In English 11 last October, Mrs. Dani DeJong shared a collection of essays from National Public Radio’s program, “This I Believe.” She then challenged her students to write their own personal credo about a core principle that defines their life. The array of topics, concerns, and passions were as diverse as the students themselves. The [...]
BY CHERYL SCHUTTE, ACS PARENT If you are like 99% of the population, you probably made some sort of plan to eat healthier to start the New Year. I know I did. I printed off some new recipes, bought a few ingredients I don’t normally have on hand, and did some meal planning. One recipe [...]
“Teaching would just be the perfect thing for you, really,” Mom and Dad always said. Mom and Dad were both teachers, and I knew they always had this way of knowing or simply sensing what to bring out in kids — this discovering of talents in others, and the encouraging of it. Mom and Dad [...]
My third son, Aiden, just got his L. More than any of my other boys, he has been looking forward to driving and has been talking about this day for as long as I can remember. He always loves adventures, risk taking, trying new things, and has the confidence to believe that whatever he tries [...]
Do you ever feel like you have one foot on the dock and the other foot in a boat…as it slowly drifts away? I suspect this is a sentiment many can relate to these days. The dock is dry, stable, safe, secure, known. The boat (hopefully) promises a great day on the lake, with sunshine, [...]
I was walking to school on one of those rare mornings with a clear, pre-dawn sky, and low-lying fog. It was cool, quiet, and still. The world felt like it was at peace. As I came toward the school, there was a glow—a radiance—causing me to catch my breath. I immediately pulled out my phone [...]
Happy New Year, everyone! This is the year that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. There was great satisfaction in pulling the plastic off my new family planner and cracking it open. I’m generally a future-focused person but doesn’t it feel especially good to leave 2020 behind and move [...]
Like many of you, I am extremely grateful for the ability to flip the calendar over and dream/hope for a better tomorrow. As we have all said and reflected on many times, 2020 has been quite the year. And…as all of us are keenly aware, what was with us in 2020 is still with us [...]
Sometimes you hear sermons where parts of it stick with you for many years. Bill de Jager (former teacher, vice principal, and interim principal of ACS Secondary) once illustrated that every interaction we have in our ordinary days creates this fine thread between you and that person. The more you spend time with someone, the [...]
BY KAREN VAN EGMOND, ACS PARENT Just for once I would like to get my act together and send a proper Christmas card. You know the kind—everyone looking at the camera, smiling, wearing matching sweaters. It’s true; I’m dreaming of an unrealistic Hallmark moment. So, when I said, “Hey! I have an idea for an [...]
