A New Year

Hello Parents;

Welcome back. Our first week, as expected, was a busy one. Getting everything up and running, welcoming our new students and establishing routines was the priority of our first four days. It is exciting to be back and to see what God has in store for Brant Christian. We have a 125 students in our care this year and are looking forward to more growth as the year progresses.

We have a new teacher on staff, Miss Tung. She is in charge of our grade 5/6 class. Having taught for many years it is easy to forget how busy it is for a  first year teacher. Getting themselves established, finding out who the students are, what their likes and dislikes are and figuring out how to fit in are all added pressures which can make the start of the year even more hectic.

The changes to the school for this year are the new sidewalk connecting the portables to the school and the brightly painted doors in the elementary, junior high wing. Our choir got underway on Thursday with over 30 students coming out for the first practice. Our choir director, Tim Korthuis is actively making plans for numerous performances for them this year. Our high school volleyball girls and boys teams are well underway. The girls play their first tournament on September 15/16 in Black Diamond an the senior boys will play the following weekend in Black Diamond as well. Our junior high boys have their first practice this Monday from 4:00 - 5:00 with Mr. Doerksen coaching them and our junior high girls get underway on Tuesday with Scott Fisk acting as coach.

Please mark this Thursday, September 14 on your calendar. This will be our first parent/teacher night. It is designed to be a casual meeting where you can meet with your child's teacher and find out what the year is looking like in that class.The evening runs from 4:00 to 7:00 and teachers will be in their homeroom classes. Making appointments for this parent/teacher evening will not be necessary as conversations will be very general and open with several parents talking to a teacher at one time. We look forward to seeing you there.

This Friday is our all school field trip. We try to plan one trip at the beginning and the end of the year that allows all grade levels to participate in. We will be going to the corn maze located east of Calgary. The buses will do their normal run that day. We will be leaving from Brant Christian around 8:30 and plan to return to school by 3:30 so that students can catch their bus ride home.

We have 33 students making plans to go on a mission trip to Tijuana Mexico Jan. 31 - Feb. 7. They plan to build at least one house while there and to be involved in other areas of ministry. The cost of a house is $10,000. As part of their group fund raising, they are asking any Brant families who have work that needs to be done around your home to give the school a call. We will send out a work crew to your place in exchange for a donation that will go towards the purchase of the house in Mexico that they will be building.

Thank you for your support of Brant. Please continue pray for our school and for our society board has they continue to make decisions regarding the future direction of our school.

Kevin Bailey