A Note from Our Administrator, Robin Sovine

Happy

Thanksgiving!

As I write this, it is a lovely mid 50 degree day in early November; the sky is blue, the sun is shining brightly, doing its best to give us as much warmth as it possibly can for this time of year. There are still splashes of reds and oranges on some trees as well as even some green leaves hanging on, perhaps a bit confused as to what season we are really in. However, by the time you are reading this, the remain-der of the leaves will have long since been bagged up or blown away, the sun sits seemingly barely above the horizon having “lost” most of its warming qualities, snow-flakes may have taken up residence on your lawn, the wonderful odor of wood smoke has danced among

the winds of late November, and the hustle and bustle of the holiday season is impa-tiently pounding on the door.

We are entering a season in which we pay closer attention to those things for which we are thankful. Many of you have traditions as you sit around the Thanksgiving ta-ble, sharing what you are most thankful for as you re-flect on the blessings of the year—family, provision, friends, Christian schooling, new home, new family mem-bers, new job, safety and pro-tection, health, great church, ministry opportunities, new kingdom members, suc-cesses, the thanks could go on for hours as there is much to thank God for.

As you take time to reflect on the past year and all the many blessings God has given you and your family, the challenge

is to uncover those things that you didn’t normally think of as blessings or those things that were smaller in magnitude and didn’t get noticed until now. What were those hard events in your life that were not enjoy-able at the time, but in hind-sight, the good can be identi-fied through the lessons learned? Reflecting in this manner about what we are thankful for will aid us in being more open to and un-derstanding of the plethora of blessings we are given daily by a loving and merciful God.

I pray that your eyes will be wide open as you live daily so you will not miss a single blessing He has for you.

Thankful in Christ with You,

Robin Sovine

Veteran’s Day

On 11/11/11 at 9:10 am the students of Bethany Academy gathered around the flagpole

to honor Veterans Day. A few veterans from the local chapter donated a new flag to Bethany and held a flag-raising ceremony to honor and celebrate all branches of mili-tary service. Our elementary students in turn, gave a brief program in the chapel for the vets and the families who vis-ited us that day. Teachers

Inside this issue:

On Thankfulness

Veteran’s Day

1

Women’s Retreat 2

Worship Night 2

4th Grade

Highlights

3

Kindergarten

Thankfulness

3

Calendar 4

Book Fair Update

Poinsettia Update

4

The BA Bugle

October/November 2011

Volume 26—Issue 2

and students all participated whether it was a reading of “Why I Love America” or in song. The teachers gave a brief account of the history of the theme songs from the five branches of the military. The veterans were very moved as our Bethany students sang each of those songs led by Mrs. Allison. A few of the classes made cards for the veterans thanking them for their service. It was a “hardly a dry eye in the place” moment. We all felt very blessed to be a part of this great country and the freedoms our students still have to express their love for God and country.

On Saturday, November 19th at the scenic Mount Olivet Retreat Center, 40 Bethany Moms, past and present were beautifully “led to the cross” by world renowned speaker, Jean Norment. What a privilege to sit and listen to this humble woman who in 1994 had a vision of a cross shoved back in the corner of a room, full of dust and cobwebs. God called Jean to walk over to the cross, pick it up, blow off the dust and carry its message to God’s peo-ple around the world. And carry it; she did, glorifying God through her 3-part message.

In addition to the rich teaching, we were blessed to spend precious time in worship, “led to the cross” in song by our very own Jane Alli-son and Ann Leibrock.

Later in the afternoon, Jody Mixter helped us create a beautiful beaded cross bracelet. How sweet to leave the retreat with a precious symbol of how we were “led to the cross”.

Special thanks go to the retreat committee of Kathy Wallace, Kris Engel, Ellen Jo Hinrichs, Jackie Koch, Jere Sheehan, Sherri Kadlec, Ann Leibrock and

Julie Miller.

Reconnecting with old friends, meeting new ones and catching up with Moms we see every day is what makes a retreat extra spe-cial. The day went incredibly fast especially considering that we ar-rived in autumn and drove home in winter. Ahhhhhhhhh Minnesota!!!

Worship Night

On Tuesday, November 15, Bethany

Academy’s Worship Arts Class, under

the direction of Mr. Russell and Mrs.

Allison, led those in attendance in a won-

derful evening of praise and worship. As

our Head Administrator Mrs. Sovine, so

appropriately stated it, “The Holy Spirit

was so present in that room, in every

nook and every cranny, down to every

fiber in the carpet. We were all so

blessed to be there.”

If you were not able to attend, watch

the Fastnews postings for upcoming

Lead Me to the Cross

Tenth Annual Women’s Retreat

September Page 2

worship nights. You

won’t want to miss it!

At left: Pam Nickman & JoEllen Coleman symbolically receiving the priceless gifts of God

freely given to man because of the finished work of Christ on the cross. Above: Friends

and new acquaintances enjoying lunch together at the Mt. Olivet Retreat Center.

It’s been a great start in the fourth grade this year! We have an at-home reading program, and we do a monthly book report in conjunction with it. Our Sep-tember genre was biography. Each stu-dent read about a famous person, and then they dressed up like that person to read their report. They wrote down inter-esting facts about what they learned. Here are their thoughts:

Annika-Abraham Lincoln

I learned that in that time it was hard to survive, because they did not have much medicine, money, or many doc-tors. I also learned how he died.

David-Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong is really good at cornet and trumpet, and was probably the nic-est person you could have known.

Chase-President Obama

I learned two interesting facts about Barack Obama. He was born in Hawaii, and he had a pet ape.

William-Martin Luther King, Jr.

What I learned about Martin Luther King, Jr. was he was a minister preaching about God, and he was a famous civil rights leader.

Alex-Ronald Reagan

Two interesting facts about Reagan are that he was the 49th president, and he was born on February, 6th.

Michael-George Lucas

There are two fun facts that I like about him. He has two adopted daughters and a son. I didn’t know that THX was the name of a movie.

Kevin-Mario Lemieux

He is a very good hockey player because he scores a lot of goals and gets assists. Mario is also a good teammate because he cheers on his teammates and is nice to them.

In Social Studies During the months of

October and November we have been

learning about the early immigrants, and

their journey to America. We each re-

searched our family’s heritage and

packed an immigrant trunk. These trunks

were filled with, food, books, photos, and

collectables from the “old country”. Each

student unpacked them for the class, and

told us a story about one of their relatives

who immigrated.

Fourth Grade Reading Fun

In kindergarten we have been discussing

how blessed we are by all the gifts God

has given us. We know how important it is

to thank HIM for all the big and little

things in our lives. Here are some things

we are especially thankful for this sea-

son:

Grace is thankful for turkeys.

Rocco is thankful for cats.

Isabelle is thankful for her parents.

Zaylor is thankful for his dog.

Sanjana is thankful for her new baby

brother.

Teagan is thankful for everything

and puppies.

Keith is thankful for God.

Ella is thankful for Zebras.

Madeline is thankful for God and

Jesus and her bed.

While brainstorming, the students con-

cluded that

they are also

thankful for

the following

blessings:

Stars, the Bible, Church,

Bethany Academy, Shoes,

Learning, Veterans, Fruit and Vegetables,

Insects, Seasons, the United States,

Toys, Plants, and Holidays.

We are just finishing up our

THANKFUL TURKEY art that will be on

display prior to Thanksgiving outside of

our classroom. Those turkeys will crea-

tively express even more of what we are

thankful for in kindergarten this year!

Psalm 75:1 We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks, for your Name is near; men tell of your wonderful deeds.

Through the Eyes of a Kindergartener

Volume 26—Issue 2 Page 3

Calendar

November 29 Secondary Christmas Concert-6:30pm

December 6 Elementary Christmas Concert-6:30pm

December 14 All School Chapel

December 21 Secondary Service Day

December 22-Jan 4 Christmas/New Year’s Break

January 5, 2012 Back to School

January 16 Martin Luther King Jr. Day/No School

January 18-20 Secondary Semester Finals

January 20 End 2nd Quarter

January 23 Teacher’s Workshop/No School

This year our annual Book Fair was out of this world! We had a great turnout for our family fun night where we teamed up with the Junior Class and had a delicious spaghetti dinner and fun Minute-to-Win-it games. Geronimo Stilton showed up as our costumed character; prizes and free posters were enjoyed by many! This year for the first time we had the opportunity to have an online book fair as well. We are enjoy-ing the additional books to our library and to each classroom, K-6.

A special guest at the Book Fair

A big thank you to our volunteers

extraordinaire, Tanya Reader and Amy Morrison

Just put-ting to-

gether

our wish

list

Poinsettia News

Poinsettias are coming! Poin-settias are coming! The Poinsettias will be ready for pick-up Monday, No-vember 28 at 3:00 pm in the back of the gym. Please pick up your plants in the back of the building via the gym doors. This helps us load your vehicle and protect plants. All plants will need to be picked up by 6 pm on Monday. This year we sold 766 plants raising $8,000 for Beth-any Academy! We thank God for His abundant blessing of your efforts!

Scrip Information

Have your holiday dollars work

double time by using Scrip for your holi-

day shopping needs. We ill be taking

orders during the month of December on

Monday, Dec. 5, 12, & 19. Cards will be

available for pick-up Thursday by 3 pm

of the same week. Think of Scrip and

support Bethany Academy without

spending one cent extra! In the first

month we have al-

ready raised $1,195 for

Bethany Academy!!

The BA Bugle

Primary Business Address

4300 West 98th Street

Bloomington, MN 55437

www.bethanyacademy.org

Training, Inspiring,

Educating Tomorrows

Godly Leaders

Phone: 952-831-8686 xt 108

Fax: 952-831-9568

E-mail: jean.figi@bethanyacademy.org

Happy

Thanksgiving!!

Book Fair Update Poinsettia and

Scrip Updates