Amanda and Maddie posed this question at grade 7/8′s first ever “Math Fair” on January 25^th. Guests visiting their exhibit heard a little story about the six frogs and were invited to solve the puzzle on a handmade game board complete with lily pads and movable frogs. Grades 4 to 7 toured the Math Fair a class at a time, poring over puzzles, mazes and conundrums like Amanda and Maddie’s, solving some and remaining stumped by others. Exhibits offered challenges which included: a three-headed dragon to slay in a series of complicated steps, matchstick pictures to morph by moving one matchstick, mazes requiring several checkpoint crossings, and counterfeit coins to identify by weighing.  It was a fun and engaging morning interrupted only by prize draws at the end of each class’ visit–solving two puzzles earned a ballot for the draw! It was clever of us to include the prizes as they helped to pull the students (and Mr. Kooy) away from the exhibits and towards the exit line up before the next class showed up!

One of my favourite things about being an LHCS teacher is the occasional opportunity to invite younger classes upstairs to learn with the seniors (a.k.a. “the big kids”). Each year my class hosts a project fair and everyone involved enjoys the co-operative learning and cross-grade interaction that go with it. Preparations for our Math Fair began right after Christmas with students selecting logic puzzles to present. Each project began with a little story to introduce the topic and puzzling situation to solve. Students worked alone or in pairs to develop their narratives and manipulative activities, always keeping their young guests in mind. They developed puzzle solutions ahead of time and memorized them so that they would not have to include any “spoilers” in their displays. It was a pleasure to watch my students graciously welcome the younger classes and challenge each visitor at his/her level of ability, to understand the challenge and to work together towards solving the problems. The senior students discovered quickly that the Math Fair wasn’t just about mathematics; it was about storytelling, mentoring, entertaining and celebrating when a problem is solved.

I may hold a Math Fair next year in grade 7/8, with some new puzzles by a new group of mathematician storytellers. You will all be invited; stay tuned!

Congratulations go to Abby (251 points)., Ruby (219 points) and Brandon (184 points) who came in 1^st 2^nd and 3^rd overall with two wins each and the most overall points.  Most improved player honours went to Sarah. whose score jumped from 17 in her first game to 88 in her third game!

Scrabble Champions from left to right: Abby, Brandon, Ruby

Not even 45 minutes into our trip, traffic slowed down to a mere crawl and then a complete stop.  We quickly came to the conclusion that there was likely an accident, and it appeared to only be half a dozen cars or so in front of us.  Traffic was completely stopped. My van full of Gr. 7/8 girls discussed the strong possibility that someone just a short distance from us was likely very hurt.  They decided that this person/persons needed to be prayed for.  With no adult intervention, the girls held hands in the van and each one took a turn praying for the accident victims, for their families, for the people who were on the scene helping them, and for the doctors/nurses that would help them at the hospital.

We continued to wait, the air-ambulance arrived, landed on the highway, and a while later took off again with its passenger secured.  Again the girls broke into a prayer, praying once again for the victim/victims and all involved.  One of the lanes finally opened up and we were allowed to pass by the accident site and continue on our way to Bowmanville.  When we arrived at the meeting place, only two other vehicles had arrived we discovered that Barry H. (dad and coach of the boy’s team) had been one of the first on the scene of the accident, administering first aid to the single victim of the accident.  The thought that the girls were praying for Mr. H. as he helped the victim, without knowing it was Mr. H. they were praying for, still gives me goosebumps.

Not once did the girls complain about the length of time we were stuck waiting on the highway, nor that they would likely miss the first part of the tournament. Instead their empathy and faith moved them to pray.  What they exhibited was exactly our prayer for all our students.

I just thought I’d share their story, as my pride in them is still bursting.  Most of the girls were on a team which didn’t win any games, but as far as I’m concerned they won big with their faithful gesture in the middle of Hwy 401, last Friday afternoon.

Krista (LHCS parent)

Fellow Students, teachers, family and friends.  I’d like to thank you all for coming here to help celebrate the accomplishments of the LHCS class of 2011.  We have all had a great experience at LHCS and there are many important things that we have learned.

When many of us began our adventure at LHCS, we were just five years old.  We were the youngest and smallest kids in the school, but that didn’t stop us from learning!  Today we are a lot bigger, a lot more athletic and a lot wiser than we were nine years ago.  Some might also say that we are a lot more trouble.  We are ready to take on high school armed with the lessons we learned at LHCS.

One lesson we learned is about our relationship with God.  As kindergarteners we were always taught Bible stories and lessons.  Now Bible class is no longer just about stories, but about developing a personal faith relationship with Jesus Christ.  This transition is very important for all Christians.  After all these years, we realize that God is with us no matter what.  Even when we sin, God is still there ready to forgive us.  What I have realized during my time at LHCS is that our relationship with God is a great blessing but also a great responsibility in that God expects something back from us.  Although nobody is perfect, God still wants us to try to do our best.  We are called to worship him and devote time to him daily.  God also wants us to love our neighbour.  In Matthew 25 Jesus says ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Our neighbour is anyone who needs a helping hand.  Maybe that is somebody from your church, your street or a friend.

Another lesson we have all learned is about friendship.  Being a friend isn’t easy.  Relationships require constant attention in order to remain strong.  Even a small argument, for example, can end a friendship if left unresolved.  We’ve learned, however, that the pros of having a friend heavily outweigh the cons.  Also, many friends come and go.  Not all your friends are going to live close to you forever.  But with email and social networking friends can keep in touch and support each other even if they move away.  Perhaps the biggest thing we learned is that friends change.  Most have us have had many different friends over our time at LHCS.  As we change and grow, so do our friends.

Everyone has something they are good at.  God gave us all unique gifts and talents and he wants us to share them.  That’s another lesson we learned at LHCS.  Finding our gifts isn’t always easy.  A lot of time and energy must be devoted to truly discover and develop our own unique gifts.  Wishing to have somebody else’s gifts won’t get you anywhere.  We each have our own gifts and God expects us to use them.  Sometimes taking a risk is required in order to discover new gifts.  The important thing is that we use everything God gave us to the best of our abilities.

At LHCS we were encouraged year after year to share our gifts.  Whether it was a school play, a concert, a sports team, a math test, or even the fine arts festival, our gifts were nurtured and celebrated at LHCS.  Gifts are wasted if we do not use them.  A woman named Erma Bombeck once said, “When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, ‘I used everything you gave me’.”  This is something that I hope everybody here will remember.  Imagine what each we could accomplish if we devote everything God gave us to what we do each day.  The possibilities are endless.

I encourage you all to plan for the future.  You never know what will await you as you continue your journey through life.  But never forget that God has a plan for you.  He watches over you and cares for you.  Remember the things you were taught at LHCS and put them into practice.  Thank you to all the teachers and parents for teaching us these valuable lessons.  Remember to always keep a healthy relationship with Jesus, be a good friend and keep sharing your gifts.  Even though it may be hard at times it is definitely worth it.  Congratulations on graduating from Grade 8 at LHCS.  I wish you all God’s blessing wherever life may take you.  Thank you.      by Nathan W.

The Program Coordinator, Mr. Jeremy Burke, gave the students a brief tour and history of the centre.  After this, student had the opportunity to interview some community members who were born outside of Canada.  Questions the students had prepared in advance included the following:

• How long have you lived in Canada?
• What was school like in your homeland?
• Which languages do you speak?
• Which holidays do you celebrate?  Please tell me about them.
• l  What was the hardest thing about coming to a new country?
• l  What do you miss most from your home country?

On the way to the community centre, some of the students were nervous about conducting an interview with someone they had not met before, but they quickly felt at ease.  One of the goals of this exercise was for students to overcome their feelings of being “uncomfortable” so that they can gain the rich experience of meeting someone of a different cultural background who also calls Canada home.  In a culturally diverse city like Kitchener-Waterloo, getting to know our cross-cultural neighbours enables us to reflect the love of Jesus Christ.

author Eric Walters

In these books, young characters encounter such events as the bombings of 9/11 (We All Fall Down), the Rwandan genocide (Shattered) , the 2004 tsunami (Wave) and the Haitian earthquake (Shaken). He referred to his non-fiction book Tell Me Why, which shows examples of adults and children who are making a difference in the world and what is motivating them.

When he spoke to the grade 3-5 students, Walters showcased his sports-related novels as well as historical fiction set in the Arctic (The Pole and Trapped in Ice).  Students responded to the humourous segments in the presentations as well as to the array of slides that illustrated the talks.  Mr. Walters  shared plans to research his 75^th book by attempting to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro this June.  As a gift, we presented him with a book entitled Aftershock, a Christian man’s response to the Haiti earthquake.

• Opportunity to learn a woodwind, brass or percussion instrument
• Exposure to a broad range of music
• Develop musical understandings i.e. notation, rhythm, dynamics…
• Perform in front of a live audience
• Praise our Lord and Saviour

At LHCS we provide Christ centered education to the whole child, which includes developing gifts and talents in the arts. The arts reflect in a special way the delight and creativity that God desires his human creatures to both experience and offer in worship. Recognizing that music is a created gift, students in our instrumental music program are taught to perform, compose, listen, and knowledgeably appreciate various types of music in order to develop their task of being responsive disciples of Christ.



Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Our theme for this year comes from this passage in Galations, right after the well-known passage about the fruit of the Spirit. Through this theme we hope to help our students see the fruit of the Spirit in their lives and in the lives of others. In our classrooms and in our whole school assembly we develop and build on different aspects of this theme.

When we look at Galatians 5:25 from the Message version of the Bible it casts a new light on this passage:

Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives.

That last sentence “…but work out its implications in every detail of our lives” is exactly what we do each day at LHCS, work out the implications of God’s sovereignty over our lives and over all of creation!