Welcome to Mrs. Guse's Blog!

^{BMV 6-8:  Romans 3:10-12, 23                                    Due: May 3rd, 2012}

¹⁰As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

¹¹There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

¹²They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

²³For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Now that the rain is easing and we are finally coming out of “hibernation”, it’s time to start thinking about Spring. It is going to be a busy final few months, so here are some things to look forward to:

1. CCS Multicultural Night Fundraiser – Friday, April 27th from 6:30 to 8:30

This is your chance to come out and celebrate all of the cultures that exist within our school body and beyond! Be prepared to sample appetizers and desserts from the major continents, be entertained by our student body, and have a chance to bid on our silent auction items. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the school office. Don’t forget to wear an ethnic costume yourself if you can! This year the money raised will be put towards some new, updated computers for our school. We could still use some more volunteers to bring food for that night-please contact the office ASAP if you are able to help. We hope to see you all there!

2. Grade 8 Grad

It’s time to start thinking about it! The ceremony will be on June 20th at 7:00 pm in the Regency Room for invited guests only. More info will be sent to parents in May regarding dress code, numbers of guest for each family, and signing up to help.

Grad shirt orders will be sent off this week and hopefully the shirts will arrive by the beginning of June.

3. Grade 8 Victoria trip

In June I will be taking the grade 8′s to Victoria as a way to wrap up our year together. The date still needs to be confirmed, but I will be getting that out to parents as soon as possible. To keep our costs down, we will be holding a couple of small, in-school fundraisers (such as ice cream sales). The plan is to visit the Parliament Buildings as well as the Royal BC Museum, and then go for dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory before making our way home. We are all really looking forward to this!

More info will be coming our soon about our May events (CAT testing, Pancake Breakfast, Sports Banquet and Sports Day) Stay tuned!

Once again we are having our annual Lock-in (we teachers are completely crazy to do this but I guess with Spring Break around the corner we can manage!!) It is an event with activities designed for grades 5-8, but please take note that there are staggered times for each grade:

6:45 pm   Students arrive at school and enter the gym through the main glass doors

 7:00-8:00ish  “Clue” – Cornerstone-Style!

 8:00-9:00       Games/pizza

   9:15  Grade 5 students to be picked up by parents

  9:30-11:30    Grade 6-8 students go bowling at Galaxy Bowl

  12:00 am    Grade 6 students to be picked up by parents at the school.

 12:00-1:00   Free time  

  1:00-6:00      Games and movies

  6:00-7:00       Breakfast and cleanup

7:00 am    Grade 7-8 students to be picked up promptly by parents    (teachers will be very tired!)

The charge for the evening is $5.00 for grade 5 students, $13.00 for grade 6 students and $18.00 for grade 7-8 students.  All money and permission forms are to be turned into the office no later than Tuesday, February 21 so that all food can be ordered and activities fully organized.

Grade 7-8 students may bring sleeping bags and pillows if they wish. Cameras are welcome but no other electronic devices such as DVD players, iPods, etc. are allowed.

We hope you can come!

1st Place Winners

Just a quick thank you to all of you students who worked so hard to make this year’s History Fair such a success! It was great to see so many costumes and the poster boards looked great. While everyone deserves a pat on the back for their hard work, there were a few students whose projects stood out and scored very well based on the criteria for this event:

Honorable Mentions: Kaed – History of Rockets; Amy – Apollo 13; Noah – Weapons of WWII

1st place: Amanda (History of Soccer) and Alyssa (Richard I)

2nd place: Declan (Wayne Gretzky)

                                                            3rd place: Kirsten (History of Horse Racing)

3rd Place Winner

2nd Place Winner

As ususal, things are hopping around Cornerstone and right now the grades 5-8 students are gearing up for our History Fair on January 27th (1:30-2:45 in the gym)! The grade 5′s are almost finished their explorer books and the grade 6-8′s are feverishly working (I hope!) on their poster board presentations. All poster boards are to be handed in by Friday, January 20th.  Students will then have the opportunity to practice presenting their information in class the week of the 27th in preparation for the Fair. They may also dress up as a historical figure for that day. I am very excited and can’t wait to see all of the presentations; we will have everything from the History of Ballet to the History of Tim Hortons to Richard the Lionhearted.  Please come and check it out if you are able!

January 23-January 27 is also our WOW Week, with every day having a different dress-up theme:

Monday – Fake an Injury Day (please, remember that this is FAKE an Injury Day)

Tuesday- Pajama Day

Wednesday – Ugly Shirt Day

Thursday – Grandparents Day (dress up as your grandmother or grandfather)

Friday – History Day (dress up as an historical figure)

You can start working on your costumes now! Warning- some of the pictures from that week just might end up in our yearbook!

Somehow it seems as if September just started, and now we are already looking forward to the Christmas break! December has been a busy, but fun month. Our Christmas program was a great success…thank you to all of the staff and students who worked so hard to make Back to the Manger a blessing to all those who were able to come! I still have the songs running through my head!

Just a few things before we finish this week:

1. Miss Pacleb and I will be taking the grade 8′s out for breakfast Wednesday morning, so students please meet here at the school at 8:00. It will be worth getting up a few minutes earlier – I promise!

2. On Friday, the grade 6-8 classes will be having a combined Christmas party from 8:45 to 10:15. Students will be signing up to bring snacks, beverages and/or games. We will also be having an all-school carol sing from 10:40 to 12:00 in the Regency Room. Parents, you are welcome to attend! Dismissal will be at 12:00.

3. History Fair: Grade 6-8 students should be finished researching their topics by now. I will be conferencing with each student this week to ensure that their research is complete. If is isn’t, they will have to spend some more time on it over the holidays. When we resume school in Janauary, they will need to write their research into organized paragraphs and categories and begin putting their poster boards together. Poster boards are due on January 20th, with class presentations taking place the following week. The Fair itself  will take place on Friday, January 27th.

Have a blessed Christmas, filled with lots of rest, relaxation and fun with family and friends. May God bless you richly in the New Year!

On Friday, October 25, the grade 8 class went to Camp Luther to bless them by raking leaves and cleaning up the grounds. We had a blast…even though the skies opened up and we got rather wet in the afternoon. Who knew that trees could produce so many leaves? It made it interesting when the wind also kicked up and more leaves fell where we had just raked! Nevertheless, with the help of a leaf blower and several rakes, we got the job finished and we hope to be able to go back again soon.

History Fair: Grades 5-8 students are now beginning to think about our History Fair in January. Grades 6-8 are researching a topic of their choice which they will present in poster form. All of the details and deadlines are posted under the History Fair page at the top of my blog. Grade 5 students are working on a book of explorers under my direction, and will be doing most of the work in class. It will be a fun day in which we can all dress up as a historical figure and share the interesting information that the students have discovered about their topics! Stay tuned for more details.

September has seen a great start to the year, and if the first three weeks are any indication, it won’t be a boring one! Because of increases in our school poplulation, we have had to adjust some classes, which means that there have been some changes to the Grade 8 schedule. I have posted the new schedule as a new page for you to check if you need to, and new copies have been given to the grade 8′s as well.

Our Grade 6-8 retreat at Manning Park was great and we enjoyed lots of group time, hiking, swimming, and we even attempted canoeing on Lightning Lake (although with the wind it was more like sailing!) The weather cleared up nicely and we even managed to have a campfire Thursday night!

Our cross country team is off to a great start this year, already completing the first Grand Prix race at Clearbrook Park last Wednesday. We have four races left in the season and I know that as each week paces the team’s times will continue to get faster. Remember that we are out there rain or shine so don’t forget appropriate clothing and a water bottle! You can find the results of each Grand Prix race at www.valleyroyals.org/lafargegrandprix.htm. We would love for you to come out and cheer for us!

Don’t forget that this Friday our school will be doing the Terry Fox Run from 1:00-3:00. We are collecting “Toonies for Terry” this year, so the students are encouraged to bring a toonie from home which will go to the Canadian Cancer Society.

Wow! Another school year is beginning already! I hope that everyone had a fun and refreshing summer. I myself had a rather quiet summer (not that I minded), but I did manage to get up to Penticton for a week to enjoy a bit of summer before it actually arrived on the Lower Mainland! Some time at Harrison Lake and  Brittania Beach, and lots  and lots of reading, rounded out my summer. I am excited to be teaching your child this year and I know that this year is going to be a great one!

I will be teaching a variety of subjects this year: Grade 6-8 Language Arts, Grade 7-8 Math, Grade 4-8 Socials, Grade 6-8 French, Grade 5-8 Home Ec., and Grade 6-8 HCE. I will also be the Grade 8 homeroom teacher. My prayer requests for this year are for good health and lots and lots of energy!

To my new Grade 8 students and parents, here are some things you should know about this year:

1. Leadership and example: You are now the “top of the heap” and with great status and privilege comes great responsibility! Just remember that many eyes will be looking up to you in our school, and you have a great opportunity and responsibility to set a good example with your attitudes, actions and words in all areas of our school life.

2. Organization: Expect an increased work load this year as we prepare you for high school. The best way to handle this is to stay organized. Although I don’t require planner signatures in Grade 8, we do give you a planner for a reason so PLEASE USE IT!  It is important that you hand in assignments on time and study well in advance for tests and quizzes. Doing this will help you to have an awesome and successful year!

3. Final Exams: Grade 8′s will be required to write final exams in June for Language Arts, Math, Socials and Science. Don’t panic-we will make sure that you are ready when the time comes!

4. Fun Stuff: Look forward to our annual Lock-In, field trip to Victoria, mentor breakfasts and, of course, our graduation in June! I will give you more details on these when the time comes.

I am usually at the school until 4:30 every day, so please do not hesitate to drop by if you have any questions or concerns about homework, events, tests, etc. I am looking forward to getting to know you all even better this year!