The mission of St

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77 Fairview Ave. St. Thomas, ON N5R 4X7 Phone (519) 633-0690 • Fax (519) 633-0019

e-mail: info@stthomaschristian.org web: www.stthomaschristian.or= g

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January 25, 2012 &= nbsp; Theme: “Christians in Action” = &nb= sp; News #19

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“A spiritual gift is giv= en to each of us so we can help each other.” I Corinthians 12:7 (NLT)

Calendar of Events:

Jan. 27 = ; - = ; PD Day (No School)

Jan. 30 = ; - = ; Basketball Tournament

Feb. 3,10,17,24 Fun Fridays in February

Feb. 6-22 - = ; Magazine Sales Campaign &nb= sp;

Feb. 6 = ; - = ; Magazine Sales Kick-Off

Feb. 9 = ; - = ; Board of Directors Meeting

Feb. 11 = ; - = ; STCCS Dinner Auction

Advance Notice:

March 2 = ; - = ; Report Card Writing Day (No School)

March 7 = ; - = ; Hockey Tournament

From the Principal’s Desk:

&= nbsp; As January ends and we move into February it is= once again time for our Four Fun Fridays in February. I am really excited about this lea= rning opportunity for our students. I have already talked to several students who are very excited about one elec= tive or another. Whether it = is photography or hockey or anything in between, it is neat to see students becoming passionate about learning a new skill or hobby. Obviously curriculum is important,= but it isn’t always very individualized.= It is nice to present the students some choice in what they learn an= d to see how positively they respond. I hope that these four Fridays encourage our students to be passionate about learning and help them to find other outlets for the skills and talents that God has given them.

GENERAL:

* Basketb= all Practices – We will be having = our basketball practice this week on Thursday instead of Friday because of the = PD day on Friday. It will be fro= m 3:45 till 5:30 p.m. If enough play= ers can make it, we will be having our final practice before the tournament on Saturday,

The mission of St. Thomas Community Christian School is o assist Christian parents in providing Christ-centred quality education, in a caring environment, to develop the academic abilities and talents of children through the integration of fai= th and learning and living.

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= 11:00 a.m. till 1:00 p.m.

* Basketball Tournament = - begins at 8:30 a.m. at London District Christian Secondary School in London on Monday, January 30^th. Please look for a letter and sched= ule coming home today. We will meet at the school at 7:45 a.m. and leave from t= here unless otherwise notified.

* <= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:1'> &= nbsp; Basketball Concession Stand –Please bring in food Items= for the concession stand on Thursday or at the latest on Friday. Please place your donations in the kitchen. Please = give any pizza/doughnut gift cards/cash to Judy in the office by Friday. We still have some item= s that are left unaccounted for on our donation list - please email heather.hooker@gmail.com with what you are able to donate. = If you can't get out to shop - we'd be = happy to do the shopping for you - perhaps a cash gift to help with the basketball tournament would be easier and more convenient for you. If so, please give your donation to Judy in the office - thank YOU.

o 3 - $10 Tim Horton gift card= s or cash equivalent (indicate how many you will donate)

o 96 individual bags of Doritos (Costco - sold in cartons of 48) (indicate how many you will donate)

= o 4 – 500 mg packages of mild cheddar cheese

= o 12 - $10 gift ca= rds to Dominoes pizza or cash equivalent (indicate how many you wish to donate)

= o 2 large cans of = Kidney Beans

= o 4 dozen dinner r= olls (small size)

= o 6 coolers includ= ing 2 bags of ice per cooler

= o 3 - 1.8 litre ju= g of MILD salsa

= o 80 chocolate bars (Costco) (indicate how many you will donate) (please no Smarties)

= o 48 cans of Fruit= opia – various flavours

= o 1 case of 24 bot= tles of water

o 60 containers of mixed fruit (not prepackaged) - grapes, strawberries, pineapple, melon, clementines – these were a HUGE HIT last year!

* STCCS Big Event: The auct= ion is really coming together! Thank you to our St. Thomas Community for your generosity in giving of goods and services for Christian Education! &nb= sp; You are invited to be part of the STCCS Auction on Saturday, February 11, 2012 with a `Valentines’ theme. =
Silent Auction: 3:30 - 6 p.m. Dinner: 5 - 6 p.m. Live Auction: 6 p.= m.- close
Dinner tickets $25 each - Payable at the door.
Reserve your seat now by calling Judy in the school office (519) 633-0690.<= o:p>

An Auction Request to all STCCS families: Each class is putting together a basket for the upcoming Dinner Auct= ion. Would you please purchase a small item for your child to contribute to his/= her class' basket? These items need to be brought to school by Wednesday, Fe= b. 1st, 2012. Thank you!

JK: Ki= d's Activity Basket; SK: Family Ga= mes Basket; 1/2: Movie Night Baske= t; 3/4: Baking Needs Basket; 5/6: Delectable (Gourmet) Treats = Basket; 7/8: Grade 7/8 will provide a service by doing spring clean up or chores for the highest bidder

* = Grocery and Certif= icate Programs are back and running. Certificate orders are due Monday by 7:= 00 p.m. and will be available for pickup on Wednesday after 8:30 a.m. in the school office (if the cards were in stock when you ordered them). If you wo= uld like to start a standing order (weekly, bi-weekly or monthly), please talk = to us and we will get you set up with that.

* &nbs= p; Parents - please note that if your child chooses to bring a toboggan to school, it should be a saucer, crazy carpet or one made of a plastic material.<= span class=3DMsoHyperlink>

* &n= bsp; Magazine Sales= – are coming soon! This is a gr= eat way to raise money for our St= udent Fund. Please ask family, frie= nds and neighbours to save the labels of the magazines they wish to renew and remind them about our upcoming campaign.

* &n= bsp; Hockey Elective: There will be a meeting for st= udents who are interested in the hockey elective tomorrow at lunch time. Any and a= ll questions about the elective will be answered during this meeting. A permission slip and an information = letter will be coming home tomorrow.

* &= nbsp; Fun Fridays in February – Tomorrow, students in grade 3 – 8 will be able to choose an elective from the following list. Please send in monies next week according to which elective your child/ren choose.&nb= sp; Hockey - $35 (depending on number of participants);&n= bsp; Baking - $10; Photography - $10;&nb= sp; Outdoor Fun (with Ms. Edwards) - $10 plus possible ski trip cost= ;&nb= sp; Scrapbooking (with= Mrs. Miedema) - $10.

STUDENT SERVICES - MRS. LAARMAN<= o:p>

As most of us remember f= rom our own school days, spelling can be a challenge. Consider helping your son/daughter= make a personal dictionary. A pers= onal dictionary is a small notebook that contains only words that are troublesome for a particular student. You= can work together to find strategies for remembering difficult words. (For example, to remember if the w= ord ‘field’ is spelled with ‘ie or ‘ei’, I pictur= e a ‘pie’ while running a race at track and field day.) Personal dictionaries can be edite= d and travel with a student from grade level to grade level.

JUNIOR KINDERGARTEN - MRS. BAKER

Early this we= ek the children found out that if they break a law, they can repent and be forgive= n. It's like making a mistake and then rubbing it out with an eraser. That is = what we did in art! We did pencil drawings and used an eraser if we needed to ch= ange anything. Then, later this week our discussions focused on making decisions. When there is no rule for us to keep, then we get to choose what we like. I= t's fun to make decisions. Please allow your child to make decisions this week = like what colour shirt to wear, or what kind of juice to drink.
Bible: Jesus' Teachings Math: Patterns

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= SENIOR KINDERGARTEN - MRS. VANDENBRINK

We have completed a few fun activities this week in relation to our unit on Winter. We are learning to say a rhyme called= 5 Little Snowmen and to read a story called Wonderful Winter Wear.= A smaller version of this story will be coming home next week to use for practice. We tried to freeze bubbles, but discovered it was too windy. We are learning snowflake identification and have learned to identify dendrites and plates. Now we are looking forward to a snowy day so= we can catch snowflakes and look at them under a magnifying glass. A note about Storytelling went home on Monday. Have fun and please let me kn= ow if you have any questions. Thank you also for your Games Night Basket donations! It’s beginning to look fantastic (I may have to bid = on it myself!)

Happy Helpers: Monday, Jan., 30 – Leah H. Wednesday, Feb., 1 – Rebekkah; Friday, Feb., 3 - Vanessa

GRADE 1 & 2 - MS. MOSTERD

This Friday is a P.D. day. I hope everyone enjoys their = long weekend and that Lexi, Ryan and Savannah have a great birthday party!

Bible Memory Work: On Tuesday, January 31st, students will be saying John 3= :16.

Word Wall Words: would, every, about, going, come

Auction: A reminder that the school auction is coming up on Febru= ary 11th. Our class will be putting together a basket that will be auctioned of= f. Our theme is movie night! If each student could send in one new item for the basket that would be great. We will be looking for things like: kids movies, popcorn, snacks and anything else related to a fun movie night. Thank you f= or donating!

Reading Tip: With magazine sales starting soon, consider subscribing = to a kids’ magazine like Chickadee or Owl. Students’ will love recei= ving mail, and these magazines offer a variety of reading materials. <= /o:p>

Author of the Month: Dr. Seuss: see http://www.seussville.com/ for some fun activities online.

Comprehension Tip: Synthesizing: Capitalize on opportunities to share, recommend and criticize books that you’ve read.

Poetry Books: Thank you for keeping poetry books in your childs’ back-and-forth bags. Please read these poems together sometime over the cou= rse of the week. Every Thursday or Friday we will add our new poem(s).

Storytelling: This past week I sent home information for our upcoming storytelling event. With such a late holiday this year, time has been slipp= ing away quickly. The Legion holds an annual speech/storytelling event. This ye= ar it falls on Saturday, February 4th. If you would like your child to partici= pate in this event, please start memorizing a story as soon as possible. We will arrange for your child to present their story the Wednesday before the even= t to practice in front of our class as an audience. Please let me know the bo= ok that you have chosen as soon as you know. Thanks! For ideas and book suggestions, please see our classroom website.

GRADE 3 &am= p; 4 - MR. VANDERKOOI

Today the students took home a letter introducing the storytelling event. We discussed how to tell good stories and next week they will be given a chance to choose a book from the library. Please see the letter for more information. I look forward to hear= ing them tell their stories in February.

We have really been enjoying t= he Social Studies unit that looks at how the early explorers came to Canada. T= he fact is there are no easy answers to how the first Europeans interacted with the First Nations that were here. We are focusing on how we always need to = look to the interests of others, as it says in Philippians 2:4-5. The students h= ave been paraphrasing that passage in a number of different ways and will learn= the passage for memory work next week. We will have a Bible quiz tomorrow on Da= vid and Solomon. A review sheet will come home tonight along with their folder. They should read over what we have done and some verbal quizzing would be helpful.

In Math we have been doing a l= ot of measuring. There will be a short quiz next week on measuring distances, len= gth and perimeter. We will then begin the second half of the unit where we lear= n to measure time and temperature.

This Week: Thursday Bible quiz;&nb= sp; Next Week: Tuesday: Math quiz;&= nbsp; Friday: Memory Work Philippians 2:4-5

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GRADE 5 & 6 - MRS. MIEDEMA

We are beginning a new unit in Bible – From Slavery to a Covenant. Some of the unit highlights include:

G= od cares for, prepares, and protects His people for service to Him, =

G= od’s people find true happiness and blessedness through obedience and faithfulness to God,

T= he Passover foreshadowed Jesus’ redemptive work, =

T= he tabernacle and its furnishings pointed ahead to Jesus and His work of salvation.

We are also nearing the end of our forces and structures unit in Science and w= ill be beginning a new unit in Social Studies about the ancient Greeks. I= am looking forward to teaching this unit and showing the students artifacts, books, and pictures from Greece.

The students are also working on speeches. Our annual speech assembly wil= l be near the end of February.

The schedule for the week is as fo= llows: Thursday, Jan.,26 – Bible Test; Wednesday, Feb., 1 – Book Repor= t.

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GRADE 7 & 8 - MS. EDWARDS

Greetings from the Portable!&n= bsp; As we speed through this four-day week, our students have been busy with 'Fun-day Monday,' play meetings, and final basketball practices as the team gears up for the tournament on Monday, January 30th at LDCSS. As you = may remember, our school is responsible to run the food booth at the tournament= as a fundraiser for our student fund. As the majority of our class participates in the basketball program, our class will travel to LDCSS to c= heer on our team and serve our school community by running the food booth all da= y on Monday. All Grade 7&8 students will be transported to and from LD= CSS for the day and will participate either as part of one of the school teams = or through serving at the food booth. Please contact Miss Edwards with questions or concerns.

Our class will also be serving= our school by participating in the Auction. Several of our students will = be working at the event, but our entire class has the opportunity to get invol= ved by volunteering our services for a 'Spring Clean-up Day,' a day of free lab= our for anyone willing to pay the price! This will be a great community builder for our class, and a wonderful service learning project. Plea= se help raise the bid - 15 enthusiastic workers for one Saturday in the Spring= is worth it!

Schedule: Thursday, January 26 – Geogr= aphy Mini Project on desert animal