Jr. Cougar Chronicles

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Spring is Springing!

Keep your eyes open :) for second-trimester report cards coming home with your Jr. Cougar this Wednesday, 3/17! Please be sure to promptly return the signed envelope and the reading/math insert to your child's teacher. You may keep the actual report card and resource room reports.

Jr. Cougar Week/4th and 5th Grade Adventures Days

Planning is underway for our annual Jr. Cougar Week/4th and 5th Grade Adventure Days being celebrated April 19-23! Stay tuned to your Jr. Cougars and their teachers to hear about all the learning and fun that happens as we love, grow, and do life together as a CCS elementary family.

Jr. Cougar Showcase and Concert
"May the God of endurance and encouragement
grant you to live in such harmony with one another,
in accord with Christ Jesus,
that together you may with one voice
glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Romans 15:5-6

The grand finale of Jr. Cougar Week/4th and 5th Grade Adventure Days is happening on Friday evening, April 23! The evening begins with Jr. Cougar Concert, United In HIM, at 6 pm. (Jr. Cougars will need to be back at CCS at 5:30 pm to get ready for the concert.) This musical celebration will feature our littlest to biggest Jr. Cougars lifting their voices and hearts in song.

The culmination of this festive evening together and the final curtain of this special week in the life of our elementary school is our Jr. Cougar Showcase which will immediately follow our Jr. Cougar Concert. This real-life Show and Tell will feature the many original and ingenious projects that our beloved Jr. Cougars researched, planned, designed, and created while exploring, discovering, learning, and growing in the Lord and life.

The dress code for our Jr. Cougars for the Jr. Cougar Concert, United In HIM, will be custom-designed t-shirts along with jeans. Be on the lookout for order forms that will be sent home with your child early next week. :)

Achievement Tests Are Coming Soon!

Achievement tests are scheduled this year from April 12 through 15. Students will take the tests each morning through lunchtime Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday during this week. You can encourage and support your Jr. Cougars during this time by:

-Praying with and for them multiple times daily.

-Making sure they get a good night of sleep each night.

-Preparing a healthy and protein-packed breakfast each morning.

-Arriving on time or even a few minutes early for school.

-Packing a healthy snack.

March 31 - April 5 - Easter Break
April 12-15 - Achievement Testing, K-8
April 14-17 - TSA States
April 19 - 23 - Jr. Cougar Week/4th and 5th Grade ADVENTURE DAYS
April 22 - Senior Presentations
April 23 - Jr. Cougar Showcase and Concert
April 23 - PSAT (9th & 10th)
April 26 - Golf Outing
April 27 - Bolduc & Parris Piano Recital
April 29 - Stone Voice Recital
April 30 - Jr/Sr Banquet

Thank you for allowing CCS to partner with the Lord and you

to share this part of your child's journey

in growing spiritually, academically, socially, emotionally, and physically.

Go Jr. Cougars!

WHOOP! WHOOP!

Friday, February 5, 2021

Jr. Cougar February Fun

This coming week, February 8-12 at our beloved CCS, is Spirit Week for all of our COUGARS AND JR. COUGARS!

Monday: Comfy Day!

Tuesday: Class Color Day!

Class colors are:

Pre-K - PINK

Kindergarten - ORANGE

1st - PURPLE

2nd - LIGHT BLUE

3rd - RED

4th - GREEN

5th - GRAY

6th - MAROON

7th - WHITE

8th - BLACK

9th - YELLOW

10th - GREEN

11th - DARK BLUE

12th - RED

Wednesday: Wacky Day

Thursday: Disney Day

Friday: Team Spirit Day

This year, along with loving our CCS family through daily silliness and fun, we also want to love and bless God's extended family in our community by bringing in and donating non-perishable food items for the Twin Valley Food Pantry. Please help us stock the pantry shelves for local families in need by donating one, a few, or several of the items below.

NON-PERISHABLE ITEMS

Can Vegetables
Can Soup
Can Fruit
Coffee
Mustard, Ketchup, Mayo
Macaroni and Cheese
Instant Mashed Potatoes
Cereal
Flour
Sugar
Rice
Pasta

OTHER ITEMS

Dish Soap
Washing Detergent
Tooth Paste
Toilet Paper

DIABETIC FOOD ITEMS

Dill Pickles
Tuna in Water
Artificial Sweetener
Peanut Butter
Tomato Juice
Light Mayo
Cheerios (Plain)
Jelly
Light Salad Dressings

Our next Jr. Cougar After-School Club of the year is starting in a couple of weeks! (On Wednesday, 2/24, to be exact!) “Science Explorers” is returning again under the leadership and teaching of our very beloved “Glad Scientist,” Mrs. Sunshine Smiley. :) Science Explorers will meet several Wednesdays after school, from

2:45 - 3:45 pm. ABRACADABRA is our fun and maybe a little bit tricky topic! :) The sessions will meet on 2/24, 3/3, 3/10, 3/17, and 3/24 (all Wednesdays) from 2:45 - 3:45 pm. There is still time to register online for ABRACADABRA HERE !

February 15 - No School - Presidents' Day
February 18 - Kindergarten Sneak Peek
March 5 - End 2nd Trimester
March 8 - No School - Teacher In-service
March 31 - April 5 - Easter Break

Thank you for allowing CCS to partner with the Lord and you

to share this part of your child's journey

in growing spiritually, academically, socially, emotionally, and physically.

Go Jr. Cougars!

WHOOP! WHOOP!

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Jr. Cougar Fun in 2021!

As I sat in church on Sunday morning, the pastor was sharing about faith rhythms of our homes. He began with the charge that Jesus gave us in Matthew 28:19-20:

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

As he continued on, the pastor shared that spiritually healthy homes are homes where discipleship is taken seriously. To his point he said, "We need to give God to the people in our homes first." While this is a longing, desire, and goal of my heart as I am sure it is yours too, it is also an area, if I am being honest, in which I can do better. Shining the light, love, and JOY of Jesus, being the light, hands, and feet of Jesus, and loving others in our homes and even our world no matter the circumstances first begins with me. How do I do all of these things in a world that is just so broken? How do I ensure that my family is walking in His truth, love, and light? How do I keep my heart, mind, and spirit focused up when life seems to be breaking down around me/us? How do I make disciples around me? The pastor then brought us back to the greatest commandment first taught in Deuteronomy 6:5-9:

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

The action items taken from this passage that I walked away with were:

1. Believe It!

2. Say It!

3. Live it!

4. Share It!

But God in His infinite wisdom, grace, and mercy knew not to leave it there because when I was doing some of my own study later that day, He lead me to the same message/commandments, but this time taught to us again by Jesus in Mark 12:29-33:

"Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."

As I reflect on these passages, the action items from the pastor's teaching, the recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, my own heart, my home, our school, and even our country and world today, I thank and praise God for His timely reminder both on that day and throughout His Word that the presence of His love in this world starts with my own heart! I pray that we can continue to encourage one another so our hearts can be filled and overflowing with the light, love, hope, and JOY of Jesus today and every day!

For Jr. Cougar Week/4th & 5th Grade Adeventure Days

and

The Jr. Cougar Showcase and Concert!

After several meetings and lots of prayer, it has been officially decided to postpone Jr. Cougar Week/Adventure Days and the Jr. Cougar Showcase and Concert until the spring. Among others, one of the hopes is that we might be able to host portions of the events outside, maybe even under a tent, so stay tuned! The new dates for Jr. Cougar Week/Adventure Days are April 19 - 23, culminating with the Jr. Cougar Showcase and Concert on Friday evening April 23. There has been talk of possibly having the showcase in the gym to allow for more social distancing and the concert outside, but those details have not been finalized yet. We will be further discussing all that surrounds this most special week in our beloved elementary abode in our upcoming team meetings. So make note of the changes on your calendars and take a deep breath....praying and trusting that our show will go on this year! Whoop! Whoop!

Appearance Code Reminder

This is just a reminder that between November 1 and April 1, Jr. Cougars should not wear shorts OR shorts with leggings to school unless the temperature forecast for Morgantown is 60 degrees or above.

Ooey, Gooey Mud!

The cold and the mud are here to stay,

at least for a little while anyway.

But our Jr. Cougars still love be outside to run and play.

Please be sure they have mud shoes here

and appropriate winter weather gear

to keep mostly clean, dry, and warm the little ones you hold do dear!

January 18 - No School - MLK Day
January 21 - Middle School Open House
January 28 - Elementary Open House & Preschool Story Time
February 6 - TSA Regionals
February 8-12 - Jr. Cougar Week
February 15 - No School - President's Day
February 18 - Kindergarten Sneak Peek
March 5 - End 2nd Trimester
March 8 - No School - Teacher In-service
March 31 - April 5 - Easter Break

Thank you for allowing CCS to partner with the Lord and you

to share this part of your child's journey

in growing spiritually, academically, socially, emotionally, and physically.

Go Jr. Cougars!
WHOOP! WHOOP!

Sunday, November 1, 2020

Falling into November

As we quickly fall into the month of November, I pause to reflect on all the JOY and blessings we have already experienced so far this school year. The list is a long one, but if I had to name the first few that come to my mind, my list would include having your precious Jr. Cougars here with us live and in person, being together under one roof in our elementary abode with our beloved elementary dream team, God's safety and protection on all of us, and of course elementary chapel. Chapel with our Jr. Cougars is perhaps what I missed the most during our months of quarantine. Although it was a blessing and I had a blast working with Mrs. Palladino to create our "Elementary Chapel in the Clouds" videos, nothing beats being able to worship and praise the Lord together and hearing all of our littles and bigs singing His praises together first thing in the morning! There is no better way to start the day! This year we have had the blessing of sitting under the teaching of Pastor Brian Fuller (dad of fifth grade Jr. Cougar Cade Fuller :) not only one time but two times, and he really knows how to get and keep our Jr. Cougars engaged and active while he is teaching them God's Word! In fact, during one of his chapels, Pastor Fuller taught us the four main ideas of the Bible with motions. He shared that in the simplest of terms, the Bible can be explained this way: CREATION, FALL, THE CROSS, NEW CREATION. Be sure to ask your Jr. Cougar for a demonstration with words and actions! :)

Online Scholastic Book Fair

CCS invites you to shop our Online Scholastic Book Fair and support our school! The book fair runs for 14 days from November 2-15. It will feature a virtual fair walkthrough so you and your Jr. Cougars can experience the magic of the school book fair shopping experience: browse titles by grade, meet popular authors, and much more! All purchases will ship directly to students’ homes and will benefit our school directly (25% back in rewards!). Don’t miss these two weeks of events, fun, and books. The Scholastic Homepage Link is LINK TO ONLINE SCHOLASTIC BOOKFAIR

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As we look forward to the quickly approaching holiday season, we are excited to bring you good news and great JOY! This year, under the leadership of our high school National Honor Society, our all-school holiday giving project will be for Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child. It is our hope that these special gifts and the message of the gospel will fill the hearts of the children receiving them with the love, JOY, and salvation of Jesus! This week a letter, as well as a brochure that had all the necessary details about the special giving opportunity for our CCS family, was sent home with your Jr. Cougar. Please complete and return the form to me (Mrs. Brenner) as soon as possible indicating how many shoeboxes your family would like to pack. Upon receiving this paper from you, the number of shoeboxes you are requesting will be sent home with your child/children listed on the form within 2 days.

The boxes are due back at CCS by Thursday, November 19.

A special message from the National Honor Society:

This project is sponsored by our school's National Honor Society (NHS), and a reward will be given to the class with the most boxes donated per child. This reward is... SHADY MAPLE DONUTS for the entire class.

Our Jr. Cougars will be learning even more about this special giving project at our elementary chapel, which is being led by representatives from our National Honor Society, this Thursday, 11/5, at 8:20 am in our high school gym.

Thank you for your faithful prayers and generous support of this special giving opportunity during the most wonderful time of the year!

Appearance Code Reminder

And just like that, it is the month of November! We are falling into cooler and even colder weather around our CCS campus and beyond it too. This is just a reminder that between November 1 and April 1, Jr. Cougars should not wear shorts to school unless the temperature forecast for Morgantown is 60 degrees or above. In addition to no shorts, please be sure that your child is dressed appropriately for the weather for daily outdoor recess. Please be sure that all Jr. Cougars have coats, hats, gloves, and scarves to keep them warm and snuggly while they are enJOYing the outdoors, fresh air, and burning off bundles of their energy! :)