Wordless Wednesday

A Fine Finish!

The Senior Girls Basketball team had their Niagara District Christian Schools tournament on Saturday. 

The girls have been working (mostly) hard on skills and drills for many weeks under the expert coaching of Mrs. Kroeker. 

 The have had some game practice during several exhibition games during the last few weeks. 

The girls started the day strong with a win against a team they had yet to beat this year. 

The next game followed with a very close loss to a very strong team from Hamilton.

The girls followed with another win in the semi-final that secured a place in the final re-match game against the Hamilton team.

While the Beacon girls had an exceptionally strong showing, they could not come out on top. 

The girls showed great skill, effort, determination and sportsmanship and we are very proud of the successful season they have had! They've come a long way! 

Wonderful job, girls! Thank you, Mrs. Kroeker!

A season to be proud of! 

Above all,  as all were reminded in pre and post tournament devotions, God is Good... all the time!

Optimist Speech Time!

The students in grades 6, 7 and 8 have been working on composing and delivering persuasive speeches on a topic of their choosing. After several weeks of nervous practice and final speech delivery, two students were chosen to represent Beacon at the Optimist Speech Contest hosted by the Optimist Club. Students from various schools across the city attended the contest. Beacon was proud to be represented by Hailee from Grade 6 for the junior grades and Ava from Grade 8 for the senior grades. 

Both girls did a wonderful job at the first round on Tuesday night and were finalists in their prospective groups which meant they returned Thursday for the final round. 

Hailee placed first in her age category on Thursday! Wonderful work!

Congratulations to both girls on a job well done! We are glad that you represented our school so well and we are proud of you!

What DO Teachers Do on PD Days?

Is this a question that you have asked yourself?

Last Friday our teachers travelled to Hamilton and participated in a day of professional development with other Christian teachers from the Niagara/Hamilton/Guelph area. The main speaker of the day was Dan Beerens. As Dan wrote on his blog this week, "Exciting Things Are Happening In Ontario: I am delighted to be working with Edifide (formerly the Ontario Christian School Teachers Association) and OACS (Ontario Alliance of Christian Schools) during their winter PD days. They are moving in some exciting directions – really embracing the kinds of change that needs to be happening in Christian schools. My keynote and workshop speeches are on the topic “Equipping Daniels/Danielles for the 21st Century – Why We Need to Think About This, What Do We Need to Do, and How Do We Do This?”

Our students were compared to the Biblical character of Daniel. Daniel was a young man who was grounded in his faith, but found himself in a culture that was, in many ways, hostile to it. Yet, even though Daniel remained devout in his faith, the king, Nebuchadnezzar, found him “ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.”

Mr. Bereens encouraged us to consider our students as the Daniels (or Danielles) of our time. He commented on how the Christian school movement is uniquely situated to provide a powerful and important cultural voice.  Like Daniel, our students find themselves in a culture that is increasingly diverse. Many of the beliefs and assumptions that we, as parents could largely assume were commonly held when we were children, are being stretched, challenged, and even changed entirely.

Combined with this reality, we are part of an increasingly digital society. The access that our students have to information has never been greater. We are also learning more and more about how students learn. Twenty-first century skills include verbs like create, collaborate, problem solving, research, discern, and present.

It is a big task – Christian education for the 21^st century. As a staff, we plan to take some time to digest all that Mr. Bereens presented and begin to take deliberate steps forward, at all grade levels. We are excited to take this journey with you.

Wordless Wednesday

Adopt-A-Leader Prayer Partners - Grades 1 + 2

OUR MISSION

 The mission of Beacon Christian School is to equip students to impact communities by serving Christ

Our mission is at work every day within the walls of our school. It also extends outside the walls of our school! One way our students and staff impact our community is through prayer. Every class chooses a member of our local community to pray for throughout the school year. Many members of our local community have been blessed and very touched by this. Check back again to see who your child's class is praying for!

(a Christmas wreath made from the students' praying hands)

The Grades 1 + 2 class have "adopted" Mr. Dan Bouwman as their community leader to pray for and support this year. 

Mr. Bouwman is the founder of Heartland Forest  Heartland Forest opened as a fully accessible park for all people in 2004. Mr. Bouwman, founder and director, purchased the land in 1999, rescuing it from industrial development. 

Over the years Dan’s dedication has led to the construction of barrier-free trails with outdoor learning centres, one of the largest tree houses in Canada with a 210 foot ramp, a turtle pond with ramped lookouts, a fish fond and frog pond with boardwalks. This past year an accessible mini putt course was added, as well as a train ride (to the delight of our students who have been able to visit!) 

Mr. Bouwman was invited to come to visit our Grade 1 + 2 classrooms and shared with us about how he serves God by serving his community. As he has been blessed, so he feels called to bless others. 

Mr. Bouwman also expressed his gratitude for our students' prayers for the work he does. 

Young hearts in service!

Find out more about Heartland Forest by watching the video below:

PS: Heartland Forest is free for all to use and is an amazing place to enjoy God's creation! Check it out with your family sometime!

Wordless Wednesday

Surprise!

This morning we were greeted by the kind folks from Pianohouse Burlington who gave Beacon Christian School a brand new digital piano!

They have been running a contest for quite some time whereby they gave away a digital piano each month for twelve months to area schools. To win the contest each month, school communities had to “vote” for their school online. The school with the most votes would win a piano.

Beacon came close, but did not win any of the twelve pianos. Because of our voters’ perseverance throughout the contest and the graciousness shown by our voters to schools that did win the pianos, Pianohouse decided to give out one more.

A big thank you goes out to all who faithfully voted!

Well done Beacon!

Read more about it here in a great article in Niagara News This Week

Come to the Auction! It's Going to Be Awesome!

Living Victoriously By Serving

This month the focus of our school theme Living Victioriously was on serving others. At our monthly chapel, we were challenged to think of how we could share our faith by serving and what that might look like in our lives. The grade six students shared a skit with us of why we should serve others.

What a blessing to have this school where we can openly share with and challenge our children and each other in faith and action! Praise be to Him!

Whose Homework is it Anyway?

Monday, February 6, 2012

7:45 pm

Beacon Christian School

An evening for parents to gain practical tips and learn more about memory, learning styles, organization and reading.

Presented by Brenda Boks, Resource Teacher.

Please RSVP to bboks@beaconchristian.org to reserve your seat and claim your free gift!

Wordless Wednesday

 Welcome to the first edition of Wordless Wednesday. Check here every Wednesday for pictures of daily student life at Beacon! A picture is worth a thousand words!