September is one of my favorite months of the year. Some obvious reasons why, might be because I get to see my returning students, I get to meet new ones, and I get to set the tone for the rest of the year. These are among the main reasons I anticipate the start of the school year, but there is yet another reason I like September. And that reason is the “Fitness Test.” The Fitness Test is a New York State Test that measures student’s muscular strength and endurance. For one week, students have “Fitness Test Training,” where they are given a card with specific workouts and are expected to complete that card by the end of the class. For many students this card is an immovable mountain. They see what I expect of them and say, “Mr. Wong are you serious? Mr. Wong this is a joke right? Mr. Wong you’re a funny guy?” The truth is that I do have high expectations of my students and I take pride in pushing them further then they believed they could go. The conversations for the next couple of days are as follows, “I’m so sore, how about you? I cannot believe I actually finished ever thing on that card. Mr. Wong I have not worked out like that in months.” Little do they know that that’s music to my ears. It is not until the following week that they begin to realize the fruits of their labor. They understand why they were pushed so hard and how easy the Fitness Test actually is.
Evangel Christian School
National Honor Society & National Junior Honor Society
Induction and Recognition Ceremony
May 29, 2008 7:00pm
This was a beautiful candlelighting ceremony where we recognized 30 NHS members and inducted 9 new NHS members. There were 16 NJHS members that were recognized and 26 new NJHS members were inducted. The four High School Officers each read about one of the four characteristics that represent the National Honor Society. All new inductees were pinned. 12th and 8th grade officers received Honor Cords, and all seniors received Honor Stoles to be worn at gradauation. The members and new inductees pledged to always honor the Truth of God. Candles were then lit by Seniors and all members marched down the aisle. We are very proud of all of our members.
Each group must work on a project in which they reach out to the community. NJHS raised money for autism and actually got to meet the little girl they raised money to help. NHS raised money to purchase clothes and toys and delivered them to a single mother’s shelter. Each group was truly blessed to be able to reach out and share God’s love.
2008-academic-banquet-invitation
June 24 – 7:00pm Grades 6-12
What an incredible evening with over 360 in attendance. What a great time we had honoring our students academic achievements. Each year we center our Banquet around a theme. This year our theme was “Finding a pearl of great price”. The Fellowship Hall was”decked our” in an underwater theme. It looked fantastic! Students need only achieve Honor Roll status for one quarter to be honored. It was Italian night as we feasted on all types of pasta: Stuffed Shells, Pasta Primavera, Lasagne, Spaghetti and Meatballs, Baked Ziti, Pasta and Broccoli, Tri Color Pasta Salad and Rolls. Mmmmm Good! 127 Trophies were given out in 6 different categories. Pastor addressed us and spurred us onward. He also shared that we would begin to build the new High School in the Spring. A cheer went up from the crowd and all glory was given to the Lord.
The tenth graders were able to learn about the different cultures that make up the Hispanic cultures. They were able to experience the differences from one place to another and to correct their thinking. The Hispanic world is very diverse in customs, clothing, food, celebrations, etc. The one thing that unites us is the language, and even in that there are differences. The children learned to appreciate and respect those differences in the cultures and in us.
This year over 81% of the class took and passed the Math A regent in January! Most will retake it again in June 2008 in order to gain high ranking scores for their advance regent diploma or regent diploma with distinction. I am very proud of all of their hard work in error finding, formula memorizing and vocabulary review.
One of the most exciting times this year in Computer Lab had to be the 10th grade learning Photoshop. I introduced Adobe Photoshop CS2 to the 10th grade at ECS and they were very quick to catch on to the photo editing software. We started the Photoshop chapter of Compute Lab on how to maneuver your way around the editior and learned the basic tools. Each week we would have a video lesson and a lab. The video lesson consisted of a professional graphic designer teaching the basic tools of Photoshop and also sharing some tricks along the way. I would then provide the students with a lab that would correspond with the previous lesson. The labs consisted of creating special affects for pictures, editing text to make it have a special design, and even creating writing to make it look like it was imprinted in a stone.
I was very impressed on how the 10th grade caught on so quickly and how they responded to learning a new technology. I look forward to continuing to help the students learn in technology as they apply it to their lives. I am confident if you ever need any help editing any pictures at home you can ask your 10th grade student and they will be of great help!
This year I have had the privilege of teaching Physical Education for Grades three through twelve. The year has been a wonderful learning experience filled with awesome memories. Some of my fonder memories include: High School will always be remembered for their competitiveness. Whether it be playing basketball, dodge ball, or even just sitting around having a conversation, they were always trying to top each other. But the greatest thing that I will be taking away this year is the relationships that I have with my students. I would not trade that for anything in the world.
This semester my class has impressed me with their giving nature when the school raised money for the needy children of World Vision. Our class raised over sixty-two dollars which enabled us to send over warm blankets to clothe the children as well as several soccer balls to provide safe entertainment for the children. I was so proud of how the students were constantly asking me for the “love box” to put their spare change into during homeroom time. Their selfless behavior was uplifting and I know God will bless them for it.
The masquerade event was a celebration of having completed Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare is challenging for any group of students – young and old alike)! Students wore their own personally created masks, danced – Elizabethan style, participated in contests, and, of course had many goodies to snack on! It was the perfect way to end the year! – Ms. Collins