"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."  Psalm 119:105

Hello from a snowy Coopersville!  After a well-deserved break over the Christmas season, the students were eager to return to school in January.  The first semester came to a successful close, and we are now well into the second half of our school year.  

CHRISTMAS PROGRAM 2021

Our Christmas program was held on the evening of December 21, 2021.  The students looked forward to this evening for a long time, and practiced for their program diligently.  After the opening by Mr. Fluit, one of the board members read a very applicable message by Rev. Lamain.  Following this, the students presented a program of recitation and song that started with the prophecies of Christ's birth through to the fulfillment in Bethlehem.  The program was closed with prayer, after which everyone was invited to the gym for a delicious array of refreshments.  

A new feature this year at the Christmas program was a Bake Table!  Many staff, volunteers, and students of DLIGR supplied the Bake Table with different kinds of cakes, pies, bars, cookies, fudge, breads, and seasonal Dutch treats like banket, advocaat and more.  By the end of the evening, all the baking was gone!  We would like to sincerely thank all those who baked and purchased in support of our school, which truly was far above and beyond our expectations!

KINDERGARTEN

Kindergarten has been busy!  We have finished learning all the letters of the alphabet, and are well on our way towards learning to read!  Every day, we work on reading a short story.  It is so special when books, words, signs, and even words on the walls come alive and begin to have meaning!  

The first graders enjoy Science along with Kindergarten, and have been working on a very interesting unit on health and safety.  We learned that glitter "germs" really do spread everywhere, and how to effectively wash our hands with soap and water.  We also learned why it's important to cover our mouths when sneezing or coughing.  We used a spray bottle to serve as our pretend "sneezes"...and our tables got kind of wet in a hurry!  Our unit also dealt with (not) talking to strangers and a fire safety walk to count all of the sprinklers, fire alarms, smoke detectors, and fire extinguishers that we could find in the building.  Perhaps the most eye-opening lesson was the discussion of bike safety and the importance of helmets.  Two eggs "fell off their bikes"...one with a helmet (a healthy layer of bubble wrap) and the other...alas...without.  

In Social Studies, we have been learning about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and concluded with making pictures of our national symbols with SnapCubes! 

ELEMENTARY LEARNING CENTER

Above:  Everyone loves silent reading in the afternoon.

Lower left:  Mrs. Rotich helping Maleah with a difficult math question.

Lower right:  We sometimes get to use the globe with our social studies paces!

Halfway through the third marking period?  That seems hard to believe, but taking a look at the many stars which students have collected on their progress charts tells us this is certainly the case!  

With Prayer Day this week, the lower elementary Bible students are spending class time learning more about prayer, the need for prayer, and what is a true prayer. The Church History students are also busy writing a paper on their readings about Luther, which they hope to discuss at the end of March.  Another special afternoon was when the students got to listen to parts of the story of the newly-translated edition of Pilgrim's Progress that has just been published for younger readers.  Afterwards, the students worked together to build a model replicating the castle of Giant Despair.

In literature, several book studies have been finished by students at different levels - these include The Boy in Striped Pajamas, Owls in the Family, and Charlotte's Web. Other students are learning about character traits and how authors use them in their writing. Some students are learning how to re-tell narratives, while others have explored various kinds of creative writing. Upper elementary students will soon be planning and writing their own fictional narratives. It is wonderful to see the progress of our younger students as they gain confidence in their reading and writing abilities! 

There have been other enjoyable highlights for students during these mid-winter weeks!  The upper elementary students have thoroughly enjoyed the basketball unit in PE - they have acquired some excellent skills and are real team players!  

Lower elementary math students have moved on to their second math book of the year.  What fun - they celebrated finishing their first book with a class math party!

Students continue to earn eggs for good behavior, and one Thursday, Mrs. Fluit set up a store in which they could purchase small items with their eggs.  All students went home with plenty of fun things.  It was heart-warming to see students buying items for each other, if some had fewer eggs to spend!

Above:  Playing a lively game of Rock, Paper, Scissors Tag in PE class

Lower Left:  Making beautiful progress in Art, boys!

Lower right:  Tessa, earning another cookie for her plate with a book project

Below:  At Christmas time all the students in Elementary worked on Christmas booklets during Bible class.  Each page was a new challenge with a unique activity and everyone really enjoyed them!

Science is always exciting for the elementary students!  Across the grades, they have learned about constellations, bees and honey, magnets, warm and cold-blooded animals, how plants grow, volcanos, and much more!  The projects and experiments are a highlight, and a nice change from working on school work.  Some students made dioramas about animal habitats, others erupted volcanos or tried out magnets and made static electricity, and still others made star gazers.  

SECONDARY LEARNING CENTER

 Grades 7-9 Bible students have been studying the history of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  With every lesson, they have been taught how the experiences of those three patriarchs are so instructive for all of us, both in daily life and for eternity.  As we now study the history of Joseph, the parallels between Joseph’s life and the Lord Jesus Christ are pointed out.  The life of Joseph also offers an opportunity to remind the students of how good it is to fear the Lord.  Though God’s true people must pass through many difficulties, yet the Lord is always with them, and truly never leaves nor forsakes them.   

Grades 10-12 students have spent the last months studying the life and labors of the Lord Jesus during the first and second years of His ministry.  They have recently undertaken a study of the Sermon on the Mount using a Bible study method in which they use Matthew Henry Study Bibles to answer a series of questions about each section of that sermon.  The variety in learning is a nice change for the students, and it is also good for them to become familiar with some of the important writings of our forefathers.    

After the Speech class finished their semester course, the students switched over to American Literature and are enjoying a series of books and literature studies on The Journey Westward.  Advanced Biology students are looking forward to some labs and dissections in the next few weeks.  A few students have added some variety to their scheduled courses, including an Art and Drawing Course, Computers, Music (learning to play an instrument in a few weeks!), a Construction Basics course, and teacher aiding in the elementary. 

Other secondary extras include the student committee to organize enjoyable activities to liven up breaks and noon hours.  Mr. Marion has challenged the high school students to design and build mouse trap catapults, which will be tested later in May.  Some of the high school girls organized a potluck for staff and students, which was heartily enjoyed by all.  The high school students and upper elementary students tested their aiming skills with a few games of live battleship, packed full of teamwork, action, strategy and laughter! 

SPANISH 2

Spanish class is currently studying the causes and effects of the civil war in Argentina, and discussing different forms of protest.  This ties in well with the current events both at home, and with our neighbors to the North of us, as the students have the opportunity to practice discussing these relevant situations in a second language.

We have also developed a new vocabulary game as a class that involves two "monos en el medio" (monkeys in the middle), a ball, and lots of action to help make the vocab words really stick!

Photos:  Rearranging Spanish words in order to match the lyrics of a Spanish song, called "Arroz con leche."  It sure tests their listening and understanding of authentic Spanish!

ELECTIVES

Shop class

After completing some of the big woodworking projects, the boys have split into three groups, each with a different focus.  Some of the boys go to Mr. Marshall's shop for further detailed education on autobody work and welding.  Another group of boys are at Mr. VanDyke's shop, working on large engines, such as a Ford tractor, and a four-cylinder diesel engine.  Between splitting a tractor completely apart to put a new ring gear on the fly wheel, watching a local machine shop rebuild the head of an engine, and disassembling the diesel engine to fix the crank shaft, these boys are learning so much!    The last group, under Mr. Fluit's guidance, have transitioned to finer woodworking skills.  A huge thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Vaughn for the use of their large heated shop, and to Bradley Slingerland for allowing them to use many of his woodworking tools! The boys spent some time planning and designing their projects, and are now well on their way to completion.  The projects include a large bookcase, a fishing rod organizer, a desk, and a shuffleboard.  Everyone enjoys these Wednesday afternoons!

Photography

The photography class ended their semester with preparing and capturing images of food.  So much more goes into the effort of food photography than meets the eye.  The pictures below are good enough to place into a recipe book, though!  The girls combined a portfolio together, which included a few of their favorite shots, and an explanation of what made each photo unique, special, and succesful.  They have since transitioned into a Yearbook class, under Emily and Annie's guidance and we are already looking forward to our next yearbook!

Practical Applications of American History

Fondly termed "the Pioneer class," these girls have been surprising us weekly with their projects. The girls learned to make yarn out of old shirts, dyed them different colors with natural substances like avocado pits, onion skins, marigold petals and peach pits, and then were taught how to knit potholders! Some of the girls liked the knitting so much, they snuck it into the learning center the following days, and would knit a few stitches here and there as they waited for their flags to be answered! The girls made jerky from fresh elk meat out of Colorado (thanks to Mrs. Kersten's brother!), and the next week prepared a variety of dinner items from game meat.  Next they made bars of soap using goat milk, and the whole school smelled clean and fresh!  Last week, while the weather stayed cold, the girls enjoyed a successful ice fishing excursion, and returned back to school with several blue gill, which they have frozen so that they can also learn how to clean and filet the fish!  Word has it they will be doing another fishing trip in the spring, and this has generated much excitement among the elementary students... Perhaps a field trip that involves fishing will be in the forecast for elementary when the weather turns a bit warmer.

SLEDDING 

As the snow started to fall more heavily in January, the staff was reminded almost daily of the reward sledding party for the hard work on the cinnamon roll fundraiser earlier this year. Thursday, February 3 all of the students and many staff and parents headed to Johnson park, a local sledding hill to enjoy an afternoon of snow and sledding. The students brought all kinds of sleds, snowboards, toboggans, saucers, and even a make-shift snow-bike, welded together with bike parts and left over steel and skis.  It was such a nice break from school work, and there was plenty of laughter, teamwork, tumbling, and snowball fights to match everyone's energy!

THE SHOE FUNDRAISER

We ended our shoe fundraiser with 1,526 pairs!  Thank you so much to everyone who donated, collected, and sorted footwear to help us get to this number.  These shoes will be shipped overseas to help small business entrepreneurs in developing countries, and we were able to raise money for our school while helping out!  

LIBRARY

Our library remains a cozy and appreciated space at school!  The elementary students are always excited to learn the new title of the week, and are anxious to snag their favorite ocean-themed stuffed animal during the quiet reading time after they've chosen their books. 

LOOKING AHEAD:  SCHOOL YEAR 2022-2023

Planning is underway to begin preparations for the next school year, the Lord willing.  If you are interested in learning more about our school, please feel free to contact our administrator, Mr. Jeremy Fluit, at jeremy.fluit@dligr.org.  We would be happy to arrange for a tour and/or shadow days for new students upon request.  If you are ready to enroll, please click the link below, and follow the instructions.  Thank you!

Donations to the school, regardless of the dollar amount contributed, are greatly appreciated, and can be given by mail, or by clicking the Donate Here button below.  Above all, may the Lord remember our school staff, volunteers, students, and board as we continue with our second year at DLIGR.  

Address:       Coopersville Bible Church

        35 Hillcrest Street

      Coopersville, MI

- or -

P.O. Box 19

                  Coopersville, MI 49404