General News

“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called…” (Ephesians 4:1) Throughout the year, the teachers will be taking the theme text and weaving into it the six pieces of the Armour of God. We are engaged in a spiritual battle— all believers find themselves subject to Satan’s attacks because they are no longer on Satan’s side.  Thus, Paul tells us to depend on God’s strength and to use every piece of God’s armour to resist Satan’s attacks and to stand true to God in the midst of those attacks.  This week we pay attention to The Sword of the Spirit (the Word of God), the sixth and final piece of armour mentioned in Ephesians 6.  The sword is the only weapon of offense in this list of armour.  There are times when we need to take the offensive against Satan.  When we are tempted, we need to trust in the truth of God’s Word.  (NIV Life Application Bible)

Good Friday morning from the school as we bring this abbreviated week of learning and teaching at JCS to a close.  Even though it was short, there were a lot of things happening both inside and outside of the classroom.  Just check out the classroom news and the information about Pork Week.

Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with Mrs. deVisser, as she undergoes testing in order to determine the root cause of her health concerns.  May the Lord continue to be near to her and grant her and her family much patience during this time.

We congratulate Tim and Tiffany Breukelman with the birth of their son, Logan Edward.  He is a brother for Jasmine and Leah.  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 Tim and Tiffany with all they need as they raise their children in the fear of His Name.

Rev. E. Dethan and his family will be on furlough in the area from the beginning of October to the beginning of January.  Two of their children will be attending JCS during that time (Micah in Grade 7A and Sam in Grade 1A).  Micah has attended JCS on previous furloughs.  Welcome boys!

A few items for your attention:

*This afternoon a Blood Donor Clinic is taking place in our school gym.  If you are able to give blood, please consider heading to the school sometime between 3:00 and 8:00 and make your donation.  It would be much appreciated.

*The due date for picture orders is past.  Retakes are scheduled for Wednesday, November 7.

*Final reminder via the Chronicle:  As of this week, all boxes of chocolate are out of the school.  Thank you sellers!  Most of the money from the chocolate bar fundraiser is in; however, there is still some that needs to be returned.  Let’s get that in by the end of next week.  Thank you!

*Good effort last week Friday cross-country athletes.   The boys’ school team finished in 3rd place and the girls’ school team in 8th place.  The top finisher for the boys’ team was Eli DeVries (7th place out of 116 runners), and the top finisher for the girls’ team was Leah Alkema (24th place out of 100 runners).  Thanks again Mrs. Jenn Heemskerk for training the athletes for this year’s run.  Next on the tournament schedule for the school teams is volleyball.

*Yesterday, the Grades 5&6 and 7&8 cross-country school teams participated in the annual NACE meet held at Agape Valley Bible Camp.   It was a beautiful day for running and the students gave their best effort in all four races in which they participated.  The top runners for our school were as follows:  Grades 5&6 girls (Janaye Jonker, 10th), Grades 5&6 boys (Reuben Hofsink, 16th), Grades 7&8 girls (Timera Tenhage, 34th), and Grades 7&8 boys (Titus Hofsink, 5th).  The Grades 7&8 boys’ team received recognition for their third place finish.  Well done athletes and thanks again Mrs. Heemskerk.

*Pork Theme Week:  This past week the students and staff could enjoy their first theme week which focused on agriculture, specifically Suidae.  Every day the students and staff were busy with various pig-related activities.  Tuesday was Learning About Pigs Day plus the start of the colouring contest, a hog-calling demonstration, and a presentation about pig farming by Mr. John Breukelman.  Wednesday was Pig Lit Day during which much reading, writing, listening and speaking about pigs took place; including writing in Pig Latin and DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) with buddy readers. The same day, two piglets (John and Calvin) visited the school.  On Friday, one of their relatives, a pot-bellied pig named Ruby (courtesy the VanDam family) was introduced to the students and staff.  They have two but Gus was a bit too strong to take along.  Thursday was Pork Food Day where students and teachers could enjoy lunches with various pork products.  All the students were given a recipe card for Root Beer Pulled Pork.  Friday was Dress-Up Day when students and staff could dress up in pig costumes, wear pig colours, or make and wear pig masks.  The same day the finals for the hog-calling contest were held and the colouring contest winners were announced.  It was a great, fun-filled week.

*JCS Library:  The students in Grades K-8 have received plastic bags for library book care and protection.  Please use the bags to keep the books in good condition.  We also ask that the students show proper care and respect to the book bags as well.  Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

*With Remembrance Day not being too far off, the students will soon begin work (if they have not already done so) on the Royal Canadian Legion Poster, Poem, and Essay contest.  Entries need to be in on or by Friday, November 2.

Reminders:

*Please continue to collect tabs for cans for Jude VanVeen so he and his family can get a wheelchair for his sister, Anna.  We have a good collection going at JCS.  Thanks to all who have contributed so far.  Check out the video at this link  http://ctv.news/iZiDJ6j

*Veggie Chop-Chop fundraiser for the Grade 8 year-end trip is planned for Monday afternoon and Tuesday of next week in the JCS gym.

*The October issue of the News and Views will be distributed on Sunday, October 21.

*The Calvin Chronicle will not publish the week of October 22 because of the short week.

*Students and parents may enjoy a four-day weekend from October 25-28.  The staff has a PD Day on Thursday, October 25th and the Teachers’ Convention on Friday, October 26th.  Regular classes resume on Monday, October 29th.

*The annual ANCHOR WORK DAY is coming up in two weeks’ time.  The usual information about the event was sent home with your son or daughter today.  The confirmation slip needs to be returned on or by Monday, October 22.  It is good for the students in Grades 7&8 to be involved in this community service for one of our Reformed institutions.

Have a good weekend and a blessed day of worship, and we’ll communicate via the pages of the Chronicle again next week, the Lord willing.  G. Hofsink

Classroom News

Kindergarten

In kindergarten this week we had a lot of fun learning about pigs. On Tuesday KB was delightfully surprised by Rev. den Hollander who came and read them a story about two pigs named Norman and Sidney. On Wednesday KA was able to enjoy a visit to see two pigs whose names were John and Calvin. I wasn’t at school on Wednesday but I heard that it was a lot of fun! A big thank you to Mrs. deboersap who was able to fill in for me. Thursday and Friday were filled with pig activities which included dressing up like a pig!  Next week we are reviewing all of the letters we learned so far! In math class we are learning about patterns. In Bible  class we continue to learn about Isaac, Jacob, and Esau. Our memory work next week is Psalm 81:1 and Genesis 1:1.

Grade 1

We had a great ‘pig’ week!  We learned a lot about pigs and completed a lot of pig activities. We read books about pigs with our Grade 7 buddies and finished our colouring page for the colouring contest.  We also practiced our ‘pig’ calls and did a very good job of it. What a lot of fun! We will have finished our Bible unit on Tuesday with a test to follow on Wednesday.  Notes will be coming home on Tuesday.  Grade 1A+B are responsible for filling a ‘boy’ basket for the Winterfest.  Your child may bring in a new toy or a toonie to contribute to this basket. Have a blessed weekend!

Memory Work for Friday, October 19 – Psalm 81:2; The Twelve Sons of Jacob

Spelling Words:  as, his, I, they, with

Grade 2

Did you know pigs can oink louder than a jet airliner? Or that you can straighten the curly tail? (Check Youtube for a fun video!) This week has been full of pig stories, pig knowledge, pig food, and even a dress up day! Thanks for all the fun participation! Next week we will be having another Bible test on Wednesday and a Science test on Tuesday.  Our spelling words will be a review of all the words we’ve learned this far. Have a great weekend! BB/RG

Grade 3

Pigs, oinks, jokes, pigs in the Bible, hog-call contest, colouring contest, learning facts about pigs, pig stories, Les Trois Petits Cochons, PowerPoint, the movie Babe; what a great pig week we had. Thanks to all the organizers for the behind the scenes organization. Thank you parents and kids for bringing in so much pig stuff to share with the class, even a brother and mom of Miss B. came in and talked and read about pigs. Mr. C. Swaving visited us in class and told us about pigs and what the Bible teaches about these creatures. Ah, but we also did other work. In Math we are adding into the thousands with regrouping. Abram has to learn to trust God for protection. We practise our spelling words diligently, and we are learning about Pioneers. Next week Wednesday is a big day for Grade 3! We hope to get dressed up as Pioneers, take along a lunch (maybe pioneer style, check on- line for some ideas, no microwave:), and go on the bus to Burlington to visit Ireland House. For this trip the children have to bring $1.00 for the bus trip. It will be an all day affair. We are super excited! That’s it for now. Have a blessed weekend. MP/JB

Memory work: Ps. 8 : 4, 5;  Text: Gen. 12 :1-3 (two weeks)

Wednesday PIONEER DAY! Bring $1

Monday and Thursday P. E. clothes, Tuesday Library

Friday Mission $

Grade 4

Grade 4A’s (Miss H) class is having a church history quiz on Tuesday, October 16.  Both classes will be starting up a Bible unit on David. Because of conflicting schedules, Teachers College/Seminary/Guido trip has been moved till the end of November. Stay tuned for more details. In Math we continue with subtraction. Spelling: rode, cabin, sail, throat, camp, rope, said, know, boats, blow, alone, float, own, closed (Grade 4B) participant, temporary, purchase, ignore

Memory Work: Hymn 76:3 (Oct. 19) Hymn 60:1,4 (Oct. 24) Psalm 100: 1-3 (Oct. 19)

Grade 5

Pork week is wrapping up as I write this. We can look back on a fun time learning about all things pig!  Over the course of next week we will continue our novel study, Call it Courage, as well as our Bible unit about Jesus’ ministry.  In our study of Ancient Rome we plan to begin a project recreating a Roman soldier’s uniform.  Look around your house for cardboard, foil, pie plates, and the like and bring it in so we can get started!

Devotions 5A: M. Micah, Tu. Jude, W. Jacob, Th. Leanne, F. Vanessa.  5B: M. Eden, Tu. Mason, W. Reuben, Th. Trinity, F. Parker.  Have an enjoyable weekend!  RK/KVL

Grade 6

This past week was a crazy week. All kinds of different things were on the agenda. We finalized the unit about Flight and prepare for Canada and its trading partners. We finalized the first section of our literature textbook A World Of Literature and put up the bulletin board for our first novel study, Number the Stars. We finalized the first chapter of our Math book. The students learned  about all kinds of different pigs and were encouraged to develop a winning HOG-CALL for the school-wide contest. Buzy, buzy! Sometimes we wonder: how they remember all the facts and thoughts we try to bring across, but they are doing well. In the midst of all this, we were visited by John and Calvin, the lovely pigs, and an interesting lesson about pig-life on the farm was presented. Thank you, Mr. Breukelman, for your wisdom in the pig-spheres. The students really appreciated your presentation. We are looking forward to Winterfest and we ask you to encourage your children to bring an item for the soup basket that is going to be for sale during the festivities. Let us, as grade 6 community, put a grand and overflowing basket together as contribution to the fundraising activities. Some examples: soup mixes, stocks, seasonings, soup ladles, long wooden spoons, bowls, recipe books, and crackers. All these items are very welcome. If you cannot contribute one of these items we encourage you to send a dollar to redeem your family form the guilt that will rest upon you…(😉) We will place this “advertisement” in this Chronicle again next week, so we won’t forget to fill a nice basket. We wish you a blessed and relaxing weekend. CVA, IdeV

Grade 7A

We start off by welcoming Micah Dethan into our classroom. We trust he will enjoy his time with us over the next few months. The students have read their book pertaining to their Independent Study. To show what they’ve learned, they’ve been given a “book report” to complete. This report asks them to define new words, list interesting facts, illustrate diagrams and schematics, and describe their opinion about the book.  Next up int he Study is an “author profile”. Our Bible History unit covering King Saul has come to an end. The test involved the students choosing eight questions to answer from a possible twenty-one. These questions required students to explain an opinion or position, a task that some students found challenging. Our next unit will be Church History and Martin Luther. For a change of pace in Mathematics we’ve switched to geometry, ask your child how they’re enjoying it. Enjoy your weekend.

Grade 7B

After a nice Thanksgiving weekend, a short week comes to a close in Grade 7B. We have come to end of our Bible History Unit on Saul and will begin our Church History unit on Martin Luther next week. In public speaking, we have begun doing some impromptu speaking with table talks. In independent study, we have come to the conclusion of the contents of our book and have moved on to creating an author profile. Devotions – Titus H. Have a great weekend!

Grade 8A

It was another great week in 8A. Together we achieved a 78% class average on our Unit 1. Well done 8! We dug a little deeper into Choropleth Maps and how they help Geographers communicate different sets of data. In Bible we reviewed the submissive and humble responses of both Mary and Joseph. Coming home this weekend will be the forms for the Ottawa trip. Please have them filled out ASAP. Have a blessed weekend. Cheers, Mr. J

Grade 8B

Bible and Geography tests have been returned to the students.  Please check to see how your child did.  Overall, the students gave a good account of what they have learned.  On Monday and Tuesday our regular learning activities will be interrupted somewhat with chopping and packaging veggies. Please encourage your child to catch up on work missed during holidays or sick days. (Unfortunately this will have to be done on their own time.)

Memory Work:  Psalm 33:1;  Joel 2:28-32 (October 24)