General News

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The purpose of John Calvin School is to assist and support parents in the education of their covenant children to the glory of God.  In accomplishing this mission, the vision of John Calvin School is to provide excellent Christ-centered education in service to God and our neighbour.

Good Friday morning everyone as we bring to a close another week of instruction at John Calvin School. We thank our Heavenly Father for once again providing for the needs of the students and the staff. We pray for his blessing during the last week of learning and teaching leading up to the Christmas Break.   

Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with those in our community who need the Lord in a special way; whether they are grieving the recent death of a loved one, coping with serious illness or are dealing with difficult family circumstances. In particular we think of Mr. and Mrs. Mike and Esther DeBoer and their children, who earlier this week lay to rest their baby Samuel.  May our God of all Comfort and the words of Psalm 23 surround the DeBoer family with his love and grace. We also think of the Brasz, Smouter, Schulenberg, and Alkema families whose uncle, Gerben Dykema, took sick a couple of weeks ago and passed away earlier this week.

A few items for your attention:

*The News and Views will be distributed via church mailboxes on Sunday, December 19.  

*Thank you very much Ladies Auxiliary for the delicious Pizza Lunch and the accompanying treats we could enjoy on Wednesday.  It was very much appreciated by the students, teachers, and parents.

*Winterfest: Wow! Great news, school community.  We received word from the committee that $36,800 was raised by Winterfest, 2021. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow! Thank you for your support, and thanks again for all your hard work Winterfest Committee and volunteers.

*Thank you very much Voucher Committee for all your hard work in raising money for the school. Don’t forget to get your vouchers everyone, especially at this time of year.

*Hockey for JCS students: Several parents have organized an opportunity for students in Grades 6-8 to play/practice hockey at the Smithville arena. Unfortunately, yesterday’s session was cancelled because of arena maintenance. The first session, then, is next week Friday, December 17 from 3:00 – 4:00. Four more sessions are tentatively planned for January pending confirmation from the arena. The practices are run by parent coaches.  Have fun!   

*Christmas Week:  The JCS School Spirit Team has been busy planning the activities for the second edition of Christmas Week at John Calvin School.  During the week of December 13-17, the students and staff will be busy with the following activities:

Monday:                Hanging paper garlands in the foyer.  A giant JOY has been cut out and placed on one of the walls in the foyer.  All the students and staff will have an opportunity to write one thing that brings them joy on one of the three letters.

Tuesday: See Monday

Wednesday: Treat day- Hot chocolate and a candy cane

Request from the School Spirit Team :

Dear Parents,

Would you like to help John Calvin School get in the Christmas spirit by helping the School Spirit team on Wednesday, December 15 at 10:00?  We need four volunteers to help make hot chocolate and warm the students.  If you are interested in helping, please contact the school.  Thanks.

On behalf of the School Spirit team,

A.J. Smouter (Grade 6).

Thursday: In their respective sections/hallways, all grades will be singing three pre-selected carols in a flash-mob style. The same day, students and staff are encouraged to wear something festive to school, e.g. wearing red and green, an “ugly” Christmas sweater, or anything else creative and fitting the theme.

Friday:    A 2/3 day to bring the week to a close before breaking for the Christmas holidays. 

*Lost and Found:  If you are in the school at some point and time during the next two weeks, please check the table and the rack (thank you Mrs. Jolene Tenhage for organizing this) in the hallway of the new section to see if any of your child(ren)’s missing paraphernalia is in it. What is left in the box on December 17 will be taken to the GBF, Bibles for Mission, or Value Village.

*Free Huntington Piano:  The piano has been claimed.

Reminders:

*You are invited to join us for the Christmas assembly on Friday morning, December 17 beginning at 11:00 a.m. in the gym.  When attending, please remember to follow the JCS return-to-school protocols.

*Friday, December 17 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 20 – December 31.  The first day back in the new year is Monday, January 3. 

Have a great weekend and a blessed Sunday.  The Lord willing we will touch base again next week Friday.      G. Hofsink

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Classroom News

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Kindergarten

This week was filled with many ups and downs.  We remember and pray for the DeBoer family as they grieve the loss of little Samuel. At the same time, we celebrated Miss Broersma’s birthday. I absolutely loved all of the pictures drawn and coloured by the students! Thanks for spoiling me once again. We continue to learn about the events surrounding the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ in our Bible stories. The students are enjoying learning about how the Lord Jesus was born!  Next week we will continue with these Bible stories as we learn about the wise men, Anna and Simeon. In math we continue to learn all about numbers 0-10 and different ways we can represent the numbers using tally marks, ten frames and pictures. Have a great weekend everyone!  JB/SV

Grade 1

Last Bible unit was a bit longer, this one is a bit shorter.  We have almost completed the lessons about Joshua and the Israelites settling in the land of Canaan with the LORD’s help.  We should have a test toward the middle of the week.  On Friday, our Bible lesson will be the Christmas assembly.  We hope to start the new unit in the new year.  We did miss Mrs. VanEs for a good part of this week, but were glad to see her again on Thursday.  Thank you to Mrs. VanBrederode and Miss Vanderzwaag who filled in during her absence. We have been learning about telling time and money.  For many of the children, these are quite concepts.  If possible, encourage your child to read an analog clock to tell you the time on the hour and half hour.  Again, if possible, have your child count some change with you (nickels, dimes especially; quarters if you feel they can handle it.)  We also count pennies in grade one because we connect it to the concept of counting by ones.  Don’t forget that Friday the students will be dismissed at noon.

Tuesday:  Famous Canadians Test for Grade 1B

Thursday:  Famous Canadians test for Grade 1A

Memory Work:Psalm 100:2 (December 17)John 3:16 (January 7)

Spelling/Sight Words:  about, other, out, up, will

Grade 2

The students have pushed through another week at school and are counting down the days until the Christmas break! 1 week to go! Last week, Mrs. Vanderee forgot to send the purple Church History assignment home with her students! So this week both Grade 2 classes will have a sheet to fill out to see what happens during the church service. We have lots of fun things planned for next week! Next week Friday,  will be a pajama day for the Grade 2s only! So please don’t send your other children to school in pj’s! Have a great weekend and a blessed Sunday! RG & BV 

Grade 3

Thank you Ladies Auxiliary for the lovely pizza lunch and candy; it was DELISH! What a great mid-week treat. We have come to the end of our Bible unit, “From Isaac to Jacob”. Next Tuesday, we will have a test. We are looking forward to listening and talking about the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.  In Math we finished the subtraction unit with a test; great job, boys and girls.Continue to practise those time table facts!! We are also finishing up our Science unit with a test. Yes, it will be a busy week. Wishing you a restful weekend and a blessed Sunday.

Memory work: Ps. 72:1   Text: Ps. 23:4-6

Spelling words: everything, hidden, our, terrible, won’t

Thursday: library books in new bag  + Mission $ on the same day

Grade 4

Thank you to the ladies who organized the delicious pizza lunch on Wednesday!

Thursday: Grade 4A Math Test (Geometry)//Grade 4B Church History Test (John Hus)

Friday: Psalm 52:1/John 3:16-18

Spelling Words: rubbing, twenty, downstairs, cherry, pink, sorry, raining, lucky, drink stopped, sitting, sunny, rainy, again

Upcoming Memory Work: Psalm 35:1

Have a blessed weekend. YF/KO

Grade 5

Thank you very much to the Ladies Auxiliary for the delicious pizza lunch we were able to enjoy on Wednesday, along with the Skittles and Kool Aid Jammers! Both classes were able to write a Mid-Unit 3 Bible test today, and next week we will continue on with the rest of the unit. Grade 5B will be having a Chapter 3 Math test on Tuesday, after which we will be moving on to Chapter 4, which is about 1-digit divisors. Our multiplication facts will continue to come in handy for that chapter! We also look forward to some extra Christmas/holiday activities next week! We pray God will give us all that we need for what is already the last school week of this calendar year.

Devotions for next week are as follows:

5A – M. Aubrey, Tu. Nolan, W. Cohen, Th. Dylan

5B – M. Trevin, Tu. Jakob, W. Jasmine, Th. Ryder

Have a wonderful weekend! RK/KV

Grade 6

One of the highlights of last week was, of course, the pancake lunch on Friday. This week the students were still talking about it in the hallway. “We had pancakes with chocolate chips!” said a student from 6A….and “We got ice cream on it.” bragged a student in grade 6B. Indeed, we have to be careful that we treat our students equally, because war is quickly kindled.In Bible, we got to know the Lord a little better and we learned to understand  the meaning of the Covenant that God is willing to have with us. Amazing how this framework helps us understand what the beauty is of children’s baptism. In the coming week we will have two plays. One will be in English and will show a part of the Novel of Number the Stars. The second one will be performed in French. Yes, you read it correctly. Students will tell the story of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer in French, just like that. It would be great for you as parents to see how your children say the phrases in French, just like that! Students learn fast because they really love to do this. The performances will be held in the hallways for classes who invite us and want to see and hear us play. Not many tests are coming up this week, because we want to focus on the meaning and celebration of Christmas. We pray that we all will be impressed with God’s love. Praise the Lord Jesus who was willing to come to earth and give His life for us. Lord willing, next week will be full of excitement. We are looking forward to the assembly where we will sing our songs and make music  for our Savior!

Grade 7A

Our bridge building project continued in Science this past week, along with a mid-project evaluation of group work. The bridge is made of 225 wooden stir sticks and spans a gap of 80cm; the best bridge will have the highest structural efficiency. “The War of Conquest” or “The French Indian War” or “The War of the Austrian Succession” or “The Seven Years War” has come to an end in North America. The British have defeated the French and now the British face the challenge of governing tens of thousands of Canadians; a distinct society so much different then themselves….and what the Thirteen Colonies?  Low order co-operative games peer teaching begins next week a students will take charge and teach each other in Phys. Ed. In Church History, Martin Luther will find refuge in the Wartburg Castle while in his absence the Reformation will flounder in Saxony. Enjoy your weekend.  

Grade 7B

This week we have changed things up in math. Students have been given the freedom to work at their own pace, with a minimum of completing a section per day. Quizzes are still done together, but if a student feels ready to write the test early they are able to do so and move on to the next chapter. In Church History we continue to follow Martin Luther as he boldly stands up to the pope and the Roman Catholic Church. Change isn’t easy, but Luther continually refuses to recant! We continue to work through our short story unit, with a focus on theme. Have a great weekend! MJ and AL

Grade 8

And already we are in the last week before Christmas break. We can be so thankful that we have had 4 uninterrupted months of learning in school. In Bible, we have just completed a Church History unit on the Reformation in England, and have gone back to studying the Ministry of Christ. In Science, we are learning about how cells and organs work together to function as a whole. 

Tues: Math Test Chapter 5

Wed: French Test Chapter 4

Memory work: Hymn 3:3 and Romans 8: 37-39