Principal’s Message:
This week I have been away from school, and have taken in a few different professional development opportunities. Currently, I am sitting in Surrey, BC, at the Christian Deeper Learning Conference. I am learning all sorts of amazing things, but today I wanted to tell you a little bit about what I learned on Monday afternoon while listening to Dr. Kevin Wood speak to BGSD principals.
He was sharing a story about oranges. Yes, the fruit. He mentioned that according to a May 2022 National Geographic study, oranges, while substantially larger, have fewer nutrients than they did 70 years ago. The reason might surprise you. It actually comes down to the amount of tension and challenges they have in their lives. Trees, historically had more issues going on than ones that have been cultivated in perfect conditions. The perfect conditions are great for crop yield, color, and size of the fruit, but the trees have not struggled through issues as they had in the past (or wild). This lack of tension (less essential interactions between soil fungi, competition, changes in climate, and carbon dioxide levels) has caused fewer nutrients to be created within the fruit itself.
In order to combat this, orange growers have started driving spiked nails into the trunks of trees to create moderate amounts of tension. Now they don’t put in 300 spikes, they put in a few, just to create enough conflict that the tree overcomes some aspects of challenge in its life. He then gave his impact statement: “Now realize we help cultivate young learners.”
While we want our kids to succeed, when we clear away all of the conflict or challenges in their lives, we do not allow them to learn the coping mechanisms integral for them to be resilient problem solvers in the future. Much like the orange tree, we want them to learn from situations they can handle. Now, just like that orange tree, we wouldn’t expect them to deal with too much, but we do want to make sure they do not only deal with “perfect conditions.” Parents and educators need to play that balanced role of allowing our kids to fail at times, or at least allow them to learn how to deal with conflict and others without involving themselves and solving the problem for them.
While I know this is not easy, we owe it to our kids to learn these skills.
Announcements
Stable Table – Question of the Week
A huge congratulations to the Oyedunfamily who were the winners of Mr. Simmons’ “Question of the Week” that was posted in last week’s Chronicle! A prize will go home today (check backpack)! Make sure you answer the question below for your chance at a prize!!
Please see below for this week’s question. Please talk amongst your family, and fill in this form for your chance to win next week!!
As we look forward to spring, our question this week is:
“In your own view, how does Spring show God’s faithfulness?”
Beauty & the Beast Performance – Ticket Information
There are still a few tickets left!!
We are eagerly anticipating the performances of “Beauty and the Beast” starting March 22, 2023! This year there will be 4 performances, 2 matinee performances on Wednesday, March 22nd at 10:30 for our CCS students and at 1:00 pm, a matinee at 1:00 pm, and an evening performance at 7:00 pm on Thursday, March 23rd, 2022.
The grade 4 – 6 students will provide the mass choir while the CTF Drama class will be responsible for the main acting roles.
Please carefully read all of the information below for important information on ticket sales.
Please note:
- Ticket sales are now open!
- All performances will take place at The Maclab Centre for the Performing Arts (4308 50 St, Leduc)
- All tickets are sold through Ticket Pro (not at the school).
- Please forward this email to any family and friends who would be interested in attending the performances!
- Please note, these performances often sell quickly (max # of tickets per family is 8)
- General Ticket Information:
- Ticket costs are $12/each (Including TicketPro fees).
- Ticket Purchasing Options:
- Purchase online through TicketPro
- Through MacLab Box Office: Open Tuesday & Thursday from 9 – 5 pm at 780-980-7170.
Please contact the school office at 780-986-8353 if you have any questions.
2W Kindness Project
2W has been learning about the power of kindness through Bible stories and in-class learning. We feel inspired and want to do something to colour God’s world with a little more kindness.
We are selling handmade tie-dye t-shirts for $15. They will feature our class storyline: Coloured with Kindness. We want to sell at least 100 shirts.
We will use the money to buy art supplies and then create handmade board games and playing cards.
These games and cards will be gifted to a group of people who we think could use some extra kindness in their lives: seniors who live in seniors residences. Our hope is this will bring them happiness and joy and help them to feel less alone.
T-shirts can be purchased through the order form on PowerSchool (form will be available by the end of the day today) until Friday, March 24th.
Preschool Registration
Preschool registration is now OPEN to the general public! You can find all forms and the registration process here.
Returning Student Form
It’s hard to believe but this school year is more than half over!
This also means that we are starting to look at enrolment for next year and begin thinking about staffing and classroom configurations etc. We are asking for your help with our planning efforts! We have received approximately 50% of our needed responses. If you have not completed the Returning Student form, please do so as soon as possible. Please take a minute to click on the link below and fill out the Returning Student Form for your family by Friday, March 17, 2023.
If you are unsure at this time if your children will be returning, please send an email to [email protected].
2023-2024 Returning Student Form
Spring Program Request
We are now preparing for Beauty and the Beast Jr, which will be performed on March 22-23, 2023 at the MacLab Theatre here in Leduc.
We have started many projects but need some community assistance in preparing for the performance. Please help in the following ways.
Please email Mr. Ward at [email protected] if you have any questions or want to join the Spring drama team!
- Costumes – A few parents are already working on dresses and costumes. We need a few more individuals that would like to design costumes for our cast, including pieces for our feature number, “Be Our Guest.”
- Construction and Painting – We have our Grade 8 parents working on sets, but we could always use more people to create, design, and build!
- Props – We have need for a number of props for the play. There will be a list of a dozen or so items in the Chronicle each week that we are looking for. This list will be updated weekly so please take a minute each week to see if there are items you can help us out with. If you have any of the items listed below that we could use, we’d be grateful for your help.
- Wolf mask/hood
- 2 old-fashioned faucet taps
- Artificial topiary trees
- Sheer (white) curtain panel (9 ft long)
- Small backpack with black straps (cannot be returned)
Please email Nicole Dodds at [email protected] if have questions about items or are able to donate/lend.
Thank you!!
School council would like to thank the CCS Community for coming together and making Staff Appreciation week a success! Thank you for bringing a food item and/or doing supervision. You blessed our staff.
April 20th will be our next School Council meeting. Our school trustee, Gary Hansen hopes to join us so come say “Hi.”
If you have anything you would like to discuss at our next meeting, please email Shauna Balehowsky at [email protected]
School Clothing Clearance!
We ordered a few extra school clothing items before Christmas and would like to offer them to our community! If you missed out on ordering earlier, here’s your chance to add to your closet!
Here are the items up for grabs:
Black T-shirt – $20:
- 1 Child Small
- 3 Adult Large
- 1 Adult XL
Camo Baseball Cap – $15:
- 2 (one size fits all)
Black Hoodies – $32:
- 2 Child Medium
Grey T-shirts – $20:
- 4 Child Small
Please contact the office via email at [email protected] or phone call at 780-986-8353 with what you would like to purchase. First come, first serve. The cost for the items will be added to your PowerSchool account.
Celebration
We hold weekly assemblies, which we call Celebration. We alternate between Wednesday and Thursday mornings each month so our kindergarten students are each able to join us every other month. We will hold Celebration on WEDNESDAYSfor the month ofMarch. All parents are welcome to join us each week!
Hot Lunch
We are excited to once again offer a weekly Hot Lunch Day! This year, Hot Lunches will be on Wednesdays.
We are noticing that a number of our families are unintentionally placing more than one order for hot lunch day/student. If you are unsure if you have ordered a hot lunch or not, you can always check your email for a confirmation receipt. You can also check under the Completed Forms tab on your student’s PowerSchool account. All of your completed forms will be listed there and you can view them each by clicking on the small eye icon.
Please see the photo below for where to find this.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding Hot Lunch, you can reach our Hot Lunch Coordinator, Mrs. Hofstra, via email at: [email protected]
Lost & Found
We will post weekly pictures of our lost and found. If you see something that is your child’s, please have them stop by the table and pick it up or let the office know.
Athletics:
Basketball
Senior Girls – won their semi-final game last night and are on to finals tomorrow! They will be playing at Holy Spirit in Devon at 4:00 pm!
Senior Boys – won their semi-final game last night too! They will host the finals game tomorrow at CCS at 4:00 pm. Come on out and cheer the boys on!!
NFL Flag Football for Junior High Students
The permission form is now up on PowerSchool for those students who made the NFL Flag Football team. Parents, please complete the form by the end of the day TOMORROW so jerseys can be ordered and received in time for the beginning of the season.
For further information or any questions, please contact Mr. Hennink at [email protected]
LSCE News:
Covenant Christian School 40th Anniversary Celebration
Come and celebrate CCS turning 40! The celebration will take place April 22/23, 2023 at our school. Everyone is welcome!
We will kick off the celebration Saturday, April 22nd at 9:30 am with an all-ages volleyball tournament. That evening we are so excited to bring back the live/silent auction. Doors open at 4:30. Return Sunday afternoon to worship God at our community church service.
If you would like to register a team in the volleyball tournament you can do so here. Team registration is $100.00
As with all events, volunteers are needed to help make it a success. If you are able to donate some of your time, please click here to sign up.
Please feel free to share the invitation with all family and friends that may be interested.
Fundraising Opportunities
Although we do a few special fundraising campaigns throughout the year, don’t forget about our ongoing fundraisers that you can take advantage of all year long.
Drop any of your Boston pizza receipts at the office for the school to receive 5% back on the total of your bill.
Purchase CO-OP gift cards from the office in $50, $100, and $500 denominations.
Social Media
We’re on Instagram and Facebook! Come say hi and stay up-to-date on all the events and fundraising opportunities we have to offer. You can find us on Instagram with the username “fundraising.lsce”.
https://www.facebook.com/covenantchristianschoolfundraisingpage
Calendar:
March:
- 13 – PD Day – No School
- 15 – School Trustee Visit
- 22-23 – Beauty & The Beast Performances
- 27 – April 3 – Spring Break – No School
April:
- 7 – Good Friday – No School
- 6 – Pastries with the Principal
- 10 – Easter Monday – No School
- 21 – Grandparents Day
- 22-23 – 40th Anniversary Celebration
- 28 – PD Day – No School
Community Events:
Please click on the image below to learn more about community events in our area! Also found under our Parents menu on the website.
Basketball Camp
To Register: Click here or use the QR code in the flyer.
Football Winter Camp
The Leduc & District Minor Football Association is hosting a winter clinic camp for new and returning players this month. They would love to see some new players out learning and practicing with a Pro player.
Peewee 11-12 years old and Bantam 13-14 years old and 15 years old if in grade 9.
Odds & Ends:
Sign In/Out Form:
In an effort to reduce the amount of shared touched surfaces, we will be using a QR code that you will need to scan with your phone for signing in and out of the school. You can also use this link if you are in your vehicle and need to sign out a student but can’t scan the code. This means that students/parents/visitors can scan the QR code when entering or leaving the office/school to sign in or sign out on their own phone/device.
Parents will also be able to sign their kids out from their vehicle in the parking lot when they arrive to pick them up for appts. etc. please use the link above if you can’t scan the QR code. We do ask that parents pull into a spot (not bus lane) where you can contact the office to let them know you have arrived and we can make eye contact with you
from the staff/office door. Students must also stop by the office before leaving the school. At that point, once a connection is made, we are able to send students out to you.
Facebook Page:
Check out our Facebook page for more highlights of happenings at CCS by clicking here.