Happy 80th Birthday, Mr. Mawby!

On February 3, Mr. Mawby turned 80 years old! What a blessing to have this man still actively engaged in education! And how blessed are we that he has chosen to be involved at Richmond Christian School! We are so thankful that he has taught the Grade 8 Shop elective for the past six years! Many students continue to choose that elective and love learning how to work with wood and make special wooden projects like cutting boards and picture frames. The class is always full!

But did you know that Mr. Mawby has had a very full life before we knew him? He has taught at several BC schools in his early career as a teacher. He soon became a Vice Principal in Delta and Principal shortly afterwards at a few different schools in the area. After receiving his Master’s degree in 1981, Mr. Mawby continued as Principal, then eventually became Headmaster in an Indonesian school for 4 years before spending a year as Principal of a school in China. He was even a professor of English for a year in Bangkok! He returned to Canada and became Principal of a Christian School in Vancouver before joining us at RCS as interim Vice Principal at the elementary campus for 2 years. For the past 6 years he has been teaching Shop for the Middle campus.

And not only that! Did you know that Mr. Mawby was a City Alderman for Richmond for 8 years? He was also the President of BC Athletics and the President and Head Coach for Kajaks Track and Field Club.

Happy Birthday, Hugh Mawby! We love you and we love that you like to spend time with us and keep sharing your love of life and more importantly, your love for Jesus!

Mrs. Walker
Principal

IMAGINE Theme Week

Ephesians 2:10
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Mark March 15-17th on your calendar because the Middle campus will be fully engaged in our annual Theme Week. This year our theme is “Imagine.” The students will have an opportunity to immerse themselves in the arts, as a reflection of our status as sub-creators who are made in the image of the great creator. Theme week gives students a chance to put the regular curriculum on pause and to spend an entire day applying their creative and critical thinking skills as they collaborate with students across the grades.
Students will participate in the following ‘Imaginative’ workshops:

Artography
Just go with the Flow
Digital Construction
Lego my Legacy
Trailer Re-mix
Mad Hatter Tea Party

If you think that the titles are intriguing, you should you should pop in to see what madness is taking place!

Mrs. Burton
Vice Principal

Athletics

The annual Christian school’s basketball tournaments eventually took place this year, but not without a lot of scheduling issues! Due to all the snow we had in early February, all 4 of our grade 6 and 7 basketball tournaments were postponed. Unfortunately, it meant that we had to cancel buses and work around student-led conferences, but in the end, all of our teams had great experiences.

The Grade 7 boys had a tough day, playing some tall teams and lost all their pool play games. However, their efforts were rewarded in the play-offs and they finished on a high note. The Grade 7 Girls had a good day as well, winning their 2 play-off games with huge point spreads and lots of scoring from many players. The girls finished 5th out of 8 teams (pictured).

The Grade 6 teams had the hardest time with the re-scheduled dates. Our girls opted to have an in-house play date and compete with each other for most shots made in a specific time period, fastest dribbler on a course and a full court game! Our 6 boys had some very helpful parents who volunteered to drive the team members on a non-school day and take them to Pacific Academy. The boys played hard and lost a nail-biter with MEI by one basket during pool play! Then they played a second MEI team in the play-offs to come in 4th overall out of 11 teams, respectable for sure!

Next up: Badminton for Grade 7 and 8, Boys Volleyball for Grade 8’s and after Spring break, Track and Field for all grades. We may even offer an after school mini-badminton tournament for the Grade 6’s.  Stay tuned!

Mrs. Kay Harbridge
Athletic Director

Book Fair

Thank you to everyone who came out to our Scholastic Book Fair, February 14-17. The students were very excited to purchase affordable, interesting books and other items, and the parents were thrilled to find gems in the Christian book section. Additionally, our teachers were delighted to receive over half of the books on the Teacher/Class Wish Lists, and were overwhelmed with the generosity of our RCS community.

We exceeded our sales goal of $2,000 and sold $2,200 worth of Scholastic product. As such, we were able to purchase new books for our school library as well as bless our community in donating numerous new books to underprivileged children through the Christian non-profit organization “More Than A Roof” located in Steveston. Additionally, we sold $755 of Christian product on behalf of Pilgrim Book and Bible.  Thank you for supporting one of the last remaining Christian book stores in the Vancouver area. Through Pilgrim book fair sales, we were able to purchase a new “God’s Justice Study Bible” as well as a new devotional for the Library.

Thanks for making this event a success!

Mrs. Jamie Osborne
Librarian

Gr. 7 Ski Days

Gr 7 students and staff made one final trip up to beautiful snow-covered Mt Seymour. Fresh snow blanketed the trees, and the soft powder proved to be irresistible for skiers and boarders.

Winter Recital Evening

The annual Middle Campus Winter Recital Evening featured student performances on Cello, Chinese Flute, Violins, Ukulele, Piano, as well as various vocal groups. Thank you to the students who participated in the wonderful evening of music and song: Angel, Piano Natalie, Cello Elisah, Reya, Clara Ukulele/vocals Annika and Linda, Piano/vocals Anson, Violin Marjorie, Elizabeth, Ukulele/vocals Eric, Chinese flutes Aviana, Olivia,  Guitar/vocals Megan, Cello Averyn, Jocelyn, Megan, Piano/violin/cello Violin group Yolanda, Maggie, Iris, Piano/vocals Mr. Darrell Reimer Music Teacher

Kindness Week and Pink Shirt Day

Kindness is “One Size Fits All.” From Monday February 20th to Friday February 24th our Middle Campus celebrated this important fruit of the Spirit. God’s word tells us to live out kindness in all circumstances so that we may inherit the kingdom of God. Throughout the week students were encouraged to spot random acts of kindness and fill out nominations for the classroom jar. Teachers then gathered the nominations and celebrated these kind acts by reading them aloud and rewarding individuals with some special treats. In the middle of the week, Wednesday February 22nd, was our nationally celebrated “Pink Shirt Day” to show solidarity toward Anti-Bullying. Students were again encouraged to demonstrate and be reminded of how their acts of kindness can outshine any hatred.

Mr. Colin Schmidt
Gr. 6 Teacher

A Delicious Afternoon at the Grade 8 Local Foods Exposition

Over the past three weeks, the Term 2 Foods Elective has been planning, testing and perfecting dishes to serve the teachers. This Thursday they were given the opportunity to execute and put all their planning and creativity to work! They had an hour and a half to complete their dishes. We managed to serve-up 17 different dishes to the teachers! What an accomplishment and a great way for students to learn more about the local foods available in BC!

Some highlights are salted caramel ice cream made from scratch, served with an Italian cookie known as a pizzella, mini berry fruit tarts, chicken made two ways, french macarons, jalapenos poppers, meringues with lemon curd, beef stroganoff, mini honey cupcakes and specialty made ‘Sam-iches’! The students had a blast with this challenge and I am so thankful to the teachers and parents who continue to support the Local Foods Exposition.

Ms. Julia Toteda
Foods 8 Teacher

Gr. 6 Snow Tubing

It was a beautiful day on the slopes! For this term’s Winter Exploratory, Grade 6 students spent a day at Cypress Mountain. Snow tubing was a new experience for many students, and there was a buzz of excitement as we got on the bus in the morning. At the slope, students could choose to tube in groups or go solo and race a friend. In the center of the hill there was a rope tow that would take tubes up to the top, however, many students chose to hike up the path instead which was a great source of daily physical activity (DPA)!

It was all smiles as we spun, slid and shot down the mountain. Eunice in 6L enjoyed the solo run so much that she ran over and said she was going “too fast to scream!” We ended our eventful day with an outdoor lunch among the sun and snow.

Mrs. Priscilla Lim
Gr. 6 Teacher

Cosmic Courtyard

The Grade 6 students have enjoyed learning about the vast and complex universe that God has created. After exploring some of the key components of our universe, and taking a visit to the Space Centre, students were challenged to come up with their own inquiry question about space. Students were able to choose an aspect of space that they were passionate about, and then present their inquiry findings to their peers in a Cosmic Courtyard display.

The Grade 6 students demonstrated creativity and a passion for what they were learning about, as they engaged their peers with newscasts, animations, 3D models, and games. Students were also able to reflect on what they learned about our Creator, as they learned about the universe He created!

Mrs. Chantelle Sharpe
Gr. 6 Teacher

Grade 8 Debates

Over the course of the past few weeks, students have been feverishly preparing to engage in their persuasive debates. The topics ranged from the merits of social media, to the efficacy of homework, and each student did their best to clearly communicate their viewpoints. This year, two spotlight debates from the upstairs and downstairs classes took place and served to demonstrate an example for others to follow. The participants of the spotlight debates did an excellent job and were exemplary in their performances. Well done, everyone!

Mr. Yik Wah Penner
Gr. 8 Teacher

Check – Mate!

Round 1 of the 2017 Chess Tournament saw some exciting action, as Gr 6 and 7 students battled for Middle School chess supremacy. Round 2 started Friday.  Who will be crowned Chess Champion 2017??

Mr. Reimer