OCSI CONNECTIONS 2022 Winter Edition
TABLE OF CONTENTS
From the Head of School's Desk
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Elementary Principal Update
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Elementary Clubs
07
Secondary Principal Update
09
Athletics
11
Secondary Clubs
13
Learning Trips/ Events
15
Business Updat
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Operations Update
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Okinawa Christian School International
January 2022
FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL'S DESK
WHAT IS YOUR NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION? Did you make a New Year's resolution this year? The practice goes back more than 4,000 years to the ancient Babylonians who would often make promises to repay debts or return borrowed items at the start of the new year. In modern times, however, most New Year's resolutions have to do with saving money, losing weight, getting healthy, or improving one's life in some way. For Christians, it's important that our resolutions align with a biblical worldview and help us pursue a life focused on living for and serving God. So what are some examples of New Year's resolutions that will help you and your family grow closer to God this year? Maybe your family could commit to finding a church family here on the island to be a part of. Maybe you could commit to reading the Bible and praying with your children each night. I would encourage you to consider making a FAMILY resolution for 2022; one that you can commit to together and keep each other accountable. For more ideas to help your family make the most out of 2022, check out these resources: 10 New Year's Resolutions For Christians Healthy New Year's Resolutions For Kids Family New Year's Resolution Ideas Thank you for joining us in prayer for a peaceful and healthy 2022 for the OCSI Community!
MEGAN ROE
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WHAT DO YOU VALUE? At OCSI we value Christ-Centered Community,
2022 OCSI Walkathon
Focus, Empowerment, Best Practice, and Growth. Each of these will help our students,
The Walkathon has been
staff, and parents be further equipped to walk
rescheduled for March 19th.
with Jesus and impact the world for Him. The opportunity to share in Christ-Centered Community is something that makes OCSI unique and special. We hope that you have found ways to get involved and find community here. We hope you will consider becoming active with our PTF by participating in the OCSI Walkathon. We are so excited to be able to bring this event back to our community. A big thank
This year, 100% of the funds raised will be used towards replacing the existing floors in the gymnasium and installing climate control in the gymnasium. We hope that many of you will
you to PTF for all of their planning. For more
come and join us for a day of
information, please reach out to ptf@ocsi.org.
fun, fitness, and matsuri games!
"Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near." Hebrews 10:24-25
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ELEMENTARY PRINCIPAL UPDATE Sarah Turner
Creativity and Learning Being with children even for a short time, you can realize how creative they are! From inventing new games to intricate works of art, creativity flows. Albert Einstein said, "Creativity is intelligence having fun." A famous educator created 6 layers of learning called Bloom's Taxonomy. It goes from easiest to hardest: remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, creating. Creating can often be more difficult when compared to simply remembering something, but it can also be the most meaningful. At OCSI, we give students an array of ways to show that they have mastered the content ranging from remembering information on a test to creating and designing projects. It's no surprise that children love to create, as we as humans are all created in the image of God (Gen 1:27) God is the ultimate creator who created the heavens and the earth with simply a word. God doesn't make any mistakes and everything created by Him is good and wonderful - including each child at OCSI. When we let students create, we are pointing all glory back to our creator, God.
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Creativity and Learning The 5th graders at OCSI take part in Makers Faire, where they create and design a project. In May they present their project to other classes in elementary. The 4th graders created and painted clay topographical maps of the islands of Okinawa. The 3rd graders made carts with a small set of materials and certain "criteria" and "constraints." The 2nd graders designed a dream vacation for their teachers showing their addition skills. The 1st graders created animals using shapes. The Kindergarteners learned about winter by creating a snowman out of cotton balls. PreK students made fidget toys based on a student's passion and connected it to Social Emotional Learning.
Coming Up January 21st - End of 2nd Quarter January 28th - Report Cards emailed out February 11th - Rescheduled Kite Day and Parent Observations February 21st - NO SCHOOL March 21st - Student Led Conference day - No school for students
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SBULC
ELEMENTARY CLUBS CRAFT CLUB BOOK CLUB TINY TOTS SOCCER CLUB CUB SCOUTS 8
SECONDARY PRINCIPAL UPDATE Daniel Pallmann
Planning in 2022 Robert Burns wrote that the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. This has certainly been true of all of us these past 2+ years. It has been hugely disappointing to have students plan for an event only to have it cancelled-sometimes shortly before it was due to happen. Of course safety comes first and we will not take any unnecessary risks. One thing that helps me to press on is knowing that God is sovereign, meaning that He is in control of all things, As we strive to provide a quality education for our students we will need to balance it with many health and safety restrictions. As we lean on God to help us through these challenging times, it has been neat to see the creativity of both students and teachers. The next page demonstrates some of the things we were able to do this quarter.
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A Busy 2nd Quarter It has been a busy second quarter: On November 3, we had Parent Teacher Conferences. This is always a good time for parents and teachers to connect with each other in person. On November 4th, we had our National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) Induction Ceremony. This was for Middle School students that were selected last spring. Middle and High school music students performed their Christmas Performance on December 3rd. Although we were outside, it was impressive to hear both voices and instruments harmonizing together. The week of January 3rd brought students back to school on 1/5. They also enjoyed hearing and touching Koto, as some Koto players came to visit. On Saturday, January 8, we were blessed to have the Koto players perform a concert for parents.
Secondary Christmas Performance page 0210
SCITELHTA OCSI Girls Volleyball
The OCSI Athletic Department provides students with an opportunity to enhance their teamwork and sportsmanship and develop their technical skills in a safe, nurturing, and fun environment. Despite the restrictions and limitations due to the pandemic, athletics moves forward, offering students a chance to participate and compete in Cross Country, Volleyball, Girls Basketball, Boys Basketball, and Cheerleading. It is such a blessing to see our students displaying not only their athletic skills, but their dedication and perseverance through these times, along with the support of our community at these events.
ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT Go EAGLES: Soar High!
"There is one body, but it has many parts. But all its many parts make up one body. It is the same with Christ." 1 Corinthians 12:12
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SBULC OCSI High School Environmental Club 13
Worship club Japanese Bible Study Environmental Club Medical Club ACS Chemistry Club Harvard Model Congress Asia (HMCA) Club
CLUBS Secondary
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Learning Trips!
Grade 2 Learning Trip to Churaumi Aquarium
"A baby sea-turtle!" 15
Field Trip to the Southeast Botanical
GRADE 3
Gardens
Field Trip to the Southern Hill Ice Skating Center
GRADE 5
Fun! n u F n Fu GRADE 7
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Field Trip to the Busena Underwater Observatory
GRADE 7
Field Trip to th Okinawa Museum
GRADE 10
Field Trip to the Nakamura House ( Traditional Okinawan residence)
GRADE
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Christmas Celebration Events C h r i st m " F la n n a s S p irit W e l S hir e t D ay" ek
Middle school classroom door decoration contest
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Elementary Christmas Programs
ELEMENTARY
Food Drive to Kodomo Food Bank. Thank you for all of your donations! FOOD DRIVE
Sing Noel! Middle and High school Christmas Performances SECONDARY
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Winter Frost Fair hosted by Student Council.
HIGH SCHOOL
Students visited a local health clinic to give gifts of appreciation.
GRADE 9
On-Campus Christmas Caroling!
GRADE 10
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BUSINESS UPDATE Sosro Karsosoemo
Re-Enrollment Process Re-enrollment is in full swing! In the first week of reenrollment, 253 families have submitted reenrollment forms for 364 of their children. We are still expecting more in the second week. So far, 97% of students who have completed the process have decided to re-enroll for SY22-23, similar to the percentage of students re-enrolled last year. As Student’s Re-Enrollment Rate is one of the key indicators of a healthy school, we are very grateful for your continued partnership. God is doing a great work here at OCSI, and we are excited that so many families have decided to continue to take part in that great work. We also streamlined our re-enrollment process and switched from Google Form to Schools Form Online system. We are grateful for everyone’s cooperation in implementing this system. We believe that this investment has made the re-enrollment process smoother. We have less inquiries and increased early submission. It also has significantly improved operational efficiency for our staff as well. The OCSI Business Office is committed to improve our business processes to serve OCSI families better. We welcome feedback from the community here at businessmanager@ocsi.org.
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OPERATIONS UPDATE Alex Sartore
Continuous Improvement There’s never a dull moment in operations! Whether it’s figuring out how best to steward the facilities and buildings on campus or planning and executing major improvements, we are always kept on our toes! Ultimately, we simply strive to provide an environment that is safe, enjoyable, and conducive to an excellent educational experience. We have continued improving the safety of the elementary school area by adding a gate at the base of the stairs, which completes the fencing project introduced in the last edition of OCSI Connections. The safety of our students is a top priority, and having a fence at the bottom of the stairs helps to keep our little ones from running into the pick-up and drop-off zone. Over this past winter break, we took the opportunity to repaint the middle school lockers. These lockers have served generations of middle schoolers, and had the wear and tear to show it. Thanks to the efforts of our hardworking and talented team, the lockers now have new life breathed into them and will continue to serve our middle school students for years to come. The OCSI Walkathon is coming up, and as you may know, the funds raised from this year’s Walkathon will help to provide much-needed renovations in the gymnasium. The gym floors have seen better days, so we are making some major improvements in the coming year. Another point of concern for the gym has been the issue of humidity, which we will also look to address in 2022. We’d like to extend a huge thank you to our PTF for their service and dedication in organizing the Walkathon event this year!
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OCSI CONNECTIONS 2022 Winter Edition ©2022 Okinawa Christian School International All Rights Reserved
Okinawa Christian School International www.ocsi.org