Good Friday morning JCS community on what’s shaping up to be a magnificent day as we bring the first full week of learning and teaching in the month of June to a close at our school. We thank the Lord for His many blessings and we pray for His continued blessing through the busyness of the remaining two weeks of the 2018-2019 school year.

                Last week Thursday afternoon and Friday evening, we could enjoy two beautiful performances of the JCS Ascension/ Pentecost concert, The Return of the King. The students did a great job as did our director, the accompanists, the student musicians and the descant singers. We thank the Lord for the many gifts and talents that He has given our community. Once again, having the matinee performance did make the audience that much more manageable to fit into the church on Friday evening. Thank you for coming out and joining us in singing praises to His Almighty Name.

                One of our Grade 6 students, Dane G., had surgery earlier this week to remove his appendix.  We thank the Lord that all went well and we wish him a speedy recovery.

                Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Mrs. A. Hordyk who passed away at the age of 90 earlier this week.  She is the grandmother of Mrs. VanEs, our grade one teacher, and the great-grandmother to the Gouldstone and VanEs children in the school.  May our God of all Comfort be near to all the families during this time.

                Please note:  Unfortunately, Mrs. VanLuik’s bus will not be running in the afternoons of the remaining two weeks of the school year due to the fact that there were no supply bus drivers available to take her afternoon run.

                Tomorrow is the inaugural JCS golf tournament organized by the JCS Promotion Committee.  It will take place at the Sawmill Golf Course in Fenwick. All proceeds of the event will be going towards tuition reduction. Hope to see many of you there.

A few items for your attention:

*Weather permitting, we hope to replay the championship baseball game between Rehoboth Christian School and JCS on Monday, June 10 beginning at 3:15 p.m. on the south diamond at West Lincoln Leisureplex.   

*Kindergarten Day: This past Wednesday was Kindergarten Day.  Part of the routine of Kindergarten Day is for the new classes to make a tour through the school, including the office area.  It was good to meet and greet the new kindergarten students, whether it was in their classroom, in the hallway, or in the office.  This year, once again, we have a sizable number of oldest children attending kindergarten; altogether seven.  Welcome girls and boys!  It was also great to have an orientation session for first-time K parents.  Thank you Mrs. N. Muis and Mr. M. Joosse for spearheading this new venture. It looks like you are on to something for years to come.    

*This past Thursday, Grade 4 celebrated the end of their Medieval History unit with the annual Medieval Feast Day.  They had a great day of feasting, fun activities, feasting, frolicking about in their medieval costumes, and more feasting. See the Grade 4 classroom news for more details.

*Shortly after 8:00 this morning, the track and field athletes from Grades 7&8 and their coaches set off to run, jump, and shot put at the Regional Track and Field meet hosted by Timothy Christian School at Mohawk Sports Park in Hamilton.  This is the last major athletic event of the school year for the senior students.  We wish the athletes all the best as they strive to achieve their personal best in whatever events they are participating.  The athletes and coaches will be travelling to the venue by bus.  Parents will need to pick up their children from Mohawk Sports Park as no afternoon bus service will be provided.

     The students in Grades K-6 continue to be busy as well getting ready for our local track and field day planned for next week Friday, June 14.  Please don’t forget to apply sun screen to your child(ren), send along a water bottle or two, and include a salty snack for the day; especially if it’s going to be sunny and hot. The grade eight students will be assisting the teachers at various events. The students and parents are also looking forward to a hot dog lunch which will once again be provided by the Ladies’ Auxiliary. Thank you very much in advance for this special treat. 

*Year End Trips:  It is the month of June and all of what that month represents on the school calendar.  One of the exciting events is the annual year end trips.  This year, Grade 7 is once again planning on an overnight stay at Fort George on Thursday, June 13 before heading off to Niagara Falls the next day (a letter will be coming home for Grade 7 parents with details about Fort George and the cost for that part of their trip).  Grades K-6 are planning to visit Marineland on Tuesday, June 18.  For both venues, there are enough complimentary passes to cover teachers only.  Therefore, all parents (including class moms and classroom volunteers) will need to pay the group rate which is $29.00 for the Grade 7 trip (Niagara Falls only) and $16.00 for Marineland.  Payment for all trips must be sent to the JCS office, clearly marked with your name on the envelope.  Parents need to email the office (office@johncalvinschool.com) to book their spot on the trips.  Please do not contact your child’s/children’s teacher(s).  Today is the last day to sign up for the Marineland trip.

     As per usual, the Student Fund kicks in a significant portion of the cost of the K-6 trip but cannot carry it all.  Thus we ask that each child contribute $10.00 to a maximum of $30.00 per family (this cost is the same as last year).  The contribution should be brought to the school on or by June 14th.  Beyond that, there is no need for students to bring any spending money.  This year we would again ask that all students and volunteers wear JCS t-shirts while on the trip.

     Parents are reminded of the protocol for class trip volunteers.  Parents who wish to join the trips may not take along their pre-school children.  All parents who come along will be assigned a group of students to chaperon for the grade they wish to accompany. Also, please do not take your group on any activity that is outside of the planned itinerary.  If there is no room for parents on the buses, they will have to car pool to the venue.  Parents are also reminded not to use their cell phones during the trip unless it is an emergency.

     For the Marineland trip, the buses are scheduled to return at around 5:00 p.m..  Parents are requested to pick-up their children from the school at that time.

*Concert CDs:  For those who wish to purchase a concert CD, they will be available at the school sometime in the next week or so. The cost is $5.00 per CD. We have 40 available.

*Library Books:  Today was the last library day for the Grades K-7 students. They have two weeks to return all library books.  Grade 8 has until next week Friday to return any outstanding library books.  Please check your shelves, children’s bedrooms, and other places a stray library book may be found.  We would like our year-end inventory to be complete.  The librarians thank you for your cooperation.

*Lost and Found:  The tables are filled up again so when you are in the school please take a look on the tables in the short hallway of the 2016 addition.  All remaining items will be taken to the GBF or Value Village at the end of the month. 

Reminders:

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

*Please continue to be wary of ticks and mosquitoes.  

*News and Views materials are due on Monday, June 10.

*The annual Staff vs Grade 8 baseball game is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, June 11 from 1:00-2:30.  Come on out and cheer on your favourite team.

*Grade 7 overnight trip at Fort George and their Niagara Falls tour are on June 13&14.

*Local field day on Friday, June 14.  This is also a Guido pre-exam day so Guido buses will not be running.  This means that our buses will be running the afternoon routes in reverse with all that means for timing at the morning stops.

*Grades K-6 year end trip to Marineland is on Tuesday, June 18.

*Grade 8 trip is from June 17-21.

*The last day of school, June 21, is a 2/3 day.  You are invited to the year-end assembly planned for 11:15 in the gym.  Buses will be leaving from the school at 12:10 p.m.

*Graduation on Monday, June 24.

Enjoy your weekend everyone and have a blessed and restful Sunday.  We’ll touch base again next week Friday,  D.V.

                                                  G. Hofsink

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Classroom News

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Kindergarten

On Wednesday Miss Broersma and Miss VanLuik had the opportunity to welcome the new recruits for Kindergarten day! It was a lovely morning and afternoon where the children could participate in crafts and activities while interacting with their teachers. The students are counting down the days until summer holidays! We are looking forward to field day which is taking place on Friday, June 14th. Please remember to apply sunscreen on your child before they come to school and send along sun hats as well as water. Because of the combined day on Friday, KA won’t have school on Thursday. This week we plan to have a Bible lesson about the Gospel being preached. The class really enjoyed learning about Pentecost and was very thankful that God allowed the gospel to be preached all around the world. The next two weeks will consist of review time and learning centres. Have a lovely weekend! NR&JB

Grade 1

Summer weather has finally arrived and we are thoroughly enjoying it.  We have finished our spelling words for the year and we will continue to review them at school. We will be finishing our Bible unit on Monday with a quiz to follow on Tuesday.  Notes will come home on Monday.  We will then start our Church History unit on how the Lord uses people from all times and places to spread the gospel.  We have been working hard to practise the events for field day, which will take place this Friday.  Please remember to send your child with a labeled water bottle, a hat, and slather them with sunscreen before they leave home. We look forward to seeing many of you there.  Have a wonderful weekend and a blessed Sunday. Could everyone check their daughter’s P.E clothes to see if they might have an extra pair or two of P.E shorts.  If you happen to find some that are not your child’s, please send them back to school.  Thanks

Memory Work:  Hymn 79:1

Grade 2

Grade 2 spent some time this week learning about media literacy.  We learned that the three main purposes of any form of media is to inform, to entertain, or to persuade. Learning about the internet and how to be safe online was a huge topic of discussion. The students also enjoyed looking at advertisements to discern the intentions and messages. They were quite surprised to learn some of the tricks that advertisers use to make food photogenic. We’ve also been busy bringing our Bible studies to a close. Today the students heard about Paul’s voyage to Rome, including the storm which caused his shipwreck. Next week we will finish the unit. We will not have a test this time around. Thanks for all your creative help in making our crazy sock day a fun success! Have a wonderful weekend! BV/RG

Grade 3

As we are nearing the end of our school year, we come to the conclusion that we always have to ask for the Lord’s wisdom and strength, trusting and obeying Him; just like Joshua had to learn as we could hear in the Bible stories. The children have practised hard for the upcoming Track and Field and they are eager to participate in the events next Friday. Slip, slap, slop on the sunscreen, and provide a labelled water bottle for that day. We may also look forward to being spoiled (snacks and lunch) by the Ladies Auxiliary again; thank you so much for the preparations you have made so far, ladies! We continue to practise our math facts diligently in class. Decimals keep us busy in Math class as well. The novel, Stone Fox, has us on the edge of our seat; we are almost at the end. Check for library books at home! We need to hand them in as it is the end of the library session this school year. Thank you to our faithful librarians Tante Bep and Mrs. D. Ravensbergen who entertained us with stories each week. Wishing you a blessed weekend. JB/MP

Tuesday: hand in library books   

Thursday: Mission money  

Friday: wear JCS t-shirt for Track and Field

Grade 4

Thank you for your help with making Medieval Day 2019 a success! The costumes looked great, the food was delicious, and the extra help throughout the day was much appreciated. We enjoyed a presentation from the Ontario Farmer’s Association today about the differences between medieval and modern agriculture techniques. We hope to wrap up our Middle Ages unit next week with an open book assignment. We continue to work on our book publishing project as well, and most of the students have completed their part. In Reading, we continue to work our way through “Charlotte’s Web”. Please remind your child to return all of his/her library books to school in the following week. Have a restful weekend and a blessed Sunday.

MW: Psalm 76:1/ Next week: Psalm 85:1/Revelation 21:3-4

Grade 5

With the school year winding down, Grade 5 is still working hard! We are briefly looking at our remaining science unit, Motion and Forces.  Our final math chapter is all about graphs, statistics, and probability.  Please have your child bring in a cereal box (or more if you have extras!) by Monday for a project we hope to create in connection to our study of the novel Mystery at Cranberry Farm.  Devotions for 5A: M. Teagen, Tu. Hannah, W. Merrit, Th. Caiden, F. Micah. And for 5B: M. Kelty, Tu. Morgan, W. Joel, Th. Eden, F. Mason.  Have an enjoyable weekend! RK/KVL              

Grade 6

We have now entered into June and time keeps marching on. While there are a few special activities planned for the next couple of weeks, much work is still being accomplished in the classroom. Math sees us working with all sorts of measurements, while we continue to explore with the Vikings and other early explorers. We have wrapped up our novel studies on Lost in the Barrens and now we are busy with our last novel: Island of the Blue Dolphins. In Church History we are spending time learning about John Hus and William Tyndale and how the Lord used them to reform the Church. We are looking forward to watching the Grade 8s and teachers battle out who is the best — at baseball that is 😉 on Tuesday afternoon. But we are mostly excited about next Friday – Our Field Day!  Have a wonderful weekend and a blessed Sunday. SO/CV

Grade 7

We’ll wrap up or Math unit on measurement next week and then focus on rational numbers. In Science we’ll be working with solutions and mixtures; sure to be very stirring. John George Lambton, Lord Durham, will visit Canada for six months and then submit solutions to the Crown regarding the rebellions in both Upper and Lower Canada. The L.C.R.S.S. Track and Field Meet was held this past Friday, a great way to cap off training and enjoy fellowship. Several students have received responses from their interviewee regarding the “thank you” note they sent; has your child? Enjoy your weekend.

Grade 8A

Well its official, we are down to one last week of in-class learning before the much anticipated Ottawa trip! As we work to conclude different lessons and curriculum, there is much to be thankful for. This week we voted for valedictorians, our Ottawa t-shirts came in, and it looks like we have a very beautiful day for the regional track and field today! Have a blessed weekend. Cheers, Mr. J

Grade 8B

We continue to be very busy in spite of it being the last weeks of school.  Today, the students are at the regional track and field meet.  We had a lot of excitement this week when Mr. D from the property committee came with his post hole digger to help the Outdoor Learning PBL group put in the posts for the pergola that they hope to build this summer.  The other PBL groups are also hoping to wrap up their work next week.  Many of the projects this year are ‘legacy projects’, meaning they hope that what they have started will be continued after they have graduated.  Thanks to all who turned out for a ‘record’ barbecue lunch at Turkstra lumber last Friday.  The students came back with about $750.  How great that Turkstra was willing to partner with them. On Friday, the students are all needed to help with the grade k-6 field day.  After that:  OTTAWA!  Please look for the relevant e-mails Mr. Joosse continues to send your way.  Most people have submitted grad photo forms.  If you haven’t done so yet, please get them in this week.