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The Cedars Shake |
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Improving our School: Carving Out Time Whether it’s playing with our kids, writing a letter or working out, when we need to get something done we have to carve the time out of our schedules. When we want to start a good habit we plan for it and build it into our schedules to make the time, because we all know that if we wait until we have time it rarely happens.
The same is true in education. In order to improve our school we have to make time to do so. Improving Cedars takes concerted time spent in discussion and learning with other staff members. Presently any time for discussing, designing and implementing improvements must take place after school. After school we have high school staff meetings, elementary staff meetings and All Staff Staff meetings; we also meet in small groups around topics and concerns as varied as the sand on the sea shore. Everyday there are sports team’s practices, preparations for the next day and other supervision responsibilities; as a result, little time is ever found to intentionally work at improving our practice. An option we are exploring is to set aside one day a week where we would either start school late or dismiss early. Teachers would then use this 1 – 1.5 hours to discuss and evaluate curriculum and pedagogy. Christian and public schools that have adopted this practice have reported improved teaching methods, better integration of Biblical perspective, and advances in the thoughtful use of technology, among other positive results. At the beginning of each year the schools share their plan for improvement with the community and then plan the use of the time accordingly. Therefore this time is intentionally devoted to what is identified as needing improvement, is very carefully planned out, and results are shared with the community. We welcome your feedback as we consider late start/early dismissal; we will be sending out more information and a survey in the near future. Cedars Christian School Admin Team Winston Price, Shane Nelson, Sage Goudsward, and Curtis Tuininga |
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On the first day of the exam week - Monday, January 23rd - teachers will be running a number of exam-preparation tutorials and supervising work completion of a number of students. Students who have not completed all their assignments will be required to report to Mr. Nelson in Room 202 at 8:30am to work until 3pm or assignments are complete. iDay is mandatory for those with missing assignments. Parents are encouraged to discuss missing assignments with their children, and communicate with teachers about these in the week prior to exams. If your son/daughter completes and submits missing assignments prior to January 23rd, their name will be removed from the iDay list and will not be required to attend. iDay invitations will be going out to students over the next several days.
At the end of our last iDay, the number of students with missing assignments could be counted on one hand. Hoping to repeat this impressive result with our 220+ high school student body! Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Nelson, High School Vice Principal |
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Our annual celebration of the arts, "Winterlude", will take place this coming Monday, January 16, at 7:00pm in the Cedars gym! Winterlude will feature the Grades 4-6 choir, the Grade 7 band, and various performers from both high school and elementary. This year will have a slightly more informal feel than last year, with a fellowship time in the gym after the performances. If you plan on attending, please bring a tray of nut-free baking to share. Students in the choir and solo performers need to be at the school by 6:45pm while students in the Grade 7 band need to be at the school no later than 6:30pm for warm-up. Thank you for your participation!
Ms. Krista Buttenaar |
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Staffing Changes There have been and will be several changes in staffing at Cedars recently. In late December, we hired Miss Brandi Hall and Mrs. Amanda Kibsey as teacher’s aides in the high school. They have been working here for a few weeks and have been a blessing to Cedars.
Another change is the resignation of Mrs. Bev Misch, one of our Grade 7 teachers. She had faithfully taught our children here for three and a half years. We are sorry to see Mrs. Misch leave the Cedars’ community and we wish her the Lord’s blessing in the future. We are actively seeking a permanent replacement for her. In March, we will welcome Mrs. Jamie Young to our teaching staff. She will be taking over for Mrs. Erin Scholefield in teaching elementary French and Grade 8 Science. |
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We've had several small items, including quite a few keys, turned into the office over the last two weeks and just before the break. Please have a look below to see if any of these items belong to your family. If so, please claim them at the main office.
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We would like to invite both elementary and high school parents with students enrolled in French classes (or who are considering "dropping" French classes) at Cedars to come hear more about our school-wide program. For a number of years now, Cedars has used AIM (Accelerative Integrated Methodology) resources to help our students learn French. As many of you know, the AIM program takes a story-based approach to language learning and uses gestures, drama, songs, and dance to achieve oral and written fluency.
At 7pm on Tuesday, January 31, 2012, Miss Holmlund (grades 6-10), Mrs. Scholefield (grades 1-5), and Mr. Lewis (High School Academic Advisor) will take some time to discuss the overall goals, scope, and sequence of our program - as well as the doors that French studies can open for our students. Because the AIM programme is taught primarily in French using a method designed to imitate the way we learned our first language the expectations and study skills required for this course are quite different from a "typical" French class. This meeting will seek to clarify some common misunderstandings regarding expectations for the classroom and how you, as parents, can help facilitate language learning at home. In preparation for the evening, we encourage you to listen and read some of the testimonials found on the AIM website: www.aimlanguagelearning.com. |
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  Each month, a staff member will be sitting down to share a bit about their story with our community. Last week, Shane Nelson, our High School Vice Principal sat down with high school teacher Frank Crosina…Shane: So Frank, how long have you been connected with Cedars? When did your connection with Cedars start? Frank: Well, I’ve been working here at Cedars for seven years…but I actually have a connection further back – I used to go here to Cedars…in grade 6 and 7. My first year here was actually the first year we had the gym we have now. That’s actually why my parents first sent me here…maybe we’ll get a new gym…the last year I’m here! [laughter] My brother was actually in the first graduating class from Cedars. I went to the very first grad ceremony at Cedars! Shane: And…now you have your own kids here. Who are your kids and what grades are they in? Frank: Well, I’ve got three boys…three crazy boys [smiles]…Lucas in grade 4 in Mr. Beeksma’s class, Mitchell in grade 2 in Mrs. VanDelft’s class, and Ryan is in Mrs. MacDonald’s Kindergarten class…they actually love this school…a lot of good friends. They enjoy different aspects: the hockey that goes on outside…the music classes… Shane: What is it that keeps you here? Frank: I like the courses that I teach here…a lot of fun. I teach video-editing, PE, and Christian Perspectives – I really like teaching that class! I didn’t come here to teach it, but I moved into that area and I really enjoy it. I actually learn more about the Bible – just from teaching it. My favourite part about Cedars is the community – not only the students, but the teachers are a really good group of people…all seem to get along and are on the same page. Not a lot of places where you can go where you have a group of co-workers that…have the same driving force of why they are here. I find that comforting. A good atmosphere in the school and I think that carries over into the students. They can know us and trust us because we trust each other. Shane: Do you have a best memory or funny story you’d like to share? Frank: Ha! Didn’t prepare for that one…probably go home and say, “Should’ve told that story”… Shane: Well perhaps traditions…or things you look forward to each year? Frank: Oh…well I’ll be honest! I really look forward to the grad supper! [laughter] The food is always awesome! Shane: Those big celebratory meals… Frank: You know, I look forward to…big school events – like the hockey event we had before Christmas where all the kids come out, teachers are involved. We do these quite often and is a lot of fun – Challenge Cup, Community Days…like the one where we went up and talked about marriage and what life is like with a spouse and what that’s supposed to look like. Talking about this with kids and tying it in to what God’s picture for that is…you don’t get to do that anywhere else. You can really be “frank” with the kids…[Ha, Ha] Shane: That’s good. [smiles] Thanks! |
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Calling all creative crafters! The French department is looking for someone to make the head piece/mask for our Bonhomme (snowman) costume used at the annual Bonhomme Day celebrations. If you are able to help, please talk to Erin Scholefield or Arwen Holmlund at the school, or contact the office.
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Next Two Weeks . . . Please note that we only include the basic information for the next couple of weeks in the email calendar. You can get a fully-detailed calendar on our website.
Quip of the Week
TEACHER: Clyde, your composition on 'My Dog' is exactly the same as your brother's. Did you copy his?CLYDE : No, sir. It's the same dog. |
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