As staff kicked off the year together, our opening devotion was on the theme of “Re-membering.” After being physically apart since March, September was a welcome opportunity for the members of the PCS community to come back together – to “re-member” as school. As the pandemic continues, and other world events cause our hearts trouble, it is also a time to remember God’s faithfulness. Faithfulness is a theme of Psalm 105, from which we drew our opening-day verse: Look to God and to God’s strength; seek God’s face always (Psalm 105:4).
As the challenges of the pandemic continue, the way in which we have come back together is quite different from the past: different class schedules, learning groups, staggered breaks, face masks. It’s all new, but students have adapted well to our safety protocols and routines. We’re also re-membering those who’s circumstances don’t allow them to be with us in person at this time and we look forward to them rejoining us in the future.
After two-and-a-half weeks, classes are well underway, and many other activities have started. The Senior Band and Jazz Band have begun rehearsals, and it is wonderful to hear music flowing out of the Studio once again. Our Junior Band players will meet during the elective block starting mid-October. Our yearbook team has also begun meeting, making plans to memorialize a unique school year!
School sports are underway. At this time, play must be within learning groups, while practices can include members of different learning groups if distance is maintained. Grade 8 Basketball and Junior and Senior Volleyball have started with practices. If students missed initial practice times, they are still invited to come out; watch the daily announcements for times (check them out at mypcs.ca). Plans are in the works for a PCS Covid Cup Volleyball challenge, with co-ed teams competing within each cohort. It will be a fun way to add some friendly competition to the team practice activities.
Next week is Go By Bike week, and students have been invited to register their participation and join the “PCS Pacers” team. We hope many will take up the challenge!
Next week, we will also mark Orange Shirt Day on Wednesday, September 30. We’ll be recognizing the importance of continued listening to the experiences of those impacted by residential schools. We’ll also focus on showing that “every child matters” by looking for ways to see others and lift them up.
As we continue the activities of school, we appreciate your efforts to honour drop-off and pick-up times to help us reduce crowding. A reminder, also, that students need clothing that allows them to be outdoors for breaks in the cooler, wetter weather. A small umbrella for light rain would be a good thing to add to the backpack!
If you have any questions about your child’s classes, we encourage you to reach out to teachers. The staff page on the website provides teacher names and email links. If the email link does not work for your mail server, keep in mind that the pattern for email addresses is firstname.lastname@pacificchristian.ca
Thank you for your partnership with us as we re-member to pursue Educational excellence to the glory of God.
Lorna Herzog
Secondary School Principal