May 19, 2020
The Race Marked out for Us 

It’s that time again. It should have been track and field day this week. Love that day! WCS always has SUCH a great turnout of family fans. Lawn chairs and food tickets. Overflowing parking lots (Where would we have parked this year???). Conversations and community. Excitement and disappointment and not a little intensity… Spring. Running and races. Journeys. 
Here’s a passage from Hebrews that resonates at this time of year, but filled with wisdom for all of life. Hebrews 12:1-2 tells us: Therefore since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  
This passage takes a different twist this year as we consider the pandemic, emergency remote learning, working from home and all of the new experiences we are having. This is an uncharted race - but read carefully - did you catch it? “The race marked out for us…”  Yes. You read correctly. The path is not always of our own choosing and planning. It is set before us. What godly characteristics are we going to display when the path takes unexpected, unprecedented turns? Read some of the lessons that can be learned through just this short Bible passage:
The Race Analogy: We all want our kids to press on toward the goal as they make their way through life. When preparing your kids for this most important race, be sure to keep a few things in mind:
Training is essential - Paul reminds all of us to train yourself to be godly. Training needs to take place every day in every way. Look for opportunities to teach, model, and reinforce God's incredible grace 24/7.
Cheer one another on - It’s no accident that Scripture repeatedly implores us to encourage one another, build each other up (1 Thess 5:11), to carry one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2). No one is meant to run this race alone. 
Stay focused  Run with perseverance the race marked out for us   
Finish strong “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12).
Pass the baton - The greatest legacy we can pass onto the next generation is the Good News of Jesus Christ. Be sure to practice your handoff, over and over again!  
 (Adapted from christianliferesources.com)					
							Carol Verbeek

Monday:	Sophia C., Gr. 7
Tuesday:	Mrs. Sikma., Gr. 6 Teacher
Wednesday:	Savannah F., Gr. 1
Thursday:	Jaxson S., SK
Saturday: 	Mrs. Jager., Bus Driver
Sunday:		Emily B., Gr. 1

FOR YOUR INFORMATION: 

Made to Move! We thank our Creator God for the amazing way he designed and assembled our bodies. We have prepared an Integrated Family Grouping choice board for May 18-22 which combines special activities to use, grow and appreciate our physical abilities. Our Bible focus: Psalm 139 - "O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me...Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!  Your workmanship is marvelous— You go before me and follow me.  You place your hand of blessing on my head. (vs 1, 14, 5)".  We are created to move! In honour of spring and as an alternative to track & field season, our Phys Ed experts at WCS have designed a family Choice Board with Made to Move challenges and activities for your family. Get outside and move your body! Celebrate what you can do! 

Prayer corner: We thank God for His many blessings. We also bring before Him families who are grieving, feeling worried and stretched, families with concerns about aging or ill family members. This week we are thinking of the Steen & Markvoort families who recently lost their grandmother/great grandmother. We pray for courage, perseverance, and strength for all, especially with rules around isolation for hospitals, care homes, and limits on gatherings. WCS community, continue to lift each other in prayer and to reach out in love to bless each other. 
The WCS Prayer Team meets this Wednesday at 8:30am via Zoom (link: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/71598270332). If you have specific prayer requests, be sure to pass those along to our prayer team through j.mulder@woodstockchristian.ca. 

Calendar: The PA day scheduled for June 12th has been moved to Friday June 5th. 

Kindergarten & Sonbeams for 2020-2021: Kindergarten students will attend school on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays next school year (same schedule as this year). The Sonbeams program will be available on Mondays and Thursdays. Please connect with Joleen in Admissions admissions@woodstockchristian.ca if you would like your child to join one or both of the Sonbeams classes in the fall.

Early dismissal: We will be having EARLY DISMISSALs on Wednesday afternoons. On these days, the classes affected will be dismissed at 130pm. On Wednesday, May 20th, grades JK through to grade 8 will have Early Dismissal with teacher meetings focused on year-end, our graduation plans, and improving our learning plan and remote teaching practices.

Third term learning reports: Our staff are working through changes in reporting third term learning and assessment. We are focusing on defining essential learning goals in core subjects and providing students with good feedback to help move them towards learning targets/goals they’ll need for next grade. In our first survey, many of you indicated this as a priority. Learning right now is quite different from the regular classroom structures and environment and our learning reports for third term will be reflecting this. With emergency remote learning in place, our course offerings have been more limited and though we do get to see most of our students in Meets and Zooms, circumstances are very different.  There will be a report card, and it will be completed bearing in mind the unique factors and narrowed scope of learning this term as a result of COVID-19. This report will not include achievement marks and grades, but will provide comments and anecdotal reports that will note and celebrate the learning that has taken place this term.

WCS building closure update: As required by Public Health officials and the Ministry of Education, WCS, along with Ontario schools will remain closed until at least May 31st.  A new announcement from the government of Ontario is scheduled to come out today. We are closely following the directives and recommendations of Public Health Ontario, Health Canada and the Southwestern Public Health Unit which updates information and requirements regularly. Note that all end of year community events, track and field events, and end-of year field trips have been cancelled. We are planning for June graduation at this point. In the event that June is not possible due to continued distancing measures and limits on gathering sizes, we are also exploring options for a ‘live’ graduation in the fall.  Our school leadership is closely monitoring the situation and are working diligently to provide a special experience that honours our Class of 2020!
Thank you again for your hard work at home and partnering with us in learning. The WCS Admin Team and the Board of Directors are watching and discussing the situation. We will keep you posted when we receive some clarity about the Ontario plan for schools and how WCS will finish the year.

Learning Place:  I pray you all had an enjoyable long weekend!  This week, all grade 3 (math) and 4 (spelling) Learning Place assignments can be found in Google classroom.  Please let me know if you have any trouble accessing or turning in assignments.  Have a blessed week!

Junior Kindergarten: Welcome to a new week!  Tomorrow is Bee day.  Dress up in yellow and black!  See you at our zoom at 9:00.
Have a great week!
 
SK- Miss Body: Welcome to a new week in May. I hope you had a great weekend. I heard on zoom that many were able to have a campfire. 
Letters and sight words: review, building sentences, ending sounds. 
Math: subtraction to 5 
Tuesday: Theme: Made To Move choice board 
Second Step lesson
Wednesday: Theme: World Bee day- wear something yellow.
Second Step lesson 
Thursday: Happy Birthday Jaxson 
Friday: Theme: Days of Creation 

SK: Mrs. Poort: Well I hope everyone had a good 4-day break.  I hope everyone gets a chance to get outside in this warm weather this week. We are measuring this week.  We are also continuing a unit in Social Development. 
Tuesday - zoom show and share
Wednesday- zoom wear yellow for world bee day. Colour a bee picture in zoom. 
Friday- Boys in zoom with Miss. Body, Girls in zoom with Mrs. Poort

Grade 1: Welcome back after a long weekend! We have a four-day week ahead of us again. Happy Birthday to Savannah & Emily! Savannah celebrates on Wednesday – may God bless you, Savannah! Emily celebrates on Sunday – may God bless you, Emily. I’ve included a Creation Studies activity for today – send me a picture when your child completes it! Be blessed this week!

Grade 2: I hope you all enjoyed your extra-long weekend. This week we will continue our books study of Flat Stanley. We will also begin a writing animal research project. Finally, we are beginning a math unit on fractions. Don't forget to get out, get moving and enjoy the beautiful weather with our MADE to MOVE choice board this week. 
Have a great week of learning

Grade 3: Welcome to another week!  Tomorrow students will come to our “meet” wearing yellow.  We will be sharing our dioramas at that time.  We are continuing our division unit, though we will continue to practice our multiplication for the duration of the unit.  Our spelling test will occur on Friday during our meet.  Have a great week! 

Grade 4A: Welcome to a short week of school grade 4!  It was great to hear about your long weekend this morning!  
Have a great week grade 4!
Wednesday- National Bee Day - wear Yellow and bring a bee fact to morning meeting.
- Scavenger hunt in morning meeting
Thursday- Bible story in morning meeting
Friday- Spelling test and slide show due

Grade 4B: Welcome to a new week. It is World Bee Day on Tuesday so wear lots of yellow! We are finishing our novel study The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe this week. Math is due daily and other assignments are due by the end of the week. Check google classroom for all the details. Have a great week.
Tuesday - World Bee Day - wear yellow
Wednesday - Early Dismissal (1:30 pm)
Friday - Spelling Test - Lesson 32

Grade 5: Welcome back! I hope you've had a restful long weekend. 
Students in grade 5 are in a good routine and are completing assignments with quality in mind. Thanks for your support and guidance at home! Much appreciated. 
FYI regarding Language Arts: after our novel study has finished, we'll be looking at non-fiction materials for the next few weeks - incorporating science and social studies into our reading and writing. Stay tuned for details. 
Please see google classroom for assignments/due dates and check in with your child often. Have a great week!
 
Grade 6: In Math this week we will begin a unit on Algebra.  Students will be learning about using logic and preserving equality to solve equations.  This week we also finish up The Voyage of the Dawn Treader! Students have been doing such a great job completing their assignments and really persevering. Keep it up Gr.6!

Grade 7: Students will present their Structures projects to classmates on Thursday and Friday of this week.  Rather than memorizing bible verses, students will be given a verse to look up and write down each day.  Students have a new choice board of learning called "Made to Move".  It focuses on movement and athletics.  On Wednesday I will have reduced office hours (9 am to 1:30 pm) as teachers are in a meeting.  Thank you for your continued support and encouragement in our daily work.

Grade 8: Welcome to a new week of Emergency Remote Learning.  I hope you all had a nice weekend of stepping away from your computers and taking a break from learning.  We will continue with Geometry in Math, writing the History Essay, Fluids in Science and Daily Devotions.  New this week, look for the 'Made to Move' Choice Board activities.  All information for Grade 8 is posted in the Google Classroom, have a great week!