and allow the week to impact their lives. These reflections, as well as required blog assignments throughout the year, are graded and included as part of the student's English grade.