General News

The monthly theme for the month of December will be Intellectual Fair-mindedness. “Those who are intellectually fair-minded earnestly want to know the truth, so they consistently listen in an even-handed way to differing opinions, even if they already have strong views on the subject. In addition, they attempt to view the issue from the perspective of those they disagree with, believing that they do not always have the most complete or accurate vantage point on a given issue. As a former student of mine correctly observed, the intellectually fair-minded person, ‘seeks to know, not to be right.’ Intellectual bias is the corresponding vice.” (Philip Dow, Virtuous Minds- Intellectual Character Development)

Hello again readers as we wrap-up another week of learning and teaching at John Calvin, and as we prepare to move from November into December in a few days’ time. We thank our Heavenly Father for all that could be accomplished during the past month in and around the school. With marks meetings behind them, the teachers are now busy with putting the marks and comments on the report cards. Report cards are scheduled to go home next week Friday, with Parent Teacher Conferences to follow on Tuesday, December 8 and Thursday, December 10.            Our thoughts and prayers remain with those who need the Lord in a special way, whether they are grieving or dealing with serious illness in the immediate or extended family. We think especially of Mrs. Cathy VanAndel and her family. Last weekend her grand-daughter, Alison, died in the womb at 38 weeks pregnancy. May the God of all comfort be near to them during this difficult time. We also think of the relatives in our school and in the school community of Mr. Evert Schulenberg and Mrs. Franciena Oostdyk, who were both laid to rest earlier this week.

Earlier this week one of our kindergarten students, Evan Schulenberg, was admitted to hospital for some scanning and testing. Thankfully we can report that testing came back negative but he does need to remain in the hospital for treatment of an infection and to have an MRI done. Hopefully he can return home soon.

It was good to see many of you at the fall membership meeting this past Wednesday evening to listen to a presentation about the Harvest Endowment Fund (we are grateful for the gift of $3000.00 from the fund for the school), to get an update from the fundraising/expansion committee (hopefully all hurdles will be cleared so that in the next couple of weeks construction can begin), to participate in a discussion about length of school day, and to get an update from the Guido de Bres promotion committee. We thank the outgoing board members (Mr. Peter Buitenwerf- board chairman, Mr. Dave Bartels, Mr. Andy Schipper, and Mr. Brian Alkema) for all the work they have done during the past four years and we welcome on board Mr. Roy Hummel (Smithville), Mr. Marty Schulenberg and Mr. Andrew DeBoer (Grassie), and Mr. Anthony Ouwersloot (Springcreek). May our Heavenly Father give these men the strength necessary for their task in representing the school community on the board of directors.

A few items for your attention:

• All the money from the Anchor Work Day has been brought in. With much thankfulness we can report that $2465.00 was raised in support of the Anchor Association. Well done all participating students, and big thank-you to all those in our community who “hired” the students to do the work.
• All the money (except for one case) has also been returned form the chocolate bar sales. The final profit for the school was $6355.00. Thanks again to all those who participated in this worthwhile fundraiser for school trips.
• Four weeks of practicum are completed for Mr. Breukelman in Grade 7B. We trust that his practice teaching session at John Calvin was a positive and beneficial experience. We wish him all the best and the Lord’s blessing as he returns to the Teachers College for regular instruction and exam prep.
• The two boys’ and the girls’ volleyball teams had a very good tournament at the annual event yesterday. The girls’ team was defeated in the quarter-finals by Guelph Cornerstone and finished with a 2-2 record. Mr. Bergsma’s boys’ team went undefeated in round robin play but ended up losing to Mr. Hofsink’s team in the quarterfinals (bragging rights☺). They finished with a 3-1 record. After a slow start in round robin play, Mr. Hofsink’s team made it to the semi-finals where they lost to the champions, Rehoboth, in a very close game. They finished with a 3-3 record. All in all it was a great day of fun, fellowship, and competition. We thank all the parents who came out and cheered on the teams, and the coaches (Mrs. Nikki vanBrederode assisted by her sister Mrs. T.J. vanBrederode, Mr. Bergsma, Mr. Breukelman, and Mr. Hofsink) for their time and effort in preparing the teams for the tournament.
• The next skating sessions at the Smithville arena are scheduled for Wednesday, December 2. Grade 2 will skate from 12:30-1:30 and Grade 6 from 1:30-2:30. In the interest of safety and concussion prevention, students in Grades K-3 must wear helmets while on the ice. They can be either hockey helmets or bicycle helmets. Students in Grades 4-8 are also encouraged to wear them. Those playing hockey must wear them.
• The John Calvin School choir, under the direction of Miss Breukelman, has been invited to participate in a couple of concerts with the Niagara Region Voice of Praise choir. They would love to have our choristers participate in their concerts scheduled for December 18 in Grassie and December 19 in Smithville. Both concerts begin at 7:30 p.m.
• Students in Grades 4-8 are invited to join the choir and participate in these concerts. The choir would be singing 3 or 4 selections. This is another exciting opportunity for our school choir.   Rehearsals for the school choir are taking place at school from 2:15-2:55 on Friday afternoons.
• Lost and Found: Don’t forget to check through the lost and found items when you come in to the school during the next couple of weeks. The items will be on display in the hall outside the staff room until after the Parent-Teacher conferences (December 8 & 10).Reminders:
• Scholastic orders for December are due on the 10th so that the order can be received before the Christmas holidays. Please make your cheques to John Calvin School.
• Grade 6B is planning to visit Kilean Lodge on Monday, November 30.
• Grades 3 and 7 are scheduled to go skating on Wednesday, December 9.
• The Ladies Auxiliary is planning a Pizza Lunch (which will also include a drink, fruit, and a snack) for Thursday, December 11. Yippee! No lunches to make. For those children who have allergies, the Ladies Auxiliary will look after heating up/preparing the food that they bring for lunch that day. Thank you Ladies Auxiliary!

Have a good weekend everyone and we hope to touch base again via this medium next week Friday.    G. Hofsink

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Found – Pandora bracelet – Please call the school office to identify

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PLEASE HELP THE VOUCHER PROGRAM HIT OUR $75,000 GOAL THIS YEAR!

As we go into our busiest season with vouchers, we are so thankful to be on track to hit our goal this year! However to reach our goal we would like you to use our Season Voucher program to help get us there! Under separate email is an order form for the seasonal gift cards available, along with what we carry all year long. Please print this off and return to the school with your order. If you or someone you know who owns a business and is looking for gift cards to give to their employees, please talk to them to use our program! Pass it on to family members and co-workers etc. The more orders, the more we raise for our school!

As of Nov 14, our profit is $56,278.91 (up from $53431.22 to the same point in 2014). Thank-you to all our supporters and to everyone on the voucher committee who make this program work!

SEASONAL VOUCHERS: On Nov 15 you received a seasonal voucher order form in your church mailbox.

Orders must be in by Dec 7 to receive them before Christmas. If you need them by a certain date, please indicate on the order form and we will do our best to have them to you by then.

Please feel free to contact Maria Bartels for more details

905-945-4580 or dm-bartels@hotmail.com

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M&MS School Day! M&M’s s having their annual fundraiser for schools Monday, December 7. Shop that day and M&M’s will donate 10% of your purchase back to the school! Just mention John Calvin School when you check out. Please purchase M&M gift cards(we earn 5%) from our voucher program and shop on that day to maximize our profit for the school! There will be a flyer with details in your church mailbox on Sunday! Please contact your local distributor or Nancy ASAP, so we have enough in stock to supply everyone! Thank you!

Classroom News

Kindergarten

MW – Hymn 21:6, Text: Genesis 9:16

Letter/Word – Hh/We

We are so excited that next week we will be heading to the Fire Station; KA on Monday, KB on Tuesday. If you have offered to drive, please arrive at the school by 8:40 am to get the children loaded up! The tour is about an hour from 9:00-10:00, although times are approximate. The cold weather is upon us, and we have a few things to remember. Label ALL winter items, as mittens especially seem to go missing and without a name it is difficult to relocate! Also please check to make sure your child has extra clothing in his/her backpack, socks (2 pairs), pants, underwear and shirts. With the wet and snow, often the children come in soaked right through; we would hate for them to be stuck in wet clothing! Have a lovely weekend! S.L. M.DS

Grade 1

Memory Work – Hymn 7:1; Ruth 1:16,17a

We have come to the end of another busy week in Grade One. Students will have taken home their Bible test and hopefully have shown it to you. We continue our new Bible unit seeing how the Lord cares for His people as they travel to the Promised land. In Math we have worked with the number facts to 12. On Wednesday the Grade 1B class could enjoy an hour of skating. Many thanks to the bus driver, parents and the Grade 8 students who gave their time to make this hour an enjoyable one for the students. Readers should have been returned today. Some students have not been taking their agendas to school each morning. Please ensure that your child does have the agenda in their school bag so they will be able to fill in the things they need for the following day. P.E shorts have arrived and should be in the school bags as well. A reminder to return the pink interview sheet to school if you have not done so already. Thanks. Wishing you a wonderful weekend and a blessed Sunday. Til next week. jvb/hb

Grade 2

Memory Work: Psalm 150:1; Deut 6:4,5

Words: shook, about, once, goes, many

The students were quite busy this week completing two of our units. Both Bible and Science tests were well written. We will begin a new unit in Social Studies this coming week. The unit compares communities around the world, and so we will begin by studying Nunavut, a cold community. Next week we are looking forward to a skating session. We will be skating on Wednesday from 12:30-1:30. We’d love to have you join us. Please remember that the students need a helmet. It is nice to see the students language skills developing. When given a writing task there is only little hesitation. The students studied character this week and did a great job describing a character that they read about. Have a wonderful weekend! HV/RG

Grade 3

Memory Work: Hymn 17:1,3; Text: Proverbs 3:9,10 (two weeks)

Words: went, when, beautiful, enough, recycle, journal, let’s, hopeless, first, before, discover, their, there, they’re

Bonjour! Souriez 🙂 We continued to hear stories regarding church life. We finished up this unit with a quiz on Friday. Please check your child’s agenda. And yes… we are still going to do the projects concerning our local congregations. Thanks for bringing in all those books, grade three! In Math, we are working on the third multiplication table. Don’t forget to do those drills too. We are exploring the circulatory system. Ask your child about veins, arteries, capillaries and what they do. We are thankful that the Lord made our bodies in such a wonderful way. This week we talked a lot about being responsible and what that looks like in class and elsewhere. Ask your child about it. What does responsibility look like? Have a blessed weekend. J.B./M.P.

Grade 4A

Memory Work- Psalm 5:1, John 1:1-4

On Thursday we had the opportunity to operate on a (cow) kidney. How interesting to see the veins, arteries and the tube where the urine leaves the kidneys. We could also relate to stories about kidney transplants. Next week we will continue with our amazing organ systems and start our projects. Your child will choose one system and will make a special study about how the organ is put together and how it functions. We will also focus on how to keep our bodies healthy. We are almost finished our novel study on Owls In The Family, so that means we will have a test covering some facts as well as the vocabulary that came with each chapter. Thank you for helping your child with the memorization of the times tables for Math. We are at the 6X tables already! Remind them to practise their spelling words each week as well. Have a blessed weekend.

Monday & Thursday: PhysEd

Wednesday: Library

Friday: Mission Money

Grade 4B

Memory Work: Psalm 5:1; Text: John1:1-4 (two weeks)

Our God is an awesome God! This week the students (and teachers) of Grade 4 were lucky enough to be able cut open and check out a real kidney (a cow kidney, courtesy of Mrs. Poort and Kingma Meats — thanks!) in connection to our studies on the urinary system. We were fascinated by the fact that we could now see, in real life, one of the organs that helps to clear the waste from our bodies. We should be wrapping up this unit with a project and then a test. Stay tuned for more info on both. In Phys. Ed. we have completed our unit on volleyball. The students have really enjoyed this unit and ended off with a game that ended in a 11-11 tie! As a class, we have been struggling with the concept that Art is a subject like all others and that we are learning new things in this class as well. With a little time rearrangement and a chat on the importance of using our God given talent in Art we have seen a vast improvement in our attitude towards this class. Our project on shading is turning out fabulously! Well done, Grade 4B. There seems to be a number of students who are forgetting their library books on a regular basis. Parents, please help your child to find and return library books in a timely manner. Have a wonderful weekend and a blessed Sunday. SO

Mon. & Thurs. : Phys. Ed.

Wednesday: Library

Friday: Spelling Dictation, Memory Work, Mission Money

Grade 5

Memory Work: Psalm 61:2, 3

Spelling Words: desert, worst, earliest, against, eastern, Arctic, wearing, journey, everywhere, especially, finally, bicycle, quiet, frightened, surprising, muscle

Spelling Quiz – Thursday

Thank-you to those who came to help tie skates and play hockey on Wednesday. The students really enjoyed their skating day. By the time you read this, Mrs. D’Addazio will have spent an afternoon in the classroom telling the students about their trip to Italy a few years ago and showing them some slides of what some of the ancient sites we have talked about look like now. One thing that we continue to work in grade 5 is to make sure that students consistently apply what they have learned in their Spelling, Writing and Grammar lessons in all of their writing. Sometimes that means that they need to re-do some of their written work. Please support your child in these endeavours. It will make them better, more tenacious students.

Grade 6A

Memory Work – Ps.123:1 (Dec. 4)   Ex.20:1-7 (Dec.3)

We continue to discuss the book of Genesis and will look at the lives of Isaac and Rebekah and their children. In our language arts textbook we are reading stories about space. In phys. Ed. we will practise our ability to serve a volleyball and use it with our other skills to play some games. In Science we will start a new unit looking at the immune system where will notice that our human body is truly a marvel of skilled craftsmanship. The students have been encouraged to make a point of being kind and patient with their fellow classmates. If someone is making noises that bother you, go and ask them nicely to stop. Already this has made a huge difference in the classroom atmosphere. The class will be going skating on Wednesday from 1:30-2:30. If playing hockey, the students must wear a helmet. You are welcome to join us. Have a blessed weekend. CV

Devotions: T-Liam W-Simon Th-Malachi F-Kaitlyn

Wednesday – Skating 1:30 – 2:30

Thursday – Map Quiz, Vocab Quiz

Grade 6B

Memory Work: Psalm 133:1 (Dec. 11), Exodus 20:1-7 (Dec. 10)

In Bible this week we have begun to look at the generations of Abraham. We also discussed how Esau gave up his birthright for a bowl of soup, as well as the importance of a firstborn son. In Social Studies we have finished our trading partners unit and next week we will begin looking at the immune and nervous systems. Next week Monday morning we will be going to sing at Kilean Lodge and on wednesday we will be going skating from 1:30-2:30. If you would like to volunteer to come with to help tie skates or to join in some skating and play a hockey game, please let me know! Report cards will be going home next week Friday. Please take the time to sit down with your children and look over them together. Have a good weekend. MDB

Vocab Quiz: December 4

Devotions: M. Evan, T. Caleb, W. Claire, T. Eliana, F. Emmalyne

Grade 7A

Next week in Physical Geography we’ll explore the geographic inquiry theme of interaction further as we research and present natural disasters. In Science we’ll learn about the thermal effects on matter; specifically changes of state and heat capacity. After learning about Martin Luther in Church History we watched the movie about his life. We saw that all praise and thanks go to God for the Reformation; sola Deo Gloria. We’ve simplified, substituted and evaluated algebraic and numeric expressions in Math; we’ll discover patterns next. Enjoy your weekend.

Grade 7B

Memory Work – Psalm 112:1; 1 Chronicles 16:8-13

Today we say good-bye to Mr. Breukelman. He has spent the last four weeks with us, and spent much of his time especially in the last week teaching the class. We are thankful for the time he could spend with us and wish him God’s blessings as he heads back to Teacher’s College next week. In the meantime we will continue with our study on the life of King Saul, a king after the people’s heart. In History we will examine the theme of change and conflict in New France. KB

Devotions week of November 30 – Levi

Devotions week of December 7 – David

Grade 8

Memory Work – Psalm 29: 3, 1 John 2:28-3:3

It is and was a week of taking stock; recording data, making judgments, and planning the way forward. This is not only because it is report card time, but also in our study of Confederation in History and statistics in Math. As politicians returned home with the goal of convincing their constituents that they should sign on to confederation, they too were forced to take stock of the strengths and weaknesses of their body of work. Namely, the 72 Resolutions.Cheers, Mr. J

Here are some things for next week:

Tues – Tom Sawyer Quiz

Thursday – Spelling Quiz

Friday – Vocab Quiz.

Devo: BM