March 25-29, 2013

Notes for March 25-29, 2013

“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10

Dear Parents,

As we enter into this week leading up to our Savior’s death and His resurrection, I pray that you will truly celebrate this great gift of eternal life!  I am so excited to hear YOUR children share their heart and spiritual depth of understanding of the events leading up to Christ's death.  My prayer is that they will continue to become more and more rooted in their love for Jesus!

Here are just a few things to keep in mind during this four-day week:

We will have an Easter chapel on Tuesday at 9:00am. We will also be saying farewell to Pastor Leo and Elma, as they prepare to leave Zeeland and head back to Manilla.  You are welcome to attend this special Easter service!

March Is Reading Month:  HAT DAY will be this week Thursday to celebrate the Ecuadorian culture!  We will also be culminating our March Is Reading Month focus by decorating our classroom door in an elementary contest!  Students will be depicting a book we have read and decorating our door to resemble key elements from the book!

The auction is coming up soon after break on April 12.  If you would like to contribute to our class “coffee/chocolate” themed basket, please send $2-3 to school and give it to either Ty or Abby Dykhouse by Thursday.  Thank you for your support for our SCH classes!

Upcoming Field Trips:  

       -April 11 (Thursday) - SHC trip to DeGraaf Nature Center- Natural Resources; We will leave school at 12:10 and return by 2:30.  Students should plan to bring a “cold” lunch that we can eat together in our classroom.

       -April 19 (Friday)- SHC trip to Central Wesleyan Church for a fun afternoon together!  Thank you to the Spitters family for coordinating this special event!

       -May 31- First Grade trip to the John Ball Zoo (AM)

Dates to keep in mind:

March 29- NO SCHOOL

March 29-April 5  Spring vacation

April 8- School resumes

April 12                 Auction

April 16                 Middle school information night

April 18                 Young Author’s celebration – K-5

April 26                 Fun night

An SHC Information Meeting will be held on Tuesday evening, April 9 at 7:00 p.m. for parents inquiring about the School/Home Collaborative program.  If you know of families who may like to learn more about our program, please let them know about the upcoming meeting.  You can pick up an information packet in our room to pass along to interested parents.  We continue to be in prayer about the growth and development of the program!  YOU are a strong voice for the SHC program!  Thank you for sharing about the program to those who are interested in learning more! 

Have a great week!

Blessings,

Mrs. Walters

March 18-22, 2013 Notes

Notes for the Week of March 18-22, 2013

John 15: 5-9:  “I am the vine. You are the branches. If anyone remains joined to me, and I to him, he will bear a lot of fruit. You can’t do anything without me.  If anyone does not remain joined to me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and dries up. Branches like those are picked up. They are thrown into the fire and burned.  If you remain joined to me and my words remain in you, ask for anything you wish. And it will be given to you. When you bear a lot of fruit, it brings glory to my Father. It shows that you are my disciples.  Just as the Father has loved me, I have loved you. Now remain in my love.”  

Dear Parents,

As we continue to focus on the Passion Week, I continue to reflect on the love Jesus shows for his disciples, continuing to teach and instruct them right up until his arrest, and showing the ultimate sacrifice on the cross.  My prayer for your children is that they will be drawn to Christ, growing in love for Him, and recognizing his great love for each of them.  We will continue to focus on the days leading up to Christ’s death, and resurrection, and talking about what this means for each of us, to “remain in Him”.

I have heard many wonderful comments about G.P. S., the elementary musical last week!  I pray that you were blessed by a time of celebrating God’s great plan of salvation as you watched your kids  sing and celebrate Christ’s love.

8th Grade Play:  On Wednesday afternoon we will be watching the first act of the 8th grade play, “The Beverly Hillbillies”.  The play will be held on Thursday and Friday this week at 6:30 p.m.  Tickets are on sale during lunch, and after school in front of the office.

Philippines visitors:  We are excited to have our friends from the Philippines visiting ZCS for the next few weeks!  We will have an opportunity to have them visit our class, as well as talk together about our friends in our sister school, Grace Community Christian School.  We will be having a special chapel on Tuesday at 9:00am.  You are welcome to attend, even though this is a home day!

Family Groups:  The next family group activity will be held on Friday, March 22 at 1:00.  Please let me know if your child is planning to attend.  I have not hear from many  yet, but would love to have your child participate!

Upcoming Field Trips:  

-March 21 (Thursday)- 1st grade trip to Frederick Meijer Gardens.  The cost is $5.00 for parents.  

-March 21 (Thursday)- 4th grade field trip to Lansing.  Students need to be at school at 7:30, leaving at 7:35.  They will be returning approximately 4:00-4:15 and can be picked up in the parking lot behind school

-April 11 (Thursday) - SHC trip to DeGraaf Nature Center- Natural Resources; We will leave school at 12:10 and return by 2:30.  Students should plan to bring a “cold” lunch that we can eat together in our classroom.

-April 19 (Friday)- SHC trip to Central Wesleyan Church for a fun afternoon together!  Thank you to the Spitters family for coordinating this special event!

Dates to keep in mind:

March 21-22          Eighth grade play

March 22               End of marking period

March 29-April 5  Spring vacation

April 12                 Auction

April 16                 Middle school information night

April 18                 Young Author’s celebration – K-5

April 26                 Fun night

An SHC Information Meeting will be held on Tuesday evening, April 9 at 7:00 p.m. for parents inquiring about the School/Home Collaborative program.  If you know of families who may like to learn more about our program, please let them know about the upcoming meeting.  You can pick up an information packet in our room to pass along to interested parents.  We continue to be in prayer about the growth and development of the program!  YOU are a strong voice for the SHC program!  Thank you for sharing about the program to those who are interested in learning more! 

Have a great week!

Blessings,

Mrs. Walters

March 11-15, 2013 Notes

Notes for the Week of March 11-15, 2013

Dear Parents,

I truly appreciated the time we could spend together during conferences last week. It is such a blessing to partner with you in the education of your children! Your love and commitment to “training up your child in the way he/she should go” is truly evident! As we move toward the end of the school year, I look forward to working together on the goals we have discussed for your child and celebrate with you their great progress!

We had a wonderful time at VanRaalte Farm last week Thursday! God is revealing signs of spring as we looked at the maple trees, with the sap running, as well as learning about the many Michigan birds we hear during this time of year. YOUR kids did an amazing job asking great questions and just having a blast being outside and seeing the sugar shack in action! Thank you to Mrs. Iford and Mrs. Koning for driving, and to Mrs. Meekhof for assisting too! We are looking forward to the next trip together on April 11to DeGraaf Nature Center, learning about our natural resources. Look for new pictures from the trip on the blog!!

G.P.S. Elementary Musical: This week Tuesday is a big day, especially for our 2nd-4th graders! We will be meeting at school at 12:35 to board the bus and go to Community Reformed Church for the rehearsal for the G.P.S. Musical! I will accompany our class to and from church. Students can be picked up around 3:15 in our room. PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHETHER OR NOT YOUR CHILD WILL BE ATTENDING THIS IMPORTANT REHEARSAL!

A note from our Music Directors:

The elementary musical is next Tuesday, March 12 at 7pm at Community Reformed Church. The second, third and fourth graders are excited to show you what they have been working on in choir over the last couple of months! The night of the performance, please bring your son or daughter to the church gym by 6:50. If you come earlier than that, keep your students with you until 6:40 as there will not be supervision in the gym until then; the doors of the sanctuary will open 6:30. Students should wear jeans with their G.P.S. t-shirts to the concert. This will be a fun night of singing and acting; you will be encouraged to look to God and His word as your guide as you journey through life. We hope to see you there! If you have questions, please check out our blog at zcsmusic.blogspot.com or email kschonewill@zcs.org or ktenhaken@zcs.org. Thanks!

Tuesday night supervision:  Because of a previous commitment I have had for several months, I am sad that I will not be able to attend the musical on Tuesday evening. I am planning to watch the DVD of our famous singers and actors when it is available! I will be in prayer for all students involved during the performance! I wanted to let you know that Mrs. Kim Walters, (ZCS preschool teacher and SHC mother of Carissa Walters, grade 7) will be chaperoning our students and will meet our group in the gym with Carissa at 6:45p.m. She will be in charge of our group during the show, and will make sure all kids are picked up by their parents afterwards. I can’t wait to hear all about it on Wednesday morning!

Red Day:  Thursday, March 14- In honor of our Chinese friends you may wear red to help celebrate  prosperity and spring.

Family Groups: The next family group activity will be held on Friday, March 22 at 1:00. Please let me know if your child is planning to attend. I have not heard from many yet, but would love to have your child participate!

Upcoming Field Trips: -March 13 (Wednesday)- 3rd grade trip to the Van Andel Museum with Mr. Sneller’s class. They will be leaving school at 8:45 and returning around 3:00. Please pack a disposable sack lunch for your child.

      -March 21 (Thursday)- 1st grade trip to Frederick Meijer Gardens. The cost is $5.00 for parents.

      -March 21 (Thursday)- 4th grade field trip to Lansing. More details to follow!

      -April 11 (Thursday) - SHC trip to DeGraaf Nature Center- Natural Resources; We will leave school at 12:10 and return by 2:30. Students should plan to bring a “cold” lunch that we can eat together in our classroom!

      -April 19 (Friday)- SHC trip to Centrl Wesleyan Church for a fun afternoon together! Thank you to the Spitters family for coordinating this special event!

An SHC Information Meeting will be held on Tuesday evening, April 9 at 7:00 p.m. in the media center for parents inquiring about the School/Home Collaborative program. If you know of families who would like to learn more about our program, please let them know about the upcoming meeting. You can pick up an information packet in our room to pass along to interested parents. Please join me in prayer about the growth and development of the program. YOU are a strong voice for the SHC program! Thank you for sharing about the program to those who are interested in learning more!

Have a great week!

Blessings, 

Mrs. Walters

March 4-8, 2013

Dear Parents,

As we look ahead to a new week, I am looking forward to meeting with each of you either Monday or Tuesday during conferences.  We will be focusing not only on your child's current progress, but will also talk about continued growth and learning goals.  It is truly a blessing to partner together in the the education of  our children!

We had a great time last week as family groups, having lunch and sledding together.  We were blessed by an absolutely gorgeous day to sled together!  The next family group activity will take place on Friday, March 22 at approximately 1:00.  If your child would like to attend, please let me know.

We are also looking forward to spending time together learning outside of ZCS at upcoming field trips. Our first trip is this Thursday at Van Raalte Farm, where we will learn about the process of "Maple Sugaring".  We are still in need of a couple drivers, so please e-mail me if you are available.  See the post below for additional information.

This week, we will kick-off our annual "March is Reading" month!  The ZCS theme is "Oh the Places We Will Go!".  We will be highlighting several countries that are all connected with the first grade teaching staff, as they have organized this year's theme!  Each teacher was actually born in a different country!  Therefore, we will be recognizing and celebrating in a way that highlights these countries:  Costa Rica, Canada, China, Ecuador, and the United States.  In honor of Costa Rica, on Wednesday, we will celebrate with "Siesta Day" by wearing comfy clothes!  Each week we will spotlight a country with a special day celebration!  Stay tuned to find out what each week's special day will be!

We will also be celebrating all of the places we can go through books!  We are looking forward to  working with new learning buddies from the Young Fives class with Miss Den Braber!  We are excited about working with our new buddies!

We are looking forward to the upcoming elementary musical for 2nd-4th grade on Tuesday, March 12, at Community Reformed Church at 7:00 p.m.  There will be a dress rehearsal in the afternoon of Tuesday, March 12.  We will be leaving school at 12:40, traveling by bus to the church, and returning to school by 3:15.  Please plan to make arrangements to have  your children at school by 12:30, so they can attend this important practice and can feel prepared for the musical that evening!  If your child is unable to attend the practice, please let me know.  I will accompany our students to and from the rehearsal.    

This week Tuesday, March 5, the ZCS Destination Imagination students will be presenting their projects to the ZCS students as they get ready for the upcoming regional competition. If you are interested in seeing the presentations and finding out more about  DI, feel free to come to the media center at 2:25-3:15 to see the 2 middle school teams and 3 elementary teams.  DI is an after school program for students beginning in fourth grade.

Reading Assessments:  I will be wrapping up student assessments this week.  It is such a great time to see the tremendous progress with each student!

February Book-It forms are due this week.   New March Book-It forms will be sent home on Wednesday.

Upcoming Field Trips:

Please send $5.00 to school this week for the March 7 and April 11 field trips.  Thank you!

March 7 (Thursday)- SHC trip to Van Raalte Farm- Maple Sugaring.  We will leave at 12:40 and return by 2:50.

March 13 (Wednesday)- 3rd grade trip to the Van Andel Museum.

March 21 (Thursday) - 1st grade trip to Frederick Meijer Garden.  The cost is $5 for parents.

March 21 (Thursday)-  4th grade trip to Lansing- more details to follow.

April 11 (Thursday)- SHC trip to DeGraaf Nature Center- Natural Resources.  We will leave school at 12:10 and return by 2:30.  

April 19 (Friday)- SHC trip to Central Wesleyan Church for a fun afternoon together!  Thank you to the Spitters family for coordinating this special afternoon!

Have a great week!

Mrs. Walters

Upcoming Field Trips!!

Dear Parents,

I wanted to let you know of 3 field trips we are putting together for our SHC group!

I am excited that we can arrange a time to visit the Maple Sugaring presentation at Van Raalte farm, which is led by staff from DeGraaf Nature Center.  In order to be able to catch the syrup running in the trees, we have only a small window to arrange a field trip.  Our trip is NEXT WEEK THURSDAY, MARCH 7.  I know this is short notice, but it is a time that works for us, given our "school" day schedule.  We will need 2 or 3 drivers.  The cost of the trip is $2.50 per student.  We will leave school right at 12:40, just after lunch recess, and return by 2:50.  

Also, we have scheduled a trip on Thursday, April 11 at the DeGraaf Nature Center called "Our Natural Resources".  This will be both an indoor and outdoor trip.  This ties in wonderfully with our current science unit!  We will also discuss "Reduce, Recycle, and Reuse" at DeGraaf. We'll eat sack lunches in the classroom-no hot lunches on this day, and will leave at 12:10, returning around 2:30. The cost for this trip is also $2.50.

Lastly, the Spitters family has offered to host a SHC-1st-8th grade- trip to Central Wesleyan Church's activity building on Friday, April 19!   This will be a fun time of playing games and enjoying the many activities offered in the activity building.  More details will follow about this trip, but I just wanted to give you advanced notice to save the date, as it is a Friday!  Thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Spitters, and Ellie, Anna, and Kenzie!!

Please send $5.00 to school with your child next week to cover the cost of both trips.  I realize that we collected field trip money at the beginning of the year to cover grade level trips, so please let me know if that is not feasible at this time.

I'm looking forward to spending time with our entire class on this trip!  While there are many great opportunities for building relationships with peers from other classes on field trips, and we work to intentionally foster these relationships, it is also important to offer opportunities for field trips with our class as well!

Please let me know if you are available to drive for either the Thursday, March 7 or Thursday, April 11 trips!  This information will also be posted on the blog, but I wanted to get the dates out to you as soon as we had them confirmed.

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Walters