Thursday, 29 September 2011

Cycling update

The cyclists are dry! They have avoided the rain and are having a great day. They are scheduled to return to school at 6:15 tonight.

What's Happening?

Today: Grade 9 students are cycling and hiking in Niagara-on-the-Lake and we’re hosting the Christian College and University Fair.
So far, the cyclists are reporting no major downpours, but they have decided not to hike down the Niagara gorge because the terrain is too slick.

In addition to the fall sports that are underway (Boys Volleyball, Girls Basketball and Cross-Country), there are intramurals at lunch time and seven clubs with meetings this week: Yearbook Club, Book Club, Newspaper, Art Club, Praise Team, Guitar Club and Girls Group. There is a club or group for everyone at Smithville Christian!

Wednesday, 28 September 2011

How's your alternator?

Mr. Gord Park was our chapel speaker this morning: on the topic of encouragement.

He described an attempted late night departure from his cottage this summer, when a dashboard indicator revealed something was wrong with his car.

“I don’t want to get too technical with you, but the needly-thing was going in the wrong direction,” he said. “It was going down like the Titanic.”

The next-day diagnosis? A faulty alternator.

Mr. Park said his car troubles revealed the battery can be fine and the car’s engine can be fine, but without a properly working alternator, you’re stuck.

That’s how encouragement works in our lives, he said. We need people in our lives to deliver the charge that keeps our batteries full. Barnabas was like that, he said, offering encouragement to the apostle Paul.

Hebrews: 3:13: Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

“Sometimes in life, you feel like you are running low,” Mr. Park said. “We all need an alternator. We all need someone to draw alongside us.”

And sometimes you’re the alternator for someone else’s battery, he said. “It’s your job to pour into someone else’s life.”

But when things go wrong, “when we screw up,” the temptation is to withdraw ourselves, to isolate ourselves, he said. When we are tempted by things like pornography, or anger or to steal, we feel alone, “and that’s a bad place to be.”

“Temptation wants you to feel alone and weak,” said Mr. Park. “And when you are alone, you can think: ‘no one will find out.’”

That’s all the more reason to seek out encouragement, he said. “What we really need is somebody else. We were not meant to be alone. God created us to benefit from the blessings of being in relationship.”

Mr. Park encouraged us to talk with each other honestly “about the stuff that really matters,” and to encourage each other to overcome the temptations we are facing.

1 Cor. 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to us all. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

“Temptation is common to all human beings, but there is a way out,” he said. It could be the Word of God, the Holy Spirit, or a friend.


“Very often it’s the guys you are with who are your way out,” he said. “Hook up with other people you can trust, hook up with other people you can be honest with.”

“Grab hold of the things God has for you,” said Mr. Park. If God is in the centre of your friendships or the centre of your small group, “I swear to you that God’s blessing is all over that stuff.

“It is God’s heart for you to be with each other. It is God’s heart for you to be an alternator.”

We were also blessed by the members of a new student Praise Team, who led us in worship this morning.

Tuesday, 27 September 2011

Demolition and Retreat

Today the Grade 9 Shop class will be demolishing the bridges they’ve been building, while the Student Council executive is travelling to Crieff Hills Conference Centre for its annual leadership retreat. Our thanks to Devon, Janae, Tallia, Veronica, Isaac, Sam and Morgan for taking on these leadership roles. God bless you as you plan the student council theme and activities for the year. We look forward to hearing what’s in store for us.

Homework Club meets today at 3:30.

Congratulations to the Senior Boys Volleyball team who hosted Thorold Secondary School Monday and won three straight sets.

Monday, 26 September 2011

Monday at Smithville Christian

Grade 10 Science students are dissecting chickens and the Senior Boys Volleyball team is getting ready for a home game tonight against Thorold Secondary. If you want to see some exciting volleyball action, come out and cheer. Game starts at 3:30 p.m.

Here are some photos from art classes last week.

Grade 9 art students do contour drawings of their hands.



Senior art students decorate ceiling tiles for the upstairs hallway.


What you'll see if you look up.

Friday, 23 September 2011

Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-up

We got a lot of work done before the heavens opened and poured down rain!

Senior Boys Volleyball

The Senior Boys Volleyball team won the championship in Thursday's invitational tournament at E.L. Crossley Secondary School. You have two upcoming chances to see these amazing athletes in action:
Monday, September 26 we host Thorold Secondary at 3:30 p.m.
Thursday, September 29 we travel to West Park Secondary School in St. Catharines for 3:30 p.m. Come out and cheer! Go Storm!

Running and Cleaning

Mr. Wonder's Grade 9 Science class is heading to Nelles Beach in Grimsby this morning for the Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-up, while the cross-country team is heading to Burgoyne Woods in St. Catharines for the Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs invitational cross-country meet. Check back later for photos or follow us on Twitter for cross-country results @SmthvlleChrstn.

Thursday, 22 September 2011

Praise team at chapel

Here are some excerpts from the first student praise team performance at chapel -- with a little assistance from some teacher coaches. Auditions are still underway. We are blessed to have so many talented musicians among us who are willing to use their gifts to lead us in worship. Listen to "My Redeemer Lives," "Mighty to Save" and "Lord You Have My Heart."


Wednesday, 21 September 2011

When things go wrong, what do you do?

This morning’s chapel featured Mr. Neale Robb and a reflection on Proverbs 14:30: “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.”

“Have you ever been disappointed?” Mr. Robb asked the students. “Maybe you didn’t make a sports team, or you were interested in a particular person and he or she turned you down?”

“Sometimes when we are discouraged, or disappointed, or things don’t turn out the way we want, especially when it involves other people – when someone makes the team or gets the job we want – we might be tempted to be jealous or envious, to say ‘that’s not fair,” said Mr. Robb.

But that’s a dangerous response, he said. If we allow envy or jealousy to take root, it causes problems.



Mr. Robb shared two stories based on the Biblical accounts of Adonijah and Solomon, and David and Jonathan. Each story featured a person who didn’t get the promotion he deserved, but with two very different outcomes. Adonijah lost everything, and Jonathon and his family reaped the benefits of his loyalty.

“That’s the difference of a heart at peace,” said Mr. Robb.

“Let me encourage you that when you face a disappointment or discouragement go to the Lord and ask him to give you peace,” he said. “God will bless you as a result.”

Today’s chapel also featured the first performance from one of our emerging student praise teams. We are blessed to have talented musicians who are using their gifts to praise God and to lead us in worship, and we look forward to hearing more from many other students. We sang “My Redeemer Lives,” “Mighty to Save” and “Lord You Have My Heart.” Check back soon for some video highlights.

Mr. Park gave a brief description of plans for a musical this year, inviting students to sign up, and Melinda and Veronica announced the formation of a Girls' Bible Study group.

We also launched our intramural season today; first up: dodge ball.

Cross-country coach Mr. Andre introduced "the biggest cross-country team in the history of the school," and Mr. Harris and Mr. Bender introduced the Junior and Senior Girls Volleyball teams, which host South Lincoln High School tonight at 3:30 and 5:00 p.m. Come out and cheer. Go Storm!

Monday, 19 September 2011

What's Happening?

Our first Praise Team practice was held today and Tuesday will feature the Jr. Boys Volleyball team's first game of the season at 4:30 p.m. at St. Francis in St. Catharines. If you're in the area, come out and cheer. Sr. Boys Volleyball and Jr. and Sr. Girls Basketball are launching their seasons.

The cross-country team has begun training, the choir has begun rehearsing, France trip students are selling croquettes, and nominations for two student council positions are underway: for a Grade 9 rep and a Beacon rep.

The 2011 Golf Tournament was a huge success, raising nearly $40,000. Thanks to the organizing committee, our sponsors and our golfers.

Friday, 16 September 2011

Welcome Week Beach Party

Play dough castles, pineapple carving, limbo, bocce ball, volleyball and popsicles.

Thursday, 15 September 2011

Wednesday, 14 September 2011

Tuesday, 13 September 2011

Amazing Race

The Amazing Race is done and the photos have been submitted. Here are some of the some of the pictures taken by the 15 teams.


Here's the list of instructions and the 10 challenges.

• Each group needs to have a digital camera with cable to download the pictures.
• Each group must have a teacher with them at all times and in each picture.
• No vehicles may be used at any time.
• Only one student may be missing from each picture and it may not be the same picture.
• The last challenge will be each group’s downloading their pictures on to the school server on the classes file.

1. Take a picture of your whole group in front of the West Lincoln Firehall.

2. Take a picture of your whole group at a place where you would be in trouble.

3. Take a picture of your group in the air by an outdoor gazebo.

4. Take your picture of your team planking at the front door of a church.

5. Take a picture of your group hanging upside down at a play structure.

6. Take a picture of your group with someone walking their dog.

7. Take of a picture of your group at the following address with the resident in the picture with you:

8. Collect a receipt dated and timed for today from an local merchant. Take a picture of the receipt.

9. Take a picture of your group building a pyramid at a flag pole other than the one at school.

10. Take a picture of your whole team in a tree.

More photos:


Want to see even more photos? Check the school's YouTube channel later this week!