Wesley Academy

We often think of preparing for Christmas as a stressful, busy time.  There are gifts to buy, food to prepare, houses to clean, decorations to put out, and perhaps parties or gatherings to host. This week at school, we had a chapel service everyday in which we sang a lot of fun Christmas songs, as well as the traditional carols.  Many students also shared in Advent readings as we lit candles in an advent wreath.  It was a time to think about preparing our hearts for the celebration of Christ's birth.  Thanks to Mrs. Vant Erve for organizing this special activity.

Today, we also had a fabulous opportunity as all our elementary students walked down to Hwy 7 to watch the Olympic torch relay pass by!  What an exciting time!  We came back to the school and everyone had  Hot Chocolate with lots of marshmallows in the cafeteria to warm up!

As we approach this season, and the break from the routine of school and activities that comes with it,  I want to wish each WCA family a very blessed Christmas time.  I pray that your family will have peace and joy as you reflect on the love of God - love so great, that He gave His Son (John 3:16).  I also want to thank you for your support during our busy fall  so far!  We often remark about the wonderful families we  have here at the school and you have been very supportive of all our endeavours this fall.  Thank you!  Our final total for the Citrus Fundraiser was $3988.11 and we are grateful for your participation in that!

Well, we've certainly begun December with a BANG! Our citrus fruit order arrived and nearly 600 cartons of oranges and grapefruits were distributed.  Thanks so much to our Grade 7 & 8 students for their hard work (literally!) unloading all that fruit!

Thanks go out as well to all of you who ordered fruit.  We raised over $3000.oo from the sales of these oranges and grapefruit.  We hope you enjoy them.

Report cards have also gone home this week, and on Friday, Dec 4 you will have opportunity to meet with your child's teacher to discuss the progress that has been made this term, as well as any goals your child has set for the remainder of the year.  We hope this will be a valuable time for both parents and teachers.

Is anyone as astonished as I am that we are nearing the end of our first term of the school year already?  As usual it has been a busy one; 3 McWesley Wednesdays, Cross Country training and meet, Soccer Tournament, Welcome Back BBQ & Curriculum Night,  9 chapel services, Thanksgiving Lunch, 45 students experienced the Toronto Raptors up close and personal at the 'Read to Achieve Open Practice',  9 field trips, a book fair and school photos! Band, Worship Team and 2 separate choirs have also begun their rehearsals!  Whew!  That doesn't even take into account all the learning and lessons that have taken place in our classrooms this fall.  Our students and teachers have obviously been working very hard!  Great job everyone!

As we finish off this first term, parents, please watch our website and your child's agenda for mention of  the timing of report cards and parent-teacher interviews.  We are looking forward to being able to  share with you the progress of your children so far; celebrating their successes and setting goals for some improvements as we proceed into second term.

 

"Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus." (1 Thes 5:18)

It's that time of year again! Thanksgiving is a holiday that seems to have escaped a lot of the commercialism that other holidays have.  It's one of the things I like most about it.  There is no confusion about it's purpose.  We, as human beings, feel the need to give thanks.  Autumn is a natural time to be thankful.  The scenery is beautiful, the bounty of harvest is fresh, and we realize once again that our world does have a rhythm and order as summers turns to fall, and fall turns to winter.  In the world around us, no one seems to have any qualms about not only being thankful - but giving thanks.  It seems to me that many are unsure to whom their thanks is directed.  They are simply thankful in general, to no one in particular.    But I don't think you really can actually give thanks to no one.  Can you?

Thanksgiving.  Giving thanks.  Giving requires something going from one person to another.  Thanks is also an emotion of response from one person to something else.  It's different than feeling happy or accomplished or satisfied.  Those emotions you can feel on your own - for your own sake.  Thanks is a response that is given to someone other than self, and it is given in response to something received.

Expect to see lots of fast feeting moving around the building on Thursday, Sept 17th as WCA participates in the National Terry Fox Run this year.  Students will be spending time on that day learning about the life of this Canadian hero, as well as running around our property to participate in the effort to raise funds to find a cure for cancer! Each student is asked to bring a donation of $2 and to wear casual clothes that are suitable and comfortable for running.

I hope you had a wonderful summer of rest, excitement and new experiences!  We are looking forward to another great year of learning together in our school community, trusting God for his blessings as we do our best to follow him.

All of our elementary students have begun a new school year today! From our new little grade 1's to our confident (and taller!) grade 8's, we are excited to have  them all back!  We also welcome some new students and families to our school community this year as well.

Parents - we encourage you to use our website to keep yourself informed about your child's classroom schedule as well as school events!

We are well on our way to creating our persuasive articles about a topic. We have begun to narrow our choice of topic, consider what our claim (thesis) will be and have learned some persuasive writing techniques.

This week we will be learning how to structure an effective argument in our writing and you will need to use the following tool to organize your work. Don't worry - I'll explain it in class this week.

Persuasion Map

I wanted to encourage you students to keep up the great work you have been doing on the current events' reports. In all the years I have done these with my students, I feel that you guys have really caught the idea of what these reports can become. The articles you choose, as well as the insightful commentary you provide and discussion you lead are great! I'm proud of you.

Parents - keep encouraging your children to interact with the world around them and discover their place in it as a child of God. We've had some very stimulating conversations recently in our classroom surrounding topics such as;

• 'religious rights vs. criminal code rights' - which takes precedence in a court of law
• economic crisis - spend or save?
• medical ethics/organ donations/end of life issues
  
• which global crisis is more immediate and needs humanity's attention more - the economic or environmental
• the involvement of Canada's military in Afganistan
• Obama-mania
• Parliament Hill/coalition government

Your children are very insightful and certainly, for many of them, are obviously seeking to be salt and light in the world as they integrate their faith into their understanding of world affairs and current events.

Now that the teachers have had a chance to look through the wonderful experiments done by our Grade 4-8 students for the science fair, we would like to invite all parents to a public showing of the projects in the cafeteria on Thursday, April 16 from 4-6 pm. Projects that showed outstanding efforts and results will be acknowledged at time.

I want to wish all the families of Grade 8 students a very Happy Easter. I certainly hope that at some point this weekend, you will be struck by the profound nature of God's sacrificial love for you. Remember that there is no school on Friday or Monday

Thanks for getting in the Behaviour Agreement forms and your final payments for Quebec on time! We have just 1.5 months left before this exciting trip. There will be more information coming home during the coming weeks, and perhaps a short Parent Information Night, in early May, if there is enough interest. Please email me to let me know if you would find that helpful. rgoodyear@wesleychristianacademy.com

During the coming weeks, we will be working on a persuasive writing article to learn and practice strategies for writing in such a way that it invites your reader to reconsider their opinions on an issue. By Friday, April 17 all student will need to have chosen a 'controversial' topic about which to research and write.