General News

Greetings from the school everyone as we bring another week, and the month of September to a close. It may be hard to believe but we have come to the end of September. When we return to school on Monday we will already be three days into October. May the Lord continue to provide parents and teachers with all they need as, together, they instruct His covenant children about His Word and His creation.

We congratulate bus drivers, Garett and LeeAnna VanIperen, with the birth of their fourth son, Andrew Garettson. He is a new brother for Joshua in Grade KA. All is well with mom and son, and the rest of the family, too. (“Our children all are gifts of God, our 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 Garett and LeeAnna with all that they need as they raise their children in the fear of His Name.

From the school, we wish to extend a BIG thank-you to the Voucher Committee for all the work that they do in helping to keep the tuition rates reasonable for the school through the voucher program. Currently between $70 000 and $75 000 is raised each year for John Calvin School. If you are not making use of this fundraiser, we encourage you to consider using vouchers for your grocery purchases. The entire school community benefits when that amount of money, or more, is being raised each year. May the Lord continue to bless the work of all those involved in the Voucher Committee.

A few items for your attention:

*The annual fall food drive for the West Lincoln Community Care Food Bank continues until Friday, October 7 at which time the food will be delivered to the Food Bank. Currently, the shelves at the bank are quite empty indicating that, once again, there is a real need in this community. Grade 7 students have been diligent in reminding us of the venture. Baskets have been set up in different locations in the school and are starting to fill up; in fact, some were filled to the point of over flowing. That is great to see. Thank you very much everyone for your continuing participation in this act of service for the broader community.

*A good chunk of the money from the chocolate bar fundraiser is in; however, there is still quite a bit more that has to come in (@35 cases worth). Let’s strive to get that in by the end of next week so that we can wrap up the fundraiser before the Thanksgiving weekend. Reminder: Please do not return unsold bars.

*In beautiful conditions for a soccer tournament, the boys’ and girls’ soccer teams had a good day last week Saturday. They worked hard and did their best. The girls’ team made it to the semi-finals but were defeated by the eventual champions, Maranatha-Fergus, 1-0. The boys’ team, however, did not make the play-off round this year. Thank you coaches for the time and effort you put into getting the teams ready for tournament day.

*Fire Prevention Week runs from October 9th – 15th with the theme being, “Don’t wait – check the date”. It is a reminder to replace smoke alarms every ten years. The West Lincoln Fire and Emergency Services will be conducting a fire drill and inspection of all schools, including John Calvin. No notice of the date and time of the inspection will be provided in advance. This year our Grade 4 students will be participating in the “Fire Chief for a Day” contest. Participants will be drawing a home escape plan showing two ways out of the home. Paper for the design has been provided by the Fire Department. All the best students!

*Training continues for one more day next week before the cross country meet on Friday, October 7 at Dundas Valley Conservation Area. The coaches are once again planning to take the athletes for a run at Felkers Falls Conservation area next week Tuesday during the lunch hour. They will be taking a bus to the conservation area. Runners continue to be encouraged to train at home as well. All the best at the meet runners! Thanks again Mrs. Heemskerk and Mrs. Groen for training the athletes for this year’s run.

*Bullying Awareness Week: We had a very informative, interactive, and encouraging week as we dealt with this sensitive but very important topic. At the beginning of the week, Mrs. deVisser and Mr. Hofsink led assemblies that helped us get the theme week started. This was followed by presentations by Staff Sergeant Marty Schulenberg on Tuesday afternoon; one to Grades K-4 and the other to Grades 5-8. In his Grades K-4 presentation he focused on STOP, TALK, WALK when a child is confronted with a bullying situation; and in his Grades 5-8 presentation he focused on Cyberbullying. Parents can still join us for the closing assemblies as they are scheduled for this afternoon: Grades K-4 from 1:00-1:30 and Grades 5-8 from 1:40-2:30. The assemblies will feature posters and skits the students have worked on during the week.

Things we learned this week include: Bullying happens and we need to deal with it (don’t ignore it); What does the Bible say; in all situations and circumstances, we must always be ready to answer the question, What would Jesus want me to do?; “Do to others as you would have them do to you”; Be a Helpful Bystander; Be a Bucket Filler not a Bucket Emptier; show the Fruit of the Spirit; encourage one another and build each other up; and being a servant to one another. Ask your son or daughter about what else they learned.

Reminders:

*You are welcome to join us for the Thanksgiving Assembly on Friday, October 7 at 1:45 p.m. in the school gym.

*Thanksgiving Monday and PD Day Tuesday means no school for students.

*Due date for the News and Views contributions is Tuesday, October 11.

*Fruit of the Vine theme week from October 12-14. Details to follow in next week’s Chronicle.

*Thursday, October 14 is the first Hep B vaccination for the Grade 7 students.

*A head’s-up to the students in Grades 7&8: The annual ANCHOR WORK DAY is coming up at the end of the month. The usual information about the event will be sent home next week. Perhaps the students and parents can begin to think about the odd jobs in which students can be involved.

Have a great weekend and a blessed Lord’s Day. Until next week. D.V.           G Hofsink

Classroom News

Kindergarten

Wow, September has flown by and we are already looking at October! Next week we will learn to recognize and print the letter “Ii”. We will continue to study patterns in Math. In Bible history, we will find out more about the patriarchs of Israel, going from Abraham to Isaac. We will also continue looking for “drops” to put into other people’s buckets. In relation to bullying awareness this past week, we will try to be bucket fillers! Our classmates are each one of God’s precious children, and we will try to reflect that in how we treat each other.

Grade 1

This has been a very busy week in Grade 1. The students have come up some very good strategies to prevent bullying. We have also completed both a Bible and Social Studies test which should have gone home already. A lot of students have brought items for the food drive. We have until Oct. 7 to fill the bins in the school. On Tuesday, we spent a beautiful day at the Feenstra’s Orchard. Many thanks to Mr. & Mrs. Feenstra for allowing us to visit their farm. We enjoyed the apple cider, the apples, making our apple craft and the hike on the trail. Thanks as well to the bus driver as well as the moms who came along to supervise. Pictures have been sent home with your child, please look for ordering instructions in the package. A lot of the students have mastered their sight words in the agenda, but some would benefit from more regular practice. Enjoy your weekend and have a blessed Sunday. AB/JvB

Memory Work for Friday, Oct. 7: Psalm 131:1; Gen17:7

Spelling words: are, for, he, on, was

Sight Vocabulary: is, Ted, Ted’s, draw, pet, pets, read, colour

Grade 2

The students in grade 2 have worked hard this week. We have learned a lot about what it means to be a bully and how to stop bullies. We will stop, talk and walk. The students have been putting what they have learned into practice and we hope that they will continue to do so. Looking forward to next week, the students will write a Bible test on Wednesday and all other classes will continue as usual. Have a great weekend! HV/JB

Memory Work: Hymn 15:1; The Apostles

Spelling: saw, have, why, came, family

Grade 3

Hello and welcome back. We could enjoy the beautiful Bible stories about God’s perfect creation. We could also ponder the fact that sin came into the world and spoiled God’s perfect work. Yet, He does not leave us, but has given us His saving promises; praise be to Him alone! In Math we could do a review. Church History ended in an extensive review and quiz. Well done, boys and girls! Doing activities in the gym keeps us fit. Contact a previous Grade 3 parent to see if you need to borrow a Pioneer outfit… to keep cost and sewing down. Mrs. Gail McKinnell came to our class to talk about dairy farmers in pioneer times. Again, what an interesting presentation. Ask your child all about it. Thanks also to Mrs. Bartels for coming in and showing us a butter churn and an ice cream maker! So cool! Bully Awareness Week was a time to read, write, pray, sing, work, draw, and find answers to conflicts in real life, and have interesting assemblies. The organizers did a great job, thanks so much. Let’s all work together to not be a silent bystander, but one who loves, serves and cares for others! Just a reminder, every Monday and Thursday we have P.E. Please provide gym clothes for these days. Thank you so much for your help and ongoing prayers. MP/JB

Hymn 53:2; The Ten Plagues

Spelling Words: city, community, exciting, countries

Grade 4A

At the visit to the pond we learned alot, even about life and death. We also had a bucket with fresh fish from the pond in our class, but, sadly, the biggest one died and the others were ailing. Nice to hear how much the student understand about healthy living conditions for living organisms. That is what we are studying researching. We hope to have a test for Science next week Friday, just before the Thanksgiving weekend begins. We hope to do a review together, but it is always nice to share the info package at home. The students wrote their Bible tests on Thursday, and it looks like they all did quite well. I hope to hand them back to them early next week. We will carry on with learning about the kings of Israel. The Math worksheets come home on Fridays and if you glance over them you will see that it is going well with all of us. The only difference among the students is the speed at which we do the work, but we are all very good at addition with three digits, with regrouping and place value. Remember to send your picture orders back next week (by Oct6). We wish you a blessed weekend!

Grade 4B

We had another good week in Grade 4B. The students did great on their Bible tests.  HH

Spelling words: alive, bikes, kids, drive, tie, seat, till, tied, life, cried, went, wide, die, hike

Memory Work: Hymn 13:1,2 (October 7) 1 Samuel 15:22 (October 7)

Grade 5

Suddenly Fall weather is upon us. While we are sad to see the warm days of summer disappear, the cooler temperatures are definitely easier on our concentration. In our Bible classes we continue studying the early days of Jesus’ life while in Social Studies we are learning about what kinds of entertainment the ancient Romans enjoyed and what kind of life was being lived during the very time our Lord Jesus was on this Earth. There will be a test on all things Roman on Thursday while there is a Math test scheduled for Friday which involves adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing whole and decimal numbers and the different ways we can represent numbers (written, expanded and standard forms). We have sincerely enjoyed participating in numerous activities during Bully Awareness Week and we pray that we can continue to remember all we learned and discussed throughout this year. Have a wonderful weekend and a blessed Sunday. SO

Text: (two weeks) Luke 2: 10-14

Memory Work: Psalm 29:1

Thursday: Rome Test

Friday: Math Test

Devotions: M. Ava, Tu. Mya, W. Annika, Th. Jewel, Fr. Anjelica

Grade 6

We had a busy week in Grade 6! In Church History we have been looking at the struggle between the church and the state in the Middle Ages. In French we have been using flash cards to learn the parts of the body, the weather, and numbers. In Literature we have been looking at the theme of bravery as well as connecting our novel to Psalm 147, where we learn how our Lord counts the stars and calls them all by name, a great comfort for us His children. In Science we made an airfoil and tested it and “made” lift and drag with paper. Next week Wednesday, October 5, we will be heading to the Canadian Heritage Warplane museum for the day. Since it is a guided tour, we do not need any volunteers to come with. Please remind students to pack an easy lunch that does not require a microwave! This week we also took some time to focus on bullying awareness. We read some books, listened to some audiobooks, and listened to some songs about bullying, made bullying awareness posters, and were able to have some interesting discussions. We also had a few assemblies this week to learn more about bullying and what being a bystander is. Today students presented skits, songs, and poems that they have been working on in our closing assembly. It was wonderful to talk with each other about how we are all precious in our Father’s sight and that our Maker does not make mistakes in His creation. Take some time to ask your children what they learned about bullying this week! Have a lovely weekend! MDB & CV.

Science Test: October 7

MW Text: Genesis 9:12-16 (October 13)

MW Song: Hymn 74:1 (October 4); Hymn 74:4 (October 7)

Devotions 6A: T. Kade, Th. Elyse, F. Liam

Devotions 6B: M. Avery, T. Dylan, Th. Ava, F. Kiera

Grade 7A

Ask your child how they did on our first Math test this past week. Our next chapter will focus on number theory: primes, composites, factors and multiples. Our next chapter in History will include the counter reformation, Jesuits, monopolies and fur traders. We spent a bit of time this past week discussing and dealing with anti-bullying activities. Of particular interest was the discussion surrounding cyber bullying as well as being a bystander. In Bible History next week we’ll learn how we look at the outside of people but the LORD examines the heart. Also next week we’ll get back to our Language Arts unit on short stories and their characteristics. Enjoy your weekend.

Grade 7B

Bully Awareness Week was a great success this week! We will be wrapping up our Math unit on Number Sense this week. We will be continuing looking at how the LORD rejects Saul and anoints a King after His heart. Our soccer unit will also be coming to a close on Monday. In geography, we will be talking about how landforms change both naturally and by people. Friday will be the Cross Country Run for those who are participating. Have a good weekend!

Current Events – Monday–Liam F., Tuesday – Claire D., Wednesday – Jenna D., Thursday – Caleb D., Friday – Reuben B.

Devotions – Monday – Lydia P., Tuesday – Jordan S., Wednesday – Nathaniel S., Thursday – Quinton S., Friday – Tara S.

Grade 8A

It was a special week at JCS as the school focused on Bullying Awareness. This lead to several good conversations in Gr. 8A, as we focused on the role of the bystander and how our words can so often have more impact than we ever imagined. In class we discussed how populations grow and develop and the various factors that can affect those numbers. For next week, we have a math test and a history test planned for Tuesday. Many also will look forward to the cross country run on next Friday. Till next week. Cheers, Mr. J

Grade 8B

Another week has flown by, and we are already at the last day of September. We have spent our Bible classes this week looking at the early ministry of Christ. In Science we have been looking a little closer at cells and the function of each of its parts. What an amazing creator we have. KB Looking ahead to next week:

Devotions week of October 3 – Shelby

Devotions week of October 10 – Jackson

Monday – Spelling Dictation

Tuesday – Math Test; History Test

Wednesday – Science Test

Thursday – MW – Psalm 27:6 & John 1:8-14

Friday – Cross Country run