continued on page 2 . . .What makes high school so fun?BY MARLENE BERGSMA DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS AND ADVANCEMENTAsk any student at Smithville Christian if they like their school, and the answer will most likely be “yes!” Sure, there are some students who can Isaiah deKleine on the student-built electric vehicle in the Smithville Christian metal shop.IN THIS ISSUEJUNE 2024VOLUME XLIV, ISSUE IV6488 TOWNLINE RD.P.O. BOX 40,SMITHVILLE, ONL0R 2A0PH. 905.957.3255FAX 905.957.3431smithvillechristian.caCONTACT:MARLENE BERGSMAmbergsma@smithvillechristian.caPAGE 1 WHAT MAKES HIGH SCHOOL SO FUN?PAGE 4 THE PLAY: THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNESTPAGE 6 COUNTRY AND WESTERN DAYPAGE 8 GRANDPARENTS & FRIENDS DAYPAGE 10 GRADE 10 OTTAWA TRIP PAGE 11 MODEL UNITED NATIONSPAGE 12 DATA SCIENCE BY MATTHEW VANDERWIER AND HANNAH DE JONGEPAGE 14 STUDENT COUNCIL
2ECHOES JUNE 2024think of other things they’d rather be doing, but, since every teenager in Ontario must go to school, even the most reluctant Smithville Christian student will grudgingly admit it could be worse. And by the time they get to Grade 12, many of them are sad to leave.So what makes this learning community so unique? There are a couple of factors.Smithville Christian seeks ourishingThe magnicent Floyd Elzinga stainless steel sculpture in our atrium, called Flourish, depicts Smithville Christian’s relentless commitment to seek the ourishing of all. Whether you are a student, staff member, parent, visitor, or visiting athlete, Smithville Christian wants you to ourish. Seeing every person as a beloved child of God, created in God’s image and designed to live their life for God’s glory, allows us to approach each student, even the reluctant ones, with a promise that they belong here, they will encounter Jesus here, and they can succeed here. As Lynn Swaner and Andy Wolfe write in their book, Flourishing Together: A Christian Vision for Students, Educators, and Schools, humans have been created to ourish and we can best live out Jesus’ promise of an abundant life by ourishing in community. As a school that sees spiritual formation as having as much value as intellectual formation, we see evidence of Swaner and Wolfe’s research ndings that “ourishing outcomes [are] positively linked to students seeing themselves as part of God’s story – where students believe they are part of a bigger plan and they can be used by God to make a difference in the world.”Our weekly chapels reinforce this message, and students hear the same thing from every teacher, in every subject: as part of a God-worshipping community we point them – and their learning – to their place in God’s story of love for Creation.Smithville Christian builds communityFrom their rst week in Grade 9 and the Grade 9 Blast, to their nal year and the Grade 12 Retreat, each incoming cohort of students is given many opportunities to get to know each other and to build community. Students also build community across grades, as they participate in sports teams, clubs, spirit days, or opportunities to serve. Once a year, at the Awards Assembly, we intentionally celebrate Andrew Rose, far le, and Aaron Porteous, far right, of DeBoss Garage in Dunnville, present the $2,500 Edison Motors EV Challenge rst-prize winnings to Smithville Christian students, from le, Isaiah deKleine, Logan Richardson, Reuben DeBoer and David Vanderkolk.Flourish, by Floyd Elzinga, in the Smithville Christian atrium.
Members of Smithville Christian’s computer gaming club at the annual Awards Assembly.Will Lammers, VP of Students.3www.smithvillechristian.cathese community-building activities. As VP of Students Will Lammers pointed out in his Awards Assembly opening devotions, joining a club or team is a blessing that enriches a student’s high school experience, but it also blesses the rest of the school. “Each of you left a positive, permanent stamp on the school because of your contribution. The school would not have been the same without you,” Lammers said. Smithville Christian pursues passionSmithville Christian teachers are passionate about their subject areas and want to share that passion with students. Teachers are encouraged to dream up creative ways to share their enthusiasm, and, from the projects they design, to the ways in which they support students’ creativity, that passion shines through.For example, when Grade 12 Physics student Logan Richardson found information about an electric vehicle engineering contest, teacher Scott Antonides offered support and mentorship. Richardson, and friends Isaiah deKleine, David Vanderkolk and Reuben DeBoer, designed, built and competed with their electric vehicle, winning rst prize in Ontario. Work on the EV challenge was done outside of normal classwork, and Antonides said “this group had a skill set (welding, electrical, and critical thinking) that lent itself well to the project. For students to assemble a driving vehicle they needed to overcome dozens of problems and come up with creative solutions with very little material,” Antonides said.“This was only possible through many hours of focused work.”The students appreciated the opportunity they were given to pursue their passion. “I liked working with my buddies on it and having the freedom to just poof our own ideas into existence,” said Richardson.Scan the QR code to watch the DeBoss Garage Edison Motors EV challenge competition video. And there’s more passion in these pages. See page 11 for Civics teacher Derrick DeKlerk’s passion channeled into founding a Model United Nations Club, page 4 for photos of this year’s play, and page 12 for the results of a student data management project.“There are so many examples of student ourishing at Smithville Christian,” said interim principal, Fred Breukelman, and it’s the result of intentional effort on the part of the school. “When students feel like they belong, they are more willing to take risks or put themselves in vulnerable situations, and that is when real learning and growth can happen.” Scan to watch a video of the EV competition day
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COUNTRY &COUNTRY &WESTERN DAYWESTERN DAY6ECHOES JUNE 2024
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8ECHOES JUNE 2024Guests at the 2024 edition of Grandparents & Friends Day were invited to leave a note of encouragement or love for the students they visited. Here is some of the love that was shared.Jaela, we love your enthusiasm and how you take care of the underdog. We love you!Jacquelyn, thanks for inviting us to this special day. We love you lots, pray for you, and are so proud of who God made you to be.Jacob, your journey is yours only. You are so special and so loved! God’s got you.Rachel, it is so wonderful to see you embrace high school and get involved. You are so loved!Asher, you are such a gift from God and we are so proud of you. May God bless you always as we know you do things to lift his glory. We love you so much!Addison and Jack, we love you and are so thankful for you both. Blessings at school and all in you do.Nicholas, glad and proud to join assembly, great school, beautiful teachers. I am so very proud of you and all your hard work and perseverance. Keep up the excellent work! Love you forever.Grandparents & Friends Day
Hi Kaylee! We are so proud of you and think you are amazing. Have fun at school. Finish strong! May God bless you. We love you!Isaiah, we are so thankful that this was a good year for you. We are so incredibly proud of you! Your efforts at doing your best at school, church and the nursing home do not go unnoticed. Love you!Abby, we are very proud of how hard you worked in your rst year at school! Thank you for your smiles and hugs! We love you!Owen, thanks so much for the enjoyable morning. We are always proud to call you our grandson.Taya, your smile is so engaging. you show such caring and interest in others. I love how you enjoy sports and love God and all you do. You are so loved!Ephraim, it is such a joy to watch your journey of faith, how much you encourage others, how much you live your faith each day. You are so loved!Josh, I appreciate your hard effort to get good grades and to show God’s love and grace to those around you.To all the students: It was a lovely program. We loved your enthusiasm.www.smithvillechristian.ca9Grandparents & Friends Day
10ECHOES JUNE 2024Each year our Grade 10 students have the opportunity to travel to our nation’s capital, Ottawa. For some students this was their rst trip to Ottawa, for some this was their rst experience on a coach bus, or even a hotel for that matter. I entertained questions when we were checking out – Mr. Breukelman, what do we do with the garbage? Do we have to make our bed? For the bed question, in the interest of promoting good positive habits and behaviours – I told them yes, of course. You always have to make your bed!The Grade 10 students spent three days and two nights touring Ottawa’s Parliament Hill, Rideau Hall, The Royal Canadian Mint, Bank of Canada, Notre Dame Basilica, The Supreme Court, the Byward Market, and they went on a capital walking tour. Yes, our step-counting apps were well-used, and it was unseasonably warm. However, we also had numerous opportunities to have fellowship with each other during the activities of the day, closing it off with large group devotions led by Al Korvemaker. For many years, the trip to Ottawa has been organized by history teacher, Mr. Korvemaker, as the experience is closely connected to the Grade 10 History and Civics curriculum. Recently the trip has switched from a winter excursion, for which the weather conditions are very difcult to predict, to a spring excursion, making an early June jaunt the nal whole-class experience for Grade 10 students. Mr. Korvemaker continues to deliver the goods in our history department at Smithville Christian High School! The artifacts that Mr. K has gathered over the years bring to life his many stories. I’m sure those of you who have had a class with Mr. Korvemaker can relate, and, of course, the classes would have been injected with jokes and a few laughs here and there as well. Shared experiences are super important for our students. This is why we intentionally plan a shared experience for each year for our students. In Grade 9, our students start off the year with the Grade 9 Blast, and a couple weeks later they travel to Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake for our annual Bike Trip – a 40km jaunt from just south of the Falls to Fort George in Niagara-on-the-Lake. The trips for students in Grades 10 to 12 are all three-day and two-night experiences. Grade 11s go to Hamilton’s downtown core on a Serve and Observe experience, where we partner with urban organizations and ministries. In Grade 12 we kick off the year with a retreat at a camp, setting the stage for leadership opportunities during their senior year! So the next time you see a Grade 10 student – re a few questions at them, such as how do you legislate a bill? Or how many steps is it from The Supreme Court to the Byward Market? Or who is our Governor General? We’d like to think you would get an informed answer from most! A trip to the nation’s capital for a Grade 10 shared experienceBY FRED BREUKELMANINTERIM ADMINISTRATOR
11www.smithvillechristian.caA global perspective on learningBY DERRICK DEKLERK HISTORY AND CIVICS TEACHERThis year at Smithville Christian High School, a Model United Nations club was formed. Model United Nations is a student extracurricular activity where students attend conferences with other high school students. Model United Nations conferences are mock UN conferences with similar committees and issues faced by world leaders today. The goal of Model United Nations is to provide opportunities for young people to discuss world issues, improve their collaboration and public speaking skills, and to bring together like-minded students. Each student is assigned to represent a person or a country in a committee. It is a wonderful experience to work with other young people to discuss issues and present resolutions.Learn more about Model United Nations here: https://www.un.org/en/mun As a group, we attended KingsMUN at King’s Christian Collegiate, in Oakville. Our group was split into different committees such as DISEC (Disarmament and International Security), Union for the Mediterranean, International Cricket Committee, Mario Kart, Star Wars, the Mattel Board, and the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunication Commission. Students were asked to create a position paper on their person or country and how they would respond to various topics. Our students tackled issues – real and imagined – from around the world and created resolutions on topics such as media in conict zones, strike at Moo Moo Meadows, sports gambling, the impact of beauty standards, Canadian content percentages, trade federation wars, and the refugee crisis. Our group did very well for their very rst conference. A huge congratulations go to Noel Huinink for winning Best Delegate for his committee. Check out more about KingsMUN here: https://www.kingsmun.com/MUN is presented as an extracurricular activity where students can advance their resumes, build critical skills, and meet people from all across Ontario. It is very different from all other extracurriculars offered at Smithville Christian. Not only do students have the opportunity to increase their understanding of the world, they can build skills and work with others. I would love to see more students join and for us to go to more conferences to gain experience. If you are, or know, a student who is interested, please reach out to me. Current students can message me on Edsby! We would love to have you join the team. Noel Huinink, awarded Best Delegate.Teacher Derrick DeKlerk, le, and Smithville Christian’s Model United Nations team at King’s Christian High School.
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14ECHOES JUNE 2024Members of the Student Council had an incredible time putting together events and serving the student body this year. We started the year off with a retreat and determining our theme and roles. We landed on our Theme: “Stepping into the Light” based on John 8:12: When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” This theme inspired and focused our work for the year.Reecting on the year, we organized a multitude of activities for the student body, including dances, spirit days, fundraisers, and more. It was so much fun to be able to see the entire school come together and participate in spirit days like Character Day and Twin Day. Our main events of the year were the winter formal and spring banquet. These are the events into which we put the most effort -- especially the spring banquet which this year featured a dinner, dance, and awards show!We had a lot of fun around the holiday season with two weeks of Christmas themed games, prizes, and activities. The student body got to hunt for chocolates, search for a Christmas Elf, and even take photos with Santa Claus himself. The last day before Christmas break, classes were shortened and students got to try out some smaller activities, including karaoke and an arm-wrestling competition! It was a great way to cap off the calendar year.In May the student council put together a great Country & Western Day. Students spent half the day outside participating in classic events like the tractor pull (which I can proudly say Grade 12 won), a pie-eating contest, and the dunk tank. We also had free ice cream, a foam pit, and plenty of spike ball, tennis, beach volleyball, and other outdoor sports. Students were invited to dress in country attire like blue jeans, cowboy boots/hats, and annel shirts. We are excited to share the news with you, and all the former Student Councils since 2018, that the Green Space project will be completed this summer! We hope to celebrate this accomplishment of seven years and Student Council goals in September 2024. We would love to have you there. Thank you to Schilstra Builders and everyone who helped keep this project moving forward and we hope students can begin enjoying this next year. Overall, we put a lot of effort into our work together this year and we had a great time doing it. We are very grateful for this opportunity to serve, and we are thankful to the students for participating in every one of them. Thanks for all the memories!Stepping into the lightBY WILLEM HULTINK, STUDENT COUNCILCostumed students on Character Day.
15www.smithvillechristian.caClaudia AlvesMarketing ManagerHorticultural | Agricultural | Residential | Industrial | CommercialSamuel Dekker Master Electricianfeederelectricinc@gmail.com1-905-932-6975Wainfleet, OntECRA/ESA Licence #701591*Mutual fund business is done with your advisor through Sun Life Financial Investment Services (Canada) Inc. Advisors and their corporations conduct insurance business through Sun Life Financial Distributors (Canada) Inc. Sun Life Assurance Companyof Canada is the insurer and is a member of the Sun Life group of companies. © Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, 2023.Advice from someone you trust.Matt Dam* Hons BA, CLU®Financial Planner, Sun Life Jingwei Raina Sun* CLU®, RRC®, CFP® Financial Planner, Sun Life Matt Dam Financial Services Inc. Tel: 905-892-5993 30%30%Blinds. Shutters. DrapesGRIMSBY, ONWilliam and Christina Bezemer905.945.8008Fred & Adrian KoornneefSuppliers of Greenhouse Vegetables and Tender Fruitwww.koornneefproduce.com80100120140601604020180Dekkers Auto SalesService Automotive Sales • Repairs • A/C • Tires • Alignments • Diagnostics 905.386.6253Lorem ipsumHead Office36 Killaloe CrescentGeorgetown, ONL7G 5N2TICO #50019509ECHOES is printed on 30% post-consumer recycled paper.
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