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