Earth Keeping

Today was our fourth chapel on Earth keeping. 

We can't just talk about keeping up God's creation, 

we need to do something about it! And today we did!

In our GIFT groups (Growing In Faith Together), we geared up with gloves and a garbage bag...

...and hit the neighbourhood streets!

We dug in ditches and picked up garbage on the side of the roads and front lawns.

One group had a neighbour come out and appreciatively thank the students. 

She said cleaning the garbage out of the ditch was on her husband's "to do" list and our students had done it for him.

It's great to do some community building while creation keeping!

Have we inspired YOU to act and be a creation keeper in some way, large or small?

Track and Field

Today we held our annual track and field day for our students. 

It is a day filled with many different emotions for all. 

For some, it is the favourite day of the year. For others, it can be filled with anxiety or other negative feelings. What the students have been focusing on during the past many weeks of training is focusing on  personal best. 

Did you jump your highest, run your fastest and throw your farthest today?

Those are the goals we should have in mind and strive to beat as we participate on field day. 

This morning, during our opening devotions, we were reminded that we were performing for 

an audience of One. God is the One for whom we should try our best, no matter what the task at hand.

We also heard:

 and...

With that in mind, our students set out to run, jump, play, throw, leap, laugh, encourage, cheer, eat treats, receive hugs from family and friends and enjoy pushing healthy bodies to their limits.

And for all of those things, we feel blessed.

We Love Our Grandparents!

One of the most exciting days of our school year is Grandparents Day. 

The school is buzzing with excitement from the students and their grandparents.

Grandparents are so important to us!

They love to spend time with their grandkids!

But they also have a larger role!

Psalm 145:4 tells us that One generation shall commend your works to 

another and shall your mighty acts.

We are thankful for the faithfulness of so many of our grandparents. 

They pray for us...

...they encourage us and take interest in what we are interested in...

...they support our school with time and finances...

...and they are full of love!

We thank God for our grandparents, wherever they may be!

Open House

We are excited to be celebrating Christian Education Week this week. 

What an opportunity and blessing we have to be able to educate our children 

in this place! 

Today we had a chapel followed by a picnic lunch. We were blessed with wonderful weather, socializing and played some fun picnic games! The home run derby was a great challenge for our parents and students. We also had a 60 m dash and sack race. 

The Story of a Tree

Once upon a time, there were a group of children learning about God's creation and how people have hurt it through waste and pollution.

These grade two students brainstormed ways that they could make a difference.

These grade two students came up with a three part plan.

They challenged the school and the broader community to a litterless lunch day.

They made a video to promote awareness of trash and its effect on creation.

They also had a hot dog sale to raise money to buy a tree. 

Trees help clean the pollution from the air. These students were successful in raising over $120 for a tree!

Two weeks ago, the grade two students traveled to Maple Leaf Nurseries to pick out a tree. 

Mr. Schilstra and Mr. Buys arranged the trip and gave us an educational tour of how a nursery works.

We saw where the seedlings start, where they are transplanted to after and

 finally how they make it out into the field. 

The students then carefully looked at all the trees and decided that a 

mighty oak tree would be great for our courtyard.

There was great excitement over the tree!

The students decided that earth day would be a great day to plant our tree!

They shoveled and dug and dug and shoveled....




...added some water....

...and finally the tree was in!

We are excited to watch in grow in the years to come!