In this season of gratitude and as we anticipate the soon to be season of giving, 

CCS is celebrating with our annual All-School Missions Project.

 After you have had your fill of turkey and pumpkin pie, and you head out to begin your Christmas shopping adventures, be sure to make a date with your Jr. Cougar so that you can help him/her in the purchasing of a new, unwrapped toy that will be donated to the

 .

Once your shopping date you can lighten your load by dropping your loose change in the baby bottle your Jr. Cougar brought home for the 

.

These special blessings and gifts should be sent into school by Wednesday, 11/28/18, in time for our ALL-School Chapel so that we can pray for those who will be receiving them.

You are invited to join us for chapel on that day at 8:20 am in the gym.
Please be sure to check in at the office first. 

Stay tuned for information coming home after our Thanksgiving break about a special Christmas  shopping opportunity for our Jr. Cougars. Our elementary students will be able to purchase new and affordable gifts for their families while supporting and blessing our CCS senior class of 2019 with the proceeds from this unique and creative fundraiser.

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!

Our elementary chapel this week was overflowing with

 JOY and messages of encouragement, hope, and love! 

We began our morning praying and singing praises to the Lord

 while being led in worship by our CCS Middle School Worship Team. 

Then we had a "hoot" of a time with a surprise and disguised appearance from "wise" Mrs. Caley sharing ways our Jr. Cougars can encourage one another to "focus" on our CCS character traits this year. (So far this year we studied REVERENCE and now our focus is on OBEDIENCE.

 Hoot! Hoot! I mean Whoop! Whoop! :) 

 

Then we watched a short informational video from MEALS of HOPE 
to help prepare us for our morning of service this Friday!

We wrapped up our time together with a read aloud of the book You Are Special by Max Lucado to remind our beloved Jr. Cougars about how special they are to God and how much they are loved by Him. It was a sweet and precious time together with the Lord and each other! 



As the weekend approaches, our senses are being tickled by
the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of our
CCS 45th Annual Chicken BBQ and Auction!
Here are a few important highlights to assist you in planning for
these special festivities.

CCS Service Day - Food Packing Event


This Friday morning, 10/19/18,  instead of having normal classes from 8:10 - 11:30, our students will be packing meals for the Twin Valley Food Pantry -- 10,000 macaroni and cheese meals to be exact! The food packing event will take place at Conestoga Mennonite Church (CMC).  Our students will be bused to CMC and rotate in the food-packing event.  All of our students will have the blessing of participating! Parents are invited to join their students at CMC to help pack and encourage the class.

We are excited to have this event because service is an essential part of who we are. Our Vision Statement identifies 3 goals that we strive to obtain:

Develop critical thinkers.
Nurture Christ-like character.
 Equip students for a life of discipleship and service.

Partnering with the Twin Valley Food Pantry and serving our community is a blessed opportunity for us to be the hands and feet of God! 

Chicken Barbecue and the 11:30 am Dismissal

This Friday, 10/19/18, is our annual Chicken Barbecue. Be prepared to have your taste buds tickled and your bellies filled to the max!

Here are a few important details that you need to know about dismissal on this day:

-Our Preschool students enrolled in “Little Conestoga Preschool” and all elementary students will be dismissed at 11:30 am. (There is no Preschool Lunch Bunch.)

• As usual, bus riders will be dismissed first and parents waiting for car riders are asked to wait in the Conestoga Mennonite Church parking lot.
• You are reminded to stay at Conestoga Mennonite Church until the last bus has left the CCS parking lot. Watch for the attendant to direct you when there is room in the school parking lot.
• Please plan to be patient; it may be 11:45 until cars are released from the church parking lot.
• As always, students with alternative pick-up arrangements should bring a note to school.
• There is NO BUSING for students who usually take the school bus home if you are in the ELANCO or PEQUEA VALLEY school districts. Students from Pequea Valley and ELANCO districts who usually ride the bus will automatically line up with car riders. No note of explanation is necessary for them unless they will be riding with someone other than their parents.
• Please be sure to share these directions with others who may be picking up your children.

Class Baskets

A definite highlight of our school auction is the sale of our class baskets! Whoop! Whoop! First, let me personally say a great big THANK YOU to the parents who took the lead for each grade, preschool through fifth, in communicating, organizing, collecting, and assembling this year's baskets! Another big THANK YOU to all of our generous Jr. Cougar families for your contributions to the baskets as well!  The baskets and YOU are blessings to our school! The final steps in the basket process are the big moments of bidding on and selling them at the Auction.

This special, fun, and exciting event is happening this Saturday, 10/20/18, beginning at 10:30 am. Please help your child to join with his/her teacher and class at about 10:15 am in the high school lobby to present each basket and encourage bidders to raise their hands in support of our beloved CCS and all of our little and big kiddos!

We can't wait to join in all the food, fun, fellowship, and festivities with all of you this weekend! Whoop! Whoop! :)

Our precious Jr. Cougars are filling our beloved elementary abode and campus with JOY by putting BLESS into practice! I have had the JOY of signing many little, yellow papers under the letters J and even O for the Jr. Cougars who have already been blessed themselves by receiving 5 and even 10 tickets. Along with the signing of their papers, I get even more JOY from the added blessing of praying with and for each one of them! Whoop! Whoop!

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!

Happy, Happy, JOY, JOY!

Jr. Cougars BLESS with JOY!

In an effort to intentionally and actively live and love God and others on our CCS campus this year and beyond, and with the help of our elementary dream team and Mrs. McCullough, our IU guidance counselor, my vision for a positive behavior system built on biblical principles for our Jr. Cougars is now a reality! We have officially developed and launched "Jr. Cougars BLESS with JOY! This system assists us on campus with consistent language and values for living and loving each other well on bad days and good, in hard and in fun, and in sorrows and JOYS. 

During our first two elementary chapels of the new school year, the BLESS system was shared with the Jr. Cougars and so were the posters (like the picture above) with the principles of BLESS that are now displayed throughout our campus. Along with the principles for each letter of BLESS, I was also able to share with our Jr. Cougars verses from the Bible upon which these principles were established.

BE KIND to everyone always.

"Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as Christ forgave you." Ephesians 4:32

"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourself in compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience." Colossians 3:12

LOVE others like God loves you.

"This is my commandment, that you will love one another as I have loved you."  John 15:12

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. "  John 13:34-35

ENCOURAGE others.

"Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing."

1 Thessalonians 5:11

"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works." Hebrew 10:24

"Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." Proverbs 27:17

SPEAK thoughtfully. LISTEN carefully.

"Know this my beloved brothers, let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger." James 1:19

SHINE for Jesus in all you do and say!

"Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." Matthew 5:16

In addition to these values, Jr. Cougars will be encouraged by their elementary dream team with a ticket system. Jr. Cougars can be presented an encouragement ticket anytime it is seen or witnessed that they are blessing others with JOY by demonstrating or living out one, many, or all of these principles. For every 5 tickets earned the student will receive a letter in the word JOY and an encouraging email will be sent home by the classroom teacher. Once a Jr. Cougar receives 15 tickets, which equals all the letters in JOY, he/she will earn a special privilege, and I will be sending an encouraging email home. :) Special privileges can include lunch with the principal, lunch with the classroom teacher, sitting in a special seat, a homework pass, etc. 

I was filled with much JOY and encouragement yesterday morning when I had a Jr. Cougar stop by my office to have me sign her first letter of JOY! I was blessed to be able to affirm her and pray for her for being a blessing! What a wonderful way to begin Monday morning in a new week! Whoop! Whoop! 

YUMMY!  YUMMY!  In My Tummy!

As seen in the Cougar Update:

REMINDER: Tickets for Conestoga’s 45th Annual Chicken BBQ on October 19, 2018, are NOW on sale on our website HERE. This page has all the information you may need, including all dates and prices. Each family is required to sell 8 BBQ dinner tickets. This is per family, NOT per student enrolled at CCS. 

Coming Soon to CCS!
Jr. Cougar After-School Clubs 
Welcomes Back
SCIENCE EXPLORERS!

Our first Jr. Cougar After-School Club of the year is starting up soon! “Science Explorers” will be back on our CCS campus soon and will be led by our very own “Glad Scientist,” Mrs. Sunshine Smiley. :) Science Explorers will meet many Thursdays after school, from 2:45 - 4:00 pm. Slime Time is the first fun and gooey topic of the year! The sessions will meet on 10/25, 11/1, and 11/8. Your child should have brought home a flyer last week with details on how to register for our Science Explorers after-school club! You can also register online HERE. Science Rocks!

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

...10 more days until it is... 

WHOOP! WHOOP!

To help your Jr. Cougar and you get off to a super start this year, please plan to attend our our Back To School Night and Family Picnic next Thursday evening, 8/23/18! The fun, fellowship, food, and JOY begin with a Chick-fil-A or "pack a picnic" picnic dinner at
5:45 pm followed by an informational meeting at 7 pm. During the meeting our Jr. Cougars will be able to visit with their teachers in their  classrooms. For more detailed information about this exciting evening, click the link below:

https://www.conestogachristian.net/back-to-school-night-2018

Along with fun, food, and fellowship as well as a bit of important information too, you can also plan to bring along the school supplies for your Jr. Cougar. Our 2018/19 Supply Lists have been lovingly prepared by your child's teacher and can be found by:

-Clicking on the RESOURCES tab at the top of the page.

-Then clicking CURRENT FAMILIES in the drop-down menu

OR by clicking this link:

https://www.conestogachristian.net/resources

 Happy School Shopping!

A New and Friendly Face and Heart 

to Welcome to Our CCS Family!

Hello Conestoga Christian School friends and families! 

I am so excited to be your school counselor this year through Lancaster Lebanon IU 13.  I recently moved here from VT to be closer to family.  I have spent the last 13 years in education, 9 of which were middle and high school family and consumer science, and 4 as an elementary school counselor.  I believe social and emotional learning is a key foundation for personal and academic success.  As your counselor I am here to help students problem solve and find strategies that will best support them in navigating the ups and downs of their days at school.  I am available to all students and will provide support through classroom lessons, individual discussions, and small groups.  Please note that school counselors do not provide therapeutic or mental health counseling.  I am happy to provide your family with resources in the community for any counseling needs beyond my limits.  I look forward to serving your school and community.

Here’s to a great year!  
 -Denny McCullough

I hope you can enJOY counting down the final days of summer

 until the First Day of School! I know I am! :)

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!

It's SUMMER!!! Whoop! Whoop! While you are busy enJOYing all God's blessings summer has to offer, including spending quality and fun times with your Jr. Cougars, I pray that you can spend some quiet time with the One who loves you and your little ones most! May you be blessed with rest and restoration as you prepare for the many JOYS and adventures yet to come in the 2018/19 school year.

SAVE THE DATE...

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!

Happy New Year!
Welcome 2018!

Although we are already a few weeks into the NEW year, we can still be celebrating it and the NEW life we have in Christ! We can also look forward to the many NEW and exciting or maybe challenging and stretching adventures God has planned for each one of us in 2018! As you may have heard, CCS has welcomed many NEW students (17, I think :) and their families to our school family this month, and 9 of the students are Jr. Cougars! Whoop! Whoop! We also have several NEW Jr. Cougar Clubs starting up! Adding to our fun and excitement, we are now busy preparing for our 4th and 5th grade Adventure Days, Jr. Cougar Week, and our Elementary Musical featuring our 4th and 5th graders with kindergarten and grades 1, 2, and 3 supporting them musically. So much excitement and JOY in the NEW year already!

NEW Event for your NEW Calendars!

Save This Night

And You’ll Be Filled With Delight!

Thursday, March 8, 2018

Jr. Cougar “Night of Delight” Open House

6:00-6:40 pm

Jr. Cougar "Night of Delight" Musical

"Rescue in the Night"

7 pm

NEW JR. Cougar Club for This NEW Year!

Jr. Cougar "Got the Moves" Club
Do your Jr. Cougars need a few NEW moves to put some pep in their steps? Starting on Monday, 1/29/18, from 2:45-3:45 pm in the MPR, Ms. Shawna will be sharing her gifts and talents with our Jr. Cougars ( in Kindergarten through Grade 5) by teaching and leading an "introduction to dance" club. (Ms. Shawna Weist is the CCS mom of Austin - 5th grade, Liam - Preschool, and Dylan - 8th grade.:) The dance instruction will include learning about proper positions, applying the positions to fun moves, and using the new positions and moves to dance.

Here are the club details:

When: Mondays, 1/29, 2/12, 2/26, and 3/5

Where: MPR in the high school

Time: 2:45 - 3:45 pm with prompt parent pick up at the high school entrance

Cost: $20

What to Bring: A clean pair of dark socks and a water bottle

How to Sign Up: Email Mrs. Brenner (susan.brenner@conestogachristian.net) and send in your club fee by Friday, 1/26/18. (Please put the fee in an envelope and label it with "Jr. Cougar 'Got the Moves' Club,  Attention: Mrs. Brenner." Make checks payable to CCS and be sure to write "Jr. Cougar 'Got the Moves' Club" in the memo line.)

Dribbling and Bouncing

into the

Jr. Cougar Basketball Clinic

Under the coaching of Mr. Parris and our varsity basketball teams, our Jr. Cougars in first through fifth grades can have a ball of a time learning and practicing the finer points of basketball at our Jr. Cougar Basketball Clinic being planned for Monday, February 5, from 3:00 - 4:00 pm in the CCS gym. After participating in the 30-minute clinic from 3 - 3:30 pm, our Jr. Cougar athletes will then have a basketball scrimmage from 3:30 - 4 pm. (Parents are welcome to come and cheer for their Jr. Cougar athletes! The cost of the clinic is $15. This cost includes a Jr. Cougars t-shirt and a snack.

All Jr. Cougars are then invited to attend the evening of middle school and high school basketball games starting at 4 pm. Admission will be FREE for all Jr. Cougars wearing CCS Cougar gear! Whoop! Whoop! 

If your Jr. Cougar would like to participate in the Basketball Clinic on Monday, 2/5/18, please email Mrs. Brenner (susan.brenner@conestogachristian.net) and send in your club fee by Friday, 1/26/18. (Please put the fee in an envelope and label it with "Jr. Cougar Basketball,  Attention: Mrs. Brenner." Make checks payable to CCS and be sure to write "Jr. Cougar Basketball Clinic" in the memo line.) In your email, please indicate your child's t-shirt size: Youth sizes: small, medium, large, x-large.

The Time Is Now to Register
for a NEW Rockin' Session of
SCIENCE EXPLORERS!

The link to register online is Science Explorers Registration.

The topics and session dates are:

Loose in the Chem Lab

2/15; 2/22; 3/1; 3/8; 3/15

Ready, Set, Summer!

5/3

SCIENCE ROCKS!

PIZZA PARTY LABELS CONTEST!!!!

Collect, Send in, and WIN! 
Whoop! Whoop!

The pizza party labels contest is back!!! The competition is on with all the grades to see who can bring in the most of the labels/caps listed below. The prize is a pizza party for that class during school lunch! This is an easy way to support the school. Start clipping and sending labels into your child’s homeroom teacher!

All labels need to be submitted by February 6.

Thank you! Erika Metzler (metzip@verizon.net)

The following labels/caps will be tallied for each classroom:

Box Tops are on many food and non-food items. They do expire! Expired Box Tops will not be counted in the tally. Also, for the coupon clippers, there are many printable coupons on the Box Tops site! (boxtopsforeducation.com)

Tyson Labels are on Tyson chicken products. They do not expire!

  

Moo Money Caps are found on select Turkey Hill products. The labels need to be attached to a cap. 

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!