General News
Greetings school community as we share with you the last Calvin Chronicle for the calendar year, 2020; and what a year it has been (enough said). Earlier today, I was listening to the song, Christ is Mine Forevermore by CityAlight, and was again by encouraged by this line in the song, “Fear is gone and hope is sure, Christ is mine forevermore.” So I thought I would share with you the link to the song so that you can enjoy it too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGaLwhdlrqM
The students and staff are looking forward to the two-week Christmas Break; a time for family and friends and renewed energy. Thank you, parents, for the support you continue to show to the staff through prayer and commitment to Reformed education; and as an extension of that support, through cards and gifts your children have given to the staff during the past week and earlier. This is all very much appreciated. May our Heavenly Father continue to bless the work that the parents and the staff do together in instructing the covenant children He has entrusted to us. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow.
During this festive season, our thoughts and prayers continue to be with those who need the Lord in a special way, whether they are grieving, dealing with serious illness, or coping with difficult family circumstances. At Christmas, it can often be a more lonely and difficult time for those who are experiencing these situations. May our good and gracious God be near to them.
We wish Mrs. K. Oosterhoff and Mrs. S. Jongsma (who has also been committed to bed rest by her doctor for the remainder of her pregnancy) all the best and the Lord’s blessing for the remainder of their pregnancies, and pray that in due time a healthy baby may be born to them and their husbands.
No doubt most, if not all of you, are aware of the government’s announcement regarding school in Ontario in January. In anticipation of the possibility of at-home learning, the students prepared a stack of materials on their desks so that if the announcement is for at-home learning, parents will be emailed to pick up the materials, including Chrome Books (for families who may need one), on the Tuesday or the Wednesday after the break. We hope and pray that that won’t be necessary.
A few items for your attention:
*Wow! We learned this morning from the Winterfest Committee that over $35 000.00 was raised by this year’s COVID version of Winterfest. Amazing! Thank you very much everyone for your participation in the various activities and events and, once again, a special thank you to the Winterfest Committee and the army of volunteers that helped out. God is good all the time and all the time God is good.
*Like our Christmas assembly, the New Year assembly will be a virtual affair.
*We had a very enjoyable Christmas Week:
• The foyer is filled with hundreds of stars sharing what the students enjoy about JCS.
• Students did a great job on their submissions for the colouring contest. The top three submissions for each division were announced this morning.
• On Wednesday, the halls resounded with the flash mob carol sing. Most of the students and the staff looked very “Christmasy” as well.
• Everyone enjoyed their Christmas snack on Thursday.
• Every class had fun finding Elfie in their classroom.
Thanks very much for organizing the activities, School Spirit Team. Great job!
*Included with today’s issue of the Chronicle is the December issue of the LCRSS Link. This issue includes a look at “What is Reformed Education?”, an update from the CARE Committee, and the annual LCRSS Director’s Report.
*Lost and Found: All remaining items have been taken to the GBF, Bibles for Mission, or Value Village.
Reminders:
*Today is a 2/3 day of school. Students will be dismissed at 12:00 and the buses will be leaving at 12:10. The Christmas break is scheduled for December 21 – January 1. The first day back in the new year is Monday, January 4, D.V..
We wish everyone a joyous Christmas and a blessed 2021. Have a safe and relaxing Christmas Break. The Lord willing, we’ll touch base again in the new year. G. Hofsink
Classroom News
Kindergarten
WOW! It’s hard to believe that this is the last Chronicle for 2020!!! Our God has been so good to us once again in Kindergarten! We are so thankful that the schools remained open allowing us to get to know each other, to develop relationships, to learn new skills and concepts! It was a busy week in kindergarten! A special thank you goes to the School Spirit Team who organized all of the fun activities and dress up days for us this week. The Kindergarten students really enjoyed all of the activities! Thank you once again for all of the lovely gifts that we received. The students worked very hard on their parent gifts so hopefully you enjoy them as much as we do! Blessings for you and your family during this Christmas season!
JB/NV
Grade 1
We hope that you can enjoy the Christmas crafts that the children took home this week. They were sure excited about making them. Thank-you so much to all of the children and their families who treated us to such lovely gifts this week as well. (I will confess to having eaten so much chocolate one evening, that I did not feel much like eating dinner) Mrs. Boersema, Miss Buist, Mrs. deBoer and Mrs. VanEs are all very thankful for your kindness and thoughtfulness. We will include the Memory Work and sight word lists for the next school week, but we hope that you will all enjoy the break and the holidays. Wishing you all the LORD’s blessing for Christmas and in the New Year!
Memory Work: Hymn 56:2
Sight Words: Review the last four word lists. See chart in the agenda.
Spelling words: ask, more, go, see, two
Grade 2
The end of the year is nigh! Wow, how quickly we have arrived at the Christmas holidays. We have been such busy Grade 2 students and we are ready for a break! We have had such fun this week. Our hallowed halls were filled with carols and hymns; our classrooms were full of fun and cheer; excitement is in the air as we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! What a blessing to teach your precious covenantal children. To you and yours we wish you a very merry and very blessed Christmas and New Year. LS/BV
Grade 3
Praise God from Whom all blessings flow. It is He who has let us come to school thus far. We had a VERY fun last school week of school for 2020. Thank you Spirit Team for all your organizing! Our body system unit in Science was finished with a test. A super job, boys and girls. In Art, we could do a few fun activities, one of which was making a wax candle. Thank you Miss Bee for organizing this, and also thank you to the helpers who assisted us in making this fun and sparkly activity. Thank you parents and children, for all the beautiful well wishes and gifts. Wishing you a joyous Christmas and God’s blessings for the new year. Until we will meet again, DV. A newborn King is born. What an awesome message from on high.
Memory work: Ps. 103:1, text: Ps. 23:4-6
Spelling Review: anyone, are, can’t, don’t, everybody, everything, hidden, our, right, terrible, trouble, won’t, wouldn’t, write
Thursday: Library books in a bag, Friday is mission $ day
Grade 4
We hope and pray that everyone has a blessed and relaxing Christmas vacation. We look forward to seeing everyone back in January.
Friday: Spelling Test L 16, Memory Work Psalm 35:1, Isaiah 40: 28, 29
Grade 5
As we wrap up this calendar year we can reflect on God’s goodness to us in the past few months. We have certainly accomplished a lot in the past few weeks! When we resume school in January we will begin a new novel study, “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe”. We have also completed our unit on Nutrition and will begin learning about the wonder of cells! Bucket drumming will start in the new year as well! We hope that your holidays are restful and that everyone is able to return to school in good health! RK/KVL
Devotions for the week are as follows… Gr.5A: M. – Chloe, Tu – Madelin, W. – Evan, Th. – Emersyn, F. – A.J. And for 5B: M. – McKenna, Tu. – Tanya, W. -Keagan, Th. – Blake, F. – Kali
Grade 6
Merry Christmas!! This week, has been a busy one for Grade 6. We spent a lot of time wrapping up units and finishing projects…our halls look amazing with all the bird projects hanging up. Grade 6A presented a very neat play in French to Grade 6B and the Grade 5 classes. Well done Grade 6A. Grade 6B had a treat in that Mrs Folkerts came in to teach on Thursday so that Mrs Oosterhoff could spend the day celebrating 1st birthdays with 2 of her grandchildren. Thank you so much for the tokens of appreciation. They are treasured. Have a very blessed Christmas and a wonderful New Year. Enjoy your holidays and we will see you in the new year. SO/CV
Grade 7A
As the Christmas Break approaches, the Gr.7 students are to be commended for a generally smooth transition to Gr. 7. The class has responded well to the classroom expectations and responsibilities since September, showing maturity and glimpses of adulthood. We’ll start a new Bible History unit next as we continue with David: The Shepherd King. In Math we’ll transition to plane geometry, a nice change, and in Science we’ll start learning about thermal energy and heat technology. Enjoy your Break.
Grade 7B
As we come to the end of 2020, I would like to wish all the LORD’s blessings as we enter 2021. We can thank the LORD that He has blessed our year, allowing us to be at school in a somewhat normal capacity, and we hope and pray that God continues to allow the work of JCS to continue into the New Year! Enjoy your Christmas holidays and see you, LORD willing, January 4!
Grade 8
With thankfulness to the LORD we have arrived at the Christmas Break! While there may have been some unexpected or unwanted absences over the past four months we can be grateful to our heavenly Father for his providential love and grace on us that we could complete the 2020 portion of our school year. This past week, the students were busy wrapping up sections in Church History and Tom Sawyer while also making time for extra P.E. and some Christmas week activities hosted by the school Spirit Team. Have a safe and healthy and restful Christmas Break! Cheers, Mr. J & Ms. P
