Land of the Living

Just when perhaps you may have lost all hope, I am happy to report there are superheroes in our world! Today's superhero came about an hour after everyone left the building this morning. Here he comes (yes...I was stalking. Excited to share the news with all of you!)

Welcome to South Side, Felix! What's that you've got in your hands?!?! ;)

Felix was feeling like a knight in shining armor ;)

Karen S suggested we might need to put together a sign up genius IF the day of resurrection ever came for our copier! Have at it, folks! We're good to go!

CST Sign Up

As we mentioned at our meeting this morning, our CST sign up is on the white board. Please put your student initials as well as your own on the upper lefthand corner of the board. You will be contacted by our wonderful ESS folks soon after.
The first CST meeting will be held on October 10.

Capturing Our Conversation

• Once the day begins, please be sure to close, lock, and remove magnets in any exterior doors propped open before the day.
• Please never prop doors open during the day.
• Please be sure to have your classroom door handles locked at all times. Please prop your door open, if you wish, or use the magnets. If you need a magnet, or if your lock needs attention, please let the office know.
• When you leave, please make sure your classroom is secure, windows closed and locked, door closed and locked, and exterior doors closed and locked behind you.
• Pat and I will make work of getting a clear understanding of the medical needs of all of our students. You will be contacted with necessary steps and actions. I will connect with parents if we need to address changes in routine (such as meds in backpacks). 
• Your maps and class lists will be distributed asap...because, remember? We have a copier! :D 

Staff Meetings

• September 13: over the lunch hour for K-2 (PK are welcome if it works for your schedule, but not required. Ron, we'll have to talk about getting you out of the forest for this!)

• September 19: PK at Rose Park, please. 

Nailed It!

Thank you! 
What an amazing start to a new school year we have enjoyed! It's always such a flurry isn't it? Prepping, meeting, ice cream social, parent night....which hits like a Mack truck right after the first day....FWEEW! You've MADE it! I hope you feel like you can start to go about the good business of getting to know your students and starting their GROWTH!

Aren't they sweet? Even Dawn's two little cryers are settling right in 💖

Wellness Wednesday 
Let's continue talking with our kids and casually analyzing the contents of their lunch on Wellness Wednesday once a month. I'll keep the impromptu running club going at recess. Our first day will be Wednesday, September 5.

Early Childhood Tailgate
It's coming! This will run in the blog this week. Preschool staff and kindergarten teachers, please save the date! We will again each be meeting and engaging with families prior to the football game. Tammy, Courtney and I will solidify the details early next week and communicate that out ASAP! It's always a wonderful time for families to get to know the warm, welcoming, loving hands and hearts that God has placed in our early childhood program: YOU!

4TH ANNUAL HCS HOMECOMING FAMILY WEEKEND
Friday, September 14
Holland Christian High School
This evening has become a family favorite, filled with good memories—even when it downpours! Picnic dinner and children's activities, including bouncy houses, lawn games, and crafts, start at 5 pm, then the varsity football game against Zeeland East begins at 7. The cost is $8 per person in advance, including both dinner and game, and tickets are available online at hollandchristian.org/alumnior at the HCHS or HCS administration offices. Or it's $10 per person on the day of the event. Looking forward to hanging out!

Convocation
Our whole district will be attending the convocation ceremony at the high school from 9:00-9:30. Bussing details will be coming soon.

PD on the 31st
Our entire district is going to step through and clarify our safety procedures for both natural disasters and security breeches. Teacher assistants (that's Michelle Maldonado) and classroom teachers, which includes PK, encore and K-2 are asked to attend. We will begin at 8:00 and get you out before snack time. Preschool aides need not attend. ESS aides need not attend either. We'll work thoroughly and quickly to get you onto your well-deserved weekend!

The Table Is Set....Bring On The Ice Cream!

This is it! The day we meet our new squad of little ones. What a mix of emotions for our families this day holds. They've likely heard wonderful stories about you. Some of them may have been blessed by you and your love through another child. But many will be coming with a mix of emotions tonight. I have been and will remain in prayer for each of you. I'm excited for nervous parents to be comforted by the joy they find in your eyes, for the love you're ready to share with their family and for the genuine faith in Our Father with which you will lead their child. 2018-2019, here we come! Full steam ahead! The table has been prepared! It's time to bring on the participants!

PD on August 31
This year we will be audited and guided in our safety procedures and protocols at HC at large and at South Side/Forest School. On the 31st in the morning, we will review our procedures as they stand currently and make amendments as necessary. We will have the help of the Ottawa County Sheriff's office to customize our safety procedures later in September.

Showcase
A HUGE shout out of thanks to Kate Holloway! She had offered to decorate the showcase in the front hallway each month! WHAT?!?!?! I'm not even kidding! All staff assigned to the decorating of the front showcase can relinquish that responsibility. Thank you, Kate Holloway! She is even willing to create a design around a specific event that you might like highlighted if you'd like. Please let Pat or me know if you'd like to request a specific showcase for Kate to work on.

Staff Photos
Monday morning, August 20th is a day to get all spiffied up! Geskus will be set up and taking photos for staff from 9:00-10:00am. Starting at 10:00, Geskus will also be taking photos for our middle school students.  So don't be late or you might get  reenrolled as a middle schooler!!!

SPARK

As we talked about in our staff meeting, we're going to reinvigorate our children's SPARK experience at South Side. Classroom teachers, please let me know how I can help. This is a link to the booklet Ron had mentioned in our meeting. There are many great ideas here. Additionally, here is the listing of ideas AJ had provided last fall. We have bussing available to bring your kids to the site you have chosen for their service and learning. If you have questions or need to flesh out idea, let's talk! 

Google Form for our Buckets

Just in case you're looking, here is a link to the google form. Don't forget to check your bucket! Everyone has a note and some treats because everyone is AMAZING and so appreciated. 

Convocation

Convocation date changed over the summer months and was listed incorrectly in the google drive. That has now been amended. Our all-school convocation will be on Wednesday, August 29 at 9:00. 

Back To School Dates and Times

Karen VanMeeteren, Tammy Grassmid and Tami Schippers
We have a pretty amazing community of people who genuinely care for one another, don't we? It takes vulnerability to share burdens with others and OH MY there is love and support to be found with this amazing family at South Side when you share. It is, I believe, the body of Christ when we reach for each other to hold one another up and sustain each other in the valley, the storm and the desert. We've talked about this before. Broom trees are one of the scarce forms of vegetation found in the landscape of Israel. The shade found under its branches truly does offer respite from the harsh sunshine. I look at the image of this broom tree and, rather than seeing nothing but rocks sitting in the shade, my heart and mind see our hurting friends who are walking a long, hot journey. Through prayer, questions, sharing of stories, listening and tangible offerings of help, I believe together we can provide a bit of shade in the desert. Tammy, Tami and Karen, you have our hearts. We are ALL in prayer for you and your families. We hope you find rest in the shade we promise to provide. 

So many of you have asked me for the visitation and/or funeral arrangements for Karen's dad. I am deeply grateful every one of you is eager to drop everything and express your love, concern and sympathy to her, Bob and the kids. Karen has requested that rather than coming to Hamilton for the visitation, each South Side member desiring to express their love to her, simply stay home and love on his or her own family in memory of her dad. Let's honor this request, shall we? Her family had some beautiful and special moments as they walked her dad right into Jesus' hands. Such tangible and evident love that will be a legacy for her family to share for many generations. How about we each reflect the love experienced in Karen's family by spending special time with our own families on Sunday afternoon. Please join me in praying that Karen, her mom, Bob, her brother, their kids and the entire extended family would be surrounded in peace beyond measure and hope in our Risen Savior. We love you, Karen. We are grateful for the beautiful moments you were able to share with your dad these past weeks. God's blessings to you as you remember together the many moments and stories your dad created during his time on earth. 


Amanda Bohle
As you have read in her message sent earlier, Amanda Bohle has followed God's call to serve as a reading teacher at Zeeland Public Schools this year. I know she will serve this community well with her God-given gifts. However, the flip side of that, man, we'll miss her. Who's going to give us our weather updates and eat the corn dogs?!? I guess we're on our own to check Bill Blog but will smile when we see ZPS has a snowday ;) 

Michelle Engbers
I am very excited to share with you that Michelle Engbers has accepted the offer to teach first grade at South Side. She comes to us with years of teaching experience before she stayed home with her children. Michelle brings a tender, nurturing heart, many great ideas for teaching young children and a deep desire to glorify God by serving on our first grade team at South Side. Michelle, welcome! We're so grateful you have joined our family. Saddle up, sister! It's an amazing, busy, glorious, sometimes crazy ride...and we'll support you in every step along the way! 

Welcome Back Letters
Students are always so eager to receive a welcome letter from their classroom teacher. This is the beginning of a beautiful, year-long relationship. Many people look back and remember their teachers for a lifetime. Pre-K through 2nd grade teachers, please welcome your children with a "hello" letter. It would be helpful to include an invitation for preschool parent night (preschool teachers only) on August 14, Ice Cream Social on August 16 and first day of school on August 21 (full day). District wide we are planning to send the letters on Wednesday, August 8. If you could print your letters, Pat will provide stamps and labels. We would love to put them all in the South Side mailbox on Thursday, August 9 in the morning. This way, all students/families will receive the welcome letters on the same day. 

Preschool Parent Night
Parents will attend the informational meeting with their child's preschool teacher starting at 6:00 on Tuesday, August 14. You may communicate to your own parents how long they should plan to receive the information you would like to share. 

Ice Cream Social Start

Please join me outside at the front doors at 6:20 on August 16. We'll catch parents there and begin our "welcome back" conversations. At 6:30 we'll pray and walk into school together. I'm praying over each of you as you meet your new children and open your hearts to walk alongside families in growing children to more deeply know, see and love our Father God. 

Parent Night

Our format for parent night will be just as it has been in the past. SOME parents will come to school beginning at 7:00. They will visit their classroom from 7:00-7:30. I will chatter at ALL of the parents from 7:30-8:00 in the gym. Then the last batch of parents will visit their classroom from 8:00-8:30. In an attempt to be equitable in terms of timing, we try to alternate teachers each year from "first shift" and "second shift". Here is our schedule for parent night:

7:00-7:30:  Kindergarten--Mrs. Strikwerda

                   First Grade--Mrs. Schebor

                   Second Grade--Mrs. Dreyer/Mrs. Hunderman

7:30-8:00:  All parents in the gym

8:00-8:30:  Kindergarten-Mrs. Becksfort

                   First Grade-Mrs. Engbers

                   First Grade--Mrs. VanMeeteren

                   Second Grade--Mrs. Ritsema

Nature-Based Parent Night

Our nature-based kindergarteners will be welcomed to parent night with Mr. Harig on Thursday, September 6 from 6:30-7:30. 

Any issues? Please let me know. Otherwise, we'll inform parents of this in our elementary blog post tomorrow afternoon. 

PD Week Events

• Monday, August 13  9:00-11:00--Our first staff meeting at South Side in the staff center. Please bring your summer stories, an appetite (breakfast will be served) and your computer. PK staff please meet in your respective buildings for this staff meeting. 
• Tuesday, August 14  9:00-when the work is done which will be sometime before lunch. Elementary teachers please meet in the media center with computers in hand. PK staff dismissed by 10:30. 
• Wednesday, August 15 BREAKFAST is served at 8:30 then 9:00-2:30 please meet on Main Street. We will meet our newest team members at HC, explore our theme for the school year, work together on a shared project and more! (how am I doing selling it?!?) PK staff all day, please. 
• Friday, August 17 BREAKFAST is served at 8:30 then at 9:00-sometime before lunch we will meet in the auditorium in the high school. PK staff for the morning as well, please. 

Homework

When you have time, would you please help me Prepare A Table for you by completing this form sometime before August 8? Thank you!