Christmas Blessing!

Thank you for all of the joy, celebration and energy you have poured into making this week, celebrating Christ's birth, a memorable one for our kids! From Christmas programs to posadas, advent devotions to Christmas Around the World...so many meaningful learning experiences to shape the kids' world view and understanding of the gift of the Christ child in our world. I continue to marvel at and be challenged by the giving spirit of our children. We are called to equip minds, nurture hearts and transform the world for Jesus Christ. Their selfless giving has certainly transformed pieces of our world that are hurting. Thank you for encouraging your students to give from their heart. The words of the song take on renewed meaning to me: "What can I give Him...I can do my part...What can I give Him...Give Him my heart." May you enjoy the change of pace, your family and friends and renew your walk with God in the upcoming two weeks. 

Staff Meeting

Please note that we will have a staff meeting starting at 11:45 on Thursday, January 14. In our first 10 minutes, we will be treated with a visit from a special guest. Please try to be in the staff center as close to 11:45 as possible to hear our guest's message for your. 

Lunch and Learn

In the interest of moving forward with Love and Logic in the Classroom we may need to hold an additional session from time to time reserved only for more learning. Let's set aside lunch on Thursday, January 28, for eating together and working through another section of Love and Logic.

SPARK

We're finally going to get the rubber to hit the road with our SPARK experiences. SPARK provides a very meaningful and tangible way for our students to learn that God asks us to use the gifts He has blessed us with to bless the world and bring His kingdom. I apologize for the two months we have missed. Please refer to our Google calendar for details on the event assigned to your class for the month. The last Wednesday of each month has been designated SPARK day. Events that need scheduling: My Brother's/Sister's House visit and Life House visit, have already been scheduled. The military contact information can be retrieved from Pat. The rest of the experiences are up to your class' creativity and/or your ideas. Please don't hesitate to ask me if I can help you brainstorm an idea. If you run into a conflict with your scheduled event, please let Pat or let me know. We'll reflect the necessary change on the calendar. 

Walk for Warmth/Wellness Wednesday

Our students demonstrated such compassionate hearts during our World Renew collection. They impacted families and children around the world. There is also value in children understanding that children and families right in our own community need to be blessed, prayed for and shared with through a challenging time as well. To that end, we'll do a penny drive in February to collect money which will pay for a family's energy bill to prevent their heat at home from being discontinued. More details will be forthcoming after break. This is a new initiative for us. If you have any creative, bright ideas to help make this event meaningful, please share! 

Refrigerator Clean Out

Please take a moment today or tomorrow to clean out your goodies (particularly if they're green or now hairy and weren't supposed to be). It's going to go through a purging process before break begins. Thank you!

Learning Labs

Things are shaping up for our learning lab on January 28:

Cohort 1 - Lesson at 11:00

Sarah Becksfort - covered by Miska beginning at 10:40 through lunch

Sandy Johnson - coverage from 10:40 through lunch

Sheri Hunderman - covered by Michelle starting at 10:40

Amanda Bohle - coverage from 10:40 through lunch

Cohort 2 - Lesson at 2:00 (preconference over encore time)

Jenna Ritsema - coverage from 2:00 through end of day

Michelle Dreyer - coverage from 2:00 through end of day

Karen Strikwerda - coverage by Danielle

Karen VanMeeteren - coverage from 2:30 through end of day

Natalie Sapp - coverage from 2:00 through end of day

Mary, Did You Know...

that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters....the sleeping child you're holding is the Great I Am.

Those words stir my soul. To hold a baby, new life, particularly at Christmas time (particularly if said baby is not crying) moves my heart to Mary's, to the extent to which it can. What was it like to hold the tiny fingers of the Christ child? How does a human being raise, care, feed and develop God's own Son? As Karen shared with our students during Friday morning praise time, truly, the Christmas announcement is the greatest news in the history of the world. It is the fulfillment of God's promises. The redemption of the world in the messy birth of a tiny child. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Learning Lab

Notes thus far for January 28's Learning Lab date (subject to change if you so desire!):

Cohort 1 - Lesson at 11:00

Sarah Becksfort - covered by Miska beginning at 10:40 through lunch

Sandy Johnson - covered from 10:40 through lunch

Sheri Hunderman - covered by Michelle starting at 10:40

Amanda Bohle - covered from 10:40 through lunch

Cohort 2 - Lesson at 2:00 (preconference over encore time)

Jenna Ritsema - coverage from 2:00 through end of day

Michelle Dreyer - coverage from 2:00 through end of day

Karen Strikwerda - coverage by Danielle

Karen VanMeeteren - coverage from 2:30 through end of day

Natalie Sapp - coverage from 2:00 through end of day

Pack Up the Classrooms/Kids with Principal before Christmas Break Times
Following the South Side tradition, here are the times and dates I will take your kids (and I look completely forward to it, btw!):

Thursday, December 17 I'll take Sandy and Sarah's classes from 10:30-11:30
Friday, December 18 I'll take Karen S's class from 10:30-11:30
Friday, December 18 I'll take first and second grade from 2:00-3:00
Friday, December 18 I'll be at happy hour somewhere from 5:00-7:00 (j/k...sorta)

Makers Week

Sheros, Lego Quest, Electrical Circuitry, Claymation Movie, Lego Movie...what's your pleasure? Please list it here.

Discovery Night
Just so we're all on the same page for this year, our Discovery Night will be held on Tuesday, January 19. Per our decision, we'll be on our own to eat that evening before the event. Please plan to be in place and meet in the staff center at 5:35. We'll review the plan of action and man our posts by 5:45. Courtney will inform each of us regarding our roles that evening.

Please know too that your request has been heard and notes have been made. This will be the last Discovery Night that steps on the toes of report cards! Thank you for being so patient. That's an unfortunate oversight!

Oprah's Favorite Things

And on that exciting note, guess what we have on Thursday...

OK. On a more serious note: a little recap from this morning's devotions.

"God did not say, "Let there be..." as He had for everything else. When He dreamed of a face like yours, His voice filled with the gentlest love, and He smiled. "Let us make human beings..."

God the Father gathered close with God the Son, Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit, and all the glory of the Trinity gathered close when They imagined the masterpiece of you. And God in three persons scooped a handful of dust together and knelt down, and together They kissed warm life into God's children with the breath of His love." Unwrapping the Greatest Gift. Ann Voskamp

Oh boy. It's humbling to be reminded of this truth. You are God's masterpiece. Your students are God's masterpieces. God has placed you in their lives and they in yours. He has charged you with growing His masterpieces by calling upon your faith in Him and utilizing the gifts He has blessed you with. No wonder there is such joy on your face when I get to peek in and watch you teach. You are where you were called to be. God is with you. Immanuel. His masterpieces are in the right hands and they are realizing the potential God has intended for them. So, yes, bring on the meetings and the PD dates. You're His growing masterpiece as well. Thank you for being the very best YOU!

World Renew Collection and Chapel
Our World Renew collection will run through next Friday, the 11th. If you are able to give your money and orders to Pat or to me by Monday, the 14th, we'll have a grand total and fund allocation for our chapel on the 16th. There may be wisdom in reminding parents of the final week of collection for World Renew in your next classroom blog post.

Makers Week
I'm starting to shop :) If you are ready and able, please place your project ideas and materials here if you haven't already done so. If you need help, feel free to scan what other teachers are doing or talk with me. We'll come up with a doozy!

Lunch and Learn
Our next staff meeting will be Thursday, December 10. Please bring along your Love and Logic booklet. Lunch will be provided! YIPPEEE!

Lunch and Massage....wait, WHAT?!?!
Yep. That's right. A lunch and a massage. Back to Health Chiropractic is offering free lunch and tension checks (tick...tick...no problems here!) for local teachers. They make the rounds on Fridays. They have offered to bring lunch to us and evaluate our tension (don't ask me why they chose teachers in December!) on Friday, December 11.

Christmas Tea with Board
After school on December 9 at the high school cafeteria.

Christmas Tea with Parent Team
Morning recess on Wednesday, December 9. What a treat! You are appreciated!

Pack Up the Classrooms/Kids with Principal before Christmas Break Times
Following the South Side tradition, here are the times and dates I will take your kids (and I look completely forward to it, btw!):

Thursday, December 17 I'll take Sandy and Sarah's classes from 12:45-1:45
Friday, December 18 I'll take Karen S's class from 12:45-1:45
Friday, December 18 I'll take first and second grade from 2:00-3:00
Friday, December 18 I'll be at happy hour somewhere from 5:00-7:00 (j/k...sorta)

Rubicon
Thank you for all the planning, collaborating and hard work you have put into documenting the goals you are teaching. This has taken a lot of time to get placed into Rubicon. Our ELA Rubicon clean ups for K-2 are almost complete. PHEW! Please let me know if there are any ways I can assist you in taking this off your to-do list.

Praise and Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving
I enjoy talking (whaaaat?!?! I know. You heard it here first!) and writing. Words in general can be fun. But sometimes my ability with words is inadequate to capture the essence of what I'm trying to communicate. I find myself in one of those moments now. Each day I thank God for choosing to place me here at South Side among you, amazing peers! You bring energy, love, ideas, strength and God's LIGHT to our days. Your consistent countenance is a gift that lifts and holds tight not only the children God has placed in our care, but us as an extended family as well. What a true joy to be called to work this mission field with you. Thank you for your dedicated work. It's not always easy. But it's always God's good work. Thank you for your infectious joy. I'm always proud to tell and show visitors how much genuine enjoyment and enthusiasm you fill our hallways and classrooms with. Thank you for giving your heart to God. He is moving and doing great things through YOU! I am THANKFUL for YOU!

Gift Exchange
Please share with your parents that they may once again participate in a classroom gift exchange with a spending target of $3. This will keep the gift exchange equitable and fun. It also affords us the opportunity to teach children how to give a gift in love as well as receive a gift with respect.

World Renew 
When looking at the calendar, we will need to begin our World Renew Collection on Monday, November 30. Feel free to introduce the collection with the online gift catalog. Our collection will run November 30-December 11. The World Renew celebration will be held on Wednesday, December 16 at 8:30.

If it saves you some time, you may copy this or tweak this for your blog to announce the World Renew project:

God graciously includes us, His people, in His ongoing mission of reconciliation in the world. Every December we recommit ourselves as a community who strives to transform the world by reaching out to children and families in need to offer hope and help through the World Renew Gift Program. Each class will collect money from November 30-December 11. As the money is brought to school, students will total the donation and make decisions about how they would like to allocate the funds. Through the World Renew gift catalog, students can select items such as mosquito nets, health kits, goats, pigs, chimneys, latrines and water filters. We we hold a special chapel service on Wednesday, December 16 during which we will review what items our entire South Side community will be sending out around the world.

We invite you to participate in this program. You may encourage your child to complete special jobs around the house to earn money. Perhaps they can dig into their own piggy bank for an offering. You are welcome to attend our chapel time on Wednesday, December 16 from 8:30-9:00 as we offer our gifts as a response to God's love and grace in our lives.

Closing Closet Doors
Whaaat?!?! Yep. Our insurance company has requested that the doors to our second grade, first grade and kindergarten storage rooms remain closed to help prevent curious children from climbing around inside and getting hurt.

Quarter 2 Report Cards
Back up the assessment bus! Our report cards for quarter two will not go home on Friday, December 18. Rather, we will begin printing cards on Thursday, January 21. They will go home on that day with Sandy and Sarah. The rest of the batch on Friday, January 22. Merrrrrry Christmas!

Makers Week
If you're still looking and thinking, feel free to take a peek at what others are doing at PR and RP for ideas. Don't hesitate to talk to me if you need to shake an idea out of the tree. We can drum up something exciting for your session! Jot your ideas and materials here. I'm starting to shop! :)

PD
Wednesday will be PD with a light breakfast served from 8:00-8:20 on main street. We'll begin at 8:20 focusing on Discipleship Practices and integrating the Biblical Narrative into all that we do for our students. Please bring your computer as we may have time to input our ideas and work into rubicon. Our session will wrap up by noon so you can begin prepping your turkeys.

Autumn's Glory Tells His Story

What a beautiful autumn week we've been blessed with! I hope you were each able to feel the warmth of the sunshine and revel in God's love. God doesn't promise easy, but he surely promises to hold us in the palm of His hand through every storm. We are thankful that Thea's husband, Lloyd, is home. We will continue to hold him and his family before God throughout this recovery journey. And may Gretchen and Stacia continue to find God's peace as we approach a season that celebrates Christ's coming with family and spending time together.

Here are a few of our students who sat together on a two-track in the sunshine just enjoying each other's company. Life Together.

Mini Maker Faire at Barnes and Noble

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/h/makerfaire

There is a maker faire at Barnes and Noble this weekend. This is a great opportunity to do a little Christmas shopping and grab an idea or two for your Makers Week session. If you see an idea or tech item that intrigues you, put it on our doc and I'll do your shopping!


Lunch and Learn
Our typical November staff meeting will take the form of a Lunch and Learn on the 9th.

Class Blog
Please copy and paste this bussing information for your class blog:

November 12 (no PM transportation)
November 13 (no PM transportation)
January 18 No bussing
March 17 (no PM transportation)

Learning Labs
Our inaugural Learning Lab date is Thursday! What a great way to learn and grow together!

Wednesday through Friday
I will be out of the building but checking emails and texts throughout the days Wednesday through Friday. I'm sorry to miss our Learning Lab experience but am eager to hear how it goes!

Chapel Change
Please take note that Sandy's class will lead chapel on November 18, not the 11th.

Unwrapping the Gift by Ann Voskamp
Is in your box. Feel free to use the devotionals as we walk through the advent season for yourself, your family and/or your children.

Wellness Wednesday
Thank you for taking a few minutes on your full Wednesdays to talk to the kids about how small choices can add up to make a big difference. God gave us amazing bodies and taking care of His creation also means taking care of ourselves. ...plus I'm loving the track pants mid-week :)

Chocolate or White? Which would you like? ;)

November PD Morning

Just a reminder, we will have further opportunity to flesh out our Discipleship Practices from 8:00-12:00 on Wednesday, November 25.

Finally! A "normal" week! What a gift!

This has been floating around social media. I thought it was kind of funny.

If you accept collaboration days, inaugural Wellness Wednesday, first rounds of observations, smiling students starting our days on WZZM, etc. a normal week....then let's celebrate! Praise God for the growth that we have observed in our children throughout the first quarter and we trust in Him for the wisdom and guidance as we lead our classes in all the learning we have planned in quarter two!

Guess what! 

Assessment Day = DONE

Report Cards = DONE

CEA = DONE

Data Meetings = DONE

Parent/teacher Conferences = DONE

Collaboration Days = DONE for 2/3 :)

What do you want to talk about? ;) GREAT work, staff, supporting each other, cheering each other one another on and demonstrating that you glorify God by giving your best to ALL the tasks at hand. Amazing work has been accomplished. Acknowledge and celebrate that. 

Lunch and Learn

Monday, November 9 please ask for a parent volunteer to cover your class over the noon hour. We will delve into the next chapter of Love and Logic together. 

Unwrapping the Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp

A copy of this beautiful book is en route for each classroom. We spoke about this last year. If you would like to use Ann's book as a way to step through the advent season with your students, keep it in mind as a possible resource. 

Learning Labs

Sarah and Jenna will be leading our cohorts in our two Learning Labs experiences on Thursday, November 12. We're eager to grow together.

For your blog

Please copy and paste this note in your classroom blogs:

For many years South Side has partnered with JW Greenhouses from South Olive in the sale of poinsettia flowers during the Christmas season. Our school keeps the profit of that sale and allocates the funds directly for the needs and educational experiences of our students. If you are planning to purchase a poinsettia plant or two, please consider making your purchase through our sale which will run from November 9 to November 30. Your child will take home an order form soon in their Friday folder. Thank you, as ALWAYS, for your continued support and prayers. We appreciate you!

Life Together

What a week it's been. How is it possible to walk through dark days and yet feel filled with warmth, love and peace? How is it possible to feel exhausted from the hard work and yet feel energized by all who surround you? GOD makes this truth possible! I hope you have felt Him permeate the week too. When talking with Gretchen and Stacia at Dave's visitation, I saw God's strength and providence pouring out of both of them, even in the midst of grief. Let's commit to continue to hold Dave's entire family in our prayers particularly as the busyness of this week subsides. Thank you for being so loving and supportive for her and our students this week.

Staff Meeting Slides

Makers Week
Begin to kick around your project idea and list it here.

Individual Problem Solving Team
As we talked about in today's staff meeting, when the need arises, please initiate the pre-referral process for a student. Lia will support you with documentation and reminders of the process. Meeting times to discuss the observations will take place on Mondays from 11:30-12:30.

Library on Wellness Wednesdays :)
If you have readers that you've recently conferred with who would benefit from reading in a new space or students who need a fresh supply of books, please feel free to send them to the library on Wednesdays between 9:00-11:00. We're experimenting with utilizing the library space in a new way. Ideally, students would be able to access our resources therefore allowing the library to directing support reading workshop. It's at your service!

Thank you!
Thank you for the special gift today. Please know, it is just a JOY to serve here at South Side! I love this place because I love you, the people! I do not deserve to be singled out, especially with the "b" word ;) But I accept the gift and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for following God's call and serving Him here with our littles!

Grand Blessings on Grandparents Day!

Such a beautiful celebration of love this morning. Thanks be to God for using these blessed children to channel and bear witness to His graciousness and love to all generations! Thank you to each of you for your work, creativity and thought put into this event. It was so good to have more student involvement this year!

Conferences
Dinner will be served on Tuesday, October 20 at 6:00. Will you please block out if you'd like 20 or 40 minutes? I have received feedback that some prefer 20 minutes while others prefer 40 minutes. No judgement! Just please block what you wish before parent sign up begins, please.

Report Cards Due Thursday, October 15
Please complete your grade input by Thursday, October 15. We'll get them printed and stuffed into envelopes in time for your Friday folders.

Basketball Team Visit on Monday, October 12
Nothing required of you. Just good to know!

Kevin Kammeraad on Wednesday, October 14 at 10:30
Again, nothing required just good to know (and maybe show up for)

Data Meetings
Because we'll have assessments under our belts by conference time, it makes sense to hold our data meetings right away as well so we can address needs and tweak plans as needed. You should have received an invitation to your grade level meeting sent to your calendar. Please let me know if you did not receive this invitation.

Collaboration Days
Please note that Collaboration Days will be Oct. 29 and 30. Details will be available after the admin meeting which takes place tomorrow. I'll keep you posted!

Congratulations Amanda, Chris and August! Welcome little Harrison!

We thank God for beautiful little Harrison!

What a special gift fresh from heaven this sweet little one is. And praise God that the whole birth experience went well and Amanda is doing well. We'll continue to pray for you Amanda. May you simply enjoy your boys during these weeks at home. We'll miss you, but we're handling things AOK at school! Bless you, friend!

Thank you, team, for the all of the hard work you put into assessing our students today! The kids had a good, productive morning and I hope each teacher was able to move through your list of individualized assessments more quickly than if we each did this alone. THANK YOU to Lia, Michelle and Danielle for wrangling in the crowd and keeping the masses busy. It was a good day!

Pastor's Breakfast
Wednesday morning will be the Pastor's breakfast event. For us, this means that our morning recess will be adjusted to 9:50-10:10. Pastors have been invited to visit classrooms from 10:10-10:30. This might be a good time for a snack and story so that it's easy to handle any visitors that may be stopping by. If you would like to have a few students make a poster to hand to a guest pastor, please feel free. Otherwise, a simple welcome is very appropriate.

Grandparents Day
Thank you for the wonderful practice Wednesday morning. We'll do the same next Wednesday morning, October 7 from 8:30-9:00. As we have in the past, grandparents will visit classrooms on Thursday, October 8 from 10:15-10:45. We will begin our praise and worship together in the gym at 11:00. Please send the reminder in your class blogs.

Lunch and Learn Staff Meeting
Due to Grandparents Day, we will move our meeting to October 15.

Data Meetings
Our grade level data meetings will take place on Thursday, October 15 and Friday, October 16. Second grade and kindergarten will meet in the staff center during planning time on Thursday. First grade will meet during planning time on Friday.

Vision and Hearing Screening
On Wednesday, November 4 our students will be screened for vision and hearing. Any students who are not screened on Wednesday will be called out of the classroom on Thursday, November 5.

Library
Our library is now ready to take students who need new/additional reading materials on Wednesday mornings between 9:00-11:00. We are trying to move toward a more "open feel" to our library allowing students to come and go as needed. Baby steps! :) Thank you, Mary, for allowing us this access.

One Big Bunch of God's Kids!

What a joy to watch all the colors come onto the athletic field initially as separate colors and then, as the drummers marched off, all of the bright colors exploded into one big joyful mess of God's happy children! Another beautiful illustration of Life Together! Thank you for holding hands, encouraging kids, laughing with parents and cooling our kids. We are so blessed by our supportive Holland Christian community. God is GOOD and we are entrusted to continue doing His good work.

WZZM
AKA Channel "13" news would like to film our little peeps for their salute which will air at the close of their broadcasts. They will film each class beginning at 10:00 on Tuesday, September 29. I don't have a good feel for how long this will take so we may have to make a few alterations to recess times. I'll cover duty on the playground. I'm SORRY 3-day K classes that this is on Tuesday. They only ever record 5 classes and had asked for Tuesday, September 29 :( We'll film who we have here and Amanda's class will divide into their encore class groups.

Assessment Day
In order to help with running records and assessments we will hold our assessment day on Thursday, October 1 from 8:30-11:30. Lia, Danielle, Michelle and I will man the crowd.

Report Cards
Report Cards will be printed and go home on Thursday, October 15 for 3-day K. Friday, October 16 for the rest of the crowd. Please have your grades entered in gradebook by Thursday, October 15 at 8:00. We'll fire up the printers.

Conference Times
Elementary parent/teacher conference times will be 4:00-8:00 on Tuesday, October 20 and 1:00-5:00 on Wednesday, October 21.

Grandparents' Day
Please plan to practice with the full stage on Wednesday, September 30 from 8:30-9:00. I'll get music and the program to you shortly-ish. Because we will need to park cars on the playground, we will move recess up to 9:45-10:00 on Thursday, October 8. Todd will open the gates at 10:00 and start letting cars in. Invitations will go home in Friday Folders. 3-day K, yours went home today!

Staff Meeting
Due to Grandparents Day, our next staff meeting has been moved to Thursday, October 15.

Pastors' Breakfast
Poor recess. We keep shuffling it around. To accommodate the pastors' breakfast schedule on the 7th we will be moving recess on Wednesday, October 7 to 9:50-10:10. Pastors may be visiting your rooms between 10:10-10:30. This might be a good time for snack and story as spontaneous interruptions will be doable with a story rather than a heavy duty exam.

Monday's PD
Breakfast will begin at 7:30 on main street. Learning Lab discussion and training will be in the auditorium beginning at 8:00. Lunch will be at 11:00. We'll kick off our first TNT at 12:00 and be dismissed by 3:00. Should be a good bunch of learning that day!

Pictures, Swimming, Field Trips, DIBELS...full steam ahead.

What a week it's been. It's good to have five days to cram what sometimes feels like 24 days worth of work into. ;) At the heart of all this busy, extra activity it's so good and right to witness each of you enjoying your students, building relationships, praying together, sharing stories in the gathering area and doing Life Together. God is doing good work for our children through each of you.

In case you need mood music in your room from time to time! ;)

Amy Woods
We praise God for answered prayer. Amy's surgery was successful! We miss her and pray for a speedy recovery. We also thank God for paving the road that provided Michelle Frieling to continue working with Amy's kids each day.

Pastors' Breakfast
3-day kinder classes, please send the pastors' invitations home today. All other K-2 students are asked to take the invitations home on Friday. Please copy and paste this note in your classroom blog:

"We are excited to announce that we will be honoring all of the pastors represented in our Holland Christian School student body, with a breakfast and special and special speaker.  This breakfast will take place in our high school cafeteria, Wednesday morning, October 7, 2015 from 8:45-10:00.

In order to have a successful breakfast we would like your help.  This week your child/children will be taking home a special invitation for your pastor.  Please help your child remember to take this invitation to church this coming Sunday and personally invite your pastor to the breakfast.  The pastors will also have the opportunity to visit your child's classroom on the morning of Wednesday, October 7.

We are eager to share the blessings of Christian education with your pastor.  Please encourage your child to hand deliver the invitation to your pastor after the Sunday service.  If your church has more than one pastor whom your child would like to invite, please request additional invitations from the elementary office.

Thank you for helping us honor your pastors.  We are looking forward to having these very special guests on our campus!

Contact Mike Verkaik with any questions by email at mverkaik@hollandchirstian.org."

Staff Meeting Change
Due to Grandparents' Day on Thursday, October 9, let's move our staff meeting to the following Thursday, October 15 over our lunch hour.

Discovery Assessment
One more week to fit in the two assessments. Please don't hesitate to ask to ask for support!

EGG Grants
Turn in your awesome big ideas on Friday, September 25.

Walk-a-thon T-shirts
In the office are the t-shirts for our students. Feel free to take them, have the kids try them on if you'd like, but please don't send them home. Our children will change into their new shirts on Wednesday before the walk-a-thon and they may wear them home (they're pretty cool). Please don't forget to thank Kylie Leeuw if/when you see her. She has put a lot of work into pulling this event off smoothly.

This and That

New Students! 
Join me in thanking God for three new students who have already or are in the process of joining us at South Side. Woot! Woot!

Amy's surgery
Amy, we will be in prayer for you as you undergo surgery next week. We pray for a successful procedure and a speedy recovery. No question about it: we will miss you on the team every day, Amy. You're supportive spirit, warmth, tenderness and leadership with our students is a gift! Truly. You make South Side a better place for both children and adults. Take the time you need to heal fully, but we'll be happy to have you back! In the meantime, we welcome Michelle Freiling to run Amy's LLI groups and push-in support in Amy's absence.

Grandparents Day
Per our discussion, we'll stick very close to our classic program. If you have a student, however, who you note has a special gift/talent or interest in participating in a special way, please let me know. We'll put them on the docket!

Pastor's Breakfast
Mike VerKaik has been working hard to organize the Pastor's Breakfast event for October 7. Please remember that we will hold our recess from 9:50-10:10 and then if each class would have snack and story from 10:10-10:30 we will be able to welcome any pastors that come and go from our classrooms. He is also preparing an invitation for our children to decorate next week. More information forthcoming as it is available.

Chapel on the 16th
We will hold chapel at the typical time, however, due to swimming, second grade will not be able to participate because the bus will be ready to pick you up just a few minutes after chapel is underway. So chapel this Wednesday will only involve first grade and kindergarten. We'll miss you second graders!

CEA Stipend and Overnight Opportunity
As we discussed in our staff meeting, please inform Karen VanMeeteren if you are planning to attend CEA if you haven't already. You will receive a stipend to help offset the costs of travel and staying overnight in South Bend. Here is a link to the hotel Erin Wyma and I will be staying in. Earlier this week there was still room in the inn. But I hear it fills quickly.

New Tornado Drill Locations
Thank you for interrupting your teaching time to practice the tornado drill. You move so confidently and quickly. Our students are in good hands! I have noticed that we have several classes who are assigned to curl up on the bathroom floor....the BOYS bathroom floor. Eh hem! EWWW! Nothing like trading in safety in the storm for a staph infection. Please take note of our freshly updated plan in the google drive. I will contact the fire department to ensure this plan is safe, but for now, no need to hide out in bathrooms.

Makers Space and Week
Per our discussion, you should have received a link to our new Makers Space calendar as well as a project list Google Sheets. If you did not receive this link, please let me know! Thank you for your willingness to embrace this new venture in educating our students!

Discovery Assessment
As you can see, the Discovery Assessment window opens on Monday morning and will be at the ready for your scheduling for two weeks.

Life Together

God is good. All of the time. Look at all these eager faces. Even on our little ones! We prayed for these little hearts and, while they may not have comprehended all that was going on around them, they certainly got a glimpse of the sheer size of what "Life Together" at Holland Christian looks like and sounds like. Beautiful! Have you viewed the smugmug photo album? It fuels my heart and soul to see the faces of the children, both big and small, that we are asked to live into and share God for this school year.

Closing Convocation 
Our HC closing convocation is scheduled for Wednesday, May 18. It is on the Google calendar, but also worth taking note as we make our plans this year.

Staff Meeting
As we did last year, we will hold our staff meetings during the lunch hour of the second Thursday of each month. This meeting will take place on Thursday, September 10.

Agenda Thus Far:

• Grandparents Day
• Love and Logic
• Makers Space
• HC Story Guide/Blogs
• Parent Feedback Survey

EpiPen Training
Hendrina will give us the refresher course on how to administer medication to a child using an epipen if the need were ever to arise. This training will take place on Thursday, September 10 in the afternoon. She was not available over the lunch hour.

Swimming Schedule
Our 5-day kindergarten, first and second grade classes will begin swimming lessons on Monday, September 14. Lessons will follow for the week of the 14th and the week of the 21st. Swimming lessons will be cancelled on Friday, Sept. 18. Pick up/Drop off times will be as follows:

8:38 a.m.-9:42 a.m. Second grade
9:28 a.m.-10:32 a.m. First grade
10:18 a.m.-11:22 a.m. Kindergarten

Discovery Assessment
Our first and second grade classes will need to take the Discovery Assessment (A) between the weeks of September 14-September 25. We will assess the students in reading and in math. As we did last year, we will be utilizing iPads for this assessment.

DIBELS
September 17 a team of teachers will be assessing our kindergarteners using DIBELS. This is an agreement HC has made with Ottawa County. That data will not impact your teaching/instruction, however, you may certainly have access to your kids' scores if you would like.

School Pictures
All school photos will be taken in the Makers Space room. Each staff member must have a photo taken for the yearbook as well.

Thursday
ALL present preschool classes and Junior Kindergarten students
Mrs. Becksfort and Mrs. Johnson's students

All Staff photo taken at front door at 11:55 (Jenna and Sarah have a learning lab at PR to scoot off to so please try to buzz to the front doors on time. You may need to ask a volunteer to watch your class in order to make it in time for our picture together).

Friday
**Swimming lessons will be cancelled on Friday, the 18th due to school photos**
Mrs. Strikwerda's class
All first grade
All second grade

Drills
Thursday, September 10 we will have a tornado drill at 1:40 and lead into recess.

Parking on South End
Our wonderful grounds-keeping crew has requested that we keep our cars off the grass along the staff parking lot. They are not able to mow the lawn under our cars. Shoot!

Parent Night Thank You!

Parent Night 2015! Awesome job showcasing all you do in your classrooms, how much you love your students and tangibly demonstrating that is it God's call in your life that has brought you to South Side. So many parents have commented on what a special place South Side is to their family. This is not because of our building (although it's beautiful, Todd...than you!), books (although the collection is extraordinarily supportive, Mary!) or plans (although you all do this so well!). The unconditional love that you bring and share with your families is what makes South Side so special. Thank you for who you are! It is a joy to live and work this life together with each of you!

Staff Meeting 
For your calendar: Thursday, September 10 from 11:40-12:30

Swimming Lessons
Please begin to inform your parents that swimming for 5-day K through second grade begins Monday, September 14 and will commence for two weeks. This may seem early to parents and we want them informed well in advance.

School Pictures
Students pictures will be taken the 17th and 18th. Classes will be assigned to a date soon. Please plan to have our staff photo taken noon on September 17 at the front doors.

Before/After School Care
We are excited to partner with parents in offering supervision for their children both before and after school. The after school program will run very similarly to last year. The only impact you may have from the before school care is that if a child comes to your classroom before the start of the day, they are welcome to come to Tammy's classroom, room 2, if it's before 7:45. If you are yellow vest assigned for the before school morning slot, please be ready to report to your post at 7:50. You'll have kiddos (and likely Tammy ;) ready!) Thank you!

Epi Pen Training September 10 at 3:30
Hendrina would like to offer a short refresher course on Epi-pen training on Thursday, September 10 at 3:30 in the staff center.

Pastor's Breakfast
Mike VerKaik is organizing a community-wide Pastor's breakfast during Pastor Appreciation month. This will take place on October 7. The pastors from all the churches represented at HC will be invited to a breakfast at the high school and then invited to visit children from their church families in the various HC campuses, including South Side. How cool! To accommodate their schedule for the morning, we will push back our recess that day by 10 minutes. Recess will begin at 9:50 and end at 10:10. I envision teachers will be engaged in read aloud with their students while children are eating their snacks from 10:10-10:30. This might be the simplest activity that can be disrupted without losing learning time, but please feel free to do otherwise if that works best for your class. We will work through the finer points of this morning in the near future, but please plan on an alternate recess time for the 7th of October and a few visitors during that 20-minute window of time.

Grandparent's Day
Our grandparents will again be invited to celebrate their grandchildren on our Grandparents Day celebration in the morning. We will talk through the finer points of this event at our staff meeting. Currently, we are planning to hold grandparents day from 10:15-11:30 on the morning of October, 8th.

Jean Day Friday! 
Nuf said ;)

Welcome Back!!!

Welcome Back!!!!

I've been so excited to see many of you and hear about the adventures God brought you on in the summer months. I once again hear laughter in our South Side hallways!! I spent a good deal of the summer at school and you'll be relieved to know that I didn't laugh to myself in the office. So needless to say, it was quiet, dark and uncharacteristic of South Side. So it's SO good and right to hear your joy and fresh ideas again. That said, I know that your to-do lists feel almost endless at this time of year. The following poster sums up the work at this time of year very well:

That said, this is a labor of love. It's thrilling and inspiring to hear about the new ideas you're intending to bring to your students this year. Every one of us, students and staff, are learners. This is what keeps us passionate and makes every day an adventure (well, that and the kid who pukes in the middle of the classroom does add a bit of an unpredictable twist in the day). The following poster celebrates why you do what you do and do it so well! It is a privilege, joy and honor to work alongside each of you. Thank you for using your God-given gifts in this mission field at South Side!

If you haven't already, please plan to send the welcome letter home to your students early next week. We want to get our littles excited about this upcoming school year and help them understand how they will love, learn and laugh every day with you. 

Next Week

The plans and events next week involves only our new staff. Let's hear it for our new staffers!!! Natalie Sapp (1st grade), Danielle Snoeyink (Aide in Karen Strikwerda's class) and Tabitha Tolsma (4s Preschool), we are blessed to have you join our South Side family. 

Monday, August 17

We will have a staff meeting at South Side from 8:30-11:00. We'll share stories and celebrate all we have to look forward to this school year, we'll work through our next session of Love and Logic and I'll fill you in on all that has happened at HC over the summer months of work that will impact your work this year.

Tuesday, August 18 

Our all-staff retreat will be at the Fish and Game Club again from 8:00-4:00. Breakfast, lunch and snacks will be provided. We'll hear the results of the HC Story project, meet Dirk (MS) and Darryl (HS) and do some brainstorming with all staff. You will need only bring your hungry self.  

Wednesday, August 19

8:00-9:00 Abuse reporting training in the middle school auditorium. 

The First Aid training has been cancelled. The trainers bailed so we did too. We'll wrestle that beast next year. It's a free day of prep in your classroom. PHEW!

Thursday, August 20

We'll meet at the high school at 8:00 for Dan's inspiring message as well as a few nitty gritties followed by some work time focused around discipleship practices. We'll close this time by 11:30. 

Stop by the middle school sometime between 11:30-4:30 for your new staff ID photo, please.

The ice-cream social will be Thursday evening from 6:30-8:00. So exciting to meet your new little learners! 

Friday, August 21

Education committee will meet from 9-11. Learning Lab facilitators will be trained Friday afternoon from 12:00-3:00. This will make more sense after our Monday staff meeting. Only if I have spoken with you will you need to attend this training. Otherwise, the time is yours for all the last minute prep pieces. 

Convocation

NO Sunday convocation this year. I will explain those details at our staff meeting, but no need to make plans to attend convocation this year on Sunday afternoon. 

Tuesday, August 25, parents will be attending our Parent Information NIght from 7:00-8:30. Please note that you are only expected to be in your classroom during these allotted times: 

7:00 pm            Kindergarten - Mrs. Johnson

            First grade  - Mrs. Van Meeteren

            First grade - Miss Sapp

Second grade - Mrs. Ritsema

7:30 pm            General Assembly in the gym with me

                       

8:00 pm            Kindergarten – Mrs. Becksfort and Mrs. Strikwerda

            First grade - Mrs. Bohle

                        Second grade - Mrs. Hunderman

Discipleship Practices Bandanas (a.k.a. as we like to tease Rod "hankies")

Just an FYI as your rooms are not entirely completed yet. Rod and David have worked tirelessly in rolling out the discipleship practices. They will provide more details on Thursday, August 20. However, please know that classroom teachers will be receiving a set of colorful bandanas for display in all classrooms at HC. I'm no interior decorator, but if you haven't already filled that top area of the monster bulletin board, you might choose to leave that or any other wide and narrow wall space open for these bananas to make their home in your classroom for the school year. 

Please don't hesitate to ask questions, raise great ideas and alert me to conflicts. It's going to be a fun week to grow together as we're ramping up to the highway. Again, thank you for all the hard work, time and effort you are already putting in to make this 2015-2016 a stellar year for our children! 

Toasty and Roasty

It's been a short week, so says the calendar, but it sure feels like a full one. Thank you for continuing to push diligently to the finish. 

Closing Conversations
As we close the year, it is good to look back both to celebrate and set goals for growth in the upcoming year. I'm trying to organize and schedule these conversations on Doodle. If you received an emailed invitation to the Doodle calendar, please select a time that is convenient for you and we'll celebrate the year together and talk about next year. If you did not receive an email, but would like to talk through a few items, please don't hesitate to grab a time slot following this link. 

End of Year Folder
The end of the year checklist was placed in your mailbox. You will also receive a class set of Student Communication Checklists for your students. As was mentioned in our staff meeting, these are to be completed and passed on to next year's teachers. You may also access these documents in a Google Drive folder called "End of Year"

Report Cards
Are due by Thursday, June 4 at 8:00 a.m. Pat and I will get your cards printed and stuffed in envelopes for your students' last day of school. You will also receive a set of report cards to be placed in each child's cum.

School Specialty
We will again be placing our order online. When you log in, you should be able to pull of last year's order for reference or to simply tweak and submit. Once submitting, the order will go to Pat's account. She will place the order in July.

Staff Get Together
How does it sound to get together on Thursday early evening, say 5:00ish?, for a dinner with our SS staff to celebrate all of this year's goodness and anticipating the summer break? Rather than eating a lunch together on Friday with only a portion of our team, perhaps after school on Thursday would be a better time to all break bread (or tip a glass of wine) together?

June 5
We will hold our final chapel time together from 10:45-11:15 on Friday, June 5. Please be sure to give each child their report card as well as their baton. For staff members who are present on Fridays, let's meet together in the staff center to spend a little time in celebratory prayer together.

PD Days
For your calendars, the afternoon of June 5 is yours to close the room and work through the check-out process. Monday, June 8 will be at the high school. Breakfast will available on mainstreet beginning at 8:00. Our meeting will begin at 8:30. Lunch will be served in the cafeteria. Our day will close around 3:30. Tuesday, June 9 will also be at the high school. Breakfast will be available beginning at 8:00. You will be dismissed before lunch.