ST. JOHN LUTHERAN CHURCH
(The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod)
Alma, Kansas
A family united by faith in Christ gathering around God's Word and Sacraments.
To reach out in Christ-like concern and Christ-borne love to each other and to those without Christ!
The Eagle Cry

FROM THE PRINCIPAL: 

As we celebrate the Reformation, I am reminded of the purpose of our school – share the pure Word of God with students and families while preparing students academically, socially, and most importantly, spiritually, for lives as children of God in a world becoming less Christian each day.  I know the reformers faced very different challenges than we do today. The reformers often faced life or death struggles as a result of their standing for the gospel over the teachings of men. We do not face life or death struggles in our community, but Christians around the world do face such struggles each and every day. Thank you for your support of a school where students hear the pure unaltered gospel each and every day along aside the knowledge they need to not only survive but thrive in life.
School Chapel Offering for the 1st Quarter was $130.61 and donated to the Lutheran Braille Workers.
Thrivent: For the month of September, St. John Lutheran School was the recipient of $53.00 through the “Choice Dollars” program  sponsored by Thrivent.The following patrons directed their monies to SJLS: Brad Becker, Elaine Becker, Jennifer Mumpower, & Bruce Schultz. Thank you very much for remembering, helping with, and blessing the ministry of St. John.

Mr. Harmon Butler



GRADES FOURTH – SEVENTH MATH & SCIENCE:

Quarter number two has begun! We continue building a foundation for Algebra. The 4th graders are heading into a couple of chapters of multiplication mastery while the 5th grade has been working on writing and solving equations with variables. Our pre-algebra group is also working on equations along with inequalities and a good serving of the dreaded word problem (there’s even a group challenge mixed in from time to time). 
Our science time is spent learning about plants – we recently spent a day dissecting flowers while learning about reproduction, cloning and grafting.  When we finish our plant study we head to outer space and star gazing. The junior high class is also learning about plants. We are focusing on life processes that take place within leaves and on a cellular level which God has created for life to exist on Earth. Next, we head into the incredible field of genetics and heredity. God has given us an amazing world!     

God’s Blessings,
Mr. Butler



GRADES FOURTH – SEVENTH LANGUAGE ARTS:

We have wrapped up the first quarter and fall is in full swing. Fourth and fifth graders are finishing the novel Guests by Michael Dorris. Students have been challenged with figurative language and have been forced to think beyond the mere words of the story to find their true meaning. Sixth and seventh-graders are beginning to write short stories. We began with character sketches. We are focusing on first developing a character, and then writing a story about that person. All students have been learning to recognize the difference between independent and dependent clauses. We are using this knowledge to correct sentence fragments and run-on sentences.
In social studies fourth and fifth grade have learned about various European explorers. They have discovered how important the quest for money was in driving many of these expeditions. Sixth and seventh grades have been studying about early trade routes. They have discussed how the expansion of trade has affected cultures around the world.

Mrs. Bonnema



GRADES SECOND – THIRD:

Greetings St. John!
We have been sprinting through Fall! The 3rd graders have literally been watching time fly as they work on elapsed time and the 2nd graders skipping right through with skip counting and pre-multiplication skills. We haven't skipped Martin Luther and the Reformation though and the students have been excited to learn more about how Halloween came to be and as one student put it, "It's another one of the devil's favorite tricks - like the Easter bunny!"
My 3rd graders have been working on endangered animal reports while my second graders are classifying animals. I am excited to hear all the new facts about some strange animals! In reading we have been working with expository or non- fiction texts with a few fables thrown in which seems to get all my students excited.
We have once again been working on our Veteran's Day songs and hope to see you all there! We have even begun to work on some of our Christmas program songs! Please mark December 15th on your calendar to come watch us that evening! Have a great Thanksgiving and thank you for all the help and support you continuously give us!

In Christ,
Miss Holle



GRADES KINDERGARTEN - FIRST:
   
The Kindergarten class has been learning basic addition, numbers to 100, and patterns in math class.  We have also worked on digraph and trigraph letter blends.
1st grade continues to rack up points in Accelerated Reading. In math class, we have worked on fact family relationships.
We recently studied map skills in social studies.  One day we made Kansas cookies.  These were no bake cookies molded into the shape of Kansas.  We used an M & M to mark the states capital.  Blue frosting represented the main rivers and chocolate chips depicted the Flint Hills. We have since moved on to natural resources.

Blessings,
Mrs. Murray


PTL HAPPENINGS
The holidays are quickly approaching and we are looking forward to spending some time with you all during them! 
Kleinhenn Card Sales: Thank you to everyone who supported our programming efforts through this annual fundraiser.  We sincerely appreciate your support!
Amazon Smile: The PTL is now signed up with AmazonSmile just in time for holiday shopping and all year through!  This link: https://smile.amazon.com/ch/48-0554347 will take you directly to smile.amazon.com in support of St. John Lutheran School.  When you shop using this link, Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of eligible smile.amazon.com purchases to SJLS.  Thank you so much for your support!
Pork Chop Supper: We enjoy hosting everyone and hope you all will attend supper with us on Saturday, November 2, 2019 from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m.  The menu is smoked pork chop, scalloped potatoes, seasoned green beans, roll, drink & dessert.  Tickets can be purchased at the door and are $9 for adults or $7 for children (11 and under).  The more, the merrier, so please join us! 
Children’s Christmas Service: Everyone is invited to worship and enjoy a wonderful Christmas program presented by the children of St. John Lutheran School on Sunday, December 15, 2019 at 6:30 p.m. Afterwards, the PTL would like to invite you all to join us for refreshments including cookies and punch or coffee.  
Dillon’s Community Rewards: We encourage anyone who is a Dillon’s PLUS card shopper to please take a couple of minutes to sign up for the rewards program. Please use the following link to add your PLUS card to the rewards program: www.dillons.com/communityrewards and use the code AU093 to support SJLS. Thanks you!    
Box Tops: Save your Box Tops! Box Tops for Education helps teachers purchase supplies for their classrooms, art/music/science/PE supplies and much more! You can drop your Box Tops or receipts with eligible Box Top purchases on them off at the school, or church.  Or you may give them to your favorite SJLS student to bring to school.  Thank you for your support! 
SJLS LPTL SCRIP GIFT CARDS:  These make great gifts and there are usually several on hand. Order blanks included in this newsletter.

In This Month's
St. John Witness
NOVEMBER WITNESS
The Eagle Cry