October 2013 - Trinity Christian School

“The Messenger”
October 2013
School Theme for the Year “Worship His Holy Name”
Mission Statement of Trinity Christian School…
Our Mission is to prepare God’s children for a life of learning and service in His World. By the
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grace of God, in partnership with the Christian home and church, we will lead children to be the
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best that they can be for God’s Glory.
Last
week
Saturday,
the
Board
of
Directors had a retreat out in Bragg Creek. We came together to seek
Principal
God’s wisdom on how to move forward with expansion and plan for the future. We also looked at our
Stan Hielema
vision and mission statements – These statements are a mutual understanding of Trinity’s vision that
Vice Principal—Junior High enable the Board and Administration to make decisions reflecting the reason for our existence.
Michelle Duimel
Our mission statement was drafted by our school society in 1997. We strongly believe that this mission
statement still reflects the direction of Trinity Christian School. Take a moment with your family to
Sports Coordinator
read the Mission statement around supper time or during family devotions. Please feel free to e-mail me
Mark Jonker
some of your reflections.
Our Mission is to prepare God’s children… We are stewards of God’s children – not owners of
Development Officer
our children, and not responsible for just our own, but all children, especially those of believLaura Doornbosch
ers. We are part of a covenant community. The rich and beautiful concept of nurturing all of
God’s children, contrast the worldly, consumer driven view of only looking out for its own.
Curriculum Support
Cheryl Barnard
A life of learning and service… Whether child or adult, our learning is continual. A “life of
learning” instills the idea that we never arrive. Further, it is biblical to teach our children to
____________
give as in “a life of service.” We begin with an emphasis on learning and end by understanding
service – giving our learning perspective balance.
His World… Are we operating as if this world belongs to God? John 17 states “the world will see
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that you have sent me and that I love them.” Individual perspectives on the world tend to be
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evil or good. Our job is to show children a balance – that there is evil in the world, but that in
the end God is victorious. Note the word “in” – we are in the world, not of it.
Business Manager
Grace
of God… TCS gives us a daily reminder that our accomplishments are not in our own
John Unrau
strength, but through God’s strength. The foundation of Trinity is our faith – Hebrews 11:1
Accounting Clerk
says that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” These
Louise Prefontaine
children are gifts from God that have been entrusted to us for a time and we have faith and
hope that God, who has “begun a good work (in our children) will complete it” (phil. 1:6).
Facility Superintendent
This faith and hope is definable – it is real, living and based on God’s promises. Faith is the
Dave Vriend
present possession of grace; hope is confidence in grace’s future accomplishments. This is the
cornerstone of our faith; without it, we would not be a Christian School.
In
partnership
with the Christian home and church… Trinity is one of the few schools in this
#100—295 Midpark Way SE,
area
that
believes
in and practices the triangle of church, home and school. The interview proCalgary, AB, T2Y 2X1
cess and pastoral reference supports this. We believe our primary responsibility in terms of
teaching Christian beliefs is to provide Christian foundational basics; while our homes and
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various churches provide the doctrinal and theological differences.
Fax: 403-254-9843
Best they can be… How do we define excellence? While we place a high priority on academics,
Website: www.tcskids.com
this alone does not help our children to their fullest potential. Emphasizing high marks above
E-Mail: [email protected]
all other aspects of a child’s development would compromise our responsibility to honor all of
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God’s children, even those who gifts are not academic. As a community, we have the respontcskids
sibility to teach that acceptance is not tied to perfection. If scholastic achievement were to
become are only priority, then the values we place on developing a well-rounded child as well
as the whole concept of grace are diminished. We strive for excellence in all areas.
His glory… Why does Trinity exist? What is our motivation? The basis of everything at Trinity is
for God’s honor and glory.
If we equip children with the full knowledge of our Lord and Savior, and put our own faith in God and
His leading, then we have prioritized successfully. From this point all else flows – academic excellence, spiritual commitment and emotional health. As a covenant community, we stand committed to
ensuring that our faith radiates through all we do, for Trinity is devoted to the care of each other – the
Body of Christ.
To God be the Glory,
Welcome to
Stan Hielema
Trinity
Christian School!
Clarity on Police Checks!
If you are volunteering in a classroom and are with children at any time in the absence of a
staff member, you will be required to provide a current Police Check. If you are working with
students in the presence of a staff member, then you do not require a Police Check. Once you
have a police check it will be valid for a period of three years.
Friday October 18
The Leadership Class is inviting students and staff
to dress up in any sort of technology, character
from a game, etc. We will have lots of fun and
there will be prizes and contests.
YEARBOOKS!!!!!!!!
The yearbooks are in and they look great! Did you receive your copy of the 2012/2013 yearbook? We still have 26 yearbooks for sale at $25 each. Copies may be purchased through the
front office, payable by cheque only, made out to Trinity Christian School.
Our 2013-2014 yearbooks will automatically go to each TCS family this
year, paid out of your society fees.
Most important, THANK YOU! We are grateful for your participation in
making this year’s yearbook a wonderful reflection of our TCS community!
SALTS—Prayer Request
Please pray for our Grade 9’s from October
20—25 while they are on the SALTS
trip (Sail and Life Training Society) in
Victoria, BC.
Thank you Golfers
and Sponsors
We had 36 golfers out and everyone had a
great time, the weather was great. The net
money raised for the school was over 25K.
Praise God!!!!
We will be putting up some pictures from the
tournament: http://tcsgolf.gratisites.com/. Our heartfelt thanks go to our corporate sponsors, who have come through for the school as they have in the past.
If anyone is interested in getting involved in the tournament next time please contact Ryan Chase @ [email protected]. In order to keep going we need
some help!!
Superintendent’s Message
October 2013
Hello, Palliser students and families,
Happy October, a month associated with Thanksgiving and celebration of a bountiful harvest. I hope there are celebrations in
store for you this month.
As I’m sure you’re aware, it has been quite busy so far this year as our teachers in elementary
and middle school grades spend one-on-one time listening to students read.
This isn’t merely a get-to-know-you exercise. This assessment of reading skills is a keystone
to our literacy plan, giving our teachers a benchmark of each individual student’s literacy
strengths and weaknesses.
It is vital that this assessment occur early in the school year because what we learn through
this process helps inform how and what we teach each student moving forward. For instruction to be successful, it has based on understanding the skills a student has already mastered in
order to move that student to the next level.
At the high school level, our administrators and teachers have been asked to identify students
who aren’t reading at grade level. Identifying these students and providing them with strategies will assist them in attaining higher levels of success.
As long as they are in a Palliser school, we will keep working to give them the literacy skills
they need to fully function in the world.
This investment of time and resources will pay dividends through the creation of a generation
of young people who will thrive in an information-driven world, who can process information
from countless sources and presented in complex ways, engaged citizens who are critical,
higher-level thinkers equipped to succeed in whatever path they choose.
Please join us in rising to this challenge. Create a culture in your home that values reading.
Make time for it. Encourage your kids to read whatever is of interest to them, even if it’s a
comic book — sorry, graphic novel.
Read together with younger children and talk about what you’ve read with your kids whatever
their age.
It’s time well spent.
Kevin Gietz, Superintendent
JUNIOR HIGH
RETREAT
The Junior High Retreat in mid-September was terrific! Staff at SABC served up great food and offered thrilling activities such as a giant swing,
kayaking, mountain scooters and more. Sam Seifert, Family Pastor at Southview Alliance Church,
shared engaging messages about the names of God
and what they reveal about Him. We lifted our
voices in worship and sang silly songs, too. A
beautiful campfire under God’s amazing light show, the
stars, was memorable. With the aid of Doug Bartlett’s
telescopes, we saw breathtaking views of the constellations - one more way to worship God’s handiwork. Allin-all, it was an unforgettable time of friendship and
sharing in God’s Word – a true celebration of the community that is TCS Junior High!
The ACSCS Board of Directors welcome you to the 2013-2014 School Year at Trinity Christian School. We have much to celebrate and much to look forward to. We are thrilled to see
our school enrollment total has increased by 38 over last year to 391 students. We are at full
capacity in our Kindergarten, grade 1 and grade 9 classes. We are also very grateful we were
able to retain all our teachers despite the decrease in educational funding from the Alberta
Government.
The Association for Christian Schooling in Calgary South (ACSCS), which you joined when
you enrolled your child(ren) at TCS, is responsible for the faith and facility aspects of our
school. Our transition to joining Palliser Regional Schools last year has allowed us the ability
to meet our financial obligations and improve our school in many ways including:
Retiring the mortgage on the Junior High wing of the school;
Doing much needed upkeep on our facility including numerous repairs, refinishing
of all floors, and painting of the exterior;
Responding to the educational realities and needs of the 21st century by providing
Chromebooks for our Junior High students; and
Providing funding for materials and teacher professional development for the Teaching for Transformation curriculum.
One of our main goals for the coming year is addressing the facility needs of our growing
school, and taking steps to fulfill our Vision of “… providing pre-K to grade 12 education in
Christ-centered community”. We will provide more details at the ACSCS Fall Meeting on
Thursday, November 21, 2013 so mark your calendars and plan to attend.
In His Service,
The ACSCS Board of Directors
October’s Did You Know? : Who is Yoan Ozb Charuc?
Trinity’s Compassion Child is Yoan Ozb Charuc who lives in Guatemala!
We have been supporting Yoan, his family and village for the past years, often
sending birthday and Christmas gifts . This past spring we received a letter (along
with pictures of the project) from the principal of the school that Yoan has attended
for many years. In the letter he thanks TCS for the monetary gifts as it helped
them purchase supplies to complete a building phase at the church.
The staff at TCS is also committed to Yoan. Every month a grade will be writing a
letter to Yoan, telling him a bit more about TCS and their class. Pictures are often
sent along with the letter.
Continue to pray for Yoan and his family; the Compassion staff who work with
Yoan; the for fair leadership and dedication to truth, integrity and justice among
Guatemalan Authorities/Government/Leaders.
New building phase of the church
Yoan with some of the supplies he
was able to receive.
Yoan and his mom.
THANK YOU for helping us to create a
safe and efficient parking lot during heavy
traffic flow times. We appreciate you!
FOUR things to NOT DO:
DO NOT get out of your vehicle while in the drop off
and pick up lanes. If you need to enter the school,
even briefly, you must park in a parking spot.
DO NOT park in a non-TCS parking area. (See maps
on the next page)
DO NOT make a left turn into or out of the TCS Parking Lot.
Arrive at the school by travelling north on Midpark Way and enter the parking lot
through the south entrance.
Exit the parking lot through the north entrance and head north on Midpark Way.
DO NOT stop on Midpark Way. If the drive through lanes are full you will need to loop
around the block until space is available.
THREE things to DO:
Travel in a counterclockwise pattern through the parking lots – both at TCS and at Wingate.
Move as close to the school entrance as possible when dropping off your children. Do not
stop at the playground entrance to let your children out of the vehicle.
Instruct your children to walk only in designated walking areas in the parking lots and to
not walk between cars or in the travel through lanes.
TWO overarching concerns
The safety of our children.
Respect for our community neighbors.
We need every-ONE‘s cooperation to ensure the safety of our children. If you can help us
in the parking lot either before school or after school, please let Stan or Michelle know.
Thanks so much for your support during our coupon book sales in
September. We raised over $12,000!
Our top seller in the school was Alayna Deemter with 61 coupon books sold.
Alayna wins $200 cash, $20 DQ gift card and Movie Passes for two. Great
job Deemter family!
The next top sellers this year (in order)
were:
Noah Doornbosch (2A)
Evan Haynes (5A)
Elyanna Bouma (1B)
Jonah Nachef (3B)
Justin D’ailly (6B)
Amalia Montalvo (KM)
Charlotte Kolmotycki (KT)
Meike Boerstra (6A)
Each of
Dylan Merritt (5B)
these stuDamiloju Lawal (KT) dents reJayden Lake (4A)
ceived eiJirehl Deang (3B)
ther a $20
Mikaela Thomas (6B) DQ gift
Ryan Boulton (3B)
card, or
Marshall Quinn (5A) movie passRobert Johnson (8B)
We also had a draw for students who
sold $200 or more (prize was $100
cash) and for students who sold
$400 or more (prize was a 32GB iPad
mini). There were 41 kids who sold
$200 or more and 10 that sold $400
or more. The big winners were:
$100 cash – Chami Gonzales (6B)
iPad Mini – Amalia Montalvo (KT)
This year, everyone who sold at least
$60 worth of books was entered into
one of 5 draws for $10 Chapters or
$10 McDonald’s gift cards. There were
146 kids entered in the draw!!
Thank you so much
to all of the kids and
parents who helped
to make this campaign a HUGE success!!
Message from the Coupon Book Sales Coordinator
I would like to thank the following “superheroes” of our coupon book fundraiser:
The Fabulous Five: Moira & Cindy in the main office and John & Louise in
the business office. Special thanks to Laura Doornbosch, in the Development Office, who was my trusty side kick!
The many Wonder Women who processed orders or helped with publicity:
Sarah Hill, Kim Morgan, Lynda Thomas; Becky Dekkers, Jennifer Flowers,
Lynn Kielstra, Erin Johnson, Arlene Bergen, Denise Bahr, Valerie GoutbeckFrey, Robin Humphries.
They have blessed our school during this busy time of year with their time
and attention to details and I am grateful to them for their service and friendship.
In His Service,
Michelle Prather
The Parent Action Committee (PAC) will be meeting again on Monday, October 7 at 7:30 p.m. in the staffroom. Anyone who would like to get to know
what PAC is and what PAC does is invited to attend. Volunteers to join this
group is always appreciated and it’s a great way to get to know more parents
in the school! All are welcome — see you
there!