General News

Greetings everyone and Happy New Year!  Hopefully you had an enjoyable Christmas Break whether you spent it at home or on vacation.  May our Heavenly Father guide and bless the students, staff, parents, board, and committees throughout the Year of our Lord, 2019.  We do not know what the new year will bring but as long as we put our hope and trust in Him, we can move forward with whatever He puts on our path.

Mrs. Inge deVisser continues her recuperation from surgery.  On Wednesday, she received word that the biopsy of the lymph nodes they took at the time of her surgery revealed they were free of cancer.  Praise the Lord!  She now has to go back to Juravinski Hospital where they will check the area where they did the mastectomy to make sure it, too, is free and clear and won’t require any further treatment.  May the Lord continue to be near to her and her family.

We welcome Mrs. Rachel Tesfaye to the staff of John Calvin School.  As you know, she is teaching Grade 4B in place of Mrs. Lemstra who is on maternity leave.   All the best and the Lord’s blessing with your teaching task at JCS, Mrs. Tesfaye. Speaking of Mrs. Lemstra, we congratulate her and her husband Derek with the birth of their first born, Levi Stan.  All is well with mom and baby, and dad too. We also congratulate Ian and Janelle Dokter with the birth of their son, Andrew John.  He is a brother to Jacob (Grade 3B) and Keziah (Grade 1B).  All is well with mom and baby, 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, Book of Praise).  May our Lord provide the Lemstras and Dokters with all they need to raise their children in the fear of His Name.  We also congratulate Mrs. Elgersma on becoming a grandmother for the second time with the birth of a daughter (Emersyn Lynn) to her son, Blake, and his wife, Samantha.

The New Year assembly was led by Mrs. Poort who, speaking on Psalm 121, focused on how we have a “certain certainty” in Jesus Christ.  The guest speaker, Mr. John Kottelenberg (aka Papa John) spoke to the assembly audience about the work done by Word and Deed in Myanmar.  One of the girls (Lal) who our school supports through weekly mission money collections, lives in a home in Kaylamyo. Papa John challenged the students to provide him with 125 letters or pictures to take with him to this home when he returns there in February. Thank you Mrs. Poort and Papa John for the encouraging start to the new year.

A few items for your attention:

*Next week Friday, January 18 is a PD day.  All the staff will be attending the CRTS (Canadian Reformed Theological Seminary) Conference:  Do Not Hinder Them— Children and the Church.  The students may enjoy the day at home.

*On Monday, January 21, Mr. R. VanAndel, a vice-principal at Guido De Bres Christian high school will be speaking to the grade eight students about grade nine course selection and life at Guido.  The students will need to fill in a course selection sheet as part of their grade nine registration.

*On Monday, January 28, Guido de Bres Christian high school will be hosting a parent information evening for parents with children in Grades 6-8.  This meeting is especially helpful for parents whose oldest child will be entering Grade 9.

Reminders:

*Please continue to collect tabs for cans for Jude VanVeen so he and his family can get a wheelchair for his sister Anna.

*January 28th and 29th are PD Days for the staff.  The students may enjoy an extra long weekend.

*End of term report cards are scheduled to come home on Friday, February 1st with Parent-Teacher conferences for all parents to follow on Tuesday, February 5 and Thursday, February 7.

Have a good weekend everyone, and a blessed Sunday.  We’ll touch base again next week Friday, the Lord willing.                                 G. Hofsink

Classroom News

Kindergarten

We had a great week back in Kindergarten! The students are settling into their daily routines. Last week we were able to do various review activities, which were both helpful and fun for the students to recall what they learned before the break. We continued learning the numbers 6-10.  Many students have a grasp on them but some still struggle printing them. Please continue to practice at home. During our Bible lessons we focused on the 10 Plagues. This week we will be learning about the first Passover and the crossing is the Red Sea. This week Friday is a PD day. We wish you an enjoyable long weekend. Have a blessed Sunday and a lovely week! NR & JB

Letter of the week: Gg

Words of the week: go, black, white, six

Memory work due: Psalm 134:1

Grade 1

We are enjoying our Church History stories about a little girl named Maria.  Ask your child why they go to church and what the stories are about.  On Monday we hope to go on a field trip to tour the Smithville church building as part of this unit.  We have written a test on the short vowels and they should be in the school bags.  We have begun our unit on Transportation and are discovering the many ways we can travel on land, water, air and space.  Please take the time to review agenda and spelling words daily especially since this is a short school week.  Enjoy the extra day with your children.  Have a blessed Sunday.

Memory Work for Thursday, Jan. 17 – Ps. 142:1; 1 Sam. 16:7b

Spelling Words:  her, like, make, some, would

Grade 2

Welcome back to school! It’s good to be back, refreshed and ready to go! The students were full of stories about their exciting events over the break. And of course, Miss Boersema could return to school as Mrs. Vanderee! Congratulations on your wedding! Thank you yet for all the well wishes, cards, and gifts that were given in December. We have been testing the students on their math facts. Some have already earned their certificate.  Well done! In our Social Studies, we have looked at the food and homes of the Inuit people. The students were surprised at how different culture can be as a result of climate. Have a wonderful weekend! BV/RG

Memory work: Ps.90:1

Spelling: with,  snap,  to,  pull,  put

Grade 3

Hello and welcome back. We wish you a blessed new year, knowing that the LORD has our future in His hands. We may put our trust in Him. Mrs. Poort could speak about this beautiful comfort as she led the assembly, speaking on Ps. 121. Mr. (Papa John) Kottelenberg spoke about his time in Myanmar where one of our school sponsored children lives. We hope to make pictures and write letters to the home he is going to visit in February, DV. Thank you, Mr. Kottelenberg for showing us how these children are also blessed by the LORD. Congratulations to Jacob and his family with the birth of a baby boy, Andrew John. What a rich blessing from God. In Bible we have begun a new unit about Joseph. God works in mysterious ways using dreams to tell what is to come. In Math, we finished working on times tables and hope to turn to division next week. Mr. Popper’s Penguins keep us very entertained; the children so enjoy the novel. Electric charges keep us busy in Science with a test slated for next week Thursday. Yes, we have our routines back and enjoy being back. Have a blessed weekend and Sunday. MP/JB

Memory work: Ps. 139:13      Text: Ps. 23:1-3

Spelling words: about, especially, except, friendly, what

Monday and Thursday: gym clothes, Tuesday: Library, Friday: Mission $

Grade 4

Mr. and Mrs. Lemstra are happy to announce the birth of Levi Stan (7 pds 2 oz). All is well with mom and baby.

Spelling words (due Thursday Jan. 17) calf, pups, squirrel, dinosaur, colt, beaver, shark, chipmunk, trout, chicken, sheep, mare, visit, quick (grade 4B only — mischief, moist, adapt, habitat)

Memory work due Thursday Jan. 17 — Hymn 6:1, January 25 — Psalm 3:2 and Isaiah 40:30, 31

Grade 5

Grade Five has been hard at work since returning from our break.  In our Bible lessons we continue to learn about the mercy Jesus showed during His ministry on earth, and how we are to show mercy to our neighbours as well. God’s awesome wisdom and creativity are shown to us as we explore the world of the cell.  We are working as a class to create a paper cell; this project will need to be completed by Thursday. Our song for the week is Ps. 98: 4, and the text, John 15: 5 – 8, is due this week as well.  Devotions for 5A: M. Teagen, Tu. Merrit,  W. Hannah,  Th. Caiden.  And for 5B: M. Joel, Tu. Eden, W. Mason, Th. Reuben

Enjoy your weekend! RK & KVL

Grade 6

When discussing what happened with Judah and Tamar, we saw that despite man’s sin, God showed His steadfast love in continuing the line of Christ. With Joseph going to Egypt, the offspring of Abraham become a blessing to the nations as God promised. The students are writing journal entries as if they were Julilly, the slave, using the language that she would have used. During the keyboarding classes research has started for a disease that has been assigned. Work for this project will be completed at school. Students are encouraged to bring in money to support the purchase of a water filter for those in need of fresh water. Please bring in a kleenex box for our classroom. We continue to pray for a good recovery for Mrs. deVisser. Have a blessed weekend. SO/CVA

Grade 7A

We’re off to a good start in the new calendar year. In Science we’ll try and baffle our skin by way of an experiment; part of the experiment will also include a write up. We learned what made the Swiss Confederation so unique among other countries and territories in Europe during the Reformation; next we’ll be introduced to Ulrich Zwingli. Independent Study has us putting the finishing touches on our annotated bibliography reviewing a journal article on a topic we chose. Badminton will have our focus over the next few classes in P.E. Enjoy your weekend.

Grade 7B

The first full week of the 2019 calendar year is complete and we are right back to work. We continue where we left off in Bible History looking at how the LORD preserves David and his task and therefore preserves the line of Christ. In History, we are nearing the end of our look into the new province of Upper Canada, and are looking forward to exploring the War of 1812. In Math, we are also nearing the end of our Algebra unit and look forward to a test next week. Devotions – Ava W. Have a great weekend!

Grade 8A

It was nice to get back to work this week. Immediately Grade 8 got set to work reviewing Unit 4 from Math. In Bible we discussed the Sermon on the Mount, specifically who actually is ‘citizen of the kingdom’, and how are they instructed to live. Next week we will be having a mid-chapter test from Unit 4. Have a blessed weekend. Cheers, Mr. J

Grade 8B

We have been studying Jesus’ ministry on earth in our Bible lessons.  This week the students used ‘five principles’ to interpret several of the parables that Jesus taught. In the coming week, we will continue to explore how Jesus demonstrates his power and authority over all things and provides his faithful hearers with ‘pictures’ of the kingdom of heaven. Geography tests were returned this week. Most of the students did really well. Ask to see the test. There will probably be a History quiz before the week is over. Please check the agendas for updates. There continues to be an opportunity for students to donate to provide water filtration systems for the villages that were presented by three students from Guido last month (via the organization World Renew).

Devotions:  Avery, Natasha, Denver, Aidan

Memory Work:  Psalm 82:2  I Corinthians 13: 1-7  (Due Thursday, since Friday is a PD day.)