About a month before the opening of Lutheran High School of Orange County in 1973, founding teacher Richard Grice was asked to write the school’s Alma Mater. However, instead of writing verses praising the school, as many Alma Maters tend to do, he decided to write a prayer to Jesus. “It was important to me that the Alma Mater focused on Christ,” Grice said. “It was not so much a praise to the school, but a praise to the school’s foundation.”
The first verse of the Alma Mater is sung when we gather together as a Lancer community, whether it is after a football game, during Daily Gathering, or at events. As such, we stand together and join hands in the shape of an “L” while we sing to show that we are united as Lancers. It is appropriate to point upward as you sing instead of joining hands. We point upward together at the line, “As armored soldiers of the Cross” to express that we sing to Him. We point upward one more time as we “claim the prize,” indicating that we celebrate all God has done for us and promised to us in Christ Jesus.