Christian Education Week

By choosing Christian Education for our children, we are saying that teaching our children about God’s great love for man and His plan for our salvation is important to us.  We make sacrifices in our lives in order to be able to send our children to a Christian School, where what is taught in the classroom is a reinforcement of what is taught in our homes and churches.  For a few days in February, we will be celebrating the impact Christian Education has in our children’s lives.

This year’s Theme is “Building on the Rock”, based on Matthew 7:24 – ““Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who builds his house on a rock.”  I like how the CSI (Christian Schools International) website goes on to describe this years theme: 

“At the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus offers the hearers two choices – hear and obey or hear and ignore. He calls those wise who choose to hear and to live obediently. They are wise because their foundation is securely BUILT on the ROCK. God is our ROCK and fortress. His Word is our ROCK. His disciples will weather the storms of life because their foundation is the ROCK. During Christian Education Week affirm this truth from Jesus – those who hear Jesus and put them into practice are wise because their foundation is BUILT ON THE ROCK.”

During this week, our school takes the opportunity to celebrate those that have impacted the lives of our school community with three events:  Pastor’s Breakfast, Grandparents/Friends day, and Open House Dinner.

The First Event will be Tuesday, February 15 – the Pastor’s Breakfast.  For this event, the students are able to invite their pastors and clergy to visit our campus, visit the students, and see for themselves the school that some of their family’s children attend.  Breakfast is provided by the auxiliary and is usually a casual, sit down brunch type affair.  Volunteers are needed to plan and co-ordinate this event.

The Second Event planned is  Grandparents/Friends day, held Wednesday, February 16.  This event brings our children’s grandparents and/or grandfriends onto campus.  The auxiliary hosts a very casual continental breakfast type gathering – usually pastries, fruit, juice, coffee.  Volunteers are needed to co-ordinate this event as well  - planning, serving, and cleanup.

The final event for Christian Education Week is the Open House dinner.  Slated for Thursday evening, February 17, Open House is a great chance to get into the children’s classrooms to see what they’ve been up to.  It’s also a chance for families that are considering our school for their children’s education to come onto campus and see what we are all about.  It is a great night for food and fellowship with our families.  The dinner is always a lot of fun and yes, we do need volunteers to help plan, cook, serve, and clean up after this event.

Please prayerfully consider committing to head up and/or help with one of these events.  We have many years of experience on the auxiliary board to help guide you, give you ideas and support!  You (yes you!) are needed to help make these events a success!!!  If you have questions, DO NOT HESITATE to contact a board member – there are many ways to do so – e-mail the board, e-mail the individual members, call us on the telephone (we draw the line at Morse code messages).  I think you get my point – we want to hear from you!  We want to help you!  We need you to get involved!!!

Fresh and Easy

Have you heard about this fundraiser?  I thought it was too good to be true when I first heard about it!  Our school is participating in the “Fresh and Easy” Shop for Schools program.  There are two ways our school can earn money with this program.  First, make a shopping list and head on over to your local “Fresh and Easy” grocery store.  Any store will do, we’re not picky!  They have everything there that any other grocery store will have, only their prices are better!  Then, save your receipt and send it into school.  They can be dropped off in the office, or in your child’s classroom. Our school is collecting receipts through December 31st.  If you collect some while we are on Christmas break and the office is closed – just send them into school when we come back. 

Our school will receive 1$ for every receipt that is $20 or more.  That my friends could add up!!

The second way our school will earn money is with our scheduled Shop for Schools Shopping Night.  On Thursday, December 2nd, from 4-8pm our school will be the recipient of 5% of the total sales receipts collected by our volunteers at the Fresh and Easy store located at 40th street and Camelback.  We still need a few volunteers to man the table, and you don’t need to stay all 4 hours.  Get in contact with Rochelle Peltzer (see your school directory for her contact information) and let her know how you can help!

Invite everyone to come out to this store December 2nd between 4 and 8pm to do a little shopping!

 

Looking Forward

I guess you can say that it's been a while since I last updated this blog. Needless to say, our Banket meeting was kind of a bust, it actually was cancelled due to lack of interest. A bit depressing to say the least.

The new school year is literally right around the corner. Where did the summer go? Meet the Teacher night is August 16. We hope to see you all there! The auxiliary will have some information out for you, as well as opportunities to sign up to volunteer at various events throughout the year.

The first of which is the Fall Festival. Slated for the second Saturday of November this year, it is a major fundraising event for our school. It doesn't happen without committed volunteers, so start praying about where your family can serve! If you have questions regarding volunteer needs for the Fall Festival, or other upcoming opportunities, don't hesitate to drop us an e-mail! See you on the 16th!!

Yum, Yum, Yum!

So if you’ve been part of our school for a while, you’ve probably heard people talking about “Banket”.

No, not “Blanket”… “Banket” (Bahn-ket). 

You usually hear this term brought up around the Fall Festival.  You can find it in the bake shop and it usually sells out before you can say “Koffiebonen”.    What is it you ask?  Well Wikipedia defines it as “a sweet pastry that originated in Holland and is popular around the Christmas Season”.  What do I call it?  A  pastry explosion of sweet almondy deliciousness!  (All right, I know I used a few words there that may not technically be real words, but it’s that good).

Coming up in April, we all have a chance to learn how to make it! Our next auxiliary meeting is scheduled for Saturday, April 17 at Palm Lane Church.  Paula Wigboldy (an alumni parent) and our own Shirley Van Dalen will be attempting to turn us into pastry chefs in a morning.  While our Banket bakes, we’ll have a round table meeting where we can discuss the upcoming school year,  plan our activities, and get to know one another better!  So if you haven’t made it to any of the other meetings this year, you should come on out if you can!  We really need and value everyone’s input!

There is a sign-up sheet in the office.  Give them a call and ask them to sign you up!  Don’t forget your apron!

Buttery Goodness

Two posts in one day?  Shocking, I know.  I didn’t want this post to get buried in the excitement of the previous one and it deserves a spot all it’s own!  We (that means you) are selling Butterbraids again this spring!  Family, friends, coworkers and neighbors who supported us in the fall will be very excited to have a chance to order again!  Just in time for Easter, make sure that everyone orders enough to restock their freezer.  Can’t you just taste them now?  That wonderful, buttery crust… the mouth-watering filling… the tongue dazzling toppings????  I am craving one right now just thinking about it!  Perfect for a special breakfast treat, or scrumptious after dinner dessert.  Enjoy them with your family and friends (or by yourself, I won’t tell!)  Butterbraids come in 8 delicious varieties: Apple, Bavarian Cream, Blueberry Cream Cheese, Cherry, Cinnamon, Cream Cheese, Raspberry, and Strawberry Cream Cheese.

Look for order forms to come home THIS WEEK.  The fundraiser will run from February 25 until March 15.  The absolute deadline for returning your order forms is March 15 (you have been warned).  The orders will be delivered prior to spring break.  The auxiliary will send you periodic reminders to turn them in by March 15.  Funds raised go towards the Fall Festival budget for 2010.

Christian Education Week

What a fantastic time we all had last week!  It started off on Tuesday with Pastor’s Breakfast – there were 25 pastors from our families churches that came to visit our campus and see their kids.  What a wonderful turnout!  The pastors feasted on a wonderful breakfast hosted in the preschool room – Thank you Mrs. Den Bleyker for uprooting your class for the morning!  I’ll share pictures of this event when I get them. 

Wednesday our school hosted Grandparents/Grandfriends Day.  This was such a fun morning! I heard there were approximately 120 people who came out for this event!  I know we even had some grandparents travel from other states to visit their grandkids.  The kids put on a special program, just for our visitors, and again there was food.  A lot of our festivities seem to have that common theme, don’t they? 

Thursday evening we were treated to a delicious meal at the Open House!  Grilled chicken, red beans and rice, salad, apple corn bread -  yummy!  Makes me hungry just thinking about that apple corn bread.  I have been promised the recipe for it, so when I get it, you can bet I’ll post it!  It just a fantastic evening of food and fellowship.  I think we served close to 200 people that night, and had so much left over, we had enough to share with a local homeless kitchen the next day.  God is Good!  As Ms. VP said in the wildcat weekly, we also had 10 new families come to our open house festivities, just to find out more about our school! 

View Full Album

Thank you to everyone who helped to make these events a success!!!  When I get more pictures added from the other events, I’ll let you know!

Choices

We had a great turn out to our meeting last week! Thank you to everyone who came out to support the auxiliary and the school. If you weren't able to make it, that's okay! As soon as the minutes are typed up, I'll post a link to read them here on the blog.

We have been blessed by some volunteers that have stepped forward to help with the activities for Christian Education Week, BUT (you knew it was coming), WE STILL NEED MORE HELPERS!! If you read your Wildcat Weekly today you know where the needs are. There are many "CHOICES" (see the nice tie-in with the title of this post and the theme for Christian Education Week? I know, I'm far too clever for my own good!)

The Pastor's Breakfast (Tues. Feb 16) still needs some volunteers to help with setting up and cleaning up. There is a chairperson, so all we need are the many hands that make it work.

Grandparents/Friends day (Wed. Feb 17) has even more needs! We are searching for a chairperson AND volunteers to make it happen. If you are able to help in the AM, I know that our students and their special visitors would greatly appreciate it!

The Open House Dinner (Thurs. Feb 18) seems to be fairing a bit better in the volunteer department. We have someone who is willing to cook the dinner (a scrumptious feast awaits us, I assure you, having tasted this person's food before!) We are still searching for someone to take care of drinks, and a volunteer to take care of dessert. There are also opportunites for set up, clean up and serving.

If you are able to help in any capacity, please contact the school office, e-mail the auxiliary, or call one of us!! If you have any questions about these opportunities before you commit to helping, PLEASE do not hesitate to contact us!!! We need you and your PCS School Spirit!!!!!

Coming soon - more information on the "FUN"raiser in March - get those chili and baking recipes ready!!!!!

Christian Education Week

Our auxiliary meeting is right around the corner!  Next week Tuesday, January 19, 7pm in the School Library.  We have some really important events coming up – so I thought I’d give you a heads up so that you can starting thinking about where you might  be able to serve!

The biggest item on the agenda is Christian Education Week.  The auxiliary is looking for volunteers to head up/serve at three events that week.  The first is the Pastor’s Breakfast.  A wonderful opportunity for student’s pastors to come onto campus and see the children!  The auxiliary provides a breakfast for the pastors as a way to say “Welcome!  We are so glad you are here!”  Servers and a person to head this up are needed.

The second event is Grandparents/Grandfriends welcome refreshments.  A bit lower key that the pastor’s breakfast, this event also needs someone to head the committee and servers.

The third and biggest event – don’t be scared -  is the Open House Dinner.  This event requires several people to help cook, others to serve, and more to clean up.  A chairman is needed to head this committee and decide the menu.

If you are able to serve on any of these committees, please don’t hesitate to contact us before the meeting!

There are other topics on the agenda, but I don’t want to give it all away!  I hope to see you there on Tuesday night!

The Best Laid Plans

Okay, so I know that I mentioned our next meeting in the post below. I now have to inform you that it's all been changed. It seems that neither our president nor our vice-president can make the meeting on the 11th! Our next meeting is now scheduled for Tuesday January 19th, 7pm, in the library at school. Hope to see you there!

Back to School

Can you believe that it’s time for the kids to go back to school tomorrow?  The Christmas Break just FLEW by for our family.  Maybe it crawled along at a snails pace for yours.  Either way, tomorrow it ends.  Once again, parents all over the city will be rousing sleeping children from their beds and getting them ready for school.  Lunches will be made and backpacks packed.  Homework will need to be done, and tests studied for. 

This new year also brings more, new volunteer opportunities for families and friends of Phoenix Christian School K-8.  The first, is our auxiliary meeting coming up on January 11.  We will be meeting at school, in the library at 7pm.  Come on out and join in the discussions of upcoming auxiliary events – namely our participation in Christian Education Week in the spring.  Can’t make it to the meeting?  Don’t worry!  If you’re not there, we’ll just sign you up for something.  I kid, I kid.  Seriously though, through the wonders of modern technology, we’ll post the minutes of the meetings here on the blog.  You’ll be able to click a link to read them!  Isn’t that cool?  I thought it was.