Kindness is One Size Fits All!

On Wednesday Feb 24th Middle school students “Stood up” to bullying by wearing their pink shirts. Students were encouraged to consider their roles in maintaining positivity and kindness in our school community as they learned about this year’s #pinkitforward kindness campaign which raised funds in helping increase awareness and is directed at helping end bullying in our communities. Remember, “Kindness is one size fits all!”

Mrs. Walker
Principal

Book Fair a Big Success!

This year’s Book Fair was a huge success and it would not have been possible without the help of parent and student volunteers, as well as our retired Librarian, Mrs. Loeve, who came in to impart her wisdom. We were able to surpass our goal this year and as a result, collect more than $1000 in books for our school library! Most of all, for one week we were able to create an excitement around reading, as students wondered through the fair and were able to collect some good reads that I’m sure will keep them busy into Spring Break!

Students also had a great time participating in our contests. Students had the opportunity to take an “Instagram” photo holding a book, guess the amount of candy in a jar, win any book at the fair and enter to win $25 for themselves as well as their class! Furthermore, the owner of Pilgrim Book and Bible was overjoyed at the support received in sales at our fair. We were able to get our hands on some excellent new and award winning youth titles for our library that I’m sure students will enjoy in the many years to come! We also welcomed Usborne Books for a few days, showcasing some gorgeous books that would make reading about history and literature enjoyable to anyone! Again, a huge thank you to the RCS community for supporting the school and promoting a love for books and reading! We appreciate you greatly and it was so wonderful to see you come into the library.

Ms. Toteda
Librarian

Extreme Environments

In wrapping up our Extreme Environments unit, the Grade 6 students had the pleasure of going to the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre this month! At the Space Centre, students learned about Newton’s laws of physics and put them into practice, as they built a rocket ship and then were able to shoot the rockets up into the air. Throughout our Extreme Environments unit, students have been grappling with the essential question: What can we learn about our Creator through the study of extreme environments? Witnessing the vastness of the universe at the observatory gave them an even greater appreciation for God and His creation.

History 12 Holocaust Presentations

The grade 7 classes were once again treated to a grade 12 History presentation of the various aspects in World War 2 that led up to the atrocities of the Holocaust. The grade 7 students are studying the book, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, which is set in World War 2 at the Auschwitz concentration camp. The workshops that the grade 12 history students presented enabled the grade 7 students to understand the context of this time period.

It was a wonderful treat to have former middle campus students return to collaborate with their grade 7 counterparts. A big thank you to Ms. Contant and Ms. Smith for facilitating this annual event!

Grade 7 Ski Day

The Gr 7 students enjoyed one last trip to Mt Seymour’s alpine playground to finish off their 5 Winter Exploratory sessions. Glorious sunshine warmed the snow-capped mountain slopes as students experienced perfect spring-skiing conditions: sunglasses, t-shirts, and smiles all around!

Ski Days

The weather may have been poor, but spirits were high as the grade 8’s embarked on their ski exploratory this past winter at Seymour mountain. Our students were given the opportunity to learn how to ski or snowboard, and over the course of 4 weeks, honed their skills. By the end of our time, we were even able to see some of students going over jumps and even try out the terrain park.

Carnaval

French 6 students had a chance to enjoy some “Tire sur la neige” (also known as Maple syrup taffy) as they wrapped up their studies of the Carnaval in Quebec last week.

The Great Debates of Grade 8

This term in English, the Grade 8 students have been learning how to defend their opinions in the form of a debate! The students argued for, or against a variety of pressing and relevant topic such as “Letter grades should be abolished,” “Social Media brings people closer together,” or “Animal testing should not be used in research.”

In teams, students conducted research to find evidence to support their side, and learned various persuasive techniques, as well as how to organize their ideas logically to be convincing, and then participated in a debate against opposing teammates. To kick the debates off, we featured a “Spotlight Debate” between homerooms, in which two students from each homeroom debated against students from another one. There was much discussion stirred after each of these debates and it was evident that they really got the students thinking and talking!

We Love Grandparents’ Day!

What a delight it is to welcome our grandparents every year to join us for a morning at the Middle Campus! On January 22, about 75 grandparents entered our doors and enjoyed a tasty snack of pastries, fruit, tea and coffee. Each of our grade group choirs stood on the top level of the atrium and sang for them as they looked up at their dear grandchildren, who were so happy to see their grandparents who are such an important part of their lives. Students and grandparents spent some time together exploring the campus and there was an opportunity for each student to have their photo taken with their grandparents. The morning finished with our grandparents joining us for one of our weekly Chapels. Several grandparents made a point of sharing with me that that they were so blessed to be able to join us in Worship and were so pleased that their grandchild was a part of Richmond Christian School.
We thank God for our grandparents!

Ms. Walker
Principal

Missions Theme Days

On January 28 and 29, students at the Middle Campus engaged in our Missions Theme Days, which gave them a chance to explore what it means to be a missionary for Christ today. We began with an inspiring talk by Brian McConaghy as he shared about how God called him to help rescue girls in Cambodia from sexual slavery, even though he felt completely unqualified for such a formidable task.

Students spent the rest of Thursday rotating through three different sessions. In the “Being” session, students were lead through a reflective reading of John 15:1-8, which reminds us that in order to be missionaries, we must rely on Jesus, the True Vine. In the “Doing” session, students heard from a variety of speakers who shared about their own experience in actually following Jesus into the mission field.

In the “Serving” session, students had a chance to get their hands dirty and practice sacrificial love by taking on service projects around the school. On Friday the whole Middle Campus went to Missions Fest to hear from more missionaries and engage in a great worship time with the wider body of Christ. We encourage you to ask your child what they learned about missions and talk with them about the dreams God may have put in their heart to share the story of Jesus with the world!

Social Studies 8

This month in Socials 8, students have been hard at work learning about Feudalism and all the complexities of life in a self-sufficient Manor community. As part of the project, students were required to take on the perspectives of a variety of different individuals that lived during this dark ages time of knights, kings, chivalry and barbarians. Along with comparing notions of hierarchy in the Feudal system to that of our own society, students were required to design and represent their own Feudal manors to visually communicate their understanding of the complexities of this system. Many submissions were absolutely exceptional!

Student Led Conferences

On February 18, our students proudly demonstrated their learning, shared their goals for the remainder of the year, and prayed for their school and parents. It was wonderful to see all the parents so engaged and supportive of their students as they listened and enjoyed what their child had to communicate. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for coming for this important time.

Basketball!

Basketball for the middle school is nearly over, with only one game and tournament to go for the Grade 7’s. We fielded teams for each grade level and gender, the younger grades recently had Christian school tournaments the second week of February.

The Grade 6 and 7 girls each attended a tournament at MEI in Abbotsford, and although the bus ride was long, the girls played in 5-6 games each day! The Grade 6 girls arrived late due to traffic, but they jumped right in and narrowly lost to Langley in overtime by one basket! The next game saw the team score 42 points-many of which were scored by Alyssa Y. The Gr. 6 girls ended up playing for 3/4 and were ahead most of the game, but eventually lost by 3 points to Abbotsford Christian. All in all, a very exciting first tournament!

The Grade 6 Boys are a strong group, albeit not too tall. However, they make up for it in speed. They played 6 games at Pacific Academy and ended up finishing 5th overall out of 12 teams. The girls were able to watch the boys final play-off game and saw them win with a score of 45-36 against MEI-very fast paced basketball! Congrats to all.

The Grade 7’s tournament day did not start off well as their bus got a flat tire only minutes away from dropping off the boys at Pacific Academy. A second bus finally showed up, but by then the girls were very late to arrive at MEI and were forced to play 5 games in a row! Needless to say, they were tired, but still managed to enjoy their day. The boys made it to Pacific Academy on time and played hard in each game, making the play-offs. Both teams eventually arrived back at RCS (more bus woes) and have another tournament in March, at a local high school. Stay tuned for a final update.

Photos show the teams on their tournament days.

Ms. Kay Harbridge
Athletic Director