Walking in the Light

Prayer Cards – Each morning our teachers meet for devotions as we prepare for our day. We also regularly pray for our students. The students we will be praying for next week will be: Samantha Buchanan (Pre-K), Cameron Christen (1^st), Connor Knoblauch (Kind.), and Dalton Moore (2^nd).

Basketball Tournament – Our varsity boys’ basketball team finished the official season 5-2 and will now play in the Lutheran Basketball Tournament beginning next Monday. We will host a first round game here at WLS against Central Lutheran who we just played here last week and won that game. The game is scheduled to begin at 5:15. Since it is a tournament game, there will be an admission fee of $2 for students (K – 12) and $3 for adults. Come and cheer our team on. If they win on Monday, they will play their second game Wednesday evening at Mount Calvary beginning at 5:15.

Report Cards – Second quarter report cards are coming home today. If you have any questions after you look them over, please contact your child’s teacher and set up a conference.

Additional Enclosures in your child’s Report Card envelope include:

1. An Absence/Tardy Policy Reminder Form (sent only with those K-8 students who have been absent or tardy in the first or second quarters). This will be sent home with each quarter’s report cards (the form had to be re-done and was not sent home with the first quarter cards). This form is to remind you of the number of your child’s/children’s absences and tardies and to remind you of the WLS Attendance Policy – please read the policy on the back side of the form. If you have any questions about the absences or tardies listed, please call the school secretary (632-5493).
2. A Parent/Teacher Consultation Request Form – complete this form and send back to the school office after reviewing your child’s report card. Please return them by Friday, January 26.

Chapel News  Next Wednesday’s Chapel service (January 24), will be at Christ Lutheran Church, 8:15 a.m., with Mr. Henry leading. Our Chapel offerings for December and January will help with Lutheran World Relief. Through January 10, the total collected is $135.32. Chapel envelopes will be given to the K-8 students next Tuesday. Parents, Grandparents, Friends of WLS students – you are all welcome to join us for any or all of our Chapel Services. Just read your weekly newsletter and your WLS monthly calendars for chapel locations and times.

Lunch Menus for Next Week

Monday, January 22 – BBQ Pork Sandwich, Broccoli with Cheese, Pineapple, Trail Mix, Milk

Tuesday, January 23 – Meatballs with Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Strawberry Shortcake, Dinner Roll, Milk

Wednesday, January 24 – Taco Salad, Carrot Curls, Pears, Hot Fudge Sundae, Milk (Jared Huth’s favorite meal).

Thursday, January 25 – Hamburger Sandwich, Fries, Shape-Up, Peanut Butter Ball, Pickles, Milk

Friday, January 26 – Corn Dog, Veggies with Dip, Grapes, Cookie, Milk

Lunch Program Note: “This year I thought it would be fun to give each student in 8^th grade their own “lunch day”. They filled out a survey asking what their favorite items were in a meal. A lot of them liked the same things. We will try to follow their favorites just as close as possible. Some things might have to be their 2^nd favorite, but I will try my best. Jared Huth’s favorites are being served on Wednesday, January 24.”  (Kitchen Manager Jen Osborn)

Candlelighters for Christ and Zion Churches:  Christ, Sunday, January 21, 8:00 a.m. – Evan Powell, 10:30 a.m. – Abby Rekeweg, Zion, Sunday, January 21, 9:00 a.m. – Caleb Hathaway.

Grandparent Reading Helpers Are Needed For Grade One – Beginning on Thursday, FEBRUARY 1, at 9:45 a.m.  (PLEASE NOTE: THE STARTING DATE HAS BEEN CHANGED TO FEBRUARY 1, BECAUSE WE HAVE A 2-HOUR LATE ARRIVAL ON FEBRUARY 8). No experience needed! Just volunteer, arrive at the WLS cafeteria at around 9:45 each week, and Mrs. Schlie will give you all the materials you need to help your  first grader with his/her reading skills – you will also do some special projects from time to time. If you wish to eat hot lunch here with your first grader, check in at the school office first to pay the $2.50 cost. Please call the WLS office at 632-5493 to volunteer. For more information, call the school office or talk to Mrs. Schlie.  (Only one reading helper has volunteered so far for Grade 1 – Parents of grade 1 students, please ask your family members if they are interested, then call the school office.)

Thrivent GivingPlus Information  Please note the following information from a letter received from Thrivent:

“We’d like to inform your organization that we have made some changes to the GivingPlus Gift Form for 2007. Changes have been made to “Donor Information” section that address member privacy concerns. Changes also have been made to the “Gift Information” section that should make the form easier for donors to complete.”

The new GivingPlus gift form will be available later on in January. Please wait until these new forms are available to begin donations for 2007. Watch for information in this newsletter informing you that the new forms are here.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT OF THIS WONDERFUL PROGRAM!

Concordia High School Invitation   Parents (as well as prospective students) are invited to the Discover Concordia Information Night on Tuesday, January 23, at 6:30 p.m. Come and meet with administrators, department heads, guidance counselors and CLHS students. Tour the facilities. Ask questions at booths and classrooms where displays are available for you to discover Concordia. For additional information, please contact Mrs.Krista Friend, Enrollment Management Coordinator at 260-483-1102, ext. 219.

Bowling Benefit!  The first Annual “Cindy Carpenter Memorial Scholarship for Continuing Education Bowling Tournament” will be held on Saturday, February 3 at Woodburn Lanes. The scholarship is in memory of Cindy Carpenter of Woodburn (Blaze Betz’s late grandmother) who had a brain aneurysm and died in February of 2006. The money raised from the tournament will go to the Nursing Staff at Parkview Hospital. It will be set up to assist them so that they can further their education on any specific focus of their interest. Teams of 5, Pin No-Tap, No Handicap, No Sanction, Bowl for FUN! The entry fee is $30 per person. Prize money for the top 3 winning teams; also raffles and drawings. Tourney times for squads are 2:30 p.m., 10:00 p.m., and 1:30 a.m. Entry forms are available in the school office – make checks payable to “Parkview Hospital Foundation”.  Questions? – call Courtney Reichhart (414-6197 and Mariah Betz (433-1369).

100^th Day of School!  The 100^th day of school will fall on Thursday, January 25, this year (unless we have a snow day). Some of the lower grade classes will be celebrating with special “100” projects. After January 25, only 80 more days to go!

Congratulations to Grace Keller, who is the winner of the 2007 WLS Spelling Bee and also to Evan Powell, runner-up! Grace will now compete in the Allen County Spelling Bee on February 3^rd. Grace and Evan are 8^th grade students.

PTL Fish and Chicken Strip Dinner Committee Meeting – Tuesday, January 30, 7:00 P.M.  Those on the Committee are: Mike and Wendy McConnell, Roger and Kris Meyer, Dane and Andi Adams, Janelle Berry, William and Valerie Bratten, Jarrod and Becky Dietel, Charles and Cathy Douglas, Mark and Janell Fuller, Jake and Jamie Gentz, Dean and Fay Gerbers, Tim and Susan Gerig, Debbie Hamilton, Debbie Houser, Nick and Dana Klopfenstein, Greg and Barb Maroney, Rod and Joyce Nahrwold, Andrew and Jennifer Neireiter, Erick and Barb Phillips, Terry and Wendy Powell, Nathan and Heather Pyle, Linda Schlie, Doug and Jennifer Swanson, James and Jeanetta Wilson, and Wes and Joyce Witmer. Teacher Representative is Mrs. Arlys Staub.

Recycling is Tomorrow, January 20 – Due to the Boys Tourney Game being on Monday, some of the 7^th and 8^th grade students are now able to work. Phone calls were made to the parents of the workers; no form was sent out this month. Scheduled to work are: Caleb Hathaway, Sam Hathaway, Jared Huth, Carly Huth, A.J. Stites, Kaitlyn Wiley and Parent, Evan Powell, Taylor Heckley, Alicia Heckley, Nathan Wiedemann, Jesse Schlie, Joe Schlie, and Buddy Douglas and Parent.

Brochures of Interest in the School Office include:

1. Each K-8 student received a Comcast 2007 Komet Hockey Report Card Night Flyer this week for a game on February 3^rd – more flyers are available in the school office.
2. A brochure and registration form from Promise Ministries advertising their “Upward Soccer” League. Stop by the school office to pick one up if  you are interested.
3. Information about Camp Lutherhaven for the summer of 2007 – we received our first brochure from Lutherhaven in the mail this week. The theme for this year is “Brilliant! – I am the Light of the World”. Call 260-636-7101 or check their web site, www.lutherhaven.org for registration information.

Reflections on the 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th Grades Basketball Season:  “As most of you know, we had a very young team this year. Out of nine players on the team, five were 4^th graders. The team knew going into the season that it was going to be tough to compete with large teams comprised of mostly of 6^th graders and that we could be in for a rough season. This proved true and we ended the season without a win on the scoreboard. However, they worked very hard and improved greatly with each game they played and I’m proud to have coached them.

   In the gymnasium at Bethlehem the following was written on the wall, “ Sportsmanship is the ability to: win without boasting; lose without complaining; and to always treat your opponent with respect.” The team at WLS certainly displayed good sportsmanship and represented their school with pride in every game. No matter how lopsided the score looked they never gave up or got discouraged. We should all be very proud of them!

   During our last practice, awards were presented and I want to recognize those players in the Paw Prints this week. There are four players who had perfect attendance at the practices and games: Dylan Gerig, Evan Gustin, Tyler Knapp, and Shawn Kitzmiller. We also had a free throw competition during our practices and Tyler Knapp received a gift certificate to EB Games for being the most improved free throw shooter on the team. I will also add that Tyler made 100% of his free throws during our games this year. Congratulations to these players. I really appreciate their dedication and special effort this year.

   I want to thank all of the parents for making my job easy. I have never coached basketball before and I appreciated your patience with me. I probably learned as much, probably more, than the team did this year and it was a pleasure to have the opportunity to coach them. They are a great group of kids.

   I also want to thank Jennifer Osborn for volunteering to be the assistant coach. She was a big help at practice and especially with away games, making sure we had our equipment and driving to games. Thanks to all the parents who provided transportation to the away games and those who came to cheer for us. I really appreciate it.

   A special thanks to Tim, Susan, and Morgan Gerig for helping at practice. Morgan came to our practices to give us a chance to do five-on-five scrimmages. She really held her own playing with the boys and helped us tremendously. Tim helped us with our basketball fundamentals and taught me a thing or two about coaching.

   Thanks to all of you for making this a positive experience for me as well as the team. I’m actually looking forward to doing this again next year!”       Mark Gustin

CALENDAR

    JANUARY  20 – RECYCLING, 9-12

                     22 – PS-3 & PS-4 TO PETLAND

                     22 – 7 & 8 BOYS TOURNAMENT GAME, WLS, 5:15 P.M.

                     23 – PS-2 TO PETLAND

                     24 – ½ HOUR EARLY DISMISSAL, 2:15

                     24 – BROWNIE MEETING, 2:15-4:30

                     24 – FACULTY MEETING, 2:30-4:00

                     24 – WOODBURN YOUTH BASKETBALL, 6:00 & 7:00 P.M.

                     25 – 100^TH DAY OF SCHOOL!!