Mid-Quarter Messages
At ECA, our vision is that school families Love God, Value Learning, and Serve Others.
Time for a checkup?
October 9, 2022
Hello ECA families,
My sister was born in 1959 in Cottage Grove. Different medical care and different times meant her premature birth was a difficulty for the hospital. She only lived three days before she passed away. Recently, as I was looking through various documents my parents saved, I came across the doctor’s bill for the hospital visit. The bill was handwritten on a 4x6 piece of paper and total charges for care came to $25.
Go forward some 60+ years and that same $25 dollars might pay the copay after the full deductible has been paid for the year. Times certainly have changed. My primary care physician has recently retired and I have a new family physician. Getting in to see him for an orientation annual checkup is a difficult thing to schedule as he is very busy. Again, things certainly have changed. One thing that hasn’t changed though is the need to keep current with yearly checkups as you get older. The same can be said for school and keeping up with how students are doing at school in their classes. Our first quarter will be ending in three weeks. With that in mind, there are a few things to consider as we move through the final weeks of the quarter and prepare for P/T conferences.
“For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” - Proverbs 2:6
MAP Test Makeups This Week & Upcoming P/T Conferences
Our MAP testing last week went well. We will be sharing results of the three subject areas at our P/T conferences in early November. The P/T conferences will happen on Thursday, November 3 in the afternoon and evening, and then the following Friday morning and early afternoon. Later in the month you will be able to call the front office to schedule a 20 minute conference time with teachers.
There are still a few students who are making up MAP tests or finishing a test this week. If your child will be finishing a test, they will be doing that midday. We should have all tests finished and made up by Tuesday.
Connecting With Teachers
As a school staff, we are excited to help your child succeed. If you have questions about how your child is doing in their classes, or need ideas to help them with their studies, please reach out to your homeroom teacher. Our hope is that together we can help students develop work and study habits that help them maximize their time at school and minimize the need for large amounts of homework.
Hot Lunch Tomorrow, Monday, October 10
Many of you had hot lunch last Friday on our monthly 1/2 day Friday. The 8th grade class is starting a fundraiser to help them with their 8th grade class trip expenses by providing a hot lunch on Mondays. Tomorrow will be Haystacks. There is a $5 fee for the lunch. Many of you responded to last week’s Remind notice and have already called the office to plan for tomorrow’s meal. If you were unable to call the office and would still like your child to have hot lunch, please send $5 with your child tomorrow and have them give it to their homeroom teacher. Future Monday hot lunch menus will be going home soon so you can plan.
Writing Our Stories During Week of Prayer
We enjoyed inviting Mr. J. to our school to share how God is excited to help us write our stories as we learn to walk with God. Last week, each day we were able to hear two stories about how God helped people write a new chapter in their lives. One story was from the many miracles Mr. J. saw in his time as a missionary with FARM STEW. The other story, a Bible story, showed how God’s miracles are timeless. We are excited to welcome Mr. J. to our staff in 2023 as our after-school AG program teacher. Stay tuned for more information. In the meantime, if you would like to read more about FARM STEW, you can check out the organization’s mission at their website: https://www.farmstew.org/
Students in grades K-4 also enjoyed going to the pumpkin patch on Friday. Those students who stayed behind worked with Mr. J. on creating labels for water bottles. These labels were colored by students and were attached to bottles of water that the school will be working with churches to pass out to homeless and needy in the community. The colored message and pictures brings encouragement that “whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:14.
After-School Tutor Position Still Available
ECA is looking to fill a position for an after-school tutor/helper with our after-school program. This position would be from 3:00 - 5:00 M-Th. As a part-time worker for the school, you would be compensated with an hourly pay. You would work with our CORE Full-Time teachers to help students in reading, math, and writing. You could also help out with after-school programs. If this sounds like an adventure you would like more information about, please call the office or send an email to principal@emeraldchristianacademy.com.
Volleyball Mini-Camp for ECA students in Grades 7-8
In two weeks, on October 20 & 21, ECA will be pairing up with a sister school, Roseburg Christian Academy, to have a Thursday evening and Friday morning of volleyball skills and team playing. Roseburg Jr. Academy will be coming up Thursday evening, staying the night, and then joining ECA students the following morning for more skills and team competitions. Because both of our schools have small numbers of middle school students, we are creating this opportunity to build two larger teams to have a Thursday night evening matchup followed by a Friday morning matchup. The two teams would be mixed between students from both schools. There is no cost for this. We will be sending home a letter to parents of students in grades 7-8 to sign up so we can plan. If transportation on Friday morning is a concern, there is a possibility that I can do a bus pickup at two centralized stops (one in Springfield and one in Eugene).
If this turns out to be a popular event, we are looking at holding a basketball Mini-Camp during winter quarter. Roseburg Christian Academy and Emerald Christian Academy are excited to work together to offer more opportunities for our middle school students.
Child Safety & Child Abuse
As a staff, we are trained yearly on child safety and abuse. There are several resources you have as families that can help you stay in the know too. Here is a list of several resources:
ECA & Friendzy
ECA offers a program for students called Friendzy. It is a weekly 30 minute class that focuses on several things throughout the year. Our first theme of the year is “Better Together!” Look for more ways you can support this program with at-home activities and ideas. Check out each newsletter at the beginning of each month to find out the new theme and ideas.
Share Your School Spirit in Your Community
Last year, ECA had several lawn signs created and passed them out to families. We are proud of our students and school community. We hope you are too. If you are interested in a free yard sign to share your child’s school in your community, please stop by the office and ask for a yard sign. They will be available until all extra signs have been passed out.
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
Friday, October 14 - No school - Teacher In-service
Thursday & Friday, October 20-21 - Evening & morning Volleyball Mini-camp with Roseburg Christian Academy
Thursday, October 27 - 1st Quarter Ends
"How much better to get wisdom than gold, to get insight rather than silver!” - Proverbs 16:16