COMMUNITYConnectionSpring 2016

ICE SKATING, SNOW FORTSand other chilly highlights

Love is Patient, Love is Kind

The Official Magazine of Strathroy Community Christian School

Much morein ‘store’

An adventure in dropjes

Also, a photo of some Things

Photo: Annie Bos making her own Crock A Doodle creation.

The Principal’s NoteBy Ken VanMinnen

Strengththrough Christ’s sacrifice

In the first issue of the Community Connection for this school year I wrote about being brave and broken. In the end it turns

out we need to be broken in order for us to be brave and follow God’s will for our lives. It is no different in the Christian school context and we have definitely experienced “brokenness” as this year has unfolded. Brokenness at school looks like students who struggle to belong (or allow others to belong), relationships that are strained and students who work hard but don’t succeed as easily as others. Does this mean we have had a bad school year because not everything went exactly how we desired? I don’t believe so.

We prayerfully asked God to expose our blind spots so that we would be stretched as a school and our resolve to follow Him would be strengthened. This may sound nice on paper, but in reality being broken into obedience is a painful process. However, this is the example Christ gave to us through His life and death. It is the Easter season as I am writing these thoughts about SCCS and its journey. At this time of year you can’t help but marvel at the suffering and sacrifice Christ made for us.

What if Christ would not have been willing to be completely broken and obedient to God? We would have no Mediator for our sins and would be without hope for our lives now and eternity. He was faithful to His task even though it required a complete brokenness.

Christ’s example should spur us on in our daily lives. Perhaps you or your family are suffering in some way too. Maybe you are struggling to pay for Christian education, getting your kids out of bed with a good attitude toward school or having your child’s needs (social, emotional, academic, spiritual) met throughout the week. Know that your Saviour cares and knows about suffering and brokenness and you can bring all your cares to Him. Strathroy Community Christian School is a willing partner and will continue to strive to follow Christ’s example in our daily work.

Blessings!

A Blessed SchoolG reetings from the board of directors! Spring is a busy

time for the board and this year is no exception.

Our finance team is working hard on the budget for the next school year, so please read the notice to the right so that you can be informed and give your input. I know, budgeting can be kind of boring but it’s an important topic.

The big, exciting thing that we are working on is the commencement of our capital campaign! Last fall we showed you the proposed drawings of the addition we would like to make to the building. It’s all part of the strategic plan to improve the learning experience of each student and we’re very excited about it. But, it takes time to get the ball rolling on a campaign of this size. Please keep the campaign team in your prayers and start thinking of how you can help in this important initiative.

The elections to the board are coming up in May, and our nomination team is putting together a list of potential nominees for this important position. If you or someone you know has the skills and desire to do this type of work, please contact a board director for more information about what is involved. Our main need for the next few years is for people with financial skills, but all skill sets are valuable, so give it some thought and don’t be shy!

One last thing I wanted to say is that as a board, we are very thankful for the faithful and hard-working staff at Strathroy Community Christian School. We are very blessed that our kids are being cared for by such a wonderful group of people. God is good!

Dessert Social InvitationInterested in learning more about board work? Join us for a dessert social on Monday, April 4th at 7:30 at the SCCS library.

Pre-Budget MeetingThursday, March 31, 2016 will be your opportunity to get a sneak peek at next year’s proposed budget! If you are a member of the SCCS Society, or are a tuition-paying parent, this will be of interest to you:• Find out what Kingdom work is planned for next year, and

how it will be funded;• Find out the anticipated tuition rate for next year; and• Find out about the financial health of God’s school in

Strathroy.This will be your opportunity to give input into the budgeting process before the numbers get finalized. We look forward to seeing you here – March 31, 8:15 p.m.!

Fun with FinanceFinance Development & Planning Committee is seeking a committee member for a three-year term. This committee is responsible for the oversight of the fundraising activities of the school. We meet approximately eight times per year, and do the strategic thinking about why and how we raise funds for SCCS. Please contact Jacky Dieleman at dielemanjsccs@gmail.com for information!

The Board ReportBy Board Chair Rich Hamstra

Calendar

Strathroy Community Christian School7880 Walkers DriveStrathroy, ON N7G 3H4

519-245-1934office@sccs.ca principal@sccs.ca

www.sccs.ca

www.Facebook.com/StrathroyCommunityChristianSchool

Connect with us

April 2 Spring Dinner (book your seats ASAP!)

April 6 Chapel by JK and Grade 7 @ 8:45 a.m.

April 29 PD Day

May 2 Open House with Chapel by Grade 4

May 4 Grandfriends’ and Grandparents’ Day

May 4 Spring Musical @ 1:30 p.m.

May 5 Spring Musical @ 7:00 p.m.

May 6 EduDeo Fun Fair

May 16 Spring Membership Meeting

May 20 Field Day

May 23 Victoria Day (No School)

June 4 23rd Annual Golf Tournament

June 10 PD Day

June 11 Touch-A-Truck!

June 15 Year-End Awards Chapel

June 17 Graduation

June 22 Last Day of School and Closing Chapel

Much Morein StoreYour favourite place to purchase gently used household

and construction items will be undergoing some exciting changes. The Second Chance Community Store has run out of space and will be building a large workshop addition in the coming months!

The one-time expense for this project will result in long-term value for the store, and thus Strathroy Community Christian School, in many ways:• Allow for repairs to be made to donated goods which

currently must be sold ‘as-is’ or are rejected at drop-off• Better manage the ever-growing quantity of donated

goods• Allow for separation of painting and repair tasks• Allow more space to better prepare products for sale

in the store• Provide a secure space for repair work• Allow for more space for repurposing days• Increase space for repairs• Allowing for multiple simultaneous projects• Provide space to offer home repair/repurposing

workshops to increase revenue for store• Allow for faster repair of items, resulting in faster

turnover of inventory• And more-convenient access from the donation centre

to the repair centre.

Once this new workspace is open, the front room where all repairs currently take place,will be fully devoted to painting. (As you can imagine, it’s difficult sanding wood in the same room where paint is drying.)

It cannot be overstated that God is blessing the work of the volunteers and staff at the store in ways that could never have been imagined at that very first ‘ideas’ meeting in January 2012. We are deeply grateful for the way God is using us to further His Kingdom in Strathroy!

Keep up to date with the project by following the Second Chance Community Store on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/SecondChanceCommunityStore.

We’re very excited for this new space to open and we encourage you to ask about how your skills can play a role in making the store more profitable than ever before.

Grade 5 StudentsCompletedthe Sentence

HIGHLIGHTS

Syrian SupportA number of classes took a challenge to make pinwheels in order to raise support for rebuilding classrooms in Syria. This is Grade 1 with their pinwheels. Each pinwheel sent raises $2 for the cause! Great job for showing the love of Christ around the world!

The Grade 7 class visited the Strathroy Deli and Dutch Shop to learn about all of the differentbusinesses in Strathroy. (And to try some dropjes, too!)

A photo of some Things

From the mouths of Grade 1 students

If I Could go Anywhere in the World, I’d go....“to Korea to help the sick kids. I will go with Jihwan. I will make some houses.” (Wesley)

“to Egypt. I like to be in God’s world. I love God because He is good.” (Karisse)

“to Mexico. I wish the weather was sunny. I want to go with my family.” (Nick)

“to Alberta because my Oma and Opa live there. My Oma’s and Opa’s house is a fun place. Me and Nathan get to sleep in the trailer.” (Evan)

“to South America because I want to hunt a jaguar. I want to go with my Dad. I hope the weather is shady. I hope we go with a safe company.” (Thomas)

“to Whitby because my cousins are there. I wish it is sunny. I would go with my family.” (Kylie)

“to the beach because the beach is nice. You can play there at the beach. You can swim there. Also you can find seashells there. There are fish at the beach too.” (Rachel)

Senior Kindergarten students baked delicious treats in the kitchen

Grade 4 and Senior Kindergarten played baseball soccer!

Syrian SupportA number of classes took a challenge to make pinwheels in order to raise support for rebuilding classrooms in Syria. This is Grade 1 with their pinwheels. Each pinwheel sent raises $2 for the cause! Great job for showing the love of Christ around the world!