General News

Good Friday morning everyone as we bring the first week of the second term to a close, and a very short week at that due to the two region-wide freezing rain days.  Tempus fugit!  As someone remarked at a meeting I was at yesterday afternoon, it is already 8 days into February.  We pray that the Lord will continue to bless the learning and teaching that takes place at John Calvin School on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.

Earlier this week, Mrs. deVisser let us know that she will be undergoing chemotherapy treatment.  This means that she will not be returning to JCS to teach Grade 6B.  This is a big disappointment for her but, in the long run, better for her health-wise.  We pray that the Lord will continue to be near to her and her husband and family.  We are thankful that Mrs. Oosterhoff is willing and able to continue teaching Grade 6B.  Our thoughts and prayers remain with Mrs. Brandy Stieva and her family as well.  May He continue to grant healing from the brain bleed.  We are thankful that both Mrs. vanBrederode and Mrs. Boersema could be at school again this week.

It was good to get together as teachers and parents on Tuesday and Thursday evening and Tuesday afternoon to discuss the progress of the students to the end of the first term.  It was good to speak about matters that may help us to teach your son or daughter more effectively, and for you, as parents, to support the teachers on the home front.  Please feel free to touch base with your child(ren)’s teacher any time should you have a question or concern about their progress.  Teachers’ emails are published every other month on the back of the front page of the News and Views.  May our Heavenly Father continue to bless this important communication between home and school as together we instruct His covenant children in the fear of His Name.  We thank the Lord for His many blessings during term one and we pray that He will continue to meet the needs of the staff, the students, and the parents during the course of the second term.  FYI, the second set of Special Education interviews has been rescheduled for Tuesday afternoon, February 12.

A few items for your attention:

*Earlier this week, in a very close competition, Zach Tenhage finished first in the school championship round of the Great Canadian Geography Challenge.  He finished first by one point.  This means he will be writing the online provincial challenge later this month to determine whether or not he will qualify for the national championship.  All the best Zach!

*Thank you very much Ladies Auxiliary for the delicious soup lunch today.  It was very much enjoyed and appreciated by the students, staff, and parents (who did not have to make a lunch for today).

*At yesterday’s re-organized NACE tournament (because two teams could not participate), the JCS hockey team had a good day.  After losing their first game, the JCS hockey team did not lose another; they won two and tied one.  Since they lost the first game and had a tie, they did not advance to the final.  They did, however, end up in third place overall.  Well done boys!  Thank you coaches (Mr. K. Bos, Mr. B. Hofsink, Mr. J. Tenhage, Mr. R. Tenhage, and Mr. T. Breukelman) for your time and expertise in getting the players ready for and guiding them through the tournament.  Next is the Guido De Bres invitational tournament scheduled for next week Tuesday, February 12 at the Mohawk Quad Pad in Hamilton.  The schedule is as follows:

7:45 – John Calvin vs Calvin Christian, Hamilton

10:45 – John Calvin vs Brantford Christian

1:45-  John Calvin vs Timothy Christian, Hamilton

If the team makes it to the final, it is scheduled for 3:00.  We wish the players and their coaches a good day of fun, sportsmanship, and competition at the tournament.

*On Thursday of next week, we hope to celebrate Heritage/Flag Day.  Parents, grandparents, and other supporters of John Calvin School are invited to join us for the afternoon assembly beginning at 1:30.  Students are encouraged to wear red and white to commemorate Flag Day.

*Next week Friday, February 15 is a PD Day.  The teachers will be heading to Cornerstone Christian School in Guelph for their professional development day.  The day is organized by CARE (Curriculum Assistance for Reformed Education).  The topic for the day is Physical Education.  During the morning session, participants will be involved in a review of the CARE Physical Education conceptual framework followed by a presentation, Physical Literacy by Design, by Mr. Tim Wildeboer (P.E. teacher at Guido de Bres Christian high school).  For the afternoon session, Mr. Wildeboer will springboard a sharing session on Assessment and Evaluation practices for Physical Education.  For this session, teachers will be working in small groups determined by grade or divisions. The students (and their parents) may enjoy an extra-long weekend as Family Day occurs on the following Monday, February 18.

*The plan is to start basketball tryouts followed by practices for a boys’ team, girls’ team, and co-ed team next week Monday, February 11.  We are still in need of at least one parent coach for either the girls’ team or the co-ed team.  If anyone in our community is interested, please give the school a call or email.  Thanks.

Reminders:

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

*News and Views materials are due on Monday, February 11 and the magazine is scheduled for distribution on Sunday, February 17.

*We hope to celebrate 100 Day during the week of February 18.  See Grade 1 Classroom News for more information.

*Book Week is planned for the week of February 18-22.  The theme for the special week is Family.  Some of the activities planned for the week include:  book reading contest (a two week event beginning on Monday, February 11), designing a colourful page of a favourite book (Grades K-4), Book Trivia Contest (Grades 5-8), D.E.A.R.(Drop Everything And Read), buddy reading, Guess the Book or Author contest, book character day, parents or grandparents reading to the class, writing a class/grade story.

*The “Toonies for Anchor” campaign to raise awareness for the need of the Anchor Association and to learn more about our Anchor Homes, is scheduled for the week of February 25-March 1.

Have a good weekend everyone and enjoy your day of rest.  The Lord willing, we will touch base again next week Thursday.                 G. Hofsink

Classroom News

Grade 1

We hope you enjoyed the very short school week!  It was good to meet with many of you during the interviews this week. Thank you for your support and words of encouragement.  The Heritage Flag day assembly is on Thursday afternoon; please remember to dress in red and white. The students may also bring Valentine cards to school that day to give to their classmates (if they choose to). We have started our Famous Canadians unit in Social Studies. We continue to work on the long vowels in Phonics. We look forward to 100 Day which we hope to celebrate on Wednesday, February 20. We look forward to seeing lots of little ‘100 year old’ students in our classrooms. We encourage each student to bring 100 items (small) to school for Show + Tell that day. Have a blessed Sunday.

Memory Work for Thurs., Feb. 14 – Psalm 74:10; Psalm 119: 105

Spelling Words:  big, boy, no, could, way

Grade 2

Greetings at the end of a very unique and short week of learning! Thank you for coming to speak with us at interviews this week. It’s always good to sit down together to discuss these children that have been entrusted to our care.  May God continue to bless us in our respective tasks as parents and educators.  Next week we will finish up with testing the math facts.  After that we will continue with subtraction facts.  Next week Thursday is Heritage/Flag Day. Remember to wear red and white! Have a wonderful weekend! BV/RG

Memory work: Psalm 110:1

Spelling: caught, writing, slow, upon, again

Grade 3

It was a great pleasure to meet with you at Parent Teacher interviews and speak encouraging words about your child. May our heavenly Father continue to bless you in raising your children in the fear of His Name.  We continue to pray for the Lord’s guidance as we continue to assist you. What wonders the Lord creates by sending freezing rain and giving us two days off.  In Science, we stand in awe of how the Lord is in control of the smallest molecules. We learned about expanding and contracting when working with heat; ask us all about it We had quite a few neat experiments. The Lord uses weak and sinful people to bring about His plan. We could clearly hear about this when we listened to the story about Thomas Cranmer. He became strong through the work of the Holy Spirit when he trusted and obeyed the Word of the Lord.  The students enjoy learning about Antonio Vivaldi in music class. We have listened to a fair amount of selections; so beautiful. In gym we are moving in so many directions, different ways, and different levels. Thank you for the warm soup treat, Ladies Auxiliary! Have a good weekend and a blessed Sunday. MP/JB

Memory work: Hymn 2:1  Text: Ps 24:1-3 (2 weeks)

Spelling words: by, buy, didn’t, doesn’t, general

Monday and Thursday: PE clothes, Tuesday: Library

Mission $ on Friday

Grade 4

Hopefully we can get back on track after an unexpected mid-week break this past week. The week after next, count on a Bible test on the Kings of Israel up to Ahab (Lessons 1 – 13). We also have a Canada test (Lessons 1-7) in approximately 2 weeks.

Spelling List 21 — Canada, May, Mr., stairs, running, Ms., Mars, church, upstairs, having, Friday, Mrs., remember, stone (Gr 4B — command, hilarious, devour, solo)

Tues: Water Systems Quiz 4B

Wed: Provinces, Territories and Capitals Quiz 4A + 4B

Thurs: Fractions Quiz 4A + 4B

Memory Work Feb 14 – Psalm 67: 1

For following week (Feb 22 — Psalm 9: 4,5 and Bible memory is Psalm 121: 5-8)

Grade 5

This week in math we have wrapped up Chapter 5 with a test and are beginning Chapter 6 – Multiplying and dividing decimals.  In Bible, our stories are about Jesus’ ministry before the time of His death.  We continue with our unit on Ancient Egypt as well as our novel study of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  Devotions for next week: 5A M. Kiera, Tu. Madison, W. RaeAnna, Th. Landon. 5B M. Keltyl, Tu. Morgan,  W. Joel Th. Eden. Enjoy your weekend! RK/KVL

Grade 6

Wow!  What an expectedly short week. God’s majesty and power were awesomely evident in the ice that coated everything the last few days. Today we enjoyed a yummy soup lunch courteous of the Ladies’ Auxiliary. Thank you so much; it was delicious. It was good to have interviews this past week.  Work in the classroom continues even with all the days “off”. Please make sure to check your child’s agenda daily for tests and such. It is our best school to home daily communication. With the cold weather we ask that you, parents, please make sure your child is appropriately dressed as they do not have an option to stay in if they come unprepared. Have a blessed weekend. CV /SO

Grade 7A

Next week in Math we’ll wrap up our study of equations and inequalities and then move on to ratio, proportion, and percent. In History we’ll earn about the War of 1812 and then students will choose a battle to research and build a model. More details to follow. At the end of our Church History unit dealing with the Reformation in the Swiss Confederation we’ll switch back to Bible History, specifically the reign of King Solomon. After badminton, basketball will be our next sport in Phys. Ed. We’re preparing for our interviews in independent study. What a blessing it was to talk with parents about their covenant children during interviews this past week; church, home and school all in agreement with regards to the upbringing of children. Enjoy your weekend.

Grade 7B

In Church History, we will be looking at the opposition that Zwingli faces during the Reformation, from both the Anabaptists and the Roman Catholics. In Math, we are coming to the end of our integer unit. Our next unit will be on rates and ratios. The students have completed their short story on time travel, and we will be continuing the presentations of those stories next week. Independent Study continues to move along. We have read through our journal articles and have created an annotated bibliography on them! Our next stage is the interview! Devotions – Kyle DH. Have a good weekend!

Grade 8A

From the super cold to the super mild, from lots of snow to lots of ice, it truly was a week of southern Ontario’s finest. I guess that means we can expect 30* Celsius next week? 😊 At any rate, it was a blessing to still meet with the parents this week and we enter Semester 2 we have a renewed focus on the job not yet completed. Yesterday the JCS hockey team enjoyed its first of two tournaments, with the Guido invitational next Tuesday. Today however, we finish off the week spoiled by the ladies auxiliary with a soup lunch! Have a blessed weekend. Cheers, Mr. J

Grade 8B

What a short week! But we still have a lot of work to do.  It was good to be able to meet with most of you this past week. After discussing their reports with them, most of the students have written some goals for themselves looking forward to the second term.  With the onset of the second term, we should be switching from Geography to Science lessons. We will make that transition, but we’ll likely keep a weekly Geography lesson in place until we finish the next couple of chapters in our text. There will be a History quiz next week. Students enjoyed their morning at Guido.  We still have a lot of work to do before they are high school students.  Mr. Joosse and I will be introducing the PBL project in the next few weeks with the students.

Devotions:  Leah, Avery, Denver, Natasha