strathroy community christian school - winter 2015

RANDY WILSON ARCHITECT INCORPORATED280 QUEENS AVENUE, LONDON, ONTARIO

PROPOSED ADDITION TO STRATHROY COMMUNITY CHRISTIAN SCHOOL7880 WALKERS DRIVE, STRATHROY, ONTARIO

PROPOSED ADDITION PERSPECTIVE

COMMUNITYConnectionWinter 2015

BLAST FROM THE PAST

and other highlights

The Future Revealed

The Official Magazine of Strathroy Community Christian School

Auction results are in

Also, a rare photo ofa smiling bus!

Are you ready for a fun event just for kids

born in 2012?



PROPOSED ADDITION SECTION/PERSPECTIVE

The Principal’s NoteBy Ken VanMinnen Building

strong foundationsHave you heard? Strathroy Community Christian

School (SCCS) is embarking on an exciting plan to rethink how its students learn and grow.

SCCS’ vision statement is to provide outstanding, transformative education of mind, body and spirit so that God may be glorified in the Strathroy community. In order to meet this objective the board of the SCCS Society recently adopted a new strategic plan that includes the construction of a state-of-the-art facility with flexible learning spaces designed to enhance student and teacher engagement. A major part of meeting this goal will be a beautiful addition, but we also plan to retrofit some of our existing building to be more flexible and inviting as well.

On October 19, the SCCS board hosted a town hall which unveiled our plans for a $2.5-million addition to our current building! There was much excitement about the plan and a prayerful spirit within the school about what God has in store for the future of SCCS. In this edition of the Community Connection you will see images of an initial design that we feel would allow us to meet our needs for years to come!

God has blessed SCCS with consistent growth, but it is important to point out that even if SCCS

maintained our current size a building project would be essential in terms of meeting our program needs. Teaching strategies have shifted and there is a stronger emphasis on collaboration, creativity, critical thinking and communication. When you consider these four concepts, along with the advancements made in technology, it is easy to see that a ‘factory’ model which produces a cookie-cutter approach to education will not meet the needs of our students. The physical space of our school building either enhances or detracts from our ability to meet these criteria along with allowing us to faithfully fulfill our vision for Christian education in Strathroy. Our new building plan will allow us to purposely and intentionally create a space for 21st century learning to happen!

So, with all of these exciting plans ahead what are our next steps? The board will be appointing a Capital Campaign Committee which will be tasked with the fundraising efforts in order to finance this project. These efforts will begin in earnest in January 2016 as we hope to have construction completed for the 2019–2020 school year! This is an exciting time for SCCS and we ask that you plan to partner with us prayerfully and financially so that we may continue to walk faithfully in relationship with our God.



PROPOSED ADDITION SECTION/PERSPECTIVE

If you have questions about this project please direct them to:

Building Committee ChairSeamus [email protected]

Board ChairRich [email protected]



PROPOSED FLOOR PLAN

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8 9 10 11 8

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PROPOSED ADDITION1 - CLASSROOM AREA: 775 S.F.2 - LIBRARY AREA: 1885 S.F.3 - PROJECT ROOM AREA: 90 S.F.4 - UNIVERSAL WASHROOM AREA: 65 S.F.5 - CUSTODIAN / UTILITY ROOM AREA: 30 S.F.6 - MULTIPURPOSE ROOM AREA: 775 S.F.7 - STORAGE AREA: 270 S.F.

EXISTING BUILDING8 - EXISTING CLASSROOM9 - MUSIC10 - SCIENCE11- ART/CONSTRUCTION

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3

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4 45 3 3

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ALTERNATE SEATING LAYOUT0 1 2.5 5 10



PROPOSED ADDITION INTERIOR

CovenantI will sing of the Lord’s great love forever, with my mouth will I make your

faithfulness known through all generations. Psalm 89:1

God has indeed been faithful to us! Every day, there is evidence of His goodness in our school community. Our children are being given exceptional instruction in both academic and spiritual aspects by educators who love God. In the background is a strong support community that provide funds, volunteers and prayer support to ensure that they can do it well. The success of our recent Goods and Services Auction was a great example of that – what an awesome expression of support! Thank you to everyone who participated in that event.

The board of directors has been working to ensure that we stay faithful to God in our long-range plans and in the protection of the society. One of our jobs is to give our staff the tools and facilities they need to provide outstanding, transformative education of mind, body and spirit. In order to achieve this, we have a strategic plan that we are following closely. You can see this plan on the SCCS website and I encourage you to look it up and become familiar with the direction we are taking for the future of SCCS. It’s quite exciting! Feel free to talk with me or any board member if you have any questions or comments about this plan.

We are also focused on maintaining and expanding a vibrant membership base from which we can draw leadership talent and on-going direction advice. Our challenge is to inspire Christian parents of SCCS students to show their commitment to the idea of Christian education through membership and volunteerism. Christian education is something that’s bigger than us and our own families, it is part of the covenantal commitment we make when we baptize or dedicate our children and when we agree as a Christian community to love and support each other’s kids as they grow up. The school society will only be sustainable if we take this covenant seriously and show our support through membership and volunteering, not only for the time when our kids attend SCCS, but for our whole lives.

If I really believe that SCCS is where God wants my kids to be, then I also believe that it’s where He wants your kids to be. It’s a community – with a covenant.

Calendar

Strathroy Community Christian School7880 Walkers DriveStrathroy, ON N7G 3H4

[email protected] [email protected]

www.sccs.ca

www.Facebook.com/StrathroyCommunityChristianSchool

Connect with us

December 7/9 Parent-Teacher Interviews

December 15 Christmas Program @ 7:00 p.m.

December 16 Christmas Program @ 1:30 p.m.

December 18 Last Day of School

January 4 First Day Back to School

January 6 Chapel

January 19, 26; February 2, 9 Ready, Set, School!

February 1 Basketball Tournament at LDCSS

February 3 Chapel by Grade 1

February 15 Family Day (No School)

March 2 Chapel by SK and Grade 8

March 4 Local PD Day

March 9 Hockey Tournament – Strathroy Gemini

The Board ReportBy Board Chair Rich Hamstra

Community with a

The Voucher Incentive Program (VIP) is a special fundraiser that helps parents reduce the cost of

tuition while raising funds for SCCS.

Here’s how it worksWe buy gift cards in bulk at a discounted rate and sell them at face value to VIP participants. Every participating family is given an account in which their purchases are recorded and 50% of the profit goes into this account to be used toward their tuition. SCCS keeps the remaining 50% which goes into our budget.

The gift cards/certificates are used by the VIP participants just like cash at the participating retailers - without costing anything extra.

How does it help?• Up to 15% of each gift card’s value is

given to participating families and our school.

• More than $30,000 was raised last year for the budget and tuition reduction!

• It’s a tax-free and easy way to decrease your tuition payments.

• You pay face value for gift cards at businesses you already shop at.

• Using the VIP to pay for gas for our fleet of buses saves more than $3,000.

• VIP helps all families afford Christian education.

• And you can do it all online at www.sccs.ca/VIP

Thank you to those families who already participate! We encourage you to start today…it is as easy as emailing [email protected] to get an online login and password.

BE A VIP

Thank you to everyone who contributed to our 26th Annual Goods & Services Auction/Dinner!

Through community support from countless businesses, donors, attendees and volunteers, this annual event raised more than $65,000 for Strathroy Community Christian School! Praise God and “THANK YOU” to all those who played a role in making this event a blessing to our school!

Sincerely, the SCCS Auction Committee

THANK YOU

Lego Fun in Grade 1Students were asked to answer the ques-tions “What does Remembrance Day mean to you? What is Remembrance Day?” and then use Lego to show their answer. Here are some of their responses (in their own words):

Remembrance Day is a day that has poppies. People died. I am thankful for them. Jacintha

I am thankful for the people who fought so that we can be free. Thomas

Remembrance Day is something that people remember that soldiers fought and they gave up their life. And that is why poppies grow.Matthew

I am thankful that people fought for us.Kylie

HIGHLIGHTS

Blast from the Past Day, November 16

Hands-on Wednesdays Remembrance Day

Grade 1 Lego learning

Student Council decorated our bus for the Santa Claus Parade

SCCS Soccer StarsThe Girls’ soccer team had a great season this year! Everyone worked hard in the practices and tried their best, which showed in all our games. We played in two tournaments. For the NW Re-gional Soccer Tournament, we travelled to SDCI to play five games. There were no finals, but we came out of the tournament with one loss, two victories, and two ties. At the Christian school tournament, we travelled to Arkona to play a total of five games. We won all of our games, some even blowouts. This brought us to the semi-finals. We worked hard the whole entire game, but it ended in a tie, causing us to go into shootouts. Unfor-tunately, we lost the shootouts. We would like to give a special thank you to our coaches who gave up their time to coach us.By Janelle Hamstra and Keira Wiersema

Cross-Country ConquestThis year, SCCS participated in the Stratford Cross-Country meet. The Stratford course con-sists of a 1–3 km long track through the beautiful conservation area. While running through the conservation area, participants were able to observe God’s wonderful creation – wild flowers, flourishing hills, small wildlife, etc. Our school participants did very well. SCCS ranked second overall at the meet! Great job SCCS! Also thank you to the local community for coming out and supporting our school!By Micah Tamminga and Haley Johnson

The annual Tug of War contest

Puppets make everyone smile

Grade 5 class trip to Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Ready! Set!School!

All children born in 2012 are invited to attend “Ready...Set...School!”, a free and fun program to give preschool children the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the school routine.

Every TuesdayJanuary 19 – February 9

9 a.m. – 11 a.m.

Register: Online at www.sccs.ca/ReadySetSchool.phpCall 519-245-1934In person at 7880 Walkers Drive, Strathroy

strathroy community christian school - winter 2015

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