Month: November 2020

 

This term in Grade 4/5, students have been studying God’s creation of Rocks and Minerals.    Though rocks may seem basic and dull, we have been looking at how God created Rocks and Minerals for a purpose and that because of this we can delight in this creation.

In the Bible it says that even though God’s people might not proclaim Him as they ought to sometimes, God’s rocks will cry out to proclaim His majesty and might. This means that when we look at and consider how complexly rocks are made we cannot help but know that only God could have created such a thing.

Rocks are needed for so many different things: such as for making homes and roads and jewelry but also to form the very ground we stand on. In the Bible it also says that Jesus is a Rock and Fortress for any who believe in Him. We have considered as a class how building our life on Jesus is the only way to have a fulfilling purpose, peace and hope in our lives.

Finally, after a few weeks of waiting for the bears in Terrace to find a better hang-out spot, the Grade 4/5s went to Ferry Island to delight in rocks. There were four stations that these students participated in: 1) The snack station where students made an edible sedimentary rock with prepackaged cookies, smarties and chocolate or vanilla icing; 2) A Rock Painting station where they used their hearts and hands to paint messages of encouragement on rocks to leave at Ferry Island for others to find; 3) A Rock and Roll station where they learned a fun rock cycle chant that had us moving and grooving with actions; and finally, 4) a Rock Balancing challenge where we competed to have the highest rock structure.

Here are a few pictures of us being Creation Enjoyers, Beauty Creators, and Community Builders: …

 

 

To say that Athletics at CCS looks a little different this year is a bit of an understatement! We began this year waiting to hear from BC School Sports (BCSS) about what stage we would be in. In the Spring of last year BCSS cancelled the entire spring season, meaning no Track and Field season for our students. This was quite a loss to our Senior Students who were looking forward to competing at provincials for the last time. We were really hoping that some form of Athletics would be allowed this year.

At the start of this year, BCSS stated that all schools were in stage 2. This meant that practicing with a learning group was possible, but no game play or events could be arranged between schools. This is one of the times that being a small school has its advantages. As the tagline for the Vinyl Café attests, “We may not be big, but we’re small!” High school learning groups can have up to 120 people in them, so for us that means that all our high school teams could practice.

The first sport to be affected by this was cross country. BCSS decided to run a virtual cross-country event that high school students across the province could participate in. Tim Block coached six students who braved the elements and ran 3K a few times, with their best time being entered into the race. It was great that BCSS created an event that the students could participate in! We will post results as soon as they come in! Thank you, Mr. Block!

 

Volleyball is a little different. How do you run a virtual volleyball game? You can’t! We did not want our students to miss an entire season, so we ran practices 2X a week for our Junior and Senior students. Because of our small size we were able to add alumni to our learning group and they joined in the senior practices. We are very thankful for alumni who saw the need and were willing to join the group and come to practices offering competition to our senior team. We were very impressed with our athletes’ commitment to hard work at practice, even when there were no games to work toward – Well done SeaHawks!

This past Saturday we wrapped up our Volleyball season with a game night at the old Thornhill Jr. Gym. The coaches planned an evening of different volleyball games, trying to give the athletes a taste of what game play is like. Luke Shimizu and Luke Block won the titles as “King of the Beach/Court”. Ben Carter and Sawyer Clunas won the serving game. And Luke Block was the last CCS player standing in a game of “tennis”, which included all the alumni as well. The evening ended with a best of three match in uniform. The senior team played the Alumni and Juniors played each other with their coaches, with the Northwest Zone COVID Cup Championship on the line.

 

 

Thank you to Jakob Kort and David Bakker for all the time and energy you put into our Junior team! Your Christian example is valued by our school and makes a positive impact on our athletes! Thank you also to Cole Nutma and Joel Ringma for your commitment to our Senior players. This could have been a total loss to our Seniors, but you challenged them to work hard and improve and made it a season that they will not forget!

Ella Ringma – Athletic Director

(Editor’s note: We also thank Ella Ringma for her tireless devotion to all things CCS, but especially to our athletics program. This volleyball season could easily have fallen victim to the pandemic, as it did in so many schools, but Ella and our coaches refused to let that happen and the students reaped the benefits of their determination. We are blessed to have you!)

What is FLEx?

When we talk about FLEx at CCS, we are referring to a Formational Learning Experience that connects to a lesson or unit. It is intended to connect learning with real life experiences and the teachers at CCS try to integrate FLEx into their planning.  For the last number of weeks, the Grade 2/3 class has been doing a unit on the topic of water. This unit has given us plenty of opportunity to connect what we learn in the classroom with the world around us. A couple of FLEx examples connected to water are described below. 

The book, “The Water Princess” led to a discussion about water distribution around the world. Daniel Talstra came to speak to our class about water issues as they relate to his work with the “Mennonite Central Committee” in Zambia. We learned that as North Americans we use 12 liters of water a day compared to 2 liters used by most people around the world! We also learned that for many people having access to clean water is difficult. Daniel’s visit got us thinking and talking about ways we can help others have access to clean water.

We decided to raise money for a water filter through the organization “World Renew”. Students are finding ways to earn extra money at home so we can reach our goal of $115.00. Not sure what a water filter is or does, students spent an afternoon making water filters.  This was so much fun, but it left us wondering about our own water and how it comes to us clean right out of the tap!  We look forward to a class visit from Rob Hoekstra who works for the City of Terrace to explain this to us! These FLExs (Formational Learning Experiences) help us discover ways we can be justice seekers, community builders and earth keepers!

(Anita Struyk)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Wet and Wonderful Field Trip to Furlong Bay 

On a wet and cloudy fall day in October, the 2/3 class of Centennial Christian School took time to be creation enjoyers and explorers by taking a field trip to Furlong Bay. This field trip was a perfect opportunity for the students to explore water in their local area. As their teachers, Anita and I were thrilled to see them learning in an “outdoor classroom” setting, where they could ask questions, be active, and observe God’s creation. It was great to have 3 BC Parks officers with us who could answer questions too.

After arriving at Furlong Bay, our class walked about 1 km of the Twin Spruce Trail, that ended at the Furlong Bay beach. Along the way, students observed water in small creeks and riverbeds. They were able to see some of the concepts they had learned about in the classroom, such as erosion, weathering, deposition, collection, and the water cycle, in a real-life context! When they had questions, the BC Parks officers were there to answer. 

Once our class arrived at the beach, they were given the task of creating a structure that had a waterway. The students practiced being Community Builders while working with a group of 2-3 students. It was awesome seeing each group in action, busy at the “work” of creating and playing together, sharing responsibilities and making plans together. At the end of the allotted time, each group shared what they had built with the rest of the class. As they poured water into their newly created waterways, the students saw and felt erosion, a key concept that our class learned in this unit. 

To culminate the field trip, the class took cover from the rain in a nearby shelter. There, each student had 15 minutes to write about the field trip in their “outdoor journal.” Each student got to work writing about the day’s events, the feelings they had about the day, and drawing pictures of their favorite memories. The lessons learned and memories made during our trip to Furlong Bay will not soon be forgotten! 

(Susan Lehman)