Bear Facts
The Weekly Newsletter of Bethany Lutheran School Long Beach, CA www.bethanylutheran.org Communication+Responsibility+Organization+Service+Sharing
I had my first pumpkin spice latte of the season, so it MUST be fall! We have lots of great fall traditions here at Bethany, including 7th Grade Catalina camp and 5th Grade Astrocamp, our annual Jog-athon and the PTL’s Pumpkin Patch! The Jog-a-thon is scheduled for October 6. This is our BIGGEST fundraiser of the year. It helps fund PTL activities for the rest of the year, and also helps families in Grades 4, 5, 7 and 8 pay for camp/travel experiences. Watch the Bear Facts and your child’s backpack for more details and ways you can help as the Jog-a-thon draws closer. This year our Pumpkin Patch Carnival will have a NEW NAME: “Kinderfeier” This is a German word that means “children’s holiday” or fair. Because 2017 marks the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, we’re combining our traditional carnival with a goodold-fashioned Oktoberfest. We’ll still have games, candy, costumes, etc., but we’ll also have an oompa-pa band, German food and more! Watch for more details on our “Oktoberfest/Kinderfeier” in the weeks to come! Keep our 7th graders and chaperones in your prayers this week as they enjoy God’s beautiful creation on Catalina Island! Blessings to you, Dr. Fink
RAISE A GLASS FOR STUDENT SUCCESS! Our annual RAISE A GLASS event is planned for Saturday, October 21, 2017! RAG is the annual fund raising event for Bethany Student Success Program! Please add this date to your calendar and plan to also extend this invitation to other friends & family to celebrate and support Student Success. We have a great new venue at the Gaslamp in Long Beach, an amazing assortment of unique auction items, and a delightful afternoon to “raise your glass.” Do you have items you can donate for our event? At RAG we have live auctions, as well as “opportunity” drawings for variety of items. We welcome your special donations and appreciate any direct financial contributions, as well! If you are interested in donating, please contact Sheri Esswein (714)863-5615. Tickets to attend RAG are available in the school office. For information about Student Success, please contact Mrs. Jill Moorman at
[email protected].
Join Cub Scout Pack 75 for a Drive-In Movie Event! Friday, Sept 22 at 6 PM Kids will build and decorate their cardboard cars, enjoy popcorn and watch "The Lego Batman Movie" on the big screen. Parents bring chairs to watch the movie. Cub Scout information will be available for those interested in scouting or contact Tiffany Jump at
[email protected].
School Bulletin #5 September 19, 2017
Sept. 18-22 7th Graders to Catalina Sept. 24 K-2 sings 10:55 Sept. 26- PTL Meeting-6:30 PM-Library-Childcare available Sept. 29-1st Quarter Progress Reports Oct. 4-Club 35 Youth Group Oct. 6-Jog-a-thon Minimum Day-Noon dismissal-EDC available if signed up ahead of time Oct. 9-Columbus Day-We DO have school that day! Oct. 11-13 5th Grade to Astrocamp Oct. 13-Middle School Dance
The FISHin’ Hole Opportunities to Serve HELP! HELP! We have a Bethany jersey with the retired number of our past Athletic Director, Pete Grothaus, which we would like to mount in a decorative box and display in our gym. We have all of the supplies for this project and just need it assembled and hung in the gym. Can you help? If so, please contact Dr. Fink. Parents, our traffic in the parking lot was much better last week…thanks! One suggestion: if traffic is heavy on Arbor Road as you leave our lot, please consider turning right instead of left so we can clear cars out a little quicker. We’d appreciate it!
Keeping you in the loop… . •
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SchoolMessenger is the service we use to send reminder text messages to parents. If you haven’t already (or if you have a new cell number) please text the word YES to 67587 so you can receive these reminders. Do you have the Bethany app? It’s available in the App Store or Google Play. It makes lots of useful information available right at your fingertips. Here is the sign-in information for the app:
Every Wednesday we have a Chapel (church) service for the entire school. Sometimes the students lead these, and sometimes members of the staff lead them. At each of these services we collect an offering for a worthy charity. These offerings teach our students the importance of using our financial blessings to make a difference in the lives of others. You are always welcome to attend our chapel services and your support is always appreciated. For September, we will be donating our offerings to an organization called Fikisha, who serves street youth in Africa. Learn more here: fikisha.org
Sports News Bethany Bears Tuesday – Varsity girls’ volleyball AWAY vs. Emmaus, Alhambra at 3:30. JV girls’ match to follow at 4:30. Wednesday – Varsity and JV boys’ football AWAY vs. ChristWest Covina. Games at 3:30 and 4:30
Username/Password for K-8: Dayschool/dayschool Username/Password for preschool: Preschool/preschool Username for both (all info together): All/all
Parents, you are ALL members of our Parent Teacher League (PTL), our amazing group of parent leadership and an important part of making Bethany such a special place. Would you like to get involved in a PTL activity? There’s a place for you! Just contact our PTL President, Jen Carlson:
[email protected]
Bethany families who are in the habit of purchasing Scrip/gift cards before they go shopping, eat out, go to the movies, even buy a cup of coffee, appreciate the benefits of using Scrip. Last year several families paid their entire Tech Fee with their Scrip Rebate. A few families earned a rebate larger than the amount of the Tech Fee so they also saved money on their August tuition! Are you using Amazon for more of your shopping, even grocery shopping? Purchase Amazon.com certificates from Bethany Scrip to pay for your order. Another online shopping option is the eScrip Online Mall. You can access the Online Mall through the school portion of the Bethany website. Click on “Scrip” to find the link to the Online Mall. You can shop at over 1,000 of your favorite merchants, plus automatically earn a tuition rebate.
We are looking for parents who can help serve ChoiceLunch on Mondays, Wednesdays or Fridays. You can receive a credit for a free lunch for your child each day that you serve! Contact Ms. Charette in the office if you are interested/available!
Parent Pages RESOURCES FOR CHRISTIAN PARENTS IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Jesus It’s Still All About
R
ecently the term “nones” has been used to describe a group of American adults who claim no religious affiliation. It is interesting that some of these survey responders indicated that religion is important to them; they just avoid church. What they do not realize is that the more they stay away from church, the less important Jesus is in their life.
This is a scary idea for Christian parents. We want our children to be with us in heaven, and we want them to know the power of the faith God gives them. There are so many strange and dangerous “spiritual” paths for our children to wander. Our children need to have resilient faith rather than become aimless “nones.” Our goal for them is a healthy, effective spiritual life. This cannot happen outside of God’s Word.
pathways. This connects everything we learn to what the brain understands to be important — a beautiful part of God’s design. Regular church attendance is an important ritual. We do not attend church in order to be rewarded; we attend church because it is where we find the Word and Sacraments. Other rituals, such as family prayer, devotion times and celebrating baptismal birthdays, also reinforce that a family loves Jesus.
Faith grows through our Faith grows through our interaction with the Word and interaction with the Word and Sacraments, and the Small Catechism is a reminder that Sacraments, and the Small Luther knew family has a critical role in nurturing faith. Catechism is a reminder that Luther knew family has a critical role in nurturing faith. Raising children who are spiritually healthy is not accomplished Study through a simple list of activities. A family nurtures It is too easy to assume that church, school and child care spiritual growth by building a foundation around ritual, center activities are enough for your child to learn about study, the world and service. Jesus. We can never get too much of learning about God!
Ritual
Ritual is an often dismissed aspect of learning. Ritual establishes what is important simply because it is what we do every day and every week. The brain pays attention to activities we repeat and in so doing creates strong neural
There is strong value in what your children learn from expert teachers who know how to teach to your child’s level; however, children need to hear about God from their parents too. Hearing God’s Word at home, church and school shows children that Jesus is a part of every aspect of their lives.
Parent Pages • Vol. 17 No. 1 • September 2017 PHOTO: LCMS COMMUNICATIONS/ERIK M. LUNSFORD
1
World
Service
Service is not something we do out of obligation, but it comes as a result of our salvation. Help your children to understand that salvation brings joy, and this joy begs to be shared. Setting aside money for giving to the church is an easy service habit to build. In addition, help your children to look for ways to serve each other, neighbors and older relatives. These kinds of service will become healthy habits that grow into other expressions of joy.
A healthy faith is a well-nurtured and well-used faith. The faith we receive at our Baptism is not for sitting on a shelf and dusting off for special occasions. It is a working, living, growing faith under the care of God. We do not keep our teeth healthy if we only brush them the day we visit the dentist. Instead, we develop daily dental habits that keep our teeth healthy for life. For a healthy spiritual life, show your child how to keep Jesus as a part of everything you do.
PHOTO: LCMS COMMUNICATIONS/ERIK M. LUNSFORD
When we have faith, we have a natural desire to share that joy with others. Part of walking a healthy spiritual path includes sharing God’s love. It also includes applying God’s Word to situations in the world. When you model this by pointing out Christian thinking in world circumstances, you model how to share Jesus with others. Children who have experienced family discussions about social media, current events, movies and popular music learn that God’s Word is applicable in all places. Children who learn to see the world through Jesus’ eyes will share their faith in natural and comfortable ways. They will also develop a sense of discernment that will let them identify false teaching.
For Further Study ■■ Read the Pew Research Center study that explains more about “nones” at pewresearch.org/facttank/2015/05/13/acloser-look-at-americasrapidly-growing-religious-nones. ■■ The Illuminated Catechism from Concordia Publishing House is a new way to study the catechism together as a family cph.org/p-30796-theilluminated-catechism.aspx.
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:8). It is an immeasurable blessing that Jesus Christ remains the same. He is certainly a part of our yesterdays, todays and forever.
Parent Pages Vol. 17 • No. 1 • September 2017 Parent Pages is an LCMS School Ministry newsletter published by The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod 1333 S. Kirkwood Road, St. Louis, MO 63122-7295 314-965-9000 • lcms.org Writer: Dr. Kim Marxhausen Designer: Chrissy Thomas © 2017 LCMS
TO REPRINT: Permission is granted to reprint articles from this newsletter with the credit line “Reprinted with permission of LCMS School Ministry.” Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
