message tuesday

Thank you for appreciating our teachers last week!  It was fun to see flowers and chocolates come in the doors each morning.  I know the teachers on the receiving end were delighted to be honored.  

Hopefully all of you who are mothers felt treasured by your children this weekend as well, but just in case you are still unsure of the value of motherhood, I thought you might appreciate some wisdom from our second president, John Adams.  Here is a piece from his autobiography: 

"From all that I had read of history of government, of human life, and manners, I [have] drawn this conclusion, that the manners of women [are] the most infallible barometer by which to ascertain the degree of morality and virtue in a nation... The Manners of Women are the surest criterion by which to determine whether a republican government is practicable, in a nation or not. The Jews, the Greeks, the Romans, the Swiss, the Dutch, all lost their public spirit, their republican principles and habits, and their republican forms of government, when they lost the modesty and domestic virtues of their women. . . .

The foundations of national morality must be laid in private families. In vain are schools, academies and universities instituted if loose principles and licentious habits are impressed upon children in their earliest years. The mothers are the earliest and most important instructors of youth."


Interesting insight from 237 years ago!  Keep up the good work, moms! You are important! (so are dads, but Father's Day isn't for another month :-) 

I do have a few important news items to share with you: 

Volunteer Hours 

The opporunities for squeezing your volunteer hours in are getting slim; however, you still may be able to chaperone some upcoming class or school field trips.  We will be billing unfulfilled hours for the year at the end of May.  If you would like to check your status, you can call (221-0919) or email Mrs. Ohme at islandchristianacademy@gmail.com.  If you receive a bill and you thought you had your hours covered, please call us because it's just possible you did some volunteering that didn't make it to our books.   

If you would like to put your name in to complete hours during the summer by doing some cleaning or painting around the building, you are welcome to let us know that as well.  There are always opportunities for summer maintenance and cleaning.  I promise to supply the lemonade! 

Yearbooks 

We have a team of three students who have been diligiently at work on our yearbook for the last several weeks.  You can pre-order your memory album for $20 by sending or dropping off your money at the office.  The delivery date is scheduled for the first week of June, leaving plenty of time to collect witty year-end comments from classmates. 

Staffing for next year: 

We are playing a bit of musical chairs for next school year.  Change keeps life fresh!   

Mrs. McCourt (3rd-4th grade) will be retiring from teaching after 11 years at ICA!  We have been exceptionally blessed to have her on the team.  She has inspired many students in her years here and has been the life of the party at many a staff meeting. 

Mrs. Johnson has just today accepted a teaching position at Northshore Christian School in Everett and will be off to the mainland next year.  She has been a blessing to our staff, parents and students for the last three years as well and we will miss her infectious smile in the halls of ICA! 

Mrs. Baalke will be shifting positions on our staff to teach English, History and Language in our secondary program.  She has 10 years of public school experience in high school, and I know her passion for her subjects will inspire our students! 

Mrs. Bishop will be moving as well, but just down the hall to take on the kindergarten class.  There's no doubt she will carry her supreme creativity and nurturing, structured environment with her to the next grade level.   

We have already engaged a PreK teacher named Marlene Phillips, who comes to us with 20 years of PreK experience, including starting her own  successful preschool in the Elk Plains area near Spanaway.  She and her husband are fairly new to the island, and I'm delighted to welcome her to our teaching team. 

I could say a myriad of wonderful things about the rest of our staff as well, whom I am very thankful are hanging around for another year.  It is a privilege to work alongside each one of them! 

There are plans in the works for filling the positions that are vacant, but we're just not quite cleared to unveil those arrangements yet, so I'll keep you posted as I am able. 

Just four weeks until summer break, folks!  Check out the summer camp flyer and MT attached! 

Blessings on your week! 

Brenda