Staying Connected
At ECA, our vision is that school families Love God, Value Learning, and Serve Others.
Connecting Across the Atlantic
On August 16, 1858, the first transatlantic communication traveled from Great Britain to the United States. The telegraph message read “Directors of Atlantic Telegraph Company, Great Britain, to Directors in America: Europe and America are united by telegraph. Glory to God in the highest; on earth peace, good will towards men.” The entire message, with a few challenges that made requests for repeating certain parts, took 16 hours to completely send. For those of us living in the 21st century with cell phones and instant text messages, we often fail to think about just how important good communication and staying connected is.
Tomorrow will be our Back-to-School Night with an opportunity to connect and communicate in person in our classrooms. As we begin this school year, ECA’s goal is to stay in touch. We want to connect our families, students, and teachers together. Take it another step farther, and its important to ask how connected are we with the things that really matter? Jesus shared the importance of staying connected every minute of every day. That is something we can all strive for!
“"Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."” - John 15:4
Back-to-School Night - Tomorrow, Monday, September 14
Every year, ECA has a Back-to-School Night that offers an orientation for our school and classrooms for our school families. This year, it will be tomorrow, Monday, September 14. Here are the details!
6:15 - Dinner will be offered for students and families. Meals can be purchased online by following the link below. They can also be purchased that night by check or cash. There is a $5 charge for students in grade 2 or younger. For individuals in grades 3 & up including adults, the charge is $6 per person. The meal will be Yumm Bowls, dessert, and drink as cooked and prepared by our school cook Tami Waterson.
6:15 - Dinner will be offered for students and families
6:45 - Welcome & Group Announcements
6:50 - Open Classrooms for two sessions. During these sessions, you can visit homeroom teachers and get shared documents and information about how you can stay in touch this year. If you have a younger child, you can go to your child’s earliest classroom presentation and be done for the evening. If you have children in more than one grade, the classroom presentations will repeat after 20 minutes.
7:15 - Second session begins.
7:40 - Our evening program ends.
Support our 7th & 8th Grade Students with a Fundraiser at our Back-to-School Night
We are excited to have two wonderful AG Program volunteers and leaders that will be working with our students this year. Be sure to stop by the AG table. The 7th & 8th grade class planted ginger at the end of last year. Our leaders, Connie & Kim, have prepared several items that will support the two classes this year: whole giner, ginger candy, garlic, and lavender sachets. Currently, they are only able to take cash or checks (payable to Emerald Christian Academy).
Stop by the Home & School Table Too!
Stop by our Home & School Table and introduce yourself to Becky Johnson. She is a former student and mom to two former students as well. She will be giving away one basket of produce to each family: sugar pod peas, slicing tomatoes, and cherry tomatoes from our summer harvest. Your students worked hard last year to have a summer harvest and we are happy to share. Perhaps you can share something this year too.
Have you always wanted to get involved at school but didn’t know how? There will be information about joining Home & School that evening. You can be part of an exciting year in small or larger ways. You can also find information about volunteering at school, in classrooms, or on field trips. Background checks are needed. This easy process involves following a link, providing some basic information, and watching a couple videos on child safety. This check is done by our supervising conference and maintains a safe campus for your children.
Hot Lunch this Year at ECA
Hot lunch is on Wednesday this year. Meals for students in grades 1-2 are $5. For students in grades 3-8, meals are $6. Meals can be ordered and charged to your credit card that is on file. You can click on the hot lunch order link in the weekly newsletter, or can be ordered through the website in the student life tab.
Christian Counseling Available - Free Resources:
The NAD (North American Division of SDA) has recently shared new resources for children and teens that offer a safe and anonymous place to talk or text. Here is a news release from the NAD.
We’re excited to announce the launch of www.aruggedjourney.org our newest NAD site providing free online mentoring for guys. A Rugged Journey joins www.gorgeous2god.org (for young women) which has grown in its scope and ministry since its beginning in 2017.
These sites, along with their counterparts on social media, provide free help to our teens/young adults in a space they can ask questions without judgment or fear. The questions are answered by a team of dedicated Seventh-day Adventists at AIM on the campus of Andrews University.
In addition to the confidential Q & A, positive content is provided through videos, posts, etc.
www.gorgeous2god.org/ FB: gorgeous2god/ IG: @gorgeous2god
www.aruggedjourney.org/ FB: aruggedjourney/ IG: @aruggedjourney
Announcements & Upcoming Events
Monday, September 14 - Back-to-School Night
Thursday, September 17 - Sunday, September 20 - Middle School (Grades 7-8) Bible Camp
Monday, September 21 - Grades 5-8 ASB trip to the Florence, Oregon for the day
Monday, September 28 - ECA Track & Field Day
