Bear Facts The Weekly Newsletter of Bethany Lutheran School

Long Beach, CA www.bethanylutheran.org

Communication+Responsibility+Organization+Service+Sharing

WOW! What a wonderful “Night at the Museum” Open House and alumni event we had on Friday! My heart was so full seeing our Bethany family come together and celebrate the great things happening here at Bethany, as well as celebrating our 70th birthday. A HUGE thank you to all the volunteers who helped us pull everything together…we couldn’t have done it without you. The Parker Family won the family membership to the Museum of Natural History…congratulations! On another topic, our staff will look a little different on Friday as most of our teachers will be heading to the Computer Using Educators conference in Palm Springs. They will be attending lots of technology-integration sessions and picking up lots of tech tips for their classrooms. We have lots of great teacher subs lined up to cover for their absence and we pray for safe travels and lots of great professional learning! Blessed to be at Bethany, Dr. Fink

Mar. 15-Troubadour sings 7:00 Mar. 18-Concordia Handbell Festival Mar. 24-End Quarter 3 Mar. 28-PTL Meeting-6:30 PM-Library-Childcare provided Mar. 29-Trinity sings 7:00 PM Mar. 30-31 Parent Teacher Conferences Apr. 7-Uniform Free Day Apr. 7-School Musical-1:30 and 7:00 PM Coming SOON: May 20- FUN DAY!!! 11-3

School Bulletin #25 Mar. 14, 2017

+Chapel Leaders+ Mar. 15-Mr. Morner Mar. 22-Mrs. Orr Mar. 29-Miss Hinrichs

Chapel is at 9:00 in the church.

Our 2nd Annual Golf Ball Drop PTL Fundraiser raised $3375!! Proceeds from this fundraiser will purchase outside musical instruments for the preschool and art displays for the school. Thanks! The big winners for the ball drop:

The Collelo and Nelson families split the $500 (both had golf balls land in Bubba’s mouth) and the Fischer family won a $25 Scrip certificate for the ball farthest from Bubba’s mouth.

A HUGE thank you to Kelly Wegman for organizing this fundraiser, to the Long Beach Fire Department and to our Heavenly Father for a BEAUTIFUL sunset for the event!

Bethany’s MakerSpace is taking a break until after Easter. Parents, if you are interested in helping with MakerSpace supervision, let Dr. Fink know! It’s a great way to earn some FISH hours in a FUN way!

Family Lenten Devotions Do you want to attend Lenten services, but have young children who need to get to bed on time? Throughout the season of Lent, Bethany will have a special worship service for families with young children. Family Lenten Devotions will begin at 5:30 PM each Wednesday, and last for fifteen minutes. The focus for this time of worship will be the Journey of Jesus from Bethlehem to the cross and back to life. Traditional Lenten services will continue as always at 7:00 PM, with Soup Suppers being offered between 5:00 and 6:30 PM. All ages are welcome to attend either service.

The FISHin’ Hole Opportunities to Serve

We could use some help cleaning up

from our big event last week. Contact the school office if you’re available to

lend a hand during the school day!

All Scrip/Gift card purchases made before April 13 will increase the amount of your 2016/2017 Tuition or Tech Fee rebate. If you have a student in 5th, 6th or 7th grade you can “bank” your rebate for their 8th grade Washington DC trip. If your child is in 8th grade this year the rebate for all Scrip/Gift card purchases made before April 13 will increase their fundraising total for their DC trip. Our Scrip vendor is currently offering some rebate bonuses that we will share with you. Gift cards purchased before March 24 will be credited the additional rebate amount. This applies to physical cards purchased in the school office, or online through ScripNow. The participating retailers and bonus rebates are: California Pizza Kitchen (13%), Domino’s Pizza (10%), PetsMart (8%), Red Robin (11%) and TGIFridays (10%). Do you have plans to do some Spring home improvements? Whether you are redecorating a room, or just want a new picture or pillow, we have Bed, Bath & Beyond, The Container Store, Crate & Barrel, Home Goods, Macy’s, Overstock.com, Pier 1 and Pottery Barn available. Every Scrip purchase, large or small, increases the rebate you will receive in May!

Missing Something? (A blue jacket, perhaps?)

We have LOTS of lost-and-found items in the office and in EDC. Come and check to see if any of it belongs to you!

Brianna Esswein Memorial Golf Tournament News

Bethany’s annual Brianna Esswein Memorial Golf Tourney is scheduled for Friday, March 24, at the Lakewood Country Club. Grab some friends and join us for a day on the links! A portion of the proceeds from this event support Bethany Lutheran School scholarships! • Shot-gun start at 1:00PM, so

make plans to get there early for various contests offered on that day.

• Cost is $125/golfer. Registration forms are available in the school office.

• Tee sign sponsors are needed too. These $100 sponsorships can be a business sponsorship or a personal message (i.e. “The Craig Dean family would like to honor all their grandchildren”.)

Our March chapel offerings will be for another worthy organization: Free Wheelchair Mission. You can learn more about this organization here: https://www.youtube.com/user/FWMvideos

Save the Date: LEGO FUN DAY Is Coming!

Saturday, May 20th 11:00 am - 3:00 pm Keep an eye out in the

Bear Facts for more info.

Mark your calendar: Everything about it is going to be

AWESOME!

ATTENTION PARENTS! The PTL is looking for donations for the FUN DAY raffle. • Do you or someone you know own a local business? • Do you regularly patronize a local business? Please consider asking for a donation for the fun day raffle. Official donation request letters are available in the school office. If you have any questions, please text Jennifer Newton at 714-337-2722.

It’s St. Patrick’s Day on Friday! Students, you may wear green tops and jeans instead of uniforms if you’d like.

Easter See’s Candy order forms came home with your children last week…forms are due by March 23!

A CHRIST-CENTERED RESOURCE FOR FAMILIES AND TEACHERS

FAMILY MATTERS • Vol. 21 • No. 7 • March 2017 1

Upon This Rock: The Rock of Consistency

PHOTO: THINKSTOCK

While we often laugh at our habits — our lack of variety becoming predicable and thus amusing, and our fear of “turning into our parents” — there is great value in developing and finding patterns of consistency in our home,

especially for our children. Children need consistency in their lives: in sleeping and eating, in social

and spiritual activity, in times of being still and quiet. Some of the first things

we did as parents were to help our infant child find consistency. How

relieved we were when they would start to sleep on a regular basis, especially through the night!

One might call a pattern of acceptable consistency

“contentment.” This is something that St. Paul speaks of in Phil. 4:12:

“I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every

circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.”

This kind of earthly contentment can only be found in Christ. It is a contentment that comes in knowing that our sins have been forgiven through the death of Jesus on the cross.

It is a contentment that comes through the assurance of the gift of eternal life declared through the resurrection of Christ from the dead. It is a contentment provided by the ongoing presence of the Holy Spirit, as He guides our lives day in and day out.

May we find contentment in the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, which leads us to consistency in our daily lives as parents and leaders in our homes.

At a church workday, a man introduced his friend — a first-time visitor — to the rest of the group in the

following manner: “This is my friend, Roy. He and his family attend the late service, sit on the left side, center aisle, third row back.” This was followed by laughter and other similar introductions, as many of the men realized that they and their families had similar seating patterns at church.

It seems to be human nature to want to find consistency in our lives. We see predicable patterns in the seasons of the year; there is the need to eat consistently and get regular sleep. We find that daily, weekly, monthly and yearly calendars provide patterns that guide us in the familiar routines we call life.

Yet, there are some who bemoan these patterns as the foregone conclusion of a boring life. In this day and age of hype and extreme activity, the last thing we want to be seen as is boring! We don’t want that for our individual lives, and we don’t want to be seen that way as parents — to be labeled as a “dull dad” or “monotonous mom.” The problem is that we have associated a lack of activity in our lives in an inappropriate way. A lack of activity can be peace or welcome contentment, neither of which is a synonym for boring. Likewise, a lack of amusement does not necessarily mean boring. We might ask: Is pizazz always better than peace? Is commotion favored over calmness?

… there is great value in developing and finding patterns of consistency in our home, especially for our children.

“”

Vol. 21 • No. 7 • March 2017

Family Matters is an LCMS School Ministry newsletter Published by The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod 1333 S. Kirkwood Road, St. Louis, MO 63122-7295314-965-9000 • lcms.org Writer: Dr. Steven Christopher Designer: Lisa Moeller

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

TO REPRINT: Permission is granted to reprint articles from this newsletter with the credit line “Reprinted with permission of LCMS School Ministry.”

Gather the family together in a comfortable place in the home for a time of family interaction and Bible study using the outline below.

OPENING PRAYER: Have the person in the family who has their birthday closest to today offer an opening prayer.

FAMILY DISCUSSION TIME: Give each member of the family an opportunity to share their responses to the following prompts:

■ Something fun that you did yesterday. ■ Something you did today that you really liked doing. ■ Something you hope to do tomorrow.

FAMILY BIBLE SEARCH: As a family, look up Heb. 13:8 and read what it has to say about consistency.

1) Who is consistent in this verse? (Jesus.)

2) In what way does He remain consistent? (Jesus stays the same.)

3) What stays consistent about Jesus? (His care and love for us; His willingness to forgive our sins.)

4) Why is this important for us to know? (Answers will vary.)

CREATING MORE FAMILY CONSISTENCY: Get a whiteboard or large piece of paper, along with a pad of medium-size sticky notes and something to write with.

1) What are some ways that your family is consistent? (List them.)

2) Have these been good and helpful? Or not so good? (Answer honestly.)

3) What are some things that you would like to see your family be more consistent about? (List them.)

4) Hand out several sticky notes to everyone in the family. Ask them to write down one thing per sticky note that they will try to be more consistent about in the coming month. (Parents or older siblings can write down the items for children who aren’t able to write at this time.)

5) Put up the sticky notes in a prominent place in the home. Arrange them in the shape of a cross on the refrigerator, the door into the house from the garage or someplace that everyone will see often.

6) Pay attention to them during your family’s “comings and goings” over the next month. Ask each family member how he or she is doing in becoming more consistent.

CLOSING ECHO PRAYER: Have an adult or older sibling read the prayer below, section by section, with the rest of the family echoing each phrase.

Dear Jesus, thank You for living a perfect life, consistent and without sin. Thank You for dying on the cross for our sins. Thank You for the gift of eternal life. Help us to be more consistent in our love for You. Help us to be more consistent in our care toward others. In Your name, we pray. Amen.

FAMILY LINKS: Activities for families to reinforce Bible story truths in the home.

PHOTOS: THINKSTOCK

2017-2018 Tuition and Fees Bethany Lutheran School offers two tuition schedules; one for families who are members of Bethany Lutheran Church and the other for all other families. Claiming membership in Bethany Lutheran Church means:

a. One or both parents of the child are members and are listed on the church roll. b. The members are regular in their church and communion attendance and support Bethany Lutheran Church through their financial contributions.

All families are encouraged to use our SCRIP/Giftcard program and accumulate a SCRIP/Giftcard rebate, which may be used to offset some of the tuition costs.

2017-2018 Tuition Paid over 10 months

Members of Bethany Lutheran Church

One child …………………………………..$598 per month Two children. ………………………………$1041 per month Three children ………………………………$1328 per month

Members of the Community One child ……………………………………$687 per month Two children ………………………………..$1197 per month

Three children …………………………..$1526 per month Tuition payments are made via your FACTS account. Tuitions paid in full for the year by August 1 will receive a 5% reduction. Monthly tuition payments may be set up for the 5th or the 20th of the month. Late payments are subject to a $30 late fee. Bethany Lutheran School does not refuse enrollment solely due to matters of money if there is room available. If your family is struggling to meet tuition payments, please ask about need-based financial aid. There is a Registration Fee of $280 per child. For new students, this fee is due upon enrollment. For returning students, half of this amount, or $140, is due within two weeks of receiving the Registration Packet. The remaining half is to be paid on or before June 1. This fee includes a playground insurance premium, a school yearbook, a package of individual school photos, a book rental fee, and other miscellaneous fees. This fee does not include some literature books that the pupils must purchase. There is also a Technology Fee of $250 per child. This fee may be paid in several ways:

• In full with registration. • Half the fee at registration and half on June 15. • Billed monthly beginning in August. • Paid with your 2017-2018 Scrip/Giftcard rebate.( If your rebate is less than your technology fee, the

school will bill you for the balance on May 16, 2018.) • You may combine any of the above options…just let the office know your preference.

Registration and technology fees are non-refundable. Questions concerning the tax deductibility of payments to Bethany Lutheran School or Bethany Lutheran Church should be referred to qualified tax counsel.

Bethany Lutheran School 5100 Arbor Road

Long Beach, California 90808 (562) 420-7783

March 14, 2017 Dear Parents, The third quarter of the school year ends on March 24. We will hold Parent/Teacher conferences for Grades K-8 on Thursday, March 30 and Friday, March 31. (Please note: School dismisses at noon both days.) The purposes of Parent/Teacher Conferences are to celebrate successes, review progress and encourage student academic growth. The conferences will be 15 minutes long and it will be important to begin and end on time, since our teachers will be booked most of the day. If you need a longer conference, please contact the teacher to schedule it on another day. The conference times will be: Thursday, March 30: 1:00-8:00 (every 15 minutes) Friday, March 31: 1:00-3:00 (every 15 minutes)

Please fill out the slip below. If you have more than one child, we will work to schedule your conferences close together so please send in one slip per family. Please return this slip by Friday, March 17. We will notify you of your conference time by Monday, March 27. Middle School Parents: Please schedule a conference with your child’s homeroom teacher. You may also schedule a conference with any of your child’s other teachers for subjects such as Math, Spanish, Science, etc., if you have concerns you wish to discuss. Please note that Senorita Anguka is available on Thursday afternoon noon to 2 p.m. and Friday morning, 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. . If you need to meet with her another day, please contact her directly and she will be happy to schedule a time. If you have younger children, we’ll do our best to schedule all your conferences close together. In Christ, Dr. Mary Fink, Principal ------------------------------------------------------D E T A C H---------------------------------------------------------- CHILD’S NAME: GRADE/TEACHER: DAY/TIME: ALT.: _______________________ __________________________ _______________________ ______ _______________________ __________________________ _______________________ ______ _______________________ __________________________ _______________________ ______ In the Comment section below, please indicate if you wish to have Mrs. Moorman or Mrs. Kritzer attend. COMMENTS: __________________________________________________________________________________________

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