General News

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Good Friday morning everyone as we bring to a close another week of instruction at JCS.  We thank the Lord for all the work that could be accomplished in and around the school in spite of copious amounts of rain, again last night and this morning.  May our Heavenly Father continue to bless the work of the students, teachers, and parents as we move ever closer to the end of another school year. 

What a massive turnout of parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, seniors, and members of the supporting community at last week Friday’s Open House.  The students and staff had an enjoyable morning interacting with everyone and hopefully you did as well.  Thank you Ladies’ Auxiliary for organizing the coffee and baking, and preparing a delicious lunch that the grandparents, great-grandparents, and seniors could enjoy. 

Thank you everyone who came out for what turned out to be a very nice Friday afternoon for a walk and participated in the annual Hike for Hospice to raise money and awareness for McNally House.  We also want to thank the people who looked after the checkpoints, and the Ladies Auxiliary for the popsicle treat afterwards.  

A final thank you goes to the parents who acknowledged the staff on National Teacher Appreciation Day (U.S. version) this past Tuesday.

A few items for your attention:

*Please return any outstanding monies collected from the Hike for Hospice as soon as possible.  We would like to wrap this up by the end of next week (Victoria Day long weekend).  Please see the note below for the return procedure for the money collected. Just a reminder that the t-shirt allotment is one per participating student.  Thank you.

*Grades 7&8 will be writing the annual Gauss Math contest next week Wednesday, May 15.

*On Tuesday of this week, we had an opportunity to interact with the students who participated in the LCRSS Science Fair.  The students who put together a History project also had opportunity to share their research.  We commend the following students on a job well done:

• Clarissa L and Kierra R-  Masterpieces Not Mistakes, ADHD and ASD

• Caleb V- Clash of Air Conditioners

• Ava W – Which Candy is the Most Sour?

• Jewel B – The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

• Ilse R – Viola Desmond

• Leah R- Juno Beach Landings:  D-Day for Canada

• Mya W – The Canadian Pacific Railway

*Baseball practices continue next week Monday and Thursday after school from 2:50 until 4:00 as the boys’ and girls’ teams prepare for the tournament scheduled for Saturday, May 25 in Dorchester, the same venue as last year.

Reminders:

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

*With the onset of warmer, sunny weather comes the spring and summer wardrobe for students.  We would like to remind parents and students of the dress code regarding tops and shorts as found on pp 3-11 & 3-12 in the Policies and Procedures section of the Parent Handbook.

*It’s that time of year again, so please continue to be wary of ticks and mosquitoes.

*Dental screening took place this past Monday; however, KA and KB were not screened.  Their turn will come on the afternoon of Tuesday, May 28.  Reminder:  Parents do have the option to opt out.  Please contact Niagara Health and let them know if you choose to opt out of the program.

*Victoria Day on Monday, May 20

*Teachers College graduation on Friday, May 24.  The Lord willing, one of the graduating student will be teaching at John Calvin School next year—Mrs. Alanna Folkerts (Grade 6B).

Hike for Hospice

• Please collect all money before handing in the pledge forms.

• Please fill in the correct names and addresses (no Oma or Opa)

• Please fill in the T-shirt order form ($50.00 in pledges per child for a T-shirt)

• Do not return pledge forms and money until after the walk.

Have a wonderful weekend and an enjoyable Mother’s Day, and have a blessed day of worship.  We’ll touch base again in a week’s time, D.V. G. Hofsink

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Classroom News

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Kindergarten

Thank you to all of the relatives who came to visit kindergarten on Friday. I know that it was a busy morning and rather squishy in the classroom, however all of the students enjoyed themselves and I hope you did as well! We wrapped up our math unit on addition and have started learning about subtraction. The students are encouraged to continue practicing their numbers 0-20 at home! During Bible we focused on Jesus’ baptism as well as the miracle of turning water into wine. These stories showed us how powerful God is! This week we worked really hard on our Mother’s Day gifts. The students can’t wait to give them to their moms! To all of the Mom’s: we pray for you almost every day and wish you strength to complete your daily tasks in His service. We wish you a lovely Mothers’ Day weekend! NR & JB

Words of the week: was, pink, grey

Blends: th, ou

Memory Work: Concert Songs

Grade 1

This week in Grade 1 we wrote a Bible and a Math test. Our new unit in Bible is titled How the Lord Blesses and Punishes His Covenant People. In Math we have started working with various graphs. Please return all your McNally walk pledge forms and money by Monday. Thank you to all the volunteers who walked with us and sat at the tables along the way. If you haven’t already, please send along a box of tissues with your child. Keep practising your spelling and agenda words. This Thursday we hope to walk and attend the West Lincoln Emergency services open house at the Fire Hall. Have a Blessed Sunday and we wish all the moms a very Happy Mother’s day.

Memory Work: Hymn 4:1 (for May 17) 

Spelling words: favourite, pretty, animal, find, zoo (for May 17)

Grade 2

Thank you all got visiting us for Open House last week; what a fun day! We also appreciated the many parents who walked with us for the McNally House. Next week we look forward to our trip to St.John’s on Wednesday.  With all this rain, it’ll likely be quite muddy in the forest, so please remember those rubber boots. We also plan to do a number of ‘frog’ activities next week for math and language arts. Also in connection to our new Science unit, the students were excited to see 25 tiny little caterpillars arrive in our classrooms. We look forward to watching them grow and metamorphose! Have a blessed weekend! BV/RG

Memory work: Psalm 96:8

Spelling: animal, talk, almost, before, any

Grade 3

We could enjoy a normal week. The Israelites are journeying through the wilderness and dare to complain to God as it is written in the book of Numbers. In Math, we are learning about long division.Wow, that’s Grade 4 stuff done in Grade 3!  Our poetry unit is finished. The children have brought home their poetry booklet; great job, boys and girls! We will be reading about birds in the coming weeks. In connection with this, we hope to go on a trip to Bird Kingdom, Niagara Greenhouse, and Dufferin Islands on Thursday, May 16. The children will be gone for the whole day; dress appropriately (check the weather forecast). Pack enough snacks, but no microwave food please. We have enough people to help. We are super excited, and we pray for good weather. Remember to send a loonie along for the bus! That’s it for this week. Have a blessed weekend. MP/JB

Memory work: Ps 86:1    Text: Joshua 24:15 (two weeks)

Spelling words: birds, feathers, offering, holy, receive

PE on Monday, Library on Tuesday, Mission $ on Friday

Grade 4

We have just started our mission unit in Bible, and will be looking at the stages of mission work as well as the work of organizations such as MAF and Wycliffe Bible Translators. We will be jumping full force into our long awaited Middle Ages Unit. Stay tuned for more information in the next week regarding the medieval festival (June 6).  Keep working the multiplication tables and reading chapter books!

Memory work is Psalm 46:1. For the following week, it is Hymn 50:1. We will be working on memorizing our program songs as well at this time.

Spelling Unit 32 — sound, turn, mountain, which, count, others, allowed, fur, about, suit, clouds, bird’s, west, man’s, bounce (4B extra words — maneuver, frantic, stagnant, peer)

Grade 5

This past week we enjoyed a day out to the Ontario Science Centre in connection to our unit on Space.  We can stand in awe of the world that our God created and praise Him for it!  Thank you to the parents who drove us to and from there.  On Monday, the planet projects should be handed in; we are looking forward to seeing the research and creativity of the class.  We plan to have a Church History quiz on Tuesday.  Devotions for 5A:  M. Caiden, T. Micah, W. Jude, Th.Jacob, F. Leanne.  5B: M. Mya, T. Isaac, W. Kelty, Th. Morgan, F. Joel.  Have a blessed weekend!  RK & KVL

Grade 6

We look forward to our trip next Thursday to Crawford Lake. Please dress according to the weather, as most of the trip is outdoors. The students are to bring a loonie for the bus and are reminded to bring no microwavable food. During our chromebook time we learned how to type our newspaper article in columns and how to format it properly. In the week to come we will look at how the Woodland natives used their environment and natural resources. Have an enjoyable weekend and blessed Sunday. SO/CVA

Grade 7A

We’ve moved on to our new unit in Science, “Pure Substances and Mixtures”. Next week we’ll learn about sugar in solutions and mixtures. Our new unit in History is entitled, “Conflict and Change”. We’ll learn about the Rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada and the arrival of responsible government.  In Language Arts we’ll follow Benjamin Franklin to England where he is left penniless in London with worthless letters of credit given to him by Pennsylvania Governor Keith. We’ve transitioned back to Bible History and continue with the story of redemptive history through weak and sinful people in the divided kingdom. Enjoy your weekend.

Grade 7B

In Bible History we have started our unit on The Divided Kingdom, working our way through 1 Kings 12 and following. In Math, we look forward to the Gauss Math Contest on Wednesday and we will be coming to the end of our Foundations in Personal Finance Unit as well. In Language Arts, we have started our novel study on “The Hobbit” and will be working through the novel and some assignments connected to it. Please continue to encourage your child(ren) to get their interview confirmed and arranged. We have already heard from a few students who have finished their interview! Exciting stuff! I will be gone for Monday and Tuesday to a RCDC Conference at the Teacher’s College, so we also look forward to having Mrs. Feenstra in the classroom for those 2 days! 😊 Devotions – Selena VO. Have a great weekend!

Grade 8A

Another busy week has flown by! Next week we look forward to a field trip to take in the compassion experience (see information in 8B’s post). This promises to be a unique opportunity to experience some of what we have talked about in L.A. and Geography this year. This past week we wrote a test on Friday and saw the finale to our History presentations and a start to our much anticipated music presentations. Have a blessed weekend. Cheers, Mr. J

Grade 8B

We hope to begin the next week by going on a field trip to the “Compassion Experience.”  This will help us to consider the part of the Geography program that deals this non-government organizations (NGOs). “What is The Compassion Experience? This free event features an interactive journey through the true stories of children living in developing countries like the Philippines, Kenya, Uganda and the Dominican Republic. In over 2,000 square feet of interactive exhibit space, visitors will step inside homes, markets and schools — without getting on a plane. Each child’s story starts in poverty but ends in hope”.  Please send a loonie for the bus trip. In spite of being marked, Church History tests inadvertently were left on my desk for most of the week.  They have now been returned.  We hope to complete our memory work assignment on Tuesday this week.  I neglected to hand it out in time.  We should soon be finished our study of the reformation in France and a quiz is planned for Tuesday.

Devotions:  Clarissa, Elyse, Liam, Ilse