Parent Newsletter

November 5, 2014

More Than Meets the Eye

Valley Lutheran High School presents the hilarious comedy, More Than Meets the Eye, Nov. 6-8 at 7pm at Valley. Writing children's books under the pen name of Grandma Letty, Stanley wins "Grandma of the Year" and is besieged by reporters. Not wanting to jeopardize a serious writing career, Stanley tries to find a 'grandma' and ends up impersonating one himself. Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for students, and $24 for a family pass. They will be available at the door.

Grades Now Available Online

First quarter grades can be accessed by going to www.mystudentdata.com and entering the following information:

School Code: 50

Student ID Number: The ID number for Freshmen through Juniors is the FULL 8-digit number under the picture on your child's student ID card. The ID number for Seniors is the FULL 10-digit State ID number, not the 8-digit number, located under the picture on your child's student ID card.

Password: Chargers

Student's Birth Date

Please be reminded that all tuition payments must be current in order to access grades online. If you have any questions regarding your tuition payments, please contact our Financial Secretary, Mr. Royce Wegener at 989-790-1676 or email rwegener@vlhs.com.

Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences

Conferences are currently being scheduled through the Guidance Counselor, Mr. Rogers. The conferences will take place on Wednesday, November 19, from 6-9pm. All of the Valley Lutheran teachers will be available that night and the meetings are scheduled in 20-minute blocks. Teachers and parents may request conferences, but each student is not expected to have a conference.

If you would like to arrange a conference, please call Mr. Rogers at 790-1676. The Valley Lutheran practice at conferences is to have all of the student's teachers present so that the family can get a clear picture of the entire schedule. The student is expected to attend the parent-teacher conference with the parents.

Edmodo for Parents

Edmodo is a free and secure learning network for teachers, students, and schools. It provides a safe way for teachers and students to connect, share content, access homework, participate in discussions, manage due dates, and receive class information. Parents are encouraged to use the service to take a peek into their child's classes. This is not an online grade book. Read Dr. Meyer's letter on how Edmodo is used at Valley and how you can set up a parent account by clicking here.

If you have any questions contact Dr. Meyers at 989-790-1676 or lmeyers@vlhs.com.

Fruit Sale Ends Monday, Nov. 10th

The Booster Club sale of Indian River Fruit is in full swing. Students have order forms and information. The deadline for receiving orders is Monday, Nov. 10th. Orders can be picked up Saturday, December 6th at Valley Lutheran from 7:30am-2:00pm.

Questions? Call Valley Lutheran at 989-790-1676 or Bill Ankoviak at 989-781-5796.

10am Start on Tues. Nov. 11th

As our faculty and many students will be involved with our "Sunrise at the Summit" fund-raising breakfast, classes will start at 10am on Tuesday, November 11th. The event is very important to our school's continued growth. Parents are welcome to attend. Please contact Doug Guenther at 790-1676 or dguenther@vlhs.com to reserve your seat.

Operation Christmas Child Boxes
Valley Lutheran will be packing Christmas boxes for Operation Christmas Child for the 2nd year in a row! This is a ministry of Samaritan's Purse that reaches to children all over the world with a simple shoebox of gifts and the love of God. Under the direction of our Global Awareness Club and our Family Groups at the high school, we are heading for a huge "packing party" on November 20th during an after-chapel assembly. Last year we packed 130 boxes....this year we want to exceed this! We are SO blessed here in the US, and we have an opportunity here to be a blessing to others. If you have any questions about the shoeboxes or want to "sponsor" a shoebox for $7, please let Linda Rogers know at lrogers@vlhs.com.

Guatemala Mission Trip Fundraising

VLHS students traveling to Guatemala for a mission trip in the Spring of 2015 are willing to do leaf-raking and other odd jobs (such as babysitting) to help fund their trip. If you, or someone you know, is looking for extra help this fall, please contact Renee Brenner at rbrenner@vlhs.com or call 790-1676. She will connect you with students who are willing to work.

Fall Instrumental Concert
Join us on Sunday, November 23rd, at 3pm in the VLHS Gymnasium for our annual Fall Instrumental Concert. Various groups including the Symphonic Band, Jazz Band, Brass Quartet, Percussion Ensemble, Flute Choir, and Wind Ensemble will perform a wide range of pieces. Come and enjoy an afternoon full of music performed by our young and talented musicians, who strive to honor Christ with their music.

Emergency School Closing Procedure

As winter approaches, we anticipate school closings. Since our students live in many communities, there are times when travel may be difficult close to home, yet quite easy in other areas. Your child's safety is our primary concern and we respect your decision to keep them home or send them to school later, if local conditions make travel difficult. In addition to the regular cancellation announcements on TV and radio, you can check our website for information, especially concerning extra-curricular activities.

Emergency school closings due to weather and other factors will be announced on radio stations WSGW (790 AM), WTCF (100.5 FM), and WNEM (Channel 5). Valley Lutheran will be announced separately and independently of any other schools or districts. You can receive school closing text alerts from WNEM by signing up here.

Fall Information Night Set for Dec. 2

Our annual Fall Information Night kicks off the 9th grade enrollment season on Tuesday, December 2nd, beginning at 7pm. Current Valley students will be leading tours for prospective students and sharing with them what high school is like at Valley. Meanwhile, the faculty will take prospective parents around and answer questions they may have. This is a great night to learn about our many programs and meet the faculty. Please pass this information on to families who you would like to see at Valley Lutheran in the years to come!

Upcoming Events

Nov. 6 PEEKS at Valley, 8:15am

Nov.6-8 Fall Play, More Than Meets the Eye, 7pm nightly

Nov. 10 Moms in Prayer, 8am

Nov. 10 Concordia University, WI, rep here, 1pm

Nov. 10 Fruit Sale orders due

Nov. 11 Sunrise at the Summit Breakfast, SVSU, 7:30am

Classes begin at 10:00am

Nov. 13 Moms in Prayer, 7pm

Nov. 17 Moms in Prayer, 8am

Nov. 18 Parent Organization meeting, 6pm

Nov. 19 Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences, 6-9pm

Nov. 20 Operation Christmas Child packing party

Nov. 20 PEEKS at Valley, 11am

Nov. 23 Fall Instrumental Concert, 3pm

Nov. 26-28 Thanksgiving Break - NO SCHOOL

Dec. 1 Moms in Prayer, 8am

Dec. 2 Fall Information Night, 7pm

Dec. 3 2nd Quarter Midterms available after 5pm

Do you want more information about what is happening at Valley? Go to our website by clicking here.

In This Issue

1st Quarter Grades Available Online

Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences

Edmodo For Parents

Fruit Sale

10:00am Start on Nov.11th

Operation Christmas Child

Guatemala Fundraising

Fall Instrumental Concert

Emergency School Closings

Fall Information Night

Upcoming Events

Devotion

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. When I hear this verse, it is often in the context of an exhortation to be cautious of the way we treat our bodies and what we put in them, in order to ensure a healthy, clean, and safe 'home' for the Spirit. While this is certainly accurate, I recently learned of an additional view of this verse.

In the ancient world, a temple was not just the home of the god. Temples were also worldly representations of the power and authority of the god. For example, in modern day Turkey stands the ruins of a temple of the god Athena. When people would see this grandiose temple they were in awe of its greatness and, in turn, would acknowledge the greatness and power of Athena.

Considering the verse again then, in this ancient Biblical context, when Paul tells the Corinthians that their bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, he was not simply telling them that their bodies were places for the Holy Spirit to live, but also that they were visual pictures of their God in the world. The greatness and power of God would be displayed by and through them! Wow... when I apply this to my life, I am awed by the awesome responsibility that God continues to give us today to display His power and greatness in the world.

This became even more real to me a few weeks ago at the Professional Church Workers' Conference. While waiting for the elevator one evening, a well-dressed man stopped me to ask what the conference was and who we were. It turned out that he was from India, in America on business, and was very interested to learn about parochial schooling in our country. He said that he had arrived at the hotel the night before and noticed our group, but he was perplexed as to who we were since we did not seem to fit the demographics of any corporate segment he was aware of in America. He had been watching us - trying to figure out who we were and who we represented. I couldn't help but wonder - what did he see? Who did he guess we represented?

Lest you worry that you are not 'good enough' to represent your God - notice the timeline in the verse. "You were (past tense!) bought at a price." God has already bought us and redeemed us; our salvation is secure. He has chosen not to live in a "temple built by human hands" (Acts 17:24), but in us. May God prepare us to daily be his witnesses and show Him to the world!

~Amy Cooper

Click on the image above of the CURRENT Valley Vision.

Read more about what is happening at VLHS.