School News

Chess Club is off to a great start! Our next club meeting is Friday, January 24. Parents, please join us! We need helpers to play with students who are still learning the game. After you check in at the office, Mrs. Bodine will direct you to a room.

Love quiz shows and geography trivia? You are invited to come watch our inaugural GeoBee on the morning of Wednesday, January 29. Students in 3rd-8th grade will first participate in classroom rounds after Morning Prayer. The questions are oral and will cover a wide range of topics in geography. Unlike a spelling bee, students will stay in for every round. They earn a point for each correct answer.

Ten students from 4th – 8th grade will move on to school finals at approximately 9 a.m. (While the Bee does not officially include 3rd graders, they will participate as a “practice year”.) In the finals, all students will answer the same questions and will write their answers on a board (like “Final Jeopardy!”). Students are eliminated after a second wrong answer. Our school champion will advance to the next level of competition, an online qualifying test to determine competitors in the State GeoBee.

Though they will not be competing in the GeoBee, the K-2 students will be joining the fun that week with some geography-themed activities.

We began this year’s annual fund drive with a goal of raising $70,000. We are pleased to report that through your generous support, we exceeded our goal! It is also worth noting and expressing our gratitude for the addition of over twenty families and alumni to the number of those who participated in last year’s campaign. Thank you for your prayers and your partnership as we help children cultivate habits of the life well-lived!

We are looking forward to the Spelling Bee on Monday morning! Parents are welcome to attend. Classroom bees will begin immediately after Morning Prayer. Three to five finalists from each room in Grades 3-8 will go on to compete against one another in the school Spelling Bee starting at approximately 9:00 a.m.

We raised $326 dollars in December for the School of Promise in Thailand! Thank you for your generosity. Special thanks to our students who made cards and prayed for the School of Promise students. Mrs. Bodine has been in contact with the school’s founder. He expressed his gratitude and sent us a video link to share with the Trinitas community.

WORK is our virtue for the month of January. We hope you all had the opportunity to rest from some of your work over break. The new year is a natural time to focus on developing some good work habits. We will be doing this at school and hope you will do the same at home. Look for our helpful ideas sheet in your student’s backpack or come up with your own ideas as a family.

Chess Club will meet Friday afternoons (2:10-2:55) on January 10, January 24, February 7, and February 21. All grades will take part. Homeschool partners are welcome and should contact their classroom teachers if they wish to participate. Click here for FAQs and links to online tutorials.

Parents, if you are free on one or more of the Chess Club afternoons, please join us! We need helpers to play with students who are just learning the game. After you check in at the office, Mrs. Bodine will direct you to a room.

Dollar-for-dollar match ends this month!

Thank you to all who have responded to our Annual Fund drive. We have received $14,940 in gifts which equals $29,880 when you add the dollar-for-dollar match. We still need $40,120 to meet this year’s goal, but half of that amount could be raised through the matching funds. The remaining matching funds expire at the end of this month. Every gift matters!

Worth remembering: Your gift reaches beyond the classroom.

The gifts we receive each year have an impact beyond the classroom. Ongoing parent and community education events, like Protect Young Eyes, are made possible through the generosity of our donors. Our teachers are able to attend professional development conferences. This year, we’ve been blessed to have Mrs. Benedict and Mrs. Poortenga sharing the role of Dean of Students, providing support to families and staff. While a part-time volunteer role at present, we would love to see it become a permanent staff position so we can continue meeting the needs of our growing community. The gifts we receive this year could help make that happen!