Image Reflectors

This week we continued to think about how we are called to be image reflectors. 

Our chapel began with our Grade 5 class leading us in song:

When we look in a mirror, we see the image of ourselves very clearly in it. However, if the mirror is pointed towards the ceiling, we cannot see the image. It works the same way with God. If we want to be God's image in the world, we have to be looking at God, spending time with Him and learning about Him. This will help us reflect the true image of who God is.

If we put a piece of paper in front of the mirror, we won't see an image. There can't be anything between the mirror and us. It's the same way with us and God. People can't see God's image in us if there is something between us and God. We need to make God the most important thing in our lives so that we can shine His image to the people we meet each day.  

It's not easy, but if we keep our eyes on God, put Him first, spend time with Him each day and ask for help, we can shine His light to others. 

Our kindergarten students have been teaching us a song this month called "Lighthouse" by Mary Rice Hopkins. They were great teachers of the actions as you can see below!

Well if I am salt of the earthI'll make sure my salt shaker works

And if I am a light on a hill

I will not run when I need to be still

'Cause salt can lose its flavor
And a light can grow dim
I wanna be salt of the earth
And a light to the world and my friends

I'll be a lighthouse
Shining above
I'll be a lighthouse
Sharing His love
And if my flame flickers and my well runs dry
I know Jesus lives inside
My lighthouse

I can't hide it, oh no
Like a seed, my roots need to grow
I've gotta share it, oh yes
And tell others just how I've been blessed

And they can come to the harbor of light
If they're shipwrecked again
'Cause I wanna be salt of the earth
And a light to the world and my friends

Letting our Lights Shine

Over the next week, our students in grades one through four are letting their lights shine by visiting several local retirement and nursing homes. 

They are sharing Christmas joy in song and by sharing Luke 2 from memory. 

Our students love to be out in their community and in turn, these residents are so happy to see them as well!

Here are a few video snippets of our visit this morning to Tabor Manor.

Remembrance Day Essay

Our senior students participated in the annual  Remembrance Day Literacy and Poster contest. This contest, hosted by the Royal Canadian Legion, involves students in helping promote the national remembrance day service as well as honoring Canada's military heritage. Four of our students won top prizes for their poetry and essay contributions. Below is the essay entry that won first place. 

I Remember

Connor V.

I remember the first time. The first time I delivered the letter. The letter which held heartache for a whole family. The heartache came from that one letter that I delivered. I remember the gray ominous clouds looming over me, the rain dropping heavily from them. I remember going up to the door and ringing the doorbell, the footsteps coming closer to that brown door. The door slowly creaking open. I remember seeing the family, the two little girls clinging to their mother’s side. I remember her face as she recognized who I was and what news I brought. Handing her the letter, I saw the tears that started to roll down her face. I heard the small stutter she had as she asked me, “W-what happened to him?” I remember my reply, “I’m sorry ma’am.” The two kids turned around and asked their mother why she was crying. She replied, “Something happened to Daddy.” I remember those two kids starting to sob as they slowly started to understand that they wouldn't see their dad again. I remember the hug that she gave me as I said, “I’m sorry,” and then hearing the saddest, “Thank- you,” I’ve probably ever heard. I remember hearing the click of the door closing as she slowly turned around, still reading the letter in disbelief. I can see myself turning around and trudging back through the mud to get to my next house.

Upon finishing my deliveries, my thoughts turned back to that first house. I remember it well; the shingles falling off, two little kids playing together happily, a mother cooking supper, all hoping that one person in their life would make it back safe. I remember thinking of how I had just destroyed their family. I know it changed everything. I know because I remember a similar  man coming up to my front door years before. I remember my brother and I listening as my mother spoke to him and then hearing her break down and cry. I remember seeing the letter with my own eyes and reading about how my father was missing in action. Missing In Action. I remember going to my room and crying, crying for hours. I remember my mom coming in to comfort me and telling me that we weren't the only ones to get a letter like this. I remember her saying that we would be alright.

I know how they feel. I now know how that man felt giving us that letter all those years ago. I know the pain. I remember.

Image Reflecting

 Let Your Light Shine!!

Our throughline this month is Image Reflecting.  What follows is a brief description of what we mean by "Image Reflecting" that has been adopted by our staff and school. It was originally written by the Prairie Centre for Christian Education based in Alberta.

While we don’t always ACT righteously, and Wwhile we don’t always DO things successfully, what we ARE is image bearers of God (Larry Day, Manhattan Teachers Convention, 1988). 

Being an image bearer isn’t something we DO. It is deeper than that.  Image bearer is what we ARE.  We reflect God’s image! We are all image bearers of Christ! Think about it like a mirror – the image of the ‘real person’ is reflected in the mirror. You don’t see the actual real person, but you see what they are like. All the characteristics we admire in God are also within us – we are His reflection.
  

And not only us!  All humans were created in that image. Sin can often fog the mirror and make the reflection more difficult to see.  Challenging our students in their learning activities to see themselves and each other as reflecting God’s image is only part of our task.  We need to also challenge them to see the image bearer in the hungry child, the hardened criminal, the school bully and the careless teacher!
  

People around us often form impressions of who God is by looking at God’s followers.  Students need to learn that while they are image bearers, they can distort the image by what they do.  The more Christ-like our actions are, the more clearly Christ’s light shines in a dark world.

Today, we welcomed guest speaker Pastor deWinter to our chapel. He shared with us that image reflecting is more than what you do. Image reflecting means that we also recognize the purpose or mission that God has given us and act on this at every given opportunity.We need to live lives that are transformed as we let our light shine and we reflect God's image and see the image of God in others. 

Be the salt and light. Let your light shine!

Celebration of Learning

Today was our Celebreation of Learning here at Beacon. 

Students at all grade levels have been working on projects related to health education and they are excited to share them with a wider audience.  These projects are our initial attempts into Project Based Learning. To learn more about Project Based Learning, and why we think it is a valuable way to engage student learning, watch this video, put together by the Buck Institute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMCZvGesRz8

What is  a Celebration of Learning?   

Our students are not merely consumers of knowledge, but also producers of meaningful work . By hosting an exhibition of student projects, posters, presentations, and performances about health, the Celebration of Learning will provide the Beacon community with a picture of deep, engaged student learning. 

Why? 

Because we would like to give our students an opportunity to present their ideas for encouraging the health of other students and parents within our community.

  

How?

Students have created:

·  a mental break video that displays aspects of stress as well as a variety of coping skills

·  plates with portion sizes and food suggestions

·  a healthy cookbook filled with locally grown lunch recipes

·  a circuit comprised of seven stations that will challenge their heart and lung function

Who? 

Each student group will demonstrate the product, presentation or poster about health

. 

We Remember

Today, with Canadians across the country and people across the world, we stopped to remember. 

While our Grade 7 and 8 students spent their time remembering at the cenotaph today, the rest of our students and staff assembled.

All of our students made a paper cross and poppy and we hung them row on row. 

Our throughline for this month is Servant Working. How does Servant Working tie in to Remembrance Day?

We remember the soldiers who, over the past many and recent years, have become servants in mission for peace, here and around the world. Their desire to end injustice was an act of servant work. Some paid the ultimate price. 

As well, many soldiers have returned home. Some bear physical and emotional scars that run deep. We need to remember them in our prayers and acts of kindness. 

Furthermore, we wear our poppies today on our left side, over our hearts. We need to serve with love in any opportunity we can find. 

We also watched this moving video, which we followed with moments of silence and a playing in "The Last Post".

We pray for peace. We remember. 

Servant Working

Our program at Beacon Christian School is woven together by ten threads called Throughlines. Throughlines are qualities that we desire our students to develop as God is revealed to them "in all things." They answer the question, "How now shall I live?" This month, we are looking at "Servant Working".

As first written by the Prairie Centre for Christian Education, "We should learn to serve others by working actively to heal brokenness and bring joy and shalom. 'As individuals, we are called to make a difference in the world, not just in private personal behavior. We are also called to the restoration task as communities of believers. As redeemed image bearers we should be making a difference in the culture.' (Donovan Graham)"

Being “salt and light” means our faith needs to be expressed in our work. We all can help to heal brokenness and bring joy. Sometimes this will be a response to an injustice, and sometimes it will be doing good things just for the sake of doing them. Sometimes these things will be easy for us to do and sometimes they will really push us out of our comfort zone – and both are great experiences!

During our weekly chapel, our students were encouraged to think deeply about how and where they can serve. We were encourage in song by our Grade 1 and 6 leaders. 

We were reminded that we are "mutually interdependent" on each other. 

 

Our students were then watched  the first 3 minutes of this video about Rose City Kids mission in Welland, Ontario. 

They were given a challenge to think of how they themselves could earn some money to contribute towards Christmas boxes for Rose City Kids. 

Some of our students have already gotten into action. These two students made flyers and posted them in their neighbourhood. They are are raking leaves to make money for Rose City Kids Christmas boxes. They are being the hands and feet of Jesus to children just like them in our local community.

Our desire is that students will work actively to heal 

brokenness and bring joy to individuals and to culture.

JK Goes to the Pumpkin Patch

We had a wonderful trip today to the Great Pumpkin Farm.  God blessed us with some wonderful weather!  We started our trip with a visit to the barn where we met a real live scarecrow that helped Farmer Anne teach us about pumpkins and how they grow.

 

We then went on a walk through a corn maze and a hay maze.

 Next, we went on a wagon ride to the pumpkin patch.

 

At the pumpkin patch, we all had the opportunity to pick out a pumpkin to take back to the school.  On Wednesday morning we will do some special activities with our pumpkins and then we will take them home at the end of the day.

 

After picking out our pumpkins, we returned to the barns where we all had a farm fresh apple to eat.

 

Our last place to visit was the pumpkin discovery center where we could touch and feel pumpkins, gourds and Indian corn.

What a fun day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We, at Beacon, are thankful for our many blessings. Our list is long. 

Some of the things we are continually thankful for are our supportive parents, school board and broader community, the freedom to worship and teach our children in His ways and the students that we have the opportunity to walk beside as they grow.

We wish you a blessed Thanksgiving!

Mike's Miracles Soccer Tournament 2015

From the Mike's Miracles Facebook page:

Mike's Miracles/NDCS Soccer Tournament - October 6, 2015

Thank you Beacon Christian School for hosting the 8th Mike's Miracles/NDCS Grade 6 soccer tournament! We appreciate being a part of this wonderful event.

It was an awesome event where kids got to play some friendly games of soccer and meet new friends.

The message from Mike's Miracles focused on "Making a positive difference" in the lives of those around you. This tied in perfectly with what Jesus tells us..."Love your neighbor".

No matter how young or old we are, it is possible to have a big impact on the lives of those around us. We are here to shine a light on God's world and reflect the perfect love of Jesus