I have the privilege of working one day a week as Librarian of WCS. So when it is my turn to write for this newsletter it is no surprise that I will write about the love of reading! Seneca, an important Roman writer and tutor once said "As meat is to the body, so reading is to the soul." Is it really that important? I often hear kids, and young adults say, "I just don't read…."
    In the context of the school, studies show that "Students with a more positive attitude toward reading tend to be more successful in all subjects" as well as "Reading is not only associated with high student achievement. Engaged readers are also more likely to be socially and civically engaged as well." (People for Education 2011) This is where the school library comes in. WCS has always had a board that has consistently valued funding towards the school library. The students have access to a solid collection of great books and the love of reading is instilled early on by superb teachers. Parents support fundraising efforts such as the Book Fair. The Library at WCS is a well used and positive place.
    Parents can support their child's achievement by addressing the joy of reading by example and by being supportive. Regardless of the form (think technology and social media) reading for the joy of it will broaden our horizons, and make our imaginations work. Think of how reading has enriched your life. I will end by quoting Hazel Rochman, a famous South African author. I love her quote which tells us how reading opens doors to many new places, ideas and things. "Reading makes immigrants of us all. It takes us away from home, but most important, it finds homes for us everywhere." Now that is enriching!

                            M. Dieleman

CELEBRATE!!! 

    It was certainly a weekend of celebrations - Valentine's Day, Canada Flag Day, and Family Day! I pray that you were all blessed in amazing ways!
    This morning, I visited various classes to see what they were doing, and yes, I saw more celebrations…. Four classes are celebrating a classmate's birthday, many classrooms are sharing their wonderful celebrations of the weekend, the JK class is baking cookies and plan to bring them to various service agencies in town, Grade 6 /7 students are celebrating French culture with delicious crème puffs, Grade 7 /8 students are delivering their speeches (after all the weeks of preparing, they finally can present!), a longtime Christian school supporter stands at the front desk in the office and shares the story of her husband's death and, with a smile, she testifies that he is now celebrating life forever with Jesus….it is a beautiful day!!!
    Jean Vanier says, "We must learn to celebrate. I say learn to celebrate, because celebration is not just a spontaneous event. We have to discover what celebration is. Our world doesn't know much about celebration. We know quite a bit about parties…... We know what movies and distractions are. But do we know what celebration is? Do we know how to celebrate our togetherness, our being one body? Do we really know how to use all that is human and divine to celebrate together?"
    Here at WCS, each day we are learning what celebration is… God has given us so much to celebrate! "This is the very day God acted - let's celebrate!" Psalm 118:24

                            Mrs. Huinink-Buiter

We would like to thank Esther for sharing her experience at Woodstock Christian School during our Kindergarten Information Evening.  Her story had our audience laughing and our staff holding back tears!  
 

"Hi my name is Esther de Vries. I’ve been at W.C.S. for 10 years, from JK to grade 8. Here are some of my favourite memories: Nap time because my friends and I would secretly talk. Story time because my classmates and I would all take turns being the top-dog and getting to sit on Mrs.V’s knee. While everyone else sat criss cross applesauce which I could never do. I loved buddy time, and still do, using chalk on the pavement, running mileage club laps, and fingerpainting. 
While being here at W.C.S I have been involved in many extracurricular activities. Soccer, hockey, basketball, volleyball, badminton, cross country, and battle of the books. And this year we even had the pleasure of playing football at the Rogers centre in Toronto. I love going to these events because I meet new people, and have fun playing sports for the glory of God. I also had the opportunity to be in student’s counsel. Student’s counsel organizes the pizza and sub days. And they plan some of the special days our school has wacky hair day, spirit day, pajama day, moustache and beard day, bubble gum day, winter wonderland day, and, my favourite, the amazing race, which happens on the last day of school.
 But, as much as I wish it was, school isn’t only fun and games.
You do a poem in grade 1, it’s scary presenting in front of class by yourself for the first time. All of our spelling words in grade 2 went on The Word Wall on the side chalkboard, by the end of the year you could barely see the chalkboard. I remember when I had my first major project, the tree project, in grade 3. I thought my tree was so cool because it had a hornets nest in it. In grade 4 we start learning the recorder. As I hear the grade four’s playing their instruments across the hall from my classroom I think wow Mrs. Martin has brought us a long way in band class. In grade 5 we started speeches, I was way more nervous than I should have been. In grade 6 I had a huge remembrance day project, I learned all about John Mcrae. Grade 7 I started this thing called the science fair project, I had no idea what was coming to me. But I survived… thanks to the teachers greatly appreciated help and encouragement!! I love being in grade 8 we get special privileges. Like the priorities in choir, our first choice in electives, and besides just learning our instrument in band class my class and I get to build ukuleles. 
Overall the most important thing about my school is being able to do devotions in the mornings, prayer before lunchtime, bible classes, Godly teachers, and a Christian view on everyday life. I have been growing in the faith since I walked through the J.K doors on my first day of school. W.C.S. has been a big impact on how I see things. I make new experiences here everyday and will never forget them."

Due to the winter storm conditions, all bus routes are cancelled and the school is closed for the day. Enjoy another snow day!! 

The Theme Assembly/chapel scheduled for today is re-scheduled for Wednesday morning at 8:30.

BUSES CANCELLED!!!

All Buses in Oxford County are cancelled today due to the weather conditions!!! WCS  and LDCSS are closed for the day. Enjoy your long weekend!!

Please click this link to read a great article!  This is what we do as a school community!