Blog Update Tuesday, April 19

I hope you had a good weekend with your friends and family!

RCS Staff Appreciation Week

RCS Staff Appreciation Week is next week, April 25th-29th. There will be many opportunities for you to show your appreciation for your child's homeroom teachers, as well as other co-curricular teachers (think art, music, library) and ESS support staff and office and custodial personnel.  

Please click on the link below to volunteer to bring items throughout the week as well as sign-up to help set-up/clean-up:

www.SignUpGenius.com/go/10C094DAEA92DA1FE3-teacher

Click this link to find various ideas if you want creative ideas to show your love or simply search "Teacher Appreciation" in Pinterest:

http://www.frugalcouponliving.com/easy-and-creative-teacher-appreciation-gift-ideas/

Please don't feel like you are limited to only bringing fancy, creative gifts for the teachers. There will be gift bags set up in the front lobby where you can simply write a note of appreciation, give a gift card, etc.

On Thursday afternoon, we will be providing the staff with a lunch. During that lunch we'd like to gift each teacher with a gift card. Please consider donating a gift card (or cash if that's easier) to help this effort. These gift cards can be from anywhere and for any denomination (examples: Starbucks, Restaurants, Clothing Stores, Home Stores, etc.) TRIP is a great place to purchase these gift cards and you get to keep the credit! Please place the gift card in the basket that Karla will have.

Last, but certainly not least, there will be another table set up in the front lobby that will have sticky notes and writing utensils for you and your child(ren) to write "thank you" notes, "words of encouragement," etc. These sticky notes will then be used to decorate the teacher's doors. We want to fill each of the teacher's doors to make them feel loved and appreciated all week long. Sometimes little notes of encouragement are the best!

Thank you in advance for helping make this week a success and for making all of our teachers feel loved and appreciated!

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email katieann.underwood@gmail.com

~Katie Underwood, Sarah Mokma, Carmen Noorman, and Amy Boyd

(PTO Teacher Appreciation Committee)

Yearbook

Order your yearbook today. Please note that online ordering is also available this year!! http://jostensyearbooks.com/?REF=A01045598 If you have questions about ordering please contact Kim Wierenga kwierenga@grcs.org

Family Time

Thank you to Mr. VerMerris & 6th graders  (Earth Day is Friday, April 22.)

Ask your student about this Family Time and the wonders of God’s creation.  If you want to see the neat video that Mr. VM showed at the conclusion of Family Time (Newsboys--”In Wonder”) go to the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5wZV83Je4A

Upcoming Family Times

April 25 —           Devotional Groups  (Led by Mr. Seinen and 8th graders)

Hot Lunch this week

Wednesday, April 20

1 Picnic Lunch: Hotdog on a bun, watermelon, baked beans, fun-size chips, mini ice cream treat

2 Turkey sub bag

Thursday, April 21

1 Chicken patty on bun, leaf lettuce, green beans, fresh carrots with ranch, fruit choice

2 Warm pretzel & cheese

Friday, April 22

1 Fish sticks, crinkle fries, fresh carrots with ranch, Italian ice, blueberry muffin

2 Banana split cereal bag

Monday, April 25

1 Popcorn chicken bowl, whipped potatoes & gravy, carrots, dinner roll, fruit choices

2 Nacho bag

Tuesday, April 26

1 Waffle with strawberries, whipped cream, sausage link, potato wedge, juice choice, oranges

1 Trix for kids

Learning Commons

5th graders kicked off a unit on Historical fiction. Kindergartners will be doing research in the library on farm animals.

MAPS testing begins next week for 1st – 7th graders. There are no 8th grade MAPS tests in the spring.

Week of April 25:

1st grade: Thursday at 11:00

2nd grade: Wednesday at 9:00

3rd grade: Wednesday at 11:20

4th grade & SI: Monday at 11:00

5th grade: Thursday at 8:50

6th grade: Tuesday at 10:45

7th grade: Tuesday at 8:50

Week of May 2:

1st grade: Thursday at 11:00

2nd grade: Wednesday at 11:00

3rd grade: Monday at 11:00

4th grade & SI: Wednesday at 9:30

5th grade: Tuesday at 11:20

6th grade: Tuesday at 9:30

7th grade: Monday at 9:30

Week of May 9:

1st grade: Monday at 9:45 and Thursday at 9:00

2nd grade: Monday at 11:00 and Tuesday at 11:00

3rd grade: Wednesday at 11:20

4th grade & SI: Wednesday at 8:50

5th grade: no tests this week

6th grade: Tuesday at 1:00

4th grade news for this week

Fourth graders had a great time at the zoo last week and certainly enjoyed fantastic weather!

6th Environmental Classroom news for this week

Happy Earth Week!  (April 22 is actual Earth Day)  The 6th graders will be going to Camp Roger this week Wednesday to discover more things about God’s creation.  On Friday they will be cleaning a two-mile stretch of Belding Road for Adopt-A-Highway and our earth Day celebration as we celebrate the God of creation!!

7th and 8th Graders Save the date

The Western-themed Middle School Dance to be held on Friday, April 29, at GR Christian Middle School.  This dance is for 7th and 8th graders from RCS and GRCMS.  This is a great opportunity for our 7th and 8th graders in GRCS to meet one another and have a great time together.  More details to come, but we wanted to get the date on the calendar.  

Feelin' Good Mileage Club

Physical activity for youth is important. We are, therefore, implementing a walking program called the Feelin' Good Mileage Club (sponsored by Maranda at WOOD TV 8).

The Feelin' Good Mileage Club provides opportunity for the students, grades K-4, to walk for fitness. The Mileage Club will be held during recess on T, Th, & F. It will start Tuesday, April 19 depending on the weather.

Your child needs no special equipment to participate. However, their tennis shoes are recommended. Simply, have him/her dress appropriately for the weather. Each student is free to walk as much or as little as he/she desires. The Feelin' Good Mileage Club is non-competitive. For each 5 miles, your child will receive a toe token to place on his/her shoe. A 1Ž4 mile course will be mapped outside and each time students run a 1Ž4 mile they receive a punch in their special FGMC card.

Parents/Grandparents/Guardians etc..are welcome to join to walk with their child or help with punching runner's cards at recess. Please join in the fun to keep our students healthy. The FGMC will be held at the lunch recess from 12:20-12:40pm Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. If you are interested in volunteering (especially on Fridays), please email, call or text Sarah VanderVeen.616.862.1306 or svanderveen@grcs.org.

Upcoming dates for this week

Wednesday, April 20 20

Camp Roger: Preschool  (AM & PM)

Thursday, April 21

Camp Roger: Kindergarten (AM)  &  3rd Grade (PM)

Friday afternoon, April 22

We will have a special gathering at 2:15 in the Worship Center to hear the singing group that Mr. V.M. is a member of, “The Singing Hims” (www.thesinginghims.org). You are all cordially invited.

Teacher Appreciation Week, April 25-29

Tuesday April 29

7th/8th Dance with GRCMS   Mid mark, Quarter 4

Please join me in praying for things that are happening in our world. There’s so much bad stuff going on and we should bring our concerns to our heavenly Father. I would love to continue to pray for you and your family.  If you would like to let me know any prayer requests, I would be happy to pray.

I’m praying that you have a great week!

Thanks for all that you do for God’s kingdom!

Mr. Dave

Blog Update Tuesday, Wednesday, April 13

I hope that you had a wonderful and restful Spring Break.  I pray that you came back to school feeling refreshed and ready for the final 8 weeks of school.   It’s all downhill from here—it goes fast from now until June 3!

Highlights from the home bulletin

Outdoor Footwear

Please make sure your children are wearing appropriate outdoor footwear for this time of year. The playground areas are still quite wet and muddy!

Donations

Kleenex Donations would be appreciated. Our supply is getting low and with the blossoming of spring approaching, many noses will be sneezing! Thank you.

Krispy Cream Donut Sale

The "Think Like a Scientist" iXplore class will be selling delicious Krispy Cream donuts for 75 cents each at break time tomorrow.   If your child would like one, the teachers will be taking a count Today  The Van Andel Institute is a research facility full of scientists who are working to cure many diseases. All proceeds will go to the Van Andel Purple Community.

Thank you!!!

The Compassion Club would like to thank the RCS community for the many donations in response to the Wear Blue for Flint Day event. We received 5 boxes of food that we will be donating to the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan. They have been delivered over spring break. Some members of the club also organized a small card writing station for RCS students to create cards for Flint residents who receive the food.

Focus on Your Future Event - Thursday, April 21st, 6:30 p.m.

If you are thinking about Grand Rapids Christian High School for your daughter or son in the next few years, please join us on Thursday, April 21 at 6:30 p.m. in the library at Rockford Christian School

This special night is designated specifically for Rockford Christian Middle School students and their parents.  As your child continues on through middle school, you might start to have questions about what is next, and how to best prepare your child for the academic and social transition to high school.  Come and learn more about what the future holds for your child.

You will enjoy a pizza dinner as you hear from former Rockford Christian students about their experiences and about how we help our students acclimate to GRCHS. We'll talk about curriculum and answer your questions about class selection and preparation for high school.  You'll learn about the admissions process including forms and upcoming annual admissions events.  We can't wait to Focus on Your Future!

Staff Appreciation Week

Staff Appreciation Week is coming up! Mark your calendar for April 25-29 as a week where we can shower our teachers with love and appreciation. Look for an email early next week that will contain a link to a sign-up genius as a way to volunteer for various items. There will also be gift bags set up in the front lobby that you can fill with cards, gift cards and other special things!

Mom's Night Out

Join us for a super fun Mom's Night Out at The Local Epicurean for a Truffle Making Class!!  

Who:  All RCS Mom's preschool through 8th grade as well as teachers & staff are invited - spots are limited to the first 48 moms that sign up.

What:  Truffle Making Class -Classic Truffle Learn the art of chocolate truffle making from an Epicurean chocolatier. Use unique ingredients to create your own custom truffles. Take home and enjoy your creations!

When:  Friday April 29th 7pm

Where:  The Local Epicurean 1440 Wealthy St., Grand Rapids, MI 49506

Why:  To create community with the awesome moms at our school

Cost:  Let's give a hip, hop hooray for the PTO who have generously donated a portion of funds to offset the total cost of this event. Ticket price will range between $24-$29 (depending on total attendance).

RSVP via e-mail to Trudy Holtz at trudyholtz@gmail.com.  Please feel free to call Trudy with any questions at 616-443-3246 RSVP deadline: April 19th

Clothing Clearance

We are clearing out all RCS t-shirts, hoodies and sweatpants! T-shirts are $5 each or 3/$10. Hoodies and sweatpants are $10. Get yours before they are gone!!

Cell Phones for Africa

Do you happen to have any working but unused cell phones sitting around your home?  We have just the place for them to be put to good use: Uganda.

Many of you may remember the Amani Children's Choir, a group of African children from Uganda who came to lead us in worship last spring.  It seems they left a big impression on more than just our RCS students.

Jarrett Berends, a local high school student, is collecting usable cell phones for his senior project.  Jarrett plans to share them with a church in Uganda. Jarrett writes, "Last year, a children's choir from Uganda came and sang in a chapel at my school. My family had the opportunity to have some of the children stay at our house. We came to know and love them. We also came to know the American missionaries that were guiding them on their trip across the USA. When I was trying to think of ideas for a senior project, I thought of this choir. The American missionaries said that one way the church could use some assistance is for pastors to have smartphones to contact each other. They currently have no easy way to do this. Uganda has no landline structure for their phones. The only way to communicate conveniently is through the use of cell phones. People in America often have old smartphones lying around after they upgrade to a newer device."

If you would like to donate, just bring the phones to the RCS office and give them to Mrs. Radius.  We will get them to RCS parent and staff person Tami Redfield, who will get them to Jarrett to get to Uganda. Thanks for all of the help!

7th and 8th Graders

Save the date for the Western-themed Middle School Dance to be held on Friday, April 29, in the Middle School gym.  This dance is for 7th and 8th graders from Rockford Christian and Grand Rapids Christian Middle Schools. We realize this event is on the same day as a track meet, however, this cannot be avoided as neither can be changed due to DJ availability and the GRACEAC scheduling process. We have moved the dance time back to run from 7:30pm until 9:30pm and we encourage kids to come after the track meet.  We are sorry for any inconvenience this causes.

7th/8th grade parents, click here to sign up to help with the dance.

MakerSpace Theme Week –

The k-4 students had a great time with the MakerSpace Theme Week

April 11 – 15: we are in an  Another Special Week at RCS

“iXplore Week”  (Grades 5 – 8) and “Zoo Week” (Grade 4 SI)

Hot Lunch this wee

Tuesday,  April 11

   

Upcoming Family Times

April 18 —           Mr. VerMerris & 6th Graders  (K – 8th)

April 25 —           Devotional Groups  (Led by Mr. Seinen and 8th graders)

Hot Lunch this week

Monday, April 11

1 Mini corn dogs, smiley potatoes, corn, carrots, fresh fruit

2 Nacho bag

Tuesday, April 12

1 Breaded chicken drumstick, whipped potatoes with gravy, carrots, dinner roll, fruit choice

2 Trix for kids

Wednesday, April 13

1 Macaroni & cheese, steamed broccoli, carrots, blueberry muffin, apple slices

2 Turkey sub bag

Thursday, April 14

1 Hamburger on bun with cheese, fun-size chips, baked beans, carrots/celery, strawberries

2 Warm pretzel and cheese

Friday, April 15

1 Pizza day: pepperoni/cheese pizza, hearty romaine garden salad, carrots, cherry tomatoes, apples, oranges, grapes

2 Banana split cereal bag

Monday, April 18

1 Chicken nuggets, corn muffin, fresh carrots, corn, fruit choice

2 Nacho bag

Tuesday, April 19

1 Cinnamon french toast, sausage link, potato wedge, apple juice, oranges, bananas

2 Trix for kids

Learning Commons

3rd graders kicked off a 3 week reading incentive program called “No Bones About It...Reading is Great!” in conjunction with their science unit studying bones and muscles. As a reward for reading, they will receive “bones”. We will conclude with a fun party: assembling our skeletons, eating bone shaped cookies, drinking “healthy for bones” milk, and playing the Boney Pokey.

6th Environmental Classroom news for this week

With iXplore Week occurring this week, it is not a “normal” week in the 6th grade environmental program since the students will be in a variety of classes.  Our normal week begins next week with the 6th grade environmental students leading in our RCS Family Time--”When I In Awesome Wonder”

PE News news for this week

Reminder: All students must wear tennis shoes for PE. If they do not have their tennis shoes they are not able to participate as regular shoes make scuffs on the gym floor. for 5th-8th grade they will lose half their participation points for the day if they do not have their shoes.

Upcoming dates for April

Monday-Friday, April 11-15: iExplore Week (Middle School) and Zoo week (4th graders)          

Thursday, April 21

Focus on Your Future Event  

Friday, April 29

7th/8th Dance with GRCMS

Mid mark, Quarter 4

I would love to continue to pray for you and your family.  If you would like to let me know any prayer requests, I would be happy to pray.

I’m praying that you have a great week!

Thanks for all that you do for God’s kingdom!

Mr. Dave