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