As a Christian school, Dayspring Christian Academy, 120 College Ave., Mountville, is faced with many unique situations, which it seeks to tackle with a specialized approach. Among these situations is the opportunity to expand certain aspects of student life, including athletics.

"Although they are often referred to as extracurricular activities, we view athletics as a part of the educational process for students," said Dan Stone, Dayspring's headmaster. "Beyond academics, the other portions of student life shape their thinking, their behavior and who they become."

Over the course of the last five years, Dayspring has attempted to cultivate a brand that surrounds its sports teams with the intention of promoting school spirit. After the school introduced a new logo and offered its students more spirit wear, Stone began to notice an increasing number of students who are proud to be a part of its athletics programs in both winning and losing seasons.

Dayspring credits former athletic director Caleb Onasch with being instrumental in the enhancements in the department. Onasch took over as the head athletic director three years ago and worked closely with assistant athletic director Eric Lee to bring the program to where it stands today. After Onasch decided to step down from his position following the 2022-23 school year, Stone began the process of seeking a replacement to continue Onasch'sand his work. Stone sifted through multiple applications before he came across Daryn Vinson, and he immediately knew that it would be a natural fit.

Vinson, who resides in Washington Boro, had been teaching and coaching in the Penn Manor School District for 22 years. He has two children who attend school in Penn Manor and two children who attend Dayspring. "As I've gotten to know (Dayspring's) heart and mission over the past few years, I decided that I wanted to partner with them and the work they do," Vinson said. "I saw this as a way to give back to the families of Dayspring students and help the school accomplish its mission."

Vinson officially started in his new role on July 1. During the transition, he has been meeting regularly with Onasch to make it as seamless as possible. As the school geared up for the beginning of its fall sports season on Aug. 14, Vinson worked to finalize game schedules, solidify transportation and practice rentals and decide on coaching placements.

Moving forward in his new role, Vinson has a vision of the areas of the program he would like to further improve. One of his main goals is to increase Dayspring's community engagement and support. "We draw students from multiple school districts, so it can be challenging to achieve that sense of community involvement," Vinson said. "I'm looking at how to improve that and increase attendance for games. These kids are doing amazing work using the gifts God has given them."

In addition to seeing an increase in the number of student accomplishments in the last few years, Stone has noticed his students making more of an impact in the community. The school frequently receives emails from restaurant employees and other schools' coaches who state that Dayspring athletes' respectful behavior left an impression. "These things are more special to us than trophies," Stone said.