We are nearly at the end of the calendar year once again. The momentum for our capital campaign has been amazing! Thank you for all those who have helped to make this building program a reality. Imagine, Give, Believe that we can do this! Just before the break, we had a total of 520,00 dollars in cash toward our project. We're nearly there! When we reach 600,000 dollars, our matching grant from the Jim Pattison Foundation means that we will have a total of 2.9 million dollars in cash for this project.
Have a wonderful Christmas. See you in the New Year with hopefully an even better total toward our goal.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Creative Solutions - Newsletter Article
If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you got a problem. Everything else is inconvenience. ~Robert Fulghum
I walk through the foyer each day and think to myself, “Wow, this truly is a multi-purpose room.” On any given day we may have students studying on a spare, students singing and practicing for the Christmas musical, students playing dodge ball with ping pong balls for PE, students doing jumping jacks for DPA (daily physical activity), students putting up art work, students putting up a Christmas tree and snowflakes, students playing ‘grab the chicken for PE’, students eating lunch, or students participating in chapel. We have a busy school and we utilize every square inch of it!
It is exciting to plan and look forward to a new gym, common area and classrooms. You have probably seen the big new wall boards in the entrances to our school which show our current plan and our vision for the future. This is a vision of great need. The new space we are planning to build is a much-needed space. It will add tremendously to the effectiveness of our programs and the positive culture in our school.
I’m amazed at the flexibility of our staff who have worked with the inconvenience of our current space for many years. Our staff are great problem solvers and they are very creative in finding ways to succeed in student learning while utilizing less-than-perfect facilities. Isn’t it wonderful that these programs all exist with such excellence and enthusiasm? Won’t it be great to see these programs in a new gym, home economics room and wood shop? We are very excited about the prospect!
There’s one more thing I should mention. When we built the play area we left it with a slope of about 18 inches from one end to the other (to save cost on fill). This is great for drying after a rain storm but not so good when you flood it for an ice rink. It was a big problem. In years past, we had to flood the rink for nearly 3 weeks until it ‘filled up’ and was flat. It was quite an inconvenience and quite a problem. The solution? Our maintenance director, Ian Hedges, built a zamboni in his garage out of the steel from the old swing set. Is that not one of the most creative solutions to a problem you’ve ever heard about? We put the ice rink together this year in 4 days thanks to Ian’s “Zambo”. The next time you see the “Zambo” out on the ice rink, say a prayer of thanks for the creative staff we have at this school that find ways to improve learning at Cedars. We are very fortunate, indeed.
I walk through the foyer each day and think to myself, “Wow, this truly is a multi-purpose room.” On any given day we may have students studying on a spare, students singing and practicing for the Christmas musical, students playing dodge ball with ping pong balls for PE, students doing jumping jacks for DPA (daily physical activity), students putting up art work, students putting up a Christmas tree and snowflakes, students playing ‘grab the chicken for PE’, students eating lunch, or students participating in chapel. We have a busy school and we utilize every square inch of it!
It is exciting to plan and look forward to a new gym, common area and classrooms. You have probably seen the big new wall boards in the entrances to our school which show our current plan and our vision for the future. This is a vision of great need. The new space we are planning to build is a much-needed space. It will add tremendously to the effectiveness of our programs and the positive culture in our school.
I’m amazed at the flexibility of our staff who have worked with the inconvenience of our current space for many years. Our staff are great problem solvers and they are very creative in finding ways to succeed in student learning while utilizing less-than-perfect facilities. Isn’t it wonderful that these programs all exist with such excellence and enthusiasm? Won’t it be great to see these programs in a new gym, home economics room and wood shop? We are very excited about the prospect!
There’s one more thing I should mention. When we built the play area we left it with a slope of about 18 inches from one end to the other (to save cost on fill). This is great for drying after a rain storm but not so good when you flood it for an ice rink. It was a big problem. In years past, we had to flood the rink for nearly 3 weeks until it ‘filled up’ and was flat. It was quite an inconvenience and quite a problem. The solution? Our maintenance director, Ian Hedges, built a zamboni in his garage out of the steel from the old swing set. Is that not one of the most creative solutions to a problem you’ve ever heard about? We put the ice rink together this year in 4 days thanks to Ian’s “Zambo”. The next time you see the “Zambo” out on the ice rink, say a prayer of thanks for the creative staff we have at this school that find ways to improve learning at Cedars. We are very fortunate, indeed.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
History Lesson
Tonight is another New Parent Orientation. These are always exciting meetings when we get to share once again the marvelous vision we have for Christian education. As we prepared our seminar for this evening, we reviewed our history video once again. What a great story of God's faithfulness to our community. We made this video in 2008 for our fund raising campaign for the expansion project. It is still inspiring today. Have a look. Thanks.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Highlights Video
We have the highlights video from the banquet (see on the side bar). Please consider donating another $25 online (this is the minimum donation allowed online) at the roots for life website after viewing this video - www.rootsforlife.ca. Do this in memory of Greg and his great sacrifice of being Elvis for the cause.
:)
:)
Monday, November 15, 2010
Great News for Our Progress
We know everyone is eager to find out how much was raised this past Saturday at the Cruise With Us event. We now have a final count ……. drum-roll please …... we raised a total of $70,590.06 in cash and pledges in one night!
Various activities occurred throughout the night including the selling of balloons ($1,630), silent auction ($8,701), Live Auction ($7,525), the Norwalk virus ($600), donations and pledges and the one and only Greg as Elvis who singlehanded brought in $2,499.06 with his rendition of Love Me Tender! The total amount raised in cash was $51,690.06 and total pledges are $17,900.
A huge THANK YOU to everyone who made this event the success that it clearly was! We had staff, parents, students and the entire administration team working hard to pull the event together and contributing hours of work in the days leading up to the event and especially the day of the event. We also very much appreciate all who came out to enjoy the hilarious Captain Stubby (Gery Schubert) and to give so generously for the Roots for Life expansion. It was a wonderful evening of laughter and community.
We have now raised over $450,000 towards our expansion. We have a new website devoted to the expansion where donors can give on-line by credit card or Interac, http://www.rootsforlife.ca/ and of course this blog where you can keep up to date on our progress. Let's continue to spread the word so that we can reach our goal of $600,000 very soon!
Thank you again!
Various activities occurred throughout the night including the selling of balloons ($1,630), silent auction ($8,701), Live Auction ($7,525), the Norwalk virus ($600), donations and pledges and the one and only Greg as Elvis who singlehanded brought in $2,499.06 with his rendition of Love Me Tender! The total amount raised in cash was $51,690.06 and total pledges are $17,900.
A huge THANK YOU to everyone who made this event the success that it clearly was! We had staff, parents, students and the entire administration team working hard to pull the event together and contributing hours of work in the days leading up to the event and especially the day of the event. We also very much appreciate all who came out to enjoy the hilarious Captain Stubby (Gery Schubert) and to give so generously for the Roots for Life expansion. It was a wonderful evening of laughter and community.
We have now raised over $450,000 towards our expansion. We have a new website devoted to the expansion where donors can give on-line by credit card or Interac, http://www.rootsforlife.ca/ and of course this blog where you can keep up to date on our progress. Let's continue to spread the word so that we can reach our goal of $600,000 very soon!
Thank you again!
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Cruise with Us Banquet - SUCCESS!
We were overwhelmed by the support for our project shown at the Cruise with Us banquet by the community on November 13th. First, we were pleasantly surprised that the entire event sold out in just 5 days. Second, we were amazed by the help we received from so many people who donated large and small items for our silent auction, class-baskets, live auction and balloon prizes. Third, we were excited by the atmosphere of fun and celebration that the evening created. People really had fun!
The evening began with Captain Stubby explaining 'the ship' and the events for the evening. People had fun at their 'dinghy' tables with their 'dinghy captains' and when the Norwalk virus was passed around, the laughter began and really never stopped until the finale at the end with Stubby, Spanky and Biff.
The silent auction went very well and the live auction was a great fund raiser and also a ton of fun. When Captain Stubby did a handstand to sell off the Florida Timeshare and finished the bidding upside down, people were laughing so hard they were crying. It was a heart warming experience to have so much fun with our school community and guests.
Mrs. Kibble and Mr. Goertzen spent about 10 minutes outlining the campaign and the building program, challenging people to give sacrificially to the cause for Christian education and this project.
Perhaps the most fun of all was when Elvis came on stage and helped Greg Nikkel 'share his own spirit of Elvis' with the whole crowd. He did a hilarious rendition of "Love me Tender" and nearly brought the house down with his antics. There was a massive pile of money on the stage from the Dinghy captains to 'motivate' Greg to do his Elvis impersonation.
Thank you to everyone for coming to this wonderful evening. Thank you also to the many volunteers who helped put on this incredible event. The student crews (setup, service, clean team) were remarkable as well. Some of our teaching staff even gave back their tickets so others could come and these staff members still showed up to help the students with serving and with the cleanup! Many community members were amazed that so many students would come out to volunteer their evening to help with this cause. Thanks also to the many individuals and businesses that donated so many valuable items for our auctions and prizes. What an amazing testimony of team work and collaboration! God is blessing our school - imagine, give and believe that God can complete this work which he has started.
The evening began with Captain Stubby explaining 'the ship' and the events for the evening. People had fun at their 'dinghy' tables with their 'dinghy captains' and when the Norwalk virus was passed around, the laughter began and really never stopped until the finale at the end with Stubby, Spanky and Biff.
The silent auction went very well and the live auction was a great fund raiser and also a ton of fun. When Captain Stubby did a handstand to sell off the Florida Timeshare and finished the bidding upside down, people were laughing so hard they were crying. It was a heart warming experience to have so much fun with our school community and guests.
Mrs. Kibble and Mr. Goertzen spent about 10 minutes outlining the campaign and the building program, challenging people to give sacrificially to the cause for Christian education and this project.
Perhaps the most fun of all was when Elvis came on stage and helped Greg Nikkel 'share his own spirit of Elvis' with the whole crowd. He did a hilarious rendition of "Love me Tender" and nearly brought the house down with his antics. There was a massive pile of money on the stage from the Dinghy captains to 'motivate' Greg to do his Elvis impersonation.
Thank you to everyone for coming to this wonderful evening. Thank you also to the many volunteers who helped put on this incredible event. The student crews (setup, service, clean team) were remarkable as well. Some of our teaching staff even gave back their tickets so others could come and these staff members still showed up to help the students with serving and with the cleanup! Many community members were amazed that so many students would come out to volunteer their evening to help with this cause. Thanks also to the many individuals and businesses that donated so many valuable items for our auctions and prizes. What an amazing testimony of team work and collaboration! God is blessing our school - imagine, give and believe that God can complete this work which he has started.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Cedars Expansion Project 2011
This blog is a running documentary of our building process. We want to share the story of our building expansion as we progress through the months. Follow our story; enjoy seeing how God is making himself evident in our school. We want to show you pictures and video and dialogue about the building process but we also want you to see the mission of our school in action. This building, all of our facility in fact, is just a tool that we use to live out the vision we have for Christian education. We want to develop the unique potential of every student. We want our students to understand how to live a life of service, obedience, fellowship, discipleship and stewardship. This is why we want to build an expansion in 2011.
The process was begun a long time ago (2002) and now our building project is almost upon us. To date we have raised over 360,000 dollars in cash and pledges in our goal to have 600,000 dollars total to make this project a reality. We're almost there. The $600,000 we raise turns into 2.9 million dollars with our miraculous matching grant from the Jim Pattison Foundation. On November 13 our "Cruise with Us" fund raising banquet is scheduled to challenge the community to support this worthwhile project. We are so excited that the event sold out in just 5 days. There is an excitement in the air about this project. God is working in this place!
You have probably seen the wall board, website or brochure we have created to explain our project. It is exciting to have these materials to share with our friends and families. We encourage everyone to share the miracle that God has given us in this school. To get a 4:1 matching grant at our school is a miracle. We are challenged to take advantage of this miracle at this time and raise the last bit of money so that we can realize our dream of a new facility.
After we have all the money ($600,000) committed we can actually put together a timeline for the building process. Ultimately we would love to start this project at Spring Break 2011 (March 14). But, we need to have the money in place if this is to be a reality. To see our students playing volleyball and basketball in a new gym as soon as the 2011-12 school year is an exciting thought indeed. Please help us make this incredible dream a reality.
The process was begun a long time ago (2002) and now our building project is almost upon us. To date we have raised over 360,000 dollars in cash and pledges in our goal to have 600,000 dollars total to make this project a reality. We're almost there. The $600,000 we raise turns into 2.9 million dollars with our miraculous matching grant from the Jim Pattison Foundation. On November 13 our "Cruise with Us" fund raising banquet is scheduled to challenge the community to support this worthwhile project. We are so excited that the event sold out in just 5 days. There is an excitement in the air about this project. God is working in this place!
You have probably seen the wall board, website or brochure we have created to explain our project. It is exciting to have these materials to share with our friends and families. We encourage everyone to share the miracle that God has given us in this school. To get a 4:1 matching grant at our school is a miracle. We are challenged to take advantage of this miracle at this time and raise the last bit of money so that we can realize our dream of a new facility.
After we have all the money ($600,000) committed we can actually put together a timeline for the building process. Ultimately we would love to start this project at Spring Break 2011 (March 14). But, we need to have the money in place if this is to be a reality. To see our students playing volleyball and basketball in a new gym as soon as the 2011-12 school year is an exciting thought indeed. Please help us make this incredible dream a reality.
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