How FCA Is Transforming Pine City High School

A Place Where Faith Finds a Voice

For many students, Pine City FCA has become a place where they can finally speak freely about their faith. Macy Babolik, a senior student leader, volleyball player, and hockey manager, puts it this way:

“There’s a bunch of Christians - I just think nobody really wanted to speak out about it. So I think that Pine City FCA and having a huddle has really helped other kids from other churches come together and realize that they’re not alone in their faith.”

That sense of solidarity has become central to FCA’s impact. For Noah McDaniel, a junior leader and cross country runner, it’s more than just a gathering, it's a safe and welcoming environment for sharing the gospel.

“The FCA huddle is 100% a change in our school. It’s given me a place where I can bring friends too - that’s easy and not so much of a ‘church environment’ but more of just friends getting to know Jesus.”

Equipping Student Leaders

Adult leaders like Betsy Johnson, Pine City’s assistant basketball coach, are intentional about supporting the students behind the scenes.

“We meet with a group of about 12 students who have committed to being leaders. We go through FCA resources like the E3 discipleship book and try to support them as best we can.”

That support is paying off. Piper Mettling, a senior volleyball and basketball player, says that leadership has pushed her out of her comfort zone in the best way:

“As a leader, I’ve been able to share and it’s put me in a vulnerable position. But it’s given me the confidence and the feedback, knowing I could probably go out there and do it again.”

Ethan Aagaard, a junior athlete in baseball, hockey, and cross country, shares how FCA helped him through a difficult season:

“In the summer, I went through a hard time, and my buddy brought me to church and FCA. It’s helped me grow personally because I feel the example I’ve gotta set. And then it also has people coming up to me and asking questions about how they can grow in their faith.”

Small Groups, Big Impact

While the large huddle gatherings are powerful, many students say it’s the small groups where hearts really open.

“We’ve realized that small group is very important here at Pine City for FCA, just so that everybody opens up and gets the chance to share,” one student notes.

“I kind of like small group time because not many people speak out in big group, but in small group you can really get to know every single person.”

Tennis player Brooke Boland reflects on a recent conversation:

“Today we talked about rejection. There were six of us in one group. Each of us plays a different sport, each had a different experience with a coach or a teammate, but we all had the same conclusion - it brought us to the Lord. It brought us closer to God. It helped us in our faith.”

Faith in Action

The Pine City FCA huddle doesn’t stop at meetings - they’re living out their faith through service.

“One day at our leadership meeting, we just prayed for like 10 minutes for all the people we knew that were struggling,” one student shared.

“We meet every other Friday morning and do quite a few service projects throughout the year. Recently, we helped with construction on a building near the Salvation Army that’s going to feed the homeless. We’ve also raised money for people struggling with cancer, and we plan to keep doing more.”