Newsletter 6 page working file 2010.pub - Abbotsford Christian School

ELEMENTARY HIGHLIGHTSACS MESSENGERTHE PUMPKIN PATCHThe day began dark and cloudy, but that did notdampen the enthusiasm of 60 Grade One studentsas they, their teachers and assistants headed outon the big yellow school bus to the pumpkin patch.They carried back packs filled with lots of lunch,and an empty bag to carry home their very ownpumpkins. Aldor Acres doesn’t just have pumpkins.Some other highlights at the farm are a mamapig and tons of baby pigs, rabbits to hold, goatsto pet, mounds of hay to climb up and jump downfrom, and the hay ride to the pumpkin patch. Eachstudent chose the best pumpkin ever, and as we alllugged the pumpkins out of the patch, we werethankful for a day with no rain and the beauty ofGod’s fall creation all around us. Donna Stelpstra - gr.1Teacher / VPAN INCREDIBLE ADVENTURE……….THROUGH THE EYES OF A PRESCHOOLER!Anticipation mounted! Weeks became days and days became moments!!Is it today? How many more sleeps?!..............Finally the waitingended and the moment arrived!! Carefully, we stepped outside the familiarityof our classroom and climbed the steep steps of the enormous yellowschool bus! We all settled nervously into the front few rows and listenedattentively as Mr. van Eerden our bus driver gave us our safetyrules. Before we knew it, the bus roared to life and we were about toembark on the adventure of a lifetime. We sang every verse of “TheWheels On The Bus” with enthusiasm and our willing bus driver cooperatedby turning on the windshield wipers and beeping the horn at theappropriate places in our song. We entered our High/Middle Schoolparking lot and pulled over. We were now given the unbelievable opportunityto experience sitting at the back of the bus! The bus gently acceleratedover a speed bump and we all defied gravity for a short moment only to land back safely in our cushioned seats.Squeals of delight rang out: “Again, again!! As we went over the two remaining speed bumps, one student exclaimed,“This has gotta be better than a Disneyland ride.” We continued our journey down Old Clayburn Road and rounded thecorner at the IGA Mall and on to Laburnum Avenue pointing us back to where our adventure began. As the bus pulledback into our Elementary School parking lot, our amazing adventure was over. Our anticipations have now turned toexciting memories! Julie Braun - Preschool CoordinatorFIELD TRIP TO CITY HALL By Braedon H - 5BThis morning, all the grade 5s went on a field tripto City Hall. Our car was full of laughs and giggles. Whenwe got there, we waited outside for a few minutes. Then,somebody came outside and let us in.Inside, we were led into an auditorium. We satthere for a few minutes. Then, Mayor George Peary camein and talked to us. Then, out of seventy people, he cameto me and asked me to come on stage. He lifted me uponto his shoulders. I was in shock. Then, I started laughing.Now I will go down in history as the boy what sat onthe mayor’s shoulders! I am still in shock. I can’t get overit. I sat on the mayor’s shoulders! Sorry for spazing.For the rest of the field trip, we went on tours. Wesaw how maps are made. We saw and learned where ourwater comes from. We also learned about our parks andrecreation.It was an awesome field trip!This fall the grade 2classes took a field tripto Weaver Creek to seethe salmon swimming upthe stream to spawn andto enjoy a beautiful dayin God’s creation. It wasso neat to see the studentsmarvel at how thesalmon work so hard toswim back to where theywere born, just so theycould lay their own eggs!After some time of exploringthe creek, weenjoyed a lunch in thepark, where we ate andplayed in the leaves!Andrea Devries - gr. 2 TeacherPage 5

ACS MESSENGERELEMENTARY HIGHLIGHTS CONT’D MIDDLE SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTSBACK IN TIMEby Lori Hall - gr 3 Teacher“Ladies first” and “Gentlemen always hold doors for the ladies”,were some of the foreign phrases that greeted our Gradethrees at Burnaby Village Museum last week. By the end of the day,the girls were reluctant to leave that part of the ‘olden days’ behind.Students had a lot of fun as we travelled back in time, listened to stories,and participated in some role playing. Several of our studentsfilled grocery orders at the General Store while we expressed ourastonishment at the number of items that could be purchased for lessthan 25 cents. Other students had their beards shaved, withdrewmoney from the bank, or tried to walk on stilts.The contrast between life back then and now was a constantsource of amazement and some amusement; No texting? No e-mails? What’s a party line phone? Groceries get delivered to everyhome? Hand inspections in school? A small book case for a library?Everyone spent some time in the old school building where we sat inrows, and practiced writing with a pen dipped into an ink bottle. (Nobraid dipping was allowed J)We were pretty thankful for our library, computers, and otherresources as we returned to 2010 at ACS!Blake Flikkema practices his penmanshipKarline Postma with a 25 cent chequeGrade Threes harvest the wheat that was planted late inthe spring and make Pretzels and Whole Wheat Bread.Special thanks goes to:! Mrs. Zandberg, our neighbor, who helped water the wheatover the summer.! Mr. G. Bomhof, who let us use his flour mill.! Our janitors, who had to vacuum our floors after our threshingprocess. Sometimes good learning is just messy!MIDDLE SCHOOL COFFEEHOUSEAs Christmas fast approaches, what better way tobe reminded of The Reason for the Season thanto attend our Christmas Coffeehouse?Join us for an evening of music and drama aswe remember and celebrate our Saviour’sbirth.There will be two performances in theMiddle School gymnasium,Wednesday, December 8 andThursday, December 9–7:30pmTickets are now available from theMiddle School office.Give the gift of better nutrition thisChristmas!(and no, we don’t mean more Christmascookies…)Be part of the Grade 8 Mission for Nutritionteam! During the month of December, talk toa Grade 8 student or go to the Middle School officeto make a $10 donation and receive an Artcard made by the Grade 8 Art classes toacknowledge your donation. All the money thatwe raise will go to Save the Children Canada, towardsefforts in the West African nation of BurkinaFaso to provide soy milk and soy enriched flour tochildren affected by AIDS/HIV. Whatever we raisewill be tripled by the Canadian government!Page 6

MIDDLE HIGHLIGHTS CONT’DACS MESSENGERGrade 8 Service LeadershipOne of the changes in the Middle School schedule this year was to dedicate time to the training and implementationof our grade 8 Service Leaders. All of our grade 8 students have been involved in some aspect of service leadershipin the past. The difference this year is that it is built into the schedule. The result has been an increased ownership bygrade 8 students and an increased effectiveness in their leading.One example of this is in the newly formed MAC, or Middle school Announcement Crew. This is a group of studentswho meet almost every Friday morning to research, write, video and edit a one to two minute video of campus announcements.These announcements are then shared with each homeroom the following Monday morning.Another example of grade 8 service leadership is the School Spirit Squad. These students meet regularly to planand implement fun activities and theme days for the entire school. Other areas of servant leadership include the GymRats who help with open gym times and intramurals, Office Helpers who cover the office at break, the Green Team wholead the school in our recycling program, our Praise Team who lead in worship during our Middle School chapels, alsohelping with chapels are the Sound crews and the chapel clean-up crew. Other students are involved in our French Caféonce a week, officiating at sporting events, pizza sales once a week, helping with campus cleaning and maintenance(our GO Team), putting together PowerPoint slideshows for chapels, or taking pictures for the grade 8 yearbook.As a further element of servant leadership, our grade 8 students spent some time in the neighbourhood rakingleaves. One homeowner sent a thank you card to the school praising our students, adding that our students were wonderfulambassadors for our school in the community. Tym Berger - PrincipalMiddle School Athletics UpdateVolleyball has officially wrapped up at the middleschool. Thanks to all our staff sponsors and staff volleyballcoaches: Becky Vandenberg (grade 8 girls and grade 6girls), Sophie Van Dorp (grade 7 girls), Sally Van Geest(grade 7 boys), Aleida van der Woerd (grade 6 girls), PaulStill (grade 6 boys), and Tym Berger (also grade 6 boys).We would also like to say a big thank you to all the parentcoaches: Ed Van Woerden (grade 8 boys), Mark Bronsema(also grade 8 boys), Tobi Vandergugten (grade 8 girls),Jodie Super (also grade 8 girls), and Dwana Devries (grade7 boys)! As you can see, it takes a lot of people to run ourathletic programs and we thank and celebratethese people’s investment in our students!Basketball season is now underway.Our grade 6 and 7 teams will begin practicingin the next week and our grade 8 teams havealready begun their league play.It’s a girl! CONGRATULATIONS to Lorinda (grade 7 teacher) and Daniel Lichty on the birth of their first child,Keziah (see Job 42:14)! We wish the Lichty family God’s blessings!Page 7

ACS MESSENGERSECONDARY HIGHLIGHTSNicaragua in the Spring…Eleven students and two teachers from Abbotsford Christian SecondarySchool, with the entire school community supporting them and in partnershipwith Worldwide Christian Schools, will be flying down to Managua, Nicaragua fora 10 day service project during Spring Break, March 21-31. The HANDS(Helping Another Nation Develop Schools) Team is made up of a group of dedicatedstudents who have volunteered to do a work project in Nicaragua. Theteam will be staying at the Nehemiah Center in Managua for the duration of thetrip. Team members will be flying down together, and working alongside localbuilders to help build an addition to a Christian school in the area.As a school, we are excited to be able to provide our grade 11 and 12students with this amazing cross-cultural learning experience. It is a unique opportunityfor our students to express the love of Jesus Christ through acts of service.It is a great learning opportunity as well, because it immerses our studentsin a totally different culture, where they can meet and learn from Christians whoare living in a completely different context from their own. Students from ACSwill be able to visit Nicaraguan Christian schools, as well as worship with theirbrothers and sisters in Christ from another nation by participating in worship serviceswhile in Nicaragua.The long-term goal that ACS has, to develop a partnership with a schoolin Nicaragua, is another exciting aspect of this trip. In the future, when we sendstudents to Nicaragua, they will go to visit their friends and co-learners from aChristian School in Nicaragua. The idea is to create a two-way, mutually beneficialrelationship with a Christian School in Nicaragua. We envision different collaborativelearning experiences happening in the years to come, like having penpalsin elementary school writing back and forth to each other, or middle-schooland high-school students sharing lessons in Socials, Bible, or History classabout each country’s history, churches, or culture, and maybe even doing collaborativeproject work across borders.When the HANDS Team goes to this country, they go as ambassadorsof the school and of the broader school community. They represent AbbotsfordChristian School to the people of Nicaragua. Please pray for us as we plan thistrip and as we work on fund-raising for it over the next few months. Pray that theHANDS Team grow together in unity, and that they grow into their roles as ambassadorsfor the school and as representatives of Jesus, both while on theirservice trip, but also in their daily lives before and after the trip. We pray thatthis trip will be transformational, for the students and staff going on the trip, butalso for the people that we will be serving with while visiting Nicaragua.If you would like to support our HANDS Team in other ways besidesthrough prayer, please consider making a donation to the school for the NicaraguaService Project with Worldwide Christian Schools. Please speak with any ofour school administrators about how you can help financially support this wonderfullearning opportunity.You can also help by participating in upcoming fundraiser events, likethe BOTTLE DRIVE that will be happening on Saturday, December 11 th . Bringyour recyclables to the high school campus on Saturday BEFORE noon. TheHANDS Team will be on site, sorting and collecting bottles and cans to raisefunds for their trip. Another bottle drive will be organized in early January. Wealso have plans in place for a benefit concert, a volleyball tournament, a flowersale, and a calendar sale in upcoming months… Keep your eyes and ears openfor upcoming announcements about these fun and exciting fundraising events.Thanks in advance for your support!POL StudioNear Compleon!The set building class has beenhard at work building the set forThe Diary of Anne Frank (picturedon cover) and preparing the upperlibrary for its' HUGE transformationinto a recording studio. The curtainsare hung, the green screenand black walls are painted, thesound and lighting equipment arehooked up and we are ready tostart to play! Many students andteachers are very excited about thepotential this space will have forsound recording, video editing, andpresentations of learning. You canexpect the quality of video productionto continue to surge ahead aswe now have an amazing space todo some high-end production. Weare in a very exciting time ofchange in education and the studiois just one more piece of this puzzle.Drop by the school and we willshow you some of the toys we havein place to enhance what we do atACS.Jeff Kiers, Vice Principal/Drama DirectorKNIGHT DRAG RACING 2010Top: Katelynn Kruk & her dadBelow: Mr. Kruk, Katelynn, Ryan Ross& Mr. Verbeek (see article on pg 10)Dan Olydam - On behalf of the ACS HANDS Team of 2010-2011Alison Lammers, Andrew Schroeder, Naomi Bil, Nick Terpstra, Justin MacAlpine, SaulCarvajal, Tyler Couperus, Jordyn Visser, Brigitte Lee, Collyn Lee, Jessica Kruk, & EmilieKleine.Page 8

ATHLETIC HIGHLIGHTSACS MESSENGERSECONDARY ATHLETICSBy the time you read this, the volleyball season will have concluded with our Sr. Girls hosting the ‘A’ ProvincialChampionships. Sixteen teams from around the province will have made their way to Abbotsford for this terrific event.This is the fifth provincial championship tournament that the Abbotsford Christian School Athletic Department has hostedin the last six years. We are proud to have such a dedicated staff willing to put on events for students. As the volleyballseason is over, a big thank you to all our coaches for their dedication and expertise.The cross country season concluded with a muddy day at the Provincial Championships in early November. Oursenior lady Knights were not 100%, as we were fighting injuries and missing a runner; however the team ran well, werepleased with their times and gained great experience for next year. Over 260 runners competed in each division of thesenior championships. Ryan Couperus (pictured below) was our lone qualifier from the boys’ team and had a terrific racefinishing 84th.As we transition into a busy basketball season, I would like to invite you to several events we are hosting; justaround the corner is our ANNUAL ALUMNI BASKETBALL GAME! Mark your calendars to come and compete again orcheer on as the alumni take on our senior basketball teams for bragging rights. Game time is Tuesday, Dec. 21, women@ 6pm, men @ 8pm.Senior Boys and Girls home double headers are on: Jan. 11, Feb. 1, Feb. 8, and Feb. 15. Girls at 6:15, Boys at8:00.Our junior boys’ team will host the Christian Schools’ Tournament on Jan. 21/22. Finally, our Provincial ChampionSr. lady Knights will be hosting the ‘A’ Fraser Valley Tournament on Feb. 24-26. Follow our results and check outthe schedule on our school’s web site. Vince Van Dyk- Director of Athletics - ACMS, ACSSPage 9

ACS MESSENGERThe following was written by Gary Verbeek - Tech Ed (Mechanics) Department Head of ACSS.KNIGHT DRAG RACING SEASON OFFICIALLY ENDSON A HIGH AND A LOWI have rewritten the beginning of this article manytimes and have decided to start this way: thanks to allyou great grandparents, grandparents, parents, unclesand aunts, friends and brothers and sisters who go outand support your family members who partake in manyof the programs our school offers. Not only are you supportingyour families and friends, you are showing thelove of this great Christian community of ours to all whosee you there. People notice: your kids and grandkidsand great grandkids notice. It makes a huge differenceand shows them they are SPECIAL to you. It’s a tremendousway to show God’s love for you to the onesHe’s entrusted to us. Why am I saying all this? Well, onTuesday I was tremendously proud and humbled at ourAGM for the High School Drag racing Association. Ourschool took home every award and prize in the FraserValley for this past Drag racing season. Ryan Ross wasawarded a HUGE trophy for his first place finish duringthe season, as well as a plaque and cheque for $100.00.Katelyn Kruk received a plaque and cheque for $50.00for her second place finish during the season. (both arepictured on pg 8) The school received $200.00 for havingboth students represent Mission at the Div. 6 Nationals.Brandon Jansen received a $500.00 scholarshipfrom our Drag racing Association for his post-secondaryeducation. I think we drained their account! One of mygood friends who runs the Racing program at ChilliwackSecondary, made a comment at the meeting as we werepiling up the awards. He said to the group, “maybe nextyear the Christians will let us win some races!”On the way home from Surrey that night, I thoughtof Nick Mannes, Ryan’s grandpa. He has come out toMission Raceway to support Ryan and our team for the2 seasons Ryan raced for ACS. He was always encouragingRyan and the others and was a wonderful smilingpresence along with his daughter Ruth, Ryan’s mom.Many times the whole family was there; dad, grandmaand even relatives. Shortly after the Nationals in Missionin mid-September, Nick was not well and duringsome tests doctors found a number of cancerous tumorsin his head. I did not know on that awards night just howquickly Nick’s condition was deteriorating so I thought Iwould arrange to have him come to the shop for pictureswith Ryan of the awards and the Cuda. That didn’t happenbecause Nick was already in the Christine MorrisonHospice in the Mission Hospital and unable to go anywhere.So we took the pictures of Ryan and Katelynwith the Cuda and on Saturday morning, Martin Kruk(Katelyn’s dad) and I went with the pictures on my computerto visit Nick at the Hospice. He knew who we wereand we shared the pictures and stories with him, Anita(Ryan’s grandma) and Chris (Ryan’s aunt). It was botha wonderful time and a very heartbreaking time. Heavydrugs are managing Nick’s pain so he was not alwaysWhy we doWhat we doalert. Anita and Chris obviously have God’s strength asthey lovingly care for Nick. As I said goodbye to Nick, Iput my hand on his shoulder, held his hand andthanked him for being such a great grandpa to hisgrandkids and a good father and friend to his neighbours.He opened his eyes and looked clearly intomine (which were foggy with tears) and I know heacknowledged these words as he mouthed the word“thanks” to me. I didn’t know what else to say at thispoint and Anita lovingly ran her fingers through his hairand said to the both of us, “he’ll see you again in heaven”.The exact words needed. I asked God’s blessingon Nick, hugged Anita and Chris and started down thehallway. By the time Martin said his goodbye andjoined me in the elevator, we were both a mess of tearsand heavy hearts. We then talked about the impactNick has had on his family, neighbours and friends.People want to leave a “legacy” or empire behind andmany work and work to achieve this. They sometimesforget about the daily needs of family, neighbours andfriends because they are so focussed on themselvesand their plans for their “empire”. Not Nick. His legacyof loving, helping and supporting family, friends andneighbours will live on long after God calls him home. Imay not see Nick again and I will miss him at the trackwhen his grandson Clayton climbs in a Race car at Missionand runs for ACS like his brother Ryan did. Thelegacy of Nick Mannes (pic below) will live on and I get tosee it!So, what kind of legacy are you leaving behindfor your family, neighbours and friends to rememberwho you were?How much ofGod’s love areyou showingyour kids, grandkids,neighboursand friends bythe way you loveyour wife or husband?By theway you supportyour kids, yourneighbours, your friends, our awesome ACS communityof believers? This may be a good time to take stockof where you (we) are in God’s story of our lives. I am -it hurts but it feels good. I’m off to go see my nephewsplay hockey. They asked me to come…….. Thanks forthe reminder, Nick.Page 10

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