SCS LINK Spring 2024

Our School Community

By Lisa Rekman, Board Chair

These are the days that our students will remember. The hot spring days of track and field. The muddy puddles that fill their boots in the back field. The school trips to see plays, see ponds, see high ropes courses. I am forever thankful for this community and the opportunity to see it grow from the Board’s vantage point. I have been reflecting on the concept of community a lot lately, and rightly so because this school is a beautiful example. I’ve recently come to understand that strong communities don’t just magically appear whenever people congregate and communicate. The strongest and deepest communities come from lifting people out of the ordinary. The strength of community is built on the goals we set and the experiences share together, in fulfillment of God’s calling. “For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose.” Philippians 2:13.

The Board has been busy at work in a few areas, quietly moving along towards our future vision. We recognize that we are often working too quietly , so here is our opportunity to share openly with you. First, at the top of the list, is the potential development of a high school. We are currently waist deep in ideas and iterations of options. We have more questions than answers. But we also have a community that is brimming with expertise, and we have been tapping into that wealth of knowledge. During this second planning phase, we have been interviewing many of our experts in vision casting, educational approaches, financial structures, building development. In the coming weeks we will cover fundraising and staff plans, governance models, and communication. We plan to summarize our findings in a draft report that we will bring to the Board for approval in June. If the Board endorses this plan, we will continue to drive ahead with presentation to the membership in the fall. We want to build a model of a school that will be deeply rooted in our community, so we want our community to be deeply invested in its creation. If you want to work and contribute to this planning, please reach out to myself, Lisa Rekman (lisa.rekman@sarniachristian.com), or Brian vanOosten (brian.vanoosten@sarniachristian.com).

Secondly, we heard in the fall that our membership wants more occasions to connect with the work the Board is doing: to ask questions, be curious, and build community. On May 22nd, at 7 p.m. at the school, we will be offering an open-house social with some Board members to help do this very thing. If you would like the opportunity to talk with a board member or just introduce yourself as a parent, please stop by for conversation, snacks, and fellowship.

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Celebrating the 100th Day of School.

Our School Community

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These are just two ways to participate in our school collective, but there are so many more. I see the love of Christ being lived out every day by the countless volunteers pouring into this school: those serving as basketball coaches, Discovery Days experts, hot lunch preparers, library attendees, reading partners, playground developers, and the list goes on. I rejoice in these things and rejoice that our children leave our homes every day going to a place that we know. We know the teachers, we know the classmates, we know the values and the education they receive. It is a safe place for them where they can discover the gifts God has given them and feel loved. They sing praise to God in chapel and bring home memorized scripture verses spoken with proud smiles. Their faith is deepened, their knowledge is expanded, and they are experiencing community in Christ. We could want for nothing more. This is a school that I love. Thank you to each one of you: the staff, the students, the parents, and the volunteers for making our school the place that it is and letting us share in it. I hope that we can continue to join forces with you as we seek to pursue God’s calling and share the joy of Christian education with our community.

Cereal Dom-INN-os Challenge 2024

Isaiah 58:10 says, “If you are generous with the hungry and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out, your lives will begin to glow in the darkness, your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight” (from The Message).

For the third year, the Inn of the Good Shepherd in Sarnia is hosting the Cereal Dom-INN-os challenge. Their stated goal for this challenge is to fill their shelves with breakfast cereal for their clients. They also see it as a fun way for the children participating to learn about food security. The Student Leadership Team hopes to do some research and teaching on this topic for the younger students.

There is a trophy that is awarded to the school which collects the most boxes per capita. The whole school will be working towards collecting boxes of cereal for the Inn of the Good Shepherd, and there is no doubt that we would really like to keep the trophy we won last year!

We are hoping to reward all the students for participating with a freezie treat.

If you are coming for Grandfriends Day, we would welcome any donations of cereal from our supporting community!

Congratulations to both our boys and girls senior basketball teams who came home with the championship banners

Grade 8 making cells with Jell-o and candy in science class

Battle of the Books happened on April 9 at London Christian High. Here our senior team is getting

UFLI

During the 2022-2023 school year, the Grade 1 class began using the "UFLI" (pronounced "you fly") program for foundational literacy skills. This program has been developed by the University of Florida Literacy Institute. This year, students in Senior Kindergarten and Grade 2 have also started using UFLI, and some students in Grades 3 and 4 have been using resources from this program to build spelling, writing, and reading skills.

Our Senior Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Nancy Coates will be retiring at the end of this school year. Mrs. Coates has been with Sarnia Christian School for the last eight years, all of which have been with our kindergarten program. We wish Mrs. Coates all the best in her retirement as she enjoys spending time with her husband and in her garden.

S.C.S. Student Writing Contest

Students in Grades 5 to 8 are participating in a writing contest this month. The Grade 5/6 topic is "A Character Trait that Matters," and the Grade 7/8 topic is "The Impact of Religious Persecution." Submissions will be due on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. Winning entries will be published in the school newsletter in June!

The criteria for this project is as follows:

Clarity: Express your ideas clearly!

Creativity: Share your ideas in a unique way! Critical Thinking: Think deeply about the topic! Conventions: Use writing conventions correctly!

Length Guidelines

Grade 5/6: 1-3 pages (12 pt. Arial font, double spaced)

Grade 7/8: 2-4 pages (12 pt. Arial font, double spaced)

Thanks to the generosity of a donor, there are prizes for both age groups:

$250 First Prize

$100 Second Prize

$50 Third Prize

Discover. Explore. Create. Learn.

This year at SCS, we implemented Discovery Days in Grades 5 to 8 for the entire school year. We ran five different sessions on Wednesday afternoons. Each session consisted of six weeks on a course of the students’ choice.

Students embarked on exciting courses such as: cooking, animal care, disc golf, baking, knitting, hip hop dance, Taekwondo, science, gaming and outdoor leadership, to name a few. The goal of this program was to introduce something new and interesting for the students to experience outside the typical school model. They have embraced it and many have found exciting new ways to spend their time.

Experts and professionals have brought their talents and gifts to help facilitate this unique program. We could not have given our students these opportunities without the help of these volunteers. We thank you for your help and support! If you are looking to volunteer in the future for this program, please reach out!

Come celebrate the creative gifts of our students on Thursday, May 23, 2024 from 5:45—7:45 p.m.

Everyone is invited!

New SCS Jerseys Coming this Fall!

A new parent-owned company, SparkJoy3.5, has designed new jerseys for our school. The cost of the jerseys is around $3,000, and we are looking for donations to help cover the cost.

Calendar of Events

May 7 & 9

Jump Into JK (AM)

May 14 & 16 Jump Into JK (AM)

May 28 & 30 Jump Into JK (PM)

May 20 Victoria Day (no school)

May 22 LCSS Board Open House at 7:00 p.m.

May 23 Celebration of Learning

May 24 Grandfriends’ Day

May 27 Field Day (Rain Date May 28)

June 7 District Field Day (Rain Date June 14)

June 14 PD Day (no school)

June 15 Annual Golf Tournament

June 19 Last Day for Grade 8

June 20 Grade 8 Graduation

June 21 Last Day of School (early dismissal at 12:30 p.m.)

June 24-26 Professional Activity Days

Google: Sarnia Christian School Facebook to find us.