Showing Our School Spirit
At ECA, our vision is that school families Love God, Value Learning, and Serve Others.
How do you show your Christmas Spirit?
At ECA, we have a mission that students and families love God, value learning, and serve others. We are excited to support Jasper Safe Center again this year by purchasing gifts for their students. Christmas is a wonderful time to remember it is better to give than to receive. Matthew 25 tells us about the importance of service for others:
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Picture Retake Day - Tomorrow, Monday, December 9
If you would like to have your child have picture retakes, it will be happening tomorrow, Monday, December 9. Last week’s date was rescheduled for tomorrow. Just have your child bring back their picture packet and the photo studio will take care of the rest.
ASB Spirit Week is this Week
ECA is excited about our upcoming ECA Spirit Week. Our ASB officers have been planning a fun week that will end with ECA’s annual trip to Target to purchase presents for children at Jasper Mountain Safe Center thisFriday. We will be traveling by school bus following chapel and shopping in big brother/sister groups. Our school has been providing gifts for all of the children at this live-in facility for 15+ years. We are excited to carry on this tradition of giving this year. Below, you will see a flyer explaining more. During our spirit week, we will be having a fundraiser to raise money to purchase the gifts for the children. If everyone can help out a little, our drive will be a success. Each day of the week will have a theme. Here is the daily themes for this week!
Fundraiser for this week’s Target Trip to support Jasper Safe Center
Below you will see an overview of how we will be raising funds for our Target Trip. Jasper Safe Center has 12 students that we will be purchasing Christmas presents for. The children at Jasper Safe Center live at the school and vary in age from 7 into early teens. Our big brother and sister groups will shop for these children this Friday following chapel. Our hope is to raise funds for these gifts for the twelve children this week in a fun class competition. As you can see, there are ways to help your class, and there are ways to “sabotage” another class. At the end of the week, the class that has the highest “positive balance” will have an ice-cream party.
What is a proficiency scale?
Proficiency scales are a way that students can take ownership of their learning. Students who reach level three show mastery of learning goals. At ECA, teachers are learning to work with proficiency scales for grade-level standards. Each learning goal has levels with content. As you can see below, when a child is just learning a concept and needs a lot of help to explain and understand it, they are just starting the path to mastery. As they move up, the learn more, show mastery, and continue their progress. Instead of a student just completing assignments to get an “A” students can take ownership for their learning and truly understand why things are important to learn.
ECA FREE Holiday Gift Program for our Students (Again this year!)
Many of you have already helped with this program by dropping of “already loved, but ready for someone new” gifts at our school office. Again, one of our alumni high school students is operating a holiday gift “store” for her community service project again this year. The neat thing - the store is FREE to all students at ECA. What’s the catch? This is where we need your help parents. If you have items in your closets, under your bed, in the attic, etc. that have been loved but are ready for a new home, you have the opportunity to bring these items to the school office where they will be organized in our “holiday store” for our ECA students. Students will be able to come to the store before vacation begins, select a gift for parents, grandparents, or siblings and the gifts will be wrapped at school, ready to be taken home, and saved for Christmas morning. If every family is able to contribute a few items that are taking up space and ready for a new home, this will be an exciting program for everyone. If you have any wrapping paper you would like to donate, that is appreciated too.
Remember, the purpose of this program is to regift an item that your household no longer needs or wants. The gifts that children pick out are for their siblings and parents. There will be a donation box in the school office. Donations can be dropped off there. If each child in our school picks 2-3 gifts, then we are in need of 2-3 donations per child. This program will happen on Wednesday, December 18.
ECA Christmas Program - Tuesday, December 17
ECA will be having our annual Christmas program on Tuesday, December 17. Our Christmas program will be at the the Pleasant Hill SDA Church, across the street from the school campus. The program will begin at 7:00. Students should plan to arrive by 6:30. Here are some things to take note of:
Where do students go? Students in grades K-4 will go down the left hallway upon entering the church and meet in the youth room. Students in grades 5-8 will go down the right hallway and meet in the Teen room. Teachers will be there to help them as they line up for their entrance.
Where do parents go? Parents can go straight into the main sanctuary.
How long will the program last? The program tends to be between 60 and 90 minutes.
What happens after the program is over? Home and school works together to provide drinks and cookies after the program.
Will there be school after the program is over during the rest of the week? Yes, even though our school program will be on Tuesday night, there will be school on Wednesday and Thursday, December 18 - 19.
AG Program - Monday’s Science Class
Our Monday AG classes will continue at the end of the month. Students will be outdoors doing a variety of things with Mr. Wyatt Johnson. Throughout the year, there may be a few rainy days. Boots and gloves are great things for working outdoors on Monday Science Days. Water bottles are great things to have outside too. Here is a schedule of the days and classes:
Monday, December 9 - Grades K,1 &2
Monday, December 16 - Grades 7&8
Hot lunch happens every Monday and Wednesday. Additionally, whenever we have a 1/2 Friday, hot lunch will be offered by our Home & School. You can click on the link below to order hot lunch for the week for your child. If you have more than one child, please click the link more than once and turn in one week’s submission for each child. There is a payment option that is included in the form.
Christian Counseling Available - Free Resources:
The NAD (North American Division of SDA) has recently shared new resources for children and teens that offer a safe and anonymous place to talk or text. Here is a news release from the NAD.
We’re excited to announce the launch of www.aruggedjourney.org our newest NAD site providing free online mentoring for guys. A Rugged Journey joins www.gorgeous2god.org (for young women) which has grown in its scope and ministry since its beginning in 2017.
These sites, along with their counterparts on social media, provide free help to our teens/young adults in a space they can ask questions without judgment or fear. The questions are answered by a team of dedicated Seventh-day Adventists at AIM on the campus of Andrews University.
In addition to the confidential Q & A, positive content is provided through videos, posts, etc.
www.gorgeous2god.org/ FB: gorgeous2god/ IG: @gorgeous2god
www.aruggedjourney.org/ FB: aruggedjourney/ IG: @aruggedjourney
Announcements & Upcoming Events
Monday, Dec. 9 - Picture Retake Day
Monday, Dec. 9 - 13 - Spirit Week
Friday, Dec. 13 - 1/2 Day Friday & ECA’s annual Target Trip
Tuesday, Dec. 17 - ECA Christmas Program
Thursday, Dec. 19 - last day of school before Christmas vacation begins
Monday, January 6 - school resumes