June 2017The Ministry of Being IgnoredClosed Minds and Open Doors"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.” Luke 13:24

For the past half century or more, some outstanding communicators have tried to explain to the North American evangelical community that Christian schooling is a necessity and a blessing for Christian families, not an option. Excellent scholars including Dr. Harro van Brummelen, Dr. Paul Kienel, Dr. Roy Lowrie, Dr. Glen Schutz, Dr. Dallas Willard, Dr. J.P. Moreland, Harry Blamire, Dr. Frank Gaebelien, Bruce Lockerbie, Josh McDowell and Francis Schaeffer have all presented that message one way or another. Their supporting theological and philosophical points were thoroughly researched, well-reasoned and hard to refute.But the test of any theory or belief is its practical application and results in “the real world.”And that’s where Christian schooling really shines according to every study done over the past 30 years.For example, according to the 2011 The Cardus Educational Survey, which compared alumni of private, Catholic, public and Christian schools, Christian school graduates:         Spend more time incorporating their faith

into their family lives (praying, discussing God and reading scripture together)

         Attend church more regularly         Give almost 5 times more money to their

church than any other group         Give 7 times more money to other

religious causes         Give significantly more time volunteering

in their churches and an equal amount of time volunteering for other community causes

         Have lower household income than the other groups but express greater gratitude

In this Newsletter…         Ontario Minimum Wage and Ontario Christian

Schools         A Remarkable Year for Valley Christian

Academy!         Can Ontario Christian Schools Admit 3 Year

Olds in Their JK?         A Very Eventful Year for Anthony Tawfik of PCC         Philopateer Christian College’s 5th Annual

Theatrical Production         Eastern Canada Winner of the Global Event

Calendar Art Contest         Are You Playing with Funny-Money?                 Ontario Bible Quest (aka Bible Quizzing) Has a

Successful Inaugural Run!         Student Activities that Assist Your Students’

STEM Learning         2016/2017 Canadian Achievement Test Score

Results for ACSI Schools         EduDeo Provides a Means to Honour Our

Teachers         March Ministry in Haiti         A Reflection…         Fall Principals’ Meetings         Quotes                 Regional Calendar          Unsubscribe         Feedback         Contact Us

Ontario Minimum Wage andOntario Christian Schools$31,200—-That is what the proposed new Ontario minimum hourly wage would work out to as an annual salary ($15 an hour times 40 hours per week time 52 weeks). The plan is to have the minimum wage at that level in a little over a year from now. So, what does that have to do with us in Christian schools?

1.   First of all, at the time of writing this article (June 1, 2017), this is a proposal, not a law. So that means the details and their applications are not fully worked out yet.

2.   You may recall that a few years ago the Ontario Ministry of Labour tried to force a variety of draconian

for what they have         Use scripture to guide them in their moral

decisions and believe that moral standards are absolute

         Strongly believe that religion should be included in public discourse on the pressing issues of our time

         Do more community good, evangelism, mission trips

         Do better at personal/social relationships

On a related topic, in 2012, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada commissioned a thorough report entitled, Haemorrhaging Faith, because they perceived an enormous exodus of young people from Canadian churches. (Read More)Top

A REMARKABLE YEAR FORVALLEY CHRISTIAN ACADEMY!By Kelly McLellan, VCA PrincipalVALLEY Christian Academy, Rothesay, NB shares some exciting school news with ACSI. Three of their students participated in the Fundy Regional Science Fair last Friday at the University of New Brunswick in St. John, and all three took the top gold prizes. What an amazing accomplishment! Our students were Anu Aladetoyinbo in grade 8, Nicolas Allen in grade 6 and .Sarah Jane Comeau in grade 7. It was such a thrill to accompany these students and have them represent our school at a public school event.

As well, Sarah Jane Comeau was awarded an all-expense paid trip to Regina to represent Valley Christian Academy at the Canada-Wide Science Fair that was held from May 14th - May 21st. She was one of 10 students representing New Brunswick. What a great accomplishment this was for our school and a wonderful experience for Sarah Jane.

There were two other major achievements that our school enjoyed this year. Mrs. Marianne Lawson, our K5/Gr1 teacher, was recognized by the National Geographic as Educator of the Year for Atlantic Canada for the Energy Diet Competition. Also, Jenna Welch, grade 7, created an Energy Diet video that won the first place national prize of $2,500 for our school. We have been very blessed this year!

regulations on a few smaller Christian schools (but not on any other kinds of private schools), including minimum wage rules for teachers. You may also recall that by law, school teachers are supposed to be exempt from minimum wages rules. But the MOL decided that, according to the Education Act, private schools are not really schools and since private school teachers are not employed in ‘real schools’, those teachers, even the ones with OTCs, were not protected by the exemption. The reason for them exclusively targeting small Christian schools was unclear but highly suspicious. Eventually the MOL relented but it is not clear why they relented. It was a very good thing they did because if they hadn’t, most of our small schools, especially in rural areas, would have had to close. So now, if the current minimum wage proposal becomes law, and the MOL chooses to apply it to us I can’t help wondering if our small rural schools could cope. A $15 minimum wage would not be a problem for most of our well-established schools in larger population centres but thankfully, leaders of those schools generally do care about schools that are not so blessed. They recognize their responsibility as their brothers’ keeper, at least concerning prayer support.

3.   As much as we may disagree with this new legislation, the government raises a legitimate point. Employers do have a responsibility to pay reasonable living wages to their employees – even in Christian schools! I hope we all understand that Christian schooling is a matter of mutual sacrifice. Our board members are not paid; our parents sacrifice by paying tuition and our school staff sacrifice by accepting salaries that are lower, sometimes much lower, than those in public schools. We make those sacrifices so children can receive a Christian education. It’s not fair of course, but fairness does not seem to be a priority to those who control Ontario’s public purse strings. So, Christian school principals and board members must decide how to balance parental sacrifice (tuition) with staff sacrifice (lower salaries). But too often our teachers have paid the greatest cost for Christian schooling by accepting very low salaries. Sometimes that is unavoidable, especially in newer or smaller schools, but every Christian school needs to at least make salary increases a major priority. That way we will not only care for our teachers more adequately but we will be prepared when and if the MOL tries once again to force minimum wages on us.

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Can Ontario Christian SchoolsAdmit 3 Year Olds in Their JK?Technically, a three year old is considered daycare age, however if your school provides that child with an appropriate programme until he/she is of age to be in the full JK, that can be acceptable. As a private school, you can admit up to 5 children under your required admission age providing you can prove that you are able to look

Philopateer Christian College’s 5th Annual Theatrical ProductionGinny and I were honoured to be guests at Philopateer Christian College’s 5th Annual Theatrical Production held at the Mississauga Living Arts Centre. The whole staff and student body participated in the production of Disney’s The Littlest Mermaid Jr.; even pre-school children! The acting and costumes were outstanding. It was terrific to attend an event that a member school did so well!

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Are You Playing with Funny-Money?By D. Bruce Lockerbie, President Emeritus Paideia Inc.

For more than a half-century, the most prominent feature of counsel offered by PAIDEIA, Inc. has been our insistence on a financial model for schools calling for cost-based/value-based tuition, need-based financial aid (not automatic sibling discounts), supplemented by voluntary gift support (not fundraising by product sales or events) and earnings from endowment. This message in the 1996 edition of From Candy Sales to Committed Donors: A Guide to Financing Christian Schools fought to overcome a common fallacy: “Keep tuition as low as possible so that as many families as possible can attend our school.” But most well-intended thrift-advocates regularly

after them with the proper supervision. Note that the MOE does come to check for compliance. They will target a few schools at random to do spot checks.Top

A Very Eventful Year for Anthony Tawfik of PCC2016 was a very eventful year for Anthony Tawfik, a 16 year old who graduates this June from Philopateer Christian College in Mississauga:     In April he was invited to join The Canadian National

Gymnastics Team at the 2016 Pacific Rim Championships where he won 3 Bronze medals, Team Bronze, Bronze on Rings, and Bronze on High Bar.

     In November 2016, Anthony joined the Canadian team, competing at the 2016 Olympic Hopes Competition in the Czech Republic, securing two Gold Medals, Team Gold, and the Pommel Horse Gold.

     Receiving a scholarship to the University of Michigan he will be starting his freshman year there this fall and will compete in the NCAA in the fall.

Anthony has been in gymnastics for the past 11 years, winning several National Championships, and earning medals and distinction internationally in Berlin, Brazil, Japan, Texas, Seattle, and The Czech Republic. He also was a member of Ontario's Gold Medal Team at The 2015 Canada Winter Games. Anthony’s ultimate goal is to be a member of the Canadian 2020 Olympic Men's Gymnastics Team.

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Eastern Canada Winner of theGlobal Event Calendar Art Contest

Oil Painting done by Ivy Gutierrez of

failed to make the correlation between institutional ideals and the funds necessary to achieve them. They routinely lamented appalling salaries paid to Christian school teachers, while at the same time justifying tuition rates that were too low to let them pay staff a living wage. In other words, they favoured parents’ household expenses over their own colleagues’ cost-of-living. They and their board members promoted a mission statement, full of high-blown rhetoric, then proceeded to pass a budget that failed to approximate the true cost of meeting that mission’s goals. But as the 20th century ended, something hopeful happened to evangelical economics. I believe it coincided with the passing of leadership who had the “Great Depression” mentality toward money. Born to parents who had experienced the Crash of 1929 and its subsequent and long-lasting privations, my generation carried forward into God’s work all the fundamentalist slogans and practical realities we had been taught, such as:

1.       God loves the poor more than the wealthy because poverty creates a greater sense of dependence on God. (That’s why it is harder for a rich man to enter the Kingdom . . .)

2.       Love of money is the greatest hindrance to true discipleship (Judas Iscariot, Ananias and Sapphira, et al.)

3.       There is no correlation between wealth and high quality; it’s the desire to be excellent alone that counts.

Readers familiar with the history of that era may also be well acquainted with the attitudes reflected in the foregoing list of conventional opinions preached and taught and expected to be adhered to by the Christian populace. Other readers acquainted with a poem “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson or the Simon and Garfunkle 1966 song adaptation of that poem will understand what I mean by describing these attitudes as a “Richard Cory theology of economics” and my opinion that they derived primarily from a not-so-secret envy of the rich and a not-so-secret hope that God’s vindication of the poor will show itself in some calamity visited upon the wealthy. So Robinson’s poem ends:

“So on we worked, and waited for the lightAnd went without the meat and cursed the bread;And Richard Cory, one fine summer night,Went home and put a bullet through his head.”

Of course, there were exceptions among the unfairly condemned rich: Godly philanthropists

Peoples Christian Academy, Grade 12 entitled:“Echinacea”

Ivy’s art work will be seen in regions all around the world on the 2017/2018 ACSI Calendar!Top

Ontario Bible Quest (aka Bible Quizzing) Has a Successful Inaugural Run!

When was the last time you used or heard any of the following words? Penurious. Paroxysm. Somnambulism. Inchoative.

When was the last time you used or heard any of the following? “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!”(Philippians 4:4). “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one” (Colossians 4:6).

A few years ago, we had students memorizing a plethora of spelling words so that they could compete in our Spelling Bee. Many of the words that they memorized, I suspect, were then forgotten as they continued their education. Those students spent hours memorizing words with more temporal value than eternal. Thus, as we considered reasons for beginning Bible Quest, it seemed a “no-brainer”—memorizing “words” vs memorizing the “Word.”

On May 18, 2017, four schools, 44 students, and about 15 teachers and other adults met at Mississauga Christian Academy for our first Bible Quest Event. What an exciting day to see students up to grade six demonstrating their knowledge of the Book of Philippians and the Junior High students answering questions on Philippians and Colossians.

We can only imagine the amount of time that those students spent memorizing God’s written Word! As we listened to the students giving their answers, these verses that I had once memorized filled my thoughts: Psalm 119:11 and 2 Timothy 3:16, 17! What a blessing those 44 students had received by preparing for this event!

Here are the results:ELEMENTARYINDIVIDUAL1ST Marcus Turner KCA2ND Jacob Wahba PCC3RD Gavin Barnes KCASCHOOL

like Henry Crowell who gave generously to the work of Dwight L. Moody and Moody Bible Institute, or Henry Fowle Durant who with his wife Pauline founded Wellesley College; John D. Rockefeller and John Wanamaker, both of whom funded the evangelist Billy Sunday. In my boyhood I met and marvelled at the testimony of R. G. LeTourneau, who reversed the tithe rule and gave 90% of his earnings to the Lord’s work while living on only 10%. As I grew into adulthood, I learned that J. Howard Pew of Sun Oil and the Glenmede Trust had used his wealth to support Grove City College, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, and Christianity Today. Eventually my late step-father George D. Johnston claimed as his best friend and “favourite garbologist” Harry Huizinga whose fortune from Waste Management, Inc. went in large sums to build both Timothy Christian School, Elmhurst, IL, and Fort Lauderdale (FL) Christian School, among other worthy causes. And there have been many other charitable persons of abundant means such as DeWitt and Lila Acheson Wallace, Sir John Templeton, Stanley S. Kresge, Hugh Maclellan, and Thomas F. Staley, whose grants funded my position as Staley Foundation Scholar-in-Residence during my concluding years at The Stony Brook School.

At its best, the late-20th century transformation in attitudes toward financial resources and their expenditure in service to Jesus Christ represented a better understanding of biblical stewardship and a more balanced interpretation of the Bible’s teaching about money and its uses. At its worst, proponents of the 21st century “health and wealth theology,” appear to have learned little or nothing from the 1980s scandals among some larcenous TV preachers and other proven religious frauds. Into this conflicting context, place the typical Christian school with its never-ending need for support to meet its annual financial obligations: mortgage, rent, or other facility costs and maintenance; salaries and benefits; curriculum needs and supplies; professional development, peer memberships, and accreditation. All these exist in a market place environment subject to parental choice among other options: local public schooling, local or distant (boarding) private schooling, or home-schooling.

Contending against such competition, every Christian school board faces the same challenge: HOW BEST TO ATTRACT AND HOLD THE LOYALTY, VALUE, SUPPORT, AND APPRECIATION OF PARENTS WHO CHOOSE YOUR SCHOOL? These are the virtues—the absolute advantages—every thriving school can point to as determining

1ST Mississauga CA2ND Koinonia CA Team 13RD Koinonia CA Team 2

JR HIGHINDIVIDUAL1ST Deeanna Dettwiler KCA2ND Mercedes Turner KCA3RD Madison Cormie KCASCHOOL1ST Koinonia CA2ND Philopateer CCTop

ACSI Eastern Canada Student Activities that Assist Your Students’ STEM Learning:Ontario Chess Tournament (up to grade 12) andOntario Math Olympics (Grades 4-8)Studies confirm that learning and playing chess has resulted in improved math scores across systems that have intentionally built it into their education. The Math Olympics encourages students to continue in their pursuit of math endeavours with a positive attitude, recognizing that “Mathematics is the alphabet with which God has written the universe” (Galileo Galilei, 1564-1642).

This past April, 229 students, representing 13 schools descended on Brampton Christian School to play a lot of chess! Making use of both of BCS’s gymnasiums and renting extra tables was necessary to accommodate everyone. It was a good day. Many thanks to Brampton for the use of their wonderful facilities.

Nine schools with a total of 136 students participated in ACSI’s Math Olympics at Mississauga Christian Academy. After writing a grade-level test, students are divided into teams of four to compete. Test scores and team work are combined to search out the best mathematical minds. The team work features all kinds of brain teasers, problem solving, and creative constructions! Many thanks to Mississauga for the use of their wonderful facilities.

Consider having your students join the hundreds of other students who come together each spring to enjoy demonstrating their academic abilities in these areas! Information on ALL ACSI Student Activities can be found here: www.acsiec.org è Students è Student Activities.

School Results of the 2017 Chess Tournament: Elementary1ST North Toronto CS2ND Peoples CA3RD Rehoboth CSJunior High1ST Richmond Hill CA2ND North Toronto CS3RD Stouffville CSSenior High1ST North Toronto CS

factors in recruiting and retaining students from supporting families: Loyalty demonstrated in the year-by-year returning to enrol the first child and then her younger brothers and sisters; value expressed by parents’ willingness to encourage neighbours and friends to avail themselves and their children of such a school; support as voluntary participants in school activities such as committees or the board and as generous donor-investors according to their means; (and abstaining from gossip in preference for sharing the good news about the school.) When a board and head of school really know their primary duty, it comes very close to being expressed as “HOW BEST TO ACHIEVE THESE GOALS among the vast majority of our parents?” But let me assure you—after 60+ years in the vocation of Christian schooling—no such absolute advantage can ever be achieved by relying on “funny money.” It simply is not the answer! What is “funny money”? It’s the common misappropriation of legal tender in ways that avoid “best practices” in school business accounting. For instance, if a board:

         deliberately sets tuition at a rate below the cost-to-educate each student and below the cost of funding the mission fully as determined by the approved budget—then claims to be fiscally sound, responsible, and in balance.

         collects deposits to reserve students’ places in next year’s class but spends those deposits to pay this spring’s bills.

         instead of relying on documented and verified need-based financial aid, automatically charges full tuition for only the first child in a family, less for a second, even less for a third, yet claims full payments for all three students.

         advertises its tuition at one amount but adds on fees for participation in select classes, arts, clubs, or sports.

         diminishes the value of its mission/vision/plan to the cost of a T-shirt or magazine subscription by selling an array of trinkets instead of asking donor-investors to support the school according to their means.

         holds an annual fundraising event (banquet, for instance) and invites all-comers without the board’s underwriting the basic costs, so that the evening’s expenses are not deducted from the revenue asked for and claimed.

I’ve had some strange experiences attending or speaking at Christian school fundraising events, including one occasion when the head of school planned a program that placed me before the audience at close to 11:30 p.m.—and lost more money than the evening garnered! By contrast,

2ND Mississauga CA3RD Brampton CS

School Results of the 2017 Math Olympics: Grade 41ST Westminster Classical CA2ND Brampton CS3RD Mississauga CAGrade 51ST Mississauga CA2ND Mt. Salem CS3RD Brampton CSGrade 61ST Central Baptist A2ND Brampton CS3RD Calvary CSGrade 71ST Central Baptist A2ND Westminster Classical CA3RD Koinonia CAGrade 81ST Mississauga CA2ND Brampton CS3RD Koinonia CATop

2016/2017 Canadian Achievement Test Score Results for ACSI SchoolsOnce again this year, students in ACSI Eastern and Western Canada member schools excelled in all academic subjects tested in comparison with other students in both public and private schools across Canada.

For grades 1 and 2, our students scored more than a full grade level above national grade level standards in every area tested.

From grades 3 to 8, they scored at least 2 full grade levels above National Standards in every area tested! Wow!Top

EduDeo Provides a Means to Honour Our Teachers!To celebrate the end of the school year, we (EduDeo Ministries) have created a meaningful way to honour the hard-working teachers in Christian schools across Canada.

We're asking people to honour a teacher in Canada by making a donation to bless a teacher in the developing world. Participants receive a beautiful thank you card they can pass along to a teacher.

The following link explains the programme and gives further information: www.facebook.com/edudeo/videos/1341790195870740/Thank you in advance,Hank de JongExecutive DirectorOffice: 905.387.9927 | 866.360.4274Mobile: 905-531-9927

one principal’s April 2017 dinner raised over $200,000! That’s a genuine intake of “serious money”! But I know another school whose recent auction included a remarkable assortment of valuable items but whose promotion included a highly questionable assurance, namely “Any purchases made will be tax deductible (Mark’s note: This is absolutely illegal in both Canada and the U.S.!) The courts won’t hesitate to identify any such claims as “funny money.” Finally, I also know a board whose methods of collecting income includes a box of giving envelopes, to which the board has attached this message: “Using these envelopes constitutes your agreement to relinquish control.” What can this message possibly mean? If someone wishes to give to the stated goals of the annual fund, does this board have the right to reallocate that contribution to pay the electric bill? Sounds like another case of “funny money” to me. The giver ought to be confident that the gift goes to the purpose for which it is intended. That’s the honourable duty of the board and anyone who solicits generous support from trusting donor-investors.Top

A Reflection…My first principalship was at the Christian Academy of Western Ontario, where I served from 1997 to 2000. Those were difficult years for my husband and me. During those years we tried to start a family but without success. We underwent fertility treatment without success. We were told by one of the top fertility doctors in the country that it would take an act of God for us to ever conceive.

While I was mourning what I saw as the loss of my potential children, I was dealing daily with other people's children. Two boys in particular brought quite a bit of frustration. They were both in grade 5 my first year, and of course in grade 7 my final year. One of the boys was named Joel. He spent hours and hours in my office. In fact, apart from his buddy, there wasn't a child in that school I spent more time with! I had great concerns for what would become of him if things didn't change around.

On Saturday night, the evening before Easter morning, my 13-year-old biological son will be baptized by his youth pastor… my old friend Joel.

The fool has said in his heart there is no God.

Happy Easter, Kerry WilsonTop

www.edudeo.comTop

March Ministry in HaitiSpecial thanks to Dr. Marsha Boyd Mitchell, ACSI EC Board Member and Principal at Sussex Christian School and Dr. Warwick Cooper, Minister of Counselling at Peoples Church in Toronto for their outstanding ministry to over 200 educators at the March ACSI Haiti Teachers’ Conference in Fermathe. Marsha gave seminars on a variety of topics, perhaps most important of which addressed issues concerning the internet. In most ways, Haiti is not like Canada and the U.S.:         Poverty is endemic         Lifespans are short         Healthcare is hard to find         Exposure to television, movies and computers is

extremely limitedBUT…Almost every young person has a smart phone because they are cheap and plentiful. The cost for internet connectivity is also very low, too, so there is a generation of Haitian young people who have access to all the good, bad, and ugly of the internet and their parents have little or no understanding about what their children may be seeing. The delegates were extremely grateful for Marsha’s guidance. Dr. Cooper did his excellent two day presentation on Teaching With Style but he also provided the delegates with iPod-sized devices that contained recordings of the entire Bible in English, French, and Créole plus some foundational sermons by Charles Stanley.

There’s an enormous ongoing opportunity for Christian school ministry in Haiti. Would you be willing to help? Contact Mark acsiec@sympatico.ca for further information.

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Fall Principals’ MeetingsMaritimes: Friday, September 15, 2017—10:00 at Moncton Christian Academy

Ontario: Thursday, September 21, 2017—10:00 at Whitefield Christian AcademySee you then!Top

Quotes

“During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.” George Orwell

“To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.” Voltaire

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Your Feedback is Important to Us! We welcome your feedback concerning this newsletter or any of the information in this newsletter. Please contact us with questions, comments, or suggestions by sending an email to acsiec@sympatico.ca.Thank you for the opportunity to serve your school. Top

Association of Christian Schools InternationalEastern Canada Region1 Wenden Court, Minesing, ON L0L 1Y2P: 705.728.7344 F: 705.728.4401 E: acsiec@sympatico.caVisit us on the web at www.acsiec.org Top