General News

We continue with our study of the final cluster of the Fruit of the Spirit- faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. This week, a few words on self-control – “…make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love…” (2 Peter 1:5ff). At the time Peter wrote his letter, false teachers were saying that self-control was not needed because deeds do not help the believer anyway (2 Peter 2:19). We believe that deeds cannot save us, but it is absolutely false to think that they are unimportant. We are saved so that we can grow to resemble Christ and so that we can serve others. God wants to produce his character in us. But to do this, he demands our discipline and effort. As we obey Christ who guides us by his Spirit, we will be able to develop self-control, not only with respect to food and drink, but also with respect to our emotions and our actions.

Greetings from the school everyone on this beautiful Friday as we bring the second week of June to a close. We thank the Lord for the many blessings we could receive during the course of this week and pray for His continued blessing through the busyness of the remaining two weeks of the school year.

It was good to see Miss Buist at school earlier this week. She was in for a couple of mornings to observe in the Grade 1 and Kindergarten classes in anticipation of teaching Grade 1B in September. May the Lord continue to bless her recovery. May our Heavenly Father continue to be with all who need Him in a special way.

Construction update: This week, work continued with the installation of utilities and the HVAC system, more painting was done, and the lattice-work for the drop ceilings was completed in most of the rooms. We continue to be thankful for the progress that is being made.

A few items for your attention:

*The Grade 7 classes had a great outing last week Thursday and Friday. They thoroughly enjoyed their stay at Fort George participating in different activities that reflected life as a soldier during the War of 1812. After spending the night in the Fort, they had beautiful weather as they toured the Niagara Falls area on Friday.

*At 8:15 this morning, the track and field athletes from Grades 7&8 and their coaches set off to run, jump, and shot put at the Regional Track and Field meet hosted by Timothy Christian School at Mohawk Sports Park in Hamilton. This is the last major athletic event of the school year for the senior students. We wish the athletes all the best as they strive to achieve their personal best in whatever events they are participating. Parents are reminded that they need to pick up their athletes from Mohawk Sports Part anytime after 3:00 p.m.

* The students in Grades K-6 continue to be busy as well getting ready for our local field day planned for next week Friday, June 17. Please don’t forget to apply sun screen to your child(ren), send along a water bottle or two, and include a salty snack for the day, especially if it’s going to be sunny and hot. Included with today’s Chronicle, is a list of the teams and the schedule of events. The grade eight students will be assisting the teachers at the various events. The students and parents also look forward to a hot dog lunch which will once again be provided by the Ladies’ Auxiliary. Thank you very much in advance for this special treat.

*Library News: Students in Grades 1-7 have until next week Friday to return their library books so please check your shelves, children’s bedrooms, and any other places a stray library book may be found. We would like our year end inventory to be complete. Thank you for your cooperation.

*Year End Trips: Students, staff, and chaperons are looking forward to their year end trip to Marineland on Tuesday, June 21. As of today, parents may no longer sign up to join us for the trip. As there is no room on the buses, parents will need to car pool to Marineland. Parents who join the trips may not take along their pre-school children. All parents who have signed up to come along will be assigned a group of students to chaperone 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. Please also keep in mind the protocol for class trip volunteers. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

For the trip, departure and arrival time are as follows: leave John Calvin School at 8:30 a.m. and return to the school at approximately 5:30 p.m. Parents will need to pick up their children from the school. As per usual, the Student Fund kicks in a significant portion of the cost of the trip but cannot carry it all. Thus we ask that each child contribute $10.00 to a maximum of $30.00 per family. This contribution should be brought to the school as soon as possible. If you pay for the trip and send the money with one of your children, please put a note in the agenda of your other children. It makes record-keeping easier. Beyond that there is no need for students to bring any spending money. This year we would again ask that all students wear John Calvin gym t-shirts while on the trip.

Unfortunately, there are only three buses are available for our trip. The transportation committee has been hard at work trying to find another bus but none are available, even from STC. Therefore, we have the following request: If you are able to drive students to Marineland, please give the school a call. We would need room for approximately 50 students to be transported by van/car. Thank you very much for your cooperation in this matter. Also, the Grade 7 students will be at school that day so they will need to be picked up by their parents at 3:00.

*Busing for the last week of school: As mentioned earlier, since no bus has been found to replace the bus going to Ottawa, we are down to three buses for the last week of school. Therefore we have come up with the following schedule for the week of June 20-24. Parents who have children on these buses will need to bring their children to school and pick them up. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Monday- Mrs. Vis’s bus

Tuesday- Mrs. VanLuik’s bus

Wednesday- Mrs. Visser’s bus

Thursday- Mrs. Apperloo’s bus

Friday- Mrs. Vis’s bus

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.

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

*Friday, June 17 is a Guido pre-exam study day so Guido buses will not be running. This means that our buses will be running the afternoon routes in reverse with all that means for timing at the morning stops.

*Grades K-6 year end trip to Marineland on Tuesday, June 21.

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

*You are reminded of the closing assembly on Friday, June 24 beginning at 11:00 a.m. in the school gym.

*The last day of school is a half-day. Students will be dismissed at 11:45 a.m. and the buses will be leaving at 11:50.

*Graduation on Monday, June 27.

Enjoy your weekend everyone and we’ll touch base again next week Friday, D.V.             G. Hofsink

Classroom News

Kindergarten

This coming Friday there will be NO school for KA on Thursday as both KA and KB will be here on Friday for Field Day! Please be sure to send summer hats, sunscreen and a water bottle clearly labelled! It is a busy and fun day and is impossible for the Kindergarten teachers to keep track of all the children belongings. Memory Work is due Mon/Tues this week. Hymn 67:1, and 1 Corinthians 12:12. Please remember all library books were due back this past week so if you have any at home you will get a reminder.

Have a wonderful weekend. S.L/M.D.

Grade 1

This week we could welcome Miss Buist to our Grade One classrooms to get a feel of how things are done in Grade One. We are thankful that the Lord has blessed her with a good recovery, and pray that He will continue to bless the healing process that in due time she may take up her task here at JCS. In Bible we are enjoying the stories of Daniel, and have seen how God cares for His people in exile. We have finished another Math unit with a test this week, and will begin a unit on problem solving in the coming week. We do have about ten spelling words left to learn this year; they will be added to the agenda this week. The last memory work for the year is the Lord’s Prayer. Even though most students already know it, we ask that you will go over it with them at home as well. We are looking forward to field day on Friday and hope to see many of you there. Have a great weekend and a blessed Sunday. Til next week. jvb/hb

Grade 2

With three weeks remaining in our studies, Grade 2 has begun our visual countdown in the classroom. Each day we get to read a fun instruction such us reading outside, switching seats for the day, etc. We have completed our final Bible unit and we will turn our attention to a Church History unit on Mission. Have a great weekend! HV/RG

Memory Work: Hymn 9

Spelling words: Review

Grade 3

We had a visitor in grade three this week! Thanks to Mr. Case Heemskerk, for sharing his talents in singing! Thanks for the opportunity! We are busy putting the finishing touches on our French Plays! We can’t wait to perform them WITH our props! We have one more Bible unit left dealing with the book of Judges! Please check your child’s agenda for the Bible test on Joshua that was done on Friday. We finished presenting our community projects. What a wonderful learning opportunity. Mrs. Poort and Miss B. both learned so many new facts on farming, mining, forestry, and fishing! Thank you, grade three! We totally enjoyed your entertaining presentations too. Great group work and team effort! We can’t wait for Track and Field on Friday. Please remember to wear your gym clothes and sunscreen and bring a salty snack. Just a reminder to> bring in the monies for the trip to Marineland.> Finally, thank you to our class moms, Mrs. Sophia Dam and Mrs. Carrie DeVries for all their time and help in our classes.   And… our librarian>Mrs. Mary Hummel for being there to check our library books in and out. Thanks for your patience and helping us find books too. On that note, please bring in all your LIBRARY books asap!! Merci. > J.B./M.P.

Text: Psalm 24:1-6; Psalm 23:1

Words: friend, independent, favourite, exciting, hole, whole, community, impossible, unhappiness, first, which

Grade 4A

We have been enjoying our new novel study this week, Charlotte’s Web. In Science the new topic of Rocks and Minerals is very interesting. So many students brought special rocks to school that we have a whole show table! How much there is to learn! We have seen how the earth is built up of layers, and how earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes can occur. We have noticed that we are living in a relatively safe area of the earth. What powers of nature and good care of our Lord for us and our families! You will have noticed that the math packages went home; check to see what a variety of different activities are part of this subject. Please do not let the packages disappear, but look through them to encourage your child in the work they have done! Please remember to search your homes, and send in any stray library books.

M- Phys ED clothes T-Phys Ed clothes F- Track & Field, MM$,

Memory work. – Ps.76:1 Rev21:3&4

Devotions: T:Annika F:Jewel

Grade 4B

Another week is behind us. In Grade 4B we have finally wrapped up our Medieval Unit with the handing in of our lapbooks. The students enjoyed creating these and most did a fabulous job. Make sure to ask to see them when they come home next week. We are now spending time on Science as we study Rocks and Minerals. This past Wednesday (Tuesday for 4A) the students presented their French play Comment Y Aller to their class. Well done Grades 4; you did a fantastic job. There is much that still needs to be wrapped up in all our studies so Grade 4 is still hard at work. Have a restful weekend and a blessed Sunday. SO

Memory Work: Ps 27:1 ** for Thursday since Friday is Field Day

Text: (two weeks) Revelation 21:3,4

Devotions: M. Mya, Tu. Stephen, W. Eli, Th. Alayna

Grade 5

We’ve begun our new unit “Math in Energy”. We’ve been learning how to organize and calculate energy data. Perhaps you could share your energy invoice with your child – how many kW does your family use per month? We are nearing the end of our Church History unit. We’ve learned and reflected on God’s goodness in defending his Church through the ages. We will be switching back to Bible stories next week. We hope to practice and perform our French plays over the next two weeks – ask your child which character they are 🙂 We will be discussing Canadian political elections and plan to hold our own campaign and election… stay tuned. Have a wonderful weekend under God’s care!

Memory Work: Hymn 55:1, Revelation 22:18-19

Devotions: M- Weston T- DJ W- Ava T- Natasha F-Kiera

Grade 6A

The students look forward to being leaders and runners for next week’s track and field day. Please wear Phys. Ed shirts, sunscreen and bring refillable water bottles that are labelled. Those who are leaders need to bring a clipboard from home. In our discussions about the book of Joshua, we heard how the Canaanites’ hearts were melting in fear because of the powerful deeds of the God of Israel, how Israel conquered Jericho and Ai, and of several memorials that were set up to remember in years to come. The students are working on completing a poster for one of the forerunners. We have also discussed the voyages and findings of the Vikings and Christopher Columbus. Have a blessed weekend. CV

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

Grade 7A

Next week we’ll wrap up our Science unit dealing with pure substances and mixtures and we’ll start investigating interactions within ecosystems, beginning with levels of life: individuals, populations and communities. “The most perfect school of Christ since the time of the apostles” will be our focus in Calvin’s Geneva. We’ll also learn why our school is named after him. Our radio plays are coming along nicely as students perfect their timing, dramatization and sound effects. We’ll review our chapter in Physical Geography dealing with agriculture and then move on to a unit ending performance task. We had great weather and enjoyed the track and field tournament, both the athletic and fellowship aspects. Enjoy your weekend.

Grade 7B

This week we were able to complete our Church History unit on John Calvin. We also finished reading “The Hobbit”, and students are now working on a diarama of their favourite scene. Next week will be my final week in the classroom as I will be heading to Ottawa with the grade 8 students. Mr. Debruin will be taking my place during the last week of school. KB

Devotions week of June 13 – Noah

Devotions week of June 20 – Dylan

Grade 8

As we close out another busy week, we find ourselves and the school bustling with activity. This week we enjoyed a wonderful visit to Janco steel and to Tigercat Industries. Today we travel to Mohawk Sports Park for our Track and Field meet. Enjoy your weekend. Cheers, Mr. J