December 1, 2017

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”

Psalm 27:1

      The Christmas season can be one of light, whether on our Christmas trees, in our windows, on our homes, or blinking off the end of our noses!  The Bible has a lot to teach us about the concept of light any time of the year.

      First, a broken contact will destroy the effectiveness of a light.  Whether it comes from a broken fixture or something else interrupting the flow of electric current into the bulb, without direct contact with its power source, a light bulb simply will not function.

As Christians, we realize the importance of staying in contact with our Savior, Jesus Christ.  When we allow sin into our lives, we lose that contact.  A bad attitude can also turn off the light of our effective Christian witness.

On the other hand, when we stay in contact, we will tend to live our lives for others, feel cleaner, have happy and joyful lives, and have the power to say no to temptation.  Even more importantly, others will see our light and want to know more about our God.

Second, it is vitally important not to move past the power point.  1 John 1:5 teaches that God is light.  The closer we are to Him, the brighter our light will shine.  If we move too far away, we will lose our power, just as if the connection were to be interrupted.

As Christians, it is vital that we stay “plugged in” to our power source of Jesus Christ.  Just as a very long extension cord will not carry power all the way to its destination, we will have no power when we are far from our Lord.

James 4:8 reminds us that as we grow closer to God, He will come near to us as well.  It is vital not only for our young students, but also for all of us to grow nearer to God and His will for our lives.

As we begin to celebrate the Christmas season, let’s all commit to be unified to the source of everything good and powerful, our Lord Jesus Christ, the One whose birth we remember on December 25.

LCA will be closed Thursday, December 21, through Tuesday, January 2, in celebration of the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.  Please note that our break is longer than many public schools.  During the break, our school office will also be closed.

Classes will resume on a regular schedule on Wednesday, January 3, 2018.

All three kindergarten classes will hold their Christmas program this coming Thursday, December 7, at 7:00.  (Students should be in their classrooms at 6:30 and should dress as instructed by their teachers.)

Please make plans now to be in attendance for this special evening celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.  Our students and teachers are working every day on this program, and you will not want to miss it!

On Thursday evening, December 14, at 7:00 PM, our students in grades 1-6, along with the secondary ensemble, will be presenting Christmas Spirit, a Christmas musical which will remind all of us of the true message of the season.

We hope each of our parents will make plans now to attend this production.  Mrs. Parker, Miss Enman, and their helpers have been working with our students nearly every day to be sure they are ready for this presentation.  We know it will be a blessing to you and hope our families will make plans to be in attendance.

On Friday, December 15, students in Grades 1-12 may wear an “ugly” Christmas sweater over their uniforms.  We want this to be a fun Friday for our elementary and secondary students as we celebrate this Christmas season.

With the changing of the weather, we will not be serving the hamburger hot lunch during the winter months.  In its place, we will be serving sloppy joes.  We will also serve nachos a couple of times during the winter months to help everyone warm up on a cold day!  Of course, if you have any questions about our hot lunch program, please contact our school office.

Thank you to all who contributed items for our OCC shoebox drive this year! We sent in approximately 84 shoeboxes from our ministry.  These boxes will be delivered over the next several months to children in need around the world.  Once we hear where they are delivered, we will pass that information along to our families.

Please be in prayer for children who will receive our boxes.  Samaritan’s Purse will add a printed message of salvation in Jesus Christ to each shoebox.  We know God promises to bless His word, and we pray that only eternity will reveal the great impact of our families’ generosity and prayer.

This coming Tuesday, December 5, our high school boys’ basketball teams will play their first game of the new season.  At 5:30, the boys will tip off against the boys’ team from Grace.

Our boys are coached by Mr. Mike Henry, and our girls are coached by Pastor Sam Mansfield.  We have two seniors on our team this year and are excited about the potential for a strong season together.

Admission to all home games is included in your student fee, so we hope you will make plans to be here for as many of our home games as possible in the next few months.

Our school is looking into the possibility of providing private voice lessons to students who may be interested.  If you would like more information for your elementary or high school student, please email Miss Enman at eenman@lcany.org or leave a note in our school office.

Through the generous support of many of our families in our fall fundraiser, we have started work on our new water fountain outside of Mrs. Mansfield’s classroom.  Thanks to all who had a part!

Parents of students in K3, K4, and K5 should remember to send their children to school in sneakers/gym shoes each day.  Children may want to wear boots, but their feet will get too hot in them while they are in the classrooms.  To protect the floor, boots also may not be worn in our gym.  Students in boots may be required to sit down rather than play with their friends.

Of course, if you have any questions about our dress code, please feel free to contact your child’s teacher.

Students in 3^rd through 8^th grades will have the opportunity to participate in the national event called “Hour of Code” during their regular computer classes in the coming week.

According to their website, hourofcode.com, “The Hour of Code started as a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify “code”, to show that anybody can learn the basics, and to broaden participation in the field of computer science. It has since become a worldwide effort to celebrate computer science, starting with 1-hour coding activities but expanding to all sorts of community efforts.”

Your children may want to continue working on the activities they start in class with Mrs. Mansfield, our technology teacher.  We encourage you to make use of the organization’s website and resources to help children get excited about the opportunities for careers in coding and computer science.  Let us know if you have any questions.

Week of Dec. 4 – Hour of Code Activities (Grades 3-8)

Dec. 5 – 4:00 PM – Home Boys’ Basketball Game

Dec. 6 – Progress Reports Issued (Grades 7-12)

Dec. 7 – Senior Lunch – Macaroni and Cheese

Dec. 7 – 7:00 PM – K3/K4/K5 Christmas Program

Dec. 12 – ASVAB (11^th-12^th Grades)

Dec. 14 – Senior Lunch – Sloppy Joes

Dec. 14 – 7:00 PM – 1^st-12^th Christmas Program

Dec. 20 – 9:30 AM – All-School Christmas Chapel

Dec. 21 – Jan. 2 – NO SCHOOL – Christmas Break

Jan. 3 – Progress Reports Issued (Grades 1-12)