Next week and for the month of June, we will take a closer look at the third and final cluster of the Fruit of the Spirit- faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. This will bring to an end our theme study of the Fruit of the Spirit (in addition to the fruit mention above, they include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness) and the Seven Intellectual Virtues (courage, carefulness, tenacity, fair-mindedness, curiosity, honesty, and humility). A few words on faithfulness: the concordance in the back of my Bible defines faithfulness in this way- firm in adherence; loyal; worthy of trust; devotion. These attributes define a person who is faithful to God and to his neighbour. In scripture, we read that the Lord will not forsake his faithful ones. (Ps. 37:28). This is encouragement for us to strive to be faithful and obedient to God and to His Word.

Greetings once again from the school parents, grandparents and other supporters of John Calvin School, as we bring another week, and pretty much another month, of instruction to an end. In only four week’s time, the Lord willing, the 2015-2016 school year will come to a close. However, that does mean that there are still twenty school days left (at least for Grades K-7) but not all of them necessarily spent in the classrooms. During this time, students will carry on with their regular classroom work, writing tests and quizzes, and completing projects and assignments. May our Heavenly Father provide the students and teachers with all they need for their respective tasks during the last month of the school year.

We congratulate Melvin and Ashley DeBoer with the birth of their daughter, Addison Ashley. She is a sister to Ryeanne (Gr. 1A) and Kaden (Grade KA). All is well with mom and daughter, and the rest of the family too. (“Our children all are gifts of God, sons and daughters his reward– each one a blessing from the LORD, as heritage on us bestowed. Psalm 127:3, BoP). May our Heavenly Father provide the parents with all that they need as they raise Addison, along with the rest of their children, in the fear of His Name.

In listing the musicians who participated in our spring concert, I forgot to mention Mrs. Janet Schutten, who was our guitarist for the evening. Thank you Mrs. Schutten for your accompaniment, and my apologies for the omission.

We are thankful that Miss Buist could come by the school on Thursday afternoon and spend some time with Grade 5 and her colleagues. As it stands right now, her return to the classroom is scheduled for Monday, June 20. We wish her the Lord’s blessing as she continues with her recovery.

It was good to get together at the at the spring membership meeting earlier this week. We are thankful that another budget could be passed, and that we can move forward with the change in the length of school day. We thank the Lord for the years of service (25) Mrs. Poort could bring to the teaching profession. We could also express our thanks to Mrs. Buikema for her many years of teaching in our schools, 17 of them at John Calvin School. She is set to retire at the end of the current school year. We wish her the Lord’s blessing in her retirement.

Construction update: Come and see for yourselves where things are at tomorrow during the Open House. The Expansion Committee is pleased to announce that the new addition is moving along very nicely. Most of you have been able to see the progress from the parking lot and we know a lot of you are hoping to see what is happening inside. By the end of the month, it will be safe to host an open house and so tomorrow, from 10-12, we will be hosting an open house. The site will be set up as safely as possible but please try to remember it is still a construction site so watch that the children don’t get too excited and run around. Refreshments will be available.

A few items for your attention:

*The boys’ and girls’ baseball teams had their final practice this past Thursday. They are planning to leave by bus from the school tomorrow morning. Students need to be at the school between 6:00 and 6:10 a.m., at which time they will head off to Dorchester, the same venue as last year, which is just on this side of London. The boys’ and girls’ schedules are as follows:

Girls                             Boys

8:30     JCS vs ACRES  9:30     JCS vs Maranatha, Fergus

11:30   Timothy vs JCS           12:50   DACS, Laurel vs JCS

1:50     JCS vs Covenant          2:50     JCS vs ACRES

2:50     JCS vs Grace

The return time for arrival back at the school will depend on the level of success achieved by the teams. The parents of the students involved will be contacted to let them know when the bus is expected to arrive back at the school. If any of our teams make it to the finals, the game will be played at 4:50 p.m.

*Next week Wednesday is Kindergarten Day. The new Kindergarten students will be coming to school either in the morning (KA) or the afternoon (KB) based on the class lists that went home earlier this month.

*Today was the last library day for the Grade 8 students. They have two weeks to return all library books. The last library day for Grades 1-7 is scheduled for Friday, June 10. They will then have two weeks to return their library books.

*Year End Trips: Next week, it will be the month of June and all of what that month represents on the school calendar. One of the exciting events is the annual year-end class trips. This year Grades K-6 are planning to visit Marineland on Tuesday, June 21, and Grade 7 is planning on going for an overnight stay at Fort George on Thursday, June 2 before heading off to Niagara Falls the next day. Once again, we will be following the same procedure as last year for parents who wish to accompany the classes on the trips. After re-reading the fine print of the contract with Marineland, the ratio for free admission is 1:10. This will cover the teachers only. Therefore, class moms and classroom volunteers will also have to pay the $15.00 group rate. If more parents would like to come along, they are welcome to join but they will need to pay the full rate as we have reached our maximum (45) for the group rate of $15.00; the full price is $44.00. The full price for the Grade 7 outing (Niagara Falls only) is $25.00. As there will likely be no room for parents on the buses, they will have to car pool to Marineland. Parents were reminded of the protocol for class trip volunteers. Parents who wish to join the trips may not take along their pre-school children. All parents who come along will be assigned a group of students to chaperon for the grade that they wish to accompany. Parents are also reminded not to use their cellphones during the trip unless it is an emergency. Please keep them in your purse, pocket or backpack. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

*Teachers College graduation on this evening. The Lord willing, three of the graduating students will be teaching at John Calvin School next year- Miss Janita Bouwman (Grade 2B), Mrs.Katrina Groen (Grade 5B), and Mr. Tim Breukelman (Grade 7B).

Lost and Found: If parents can make to the school as yet this afternoon, please take a look on the tables in the main foyer for missing items. Anything left at the end of the day will be taken to the GBF or Value Village.

Reminders:

*Due to construction, please do not park in the parking lot by the kitchen during the day.   Thank you for your cooperation.

*Please continue to be wary of ticks and mosquitoes.

*KA is planning to visit Kilean Lodge on Monday morning, May 30.

*Grade 6 is planning to visit Crawford Lake on Monday, May 30 and Anchor Home on Wednesday afternoon, June 1.

*Kindergarten Day on Wednesday, June 1.

*Grade 4 Medieval Feast is next week Thursday, June 2.

*June 2- Grade 7 overnight trip to Fort George. June 3- their trip continues with a visit to Niagara Falls.

*Grade 5 is planning on visiting Queen’s Park on Friday, June 3.

*News and Views material is due on Monday, June 13.

*Regional Track and Field meet in Hamilton (Mohawk Sports Park) on Friday, June 10. A bus will be bringing the athletes to the venue but parents will need to make arrangements to pick up their children from there as the final event, the relays, wraps up around 3:30 p.m.

*Local field day on Friday, June 17.

*Grades K-7 year end trip to Marineland on Tuesday, June 21.

*Grade 8 Ottawa Trip is from June 20-24.

*Graduation on Monday, June 27.

Have an enjoyable weekend everyone and a blessed Sunday and we’ll be in touch again in a week’s time, the Lord willing.

1. Hofsink

Classroom News

Kindergarten

We can hardly believe that the Month of May is winding down. Next week KA will NOT have school as we have Kindergarten day for our ewcomers. On Monday KA will be visiting Kilean Lodge to sing. The hot and sunny weather seems to be upon on so sun hats are a good idea for recess time. Please remember that socks are a must; otherwise we may have some stinky indoor shoes 🙂 Have a beautiful weekend. S.L. and M.D.

Memory Work is due Thurs/Fri Hymn 56:1, and Text Matthew 28:19

Grade 1

On Monday morning, Ryeanne DeBoer was very excited to share the news that she has a new baby sister, Addison Ashley. Congratulations to Melvin and Ashley and family. May the LORD bless you as you raise another of His covenant children. We have finished another Math unit and have completed the test which will be sent home asap. We have also finished our Phonics books and they have been sent home. We are busy practicing for Track and Field during P.E classes and are doing quite well. Our Bible unit will also be completed in the coming week with a test to follow. Check the agendas for more information. In Science we have been busy investigating how people, animals, rain, wind can change the earth. Lots of hands on activities and lots of fun. Thanks for the extra time put in at home to review agenda and Spelling words. Enjoy your weekend and have a blessed Sunday! jvb/hb

Memory Work for Friday, June 3 – Hymn 79: 1; Rev. 7:17

Grade 2

Memory Work: Psalm 105:1

Spelling words: thought, trip, work, your, favourite

We came back to school on Tuesday and discovered that all of our chrysalises had emerged into beautiful butterflies. With this exceptionally warm weather we decided to also release the butterflies on Friday. Also on Tuesday, we went to Balls Falls where we learned about amazing amphibians. Ask your child what permeable skin is! Have a great weekend! RG/HV

Grade 3

We hope you all enjoyed the Victoria Day Weekend. Grade three and their teachers certainly did. We thank the LORD for the beautiful weather! We pray for the farmers busy on the fields and for a blessing on their work as well. > Now we are back to work and excited too! Our community posters are coming along very nicely! We can’t wait to hear the presentations! In our gym classes, we are practising for track and field! Long jump, triple jump, high jump, 100 metre dash… Lots of fun! Continue to practice your spelling words and multiplication facts at home, grade three! We have a question for you. What are the six traits of writing? Ask us! We are busy writing newspaper articles about the race in Stone Fox! Next week we hope to be writing another chapter to the novel, Stone Fox! Stay tuned. That’s it for now. J.B./M.P.

Hymn 77:1,2; Text: Psalm 24:4-6 (two weeks)

Words: covenant, Israel, Canaan, people, with, faithfulness

Grade 4A

Thank you for your willingness to participate in the Medieval Festival. The students are very excited about it and are looking forward to finding out the details about how the program will develop. They are working hard to get themselves ready for Thursday. Once the students are all finished their From Anna Book Buffet foods, we will finish that unit with the actual buffet – they are looking forward to that! On the Wednesday we will have a Social Studies test to check whether we know the basic facts. The students are very interested in the Mission unit that we have started for Church History. In Math we deal with fractions and see how different we all respond to new challenges. Great stuff. As preparation for our Field Day we have been practicing and were taught how to become better at high jump by two Grade 8 students. Wonderful how that worked! Each day has enough excitement to keep enjoying these last weeks of this school year.

M:PhysEd clothes W:Social Studies Test

T: Medieval Festival-(clothes&food)

F:Mission$, Memory Work, Spelling #31

Devotions: T-John & F-Wesley

Hy50:1   Rev21:1&2

Grade 4B

What beautiful weather we have been graced with this week. The air definitely has a more summer-like feel to it. Thankfully there has been a lovely breeze most days, so our classroom has been quite comfortable. In our Church History classes we have been focusing on the spreading of the gospel to all nations by learning about mission work and all the organizations, such as Wycliffe Bible Translators and MAF, that help them in this important work. We will be wrapping up this unit with a test on Tuesday. In Math we have been busy making placemats and learning about concepts such as how to find area and perimeter. We will be having a small test on Wednesday. On the forefront of most of the minds and conversations of Grade 4 is the upcoming Medieval Festival this coming Thursday. We have finished most of our discussions on the Middle Ages and are now looking to finish up our lapbooks this coming week. The students can be heard, excitedly, talking to each other about their costumes and roles for the day.   Please make sure to have your child’s food selection here first thing in the morning. There will be one more note coming home in regards to last minute details. Look for it in your child’s agenda. Have a wonderful weekend and a most blessed Sunday. SO

Memory Work: Hymn 50:1

Text: (two weeks) Revelation 21:1,2

Tuesday: Church History Test

Wednesday: Math Test

Thursday: Medieval Festival

Devotions: M. Karlee, Tu. Victoria, W. Jordan, Th. Pope and Nuns, Fr. Justin

Grade 5

Salutations from Grade five! Our exciting news this week is that Miss Buist came to visit us on Thursday! It was wonderful to see her and to hear all about her experiences over the last few weeks. We thank God for her recovery so far. And thanks for the popsicles, Miss Buist 🙂 Soon we will begin our novel study “Mystery at Cranberry Farm”. This will be a nice change from our regular LA routine. For our next art project, we will need some help collecting some items… each student will need a disposable water bottle, and a collection of bits and bobs. Things such as shells, gems, old keys, buttons, beads, clips, bottle caps and other random objects would be great! I will supply items for them as well. Lastly, we hope to go on a class trip next week Friday, June 3 to Queen’s Park in Toronto. This is in connection with our study about Canadian government. We hope to have a tour and a mock debate on the floor of the Legislative Chamber. Unfortunately, the MPPs are not scheduled to meet on this date, but we are excited to go anyway! We will need a few parent volunteers to accompany us. More information will be sent via email – keep an eye on your inbox. Have a lovely weekend!

Spelling words: apartment, brought, program, basement, specially, writing, video, until, keyboard, movement, started, entertainment, bought, battles, thought, fought

Devotions:M- Timera, T- Zach, W- Kade, T-Caleb

Memory work: Hymn 43:1-3

Grade 6A

Despite the warmer temperatures we were able to complete a lot of work this week. Please remember to bring a refillable water container to school and a special request from those at Crawford Lake to do so for the trip on Monday. We also plan to visit Anchor next Wednesday afternoon sharing some of the songs we like to sing. With what we learned in math class about coordinates, we incorporated into a ‘search for me’ challenge following the coordinates given. Enjoyed by all especially the part about getting out of class into the cooler hallways! It was nice to see Caleb’s smiling face this week during a quick visit. He hopes to join the class again next week. Have a blessed weekend, CV

Devotions: T-Kendra W-Caleb Th-Austin F-Matthew

Josh.1:8,9-June 2 Ps.118:1-June 3

Vocab Test-June 2   SS Quiz-June 3

Grade 6B

We had a busy week here in 6B! In Church History we looked at the life and death of John Huss and have begun to look at William Tyndale. Students have enjoyed discussing what was going on in the church and government during that time period. In Literature we have been reading about how Awasin and Jamie prepare to settle in for the winter in the Barrenlands, as our weather gets warmer theirs gets colder! In Social Studies this week we read about how the Northwest coastal Indians lived, how their culture and daily life was characterized by their surroundings. We also looked at the different types of houses that the aboriginals lived in and are excited to go see a longhouse on Monday! On Monday we will be heading to Crawford Lake, no volunteers are needed as it is a guided tour. Please remind your children to bring water bottles, wear appropriate clothing and shoes and wear bug spray as we will be in a forest for a time! Please also remind your children to bring water bottles to school as the weather gets warmer! Have a lovely weekend! MDB

Memory Work Text: Names of the Judges (June 2)

Memory Work Song: Hymn 12:1 (June 3)

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

Grade 7A

Hot off the press, the class published their accounts of the Rebellions of 1837 in Upper Canada. Ask your child about all the details involving Radicals, Moderates and Tories. We’ll carry on with hieroglyphics and tomb paintings as well as relief sculptures in Art next week. In Science we’ve discussed whether oil forms over a long period of time from decaying matter or if God has created a set amount. Next week the big event will be shipping out and participating in drills at a nearby military base. Enjoy your weekend.

Grade 7B

As we move to the month of June, excitement seems to be building. Next week Thursday and Friday we may look forward to our overnight stay in the barracks at Fort George, experiencing what it was like to be a soldier in 1812. In L.A. we continue to make our way through the Hobbit, while in History we are studying the development of Upper and Lower Canada through the rebellions of 1837. Looking ahead to next week:

Devotions week of May 30 – Emma

Devotions week of June 6 – Juanita

Thursday & Friday – Field trip to Fort George

Grade 8

As the weather warms up and May begins to close we begin a sort of reflection period in Grade 8. Ottawa forms have gone home and it would be nice have those returned asap. Graduation preparations have also started and excitement is growing. Yet we still have a lot of work left to do between today and the end of June. Here are some things for next week: History quiz Wednesday; Science quiz Thursday. MW: Ps. 138: 2; Cheers, Mr. J