Good evening-

This will be a quick week to bring us into the holiday season. PLEASE read the entire newsletter, I feel like there is a lot of information in this newsletter.

If you ever have any questions, comments, or concerns don't hesitate to reach out. My contact information is below. If you'd like to reach me, you can email me at gmalekovic@nhcscrusaders.org or 618-533-6910.

It's a great time to be a Crusader.

Blessings and have a wonderful week,

Mrs. Malekovic

In an attempt to keep cars off the highway, we are going to start the pick up line with two lines. We did this Friday, and it seemed to work. If you are the first several cars to line up, you will line up like normal. Once the line is past Door B (where Super Dave typically parked his truck) you will follow the concrete path. The best way to explain this is when you go around to the church parking lot to line up, follow the concrete path to get in line. Once that line is full, pull up to the orange cones. Then you will line up like usual. Please pay attention, keep moving, and do not leave a lot of space between cars. Thanks for your cooperation as we try to keep this process as smooth and safe as possible for everyone.

It is the Christmas Season and here at New Horizon we love to be able to give back in some capacity. For many years, we have participated in Operation Christmas Child and have been able to send thousands of shoe boxes to children in need. After much consideration, we are going to try something different this year to reach out to our families in our supporting and local churches.

We are planning on making class “Blessing Baskets.”

The idea is that each class will be making several themed “Blessing Baskets” to be given to local churches to bless families in their congregation that are in need of a Christmas Blessing.

You will have the opportunity to contribute to the baskets either financially and/or by purchasing items.

Blessing Basket Themes Ideas:

1st grade and 7th Grade-Family Basket Ideas: movie night( popcorn, candy, drinks, cozy blankets, etc.), game night (games, snacks, candy, drinks, etc…) Family Devotional, Family Coloring book and colors, Puzzles, gift cards, etc, snow day fun

2nd grade and 6th Grade- Senior Citizen Basket: Large print crossword puzzles, word searches, blankets,

3rd grade, 5th grade, and 8th grade Household Basket: Laundry Supplies, Cleaning Supplies, Toiletries, Gift Wrapping Supplies

Kindergarten and 4th grade-Food Basket: Taco Fixings, Spaghetti, Baking Supplies, gift cards, chips and dip, cereals, non-perishables, etc

All items are due to NHCS by Tuesday, December 10th to your child’s teacher. Baskets will be distributed that week to our local churches to be shared with people in their congregations in need of a Christmas Blessing.

• If your child is absent, please call the office by 9 am. If you would like work collected, it will be ready for pick up in the office after 3 pm.

Please email Ms. Alex if you have any questions. alex@nhcscrusaders.org or Ms. Christina at csnyder@nhcscrusaders.org

Weekly Schedule:

Tuesday: Practice at NHCS 3:30-5

Weekly Schedule:

Monday: Game at Oakdale at 6pm

Tuesday: Game at Trinity Hoffman at 6pm

Weekly Schedule:

Monday: practice 3:30-5

Tuesday: Game at Trinity Hoffman

It’s that time of year again. Preparations are underway for the 2024 Christmas program. We will continue the tradition of celebrating our Jesus this year with a program titled “The Christmas County Spelling Bee”. The program will be on Thursday, December 19th at City Hope Church. Below and on the back of this letter you will find a list of what your student or students will need to wear for this Christmas program. If you have any problems finding or paying for any of these items, please reach out to myself or the office. We look forward to sharing the many names of Jesus.

School will be at City Hope Church on Thursday, December 19th. I will send more information on this later. This year, we will have a morning performance at City Hope Church @ 9:30 for grandparents or anyone else not able to attend the evening performance. This will be a rehearsal so plan for stopping, do overs, slip ups, and a few laughs. The doors will open at 9:15. I will send more information on this later as well.

The evening performance will begin at 6:30 and doors will open at 5:30 at City Hope Church. More information will be shared later

Thanks for your continued support,

Mrs. Malekovic (gmalekovic@nhcscrusaders.org)

Clothing List by Class

Kindergarten

• Students will wear choir robes during their performance(provided by the school). They can dress in church clothes under.

1st Grade

• Students should wear church clothes.

2nd Grade

• Students should wear church clothes.

3rd & 4th Grade Girls

• Cheer shirt and bow ($10 donation for the shirt and bow) will be ordered by NHCS. Sizes will be collected this week.

• Black jogger pants and tennis shoes are required.

3rd & 4th Grade Boys

• Students are encouraged to take on different "dad" personas (e.g., golfer, workout dad, fisherman, businessman, video gamer dad, etc.). Be creative and have fun! If you need suggestions or assistance, please reach out.

5th Grade

• Students should wear black bottoms (pants or skirts) and a white or cream top. Boys may wear a tie if they'd like. Girls may choose to wear black dresses.

6th Grade

• Students should dress nicely: black dress pants with any colorful button-down shirt or sweater, with an optional tie.

• Girls can wear a black skirt, bottoms with a colorful top or a colorful dress.

7th Grade

• Students should wear all black for the performance. Think choir attire, keeping in mind that they will also be stage hands and will be moving around a lot.

In Matthew 5:5, the 3rd BEATITUDE it says:

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."

Meek, in this scripture is not saying we should all be little weaklings.

Meek does not = weakness.

Meekness means ‘Strength under Control’

Most of you adults reading this have some understanding of what ‘strength under control’ would look like in our daily lives.

But we have to admit…right now out in the world….it seems as if everyone would have their own spin on what they think ‘strength under control’ looks like.

In Judges 17:6 the second half of the verse says, “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” ….sounds like the world we live in now….doesn’t it?

So….WHY.... was everyone doing their own thing?….in the first part of this verse it points to the “why”…… “In those days there was no king in Israel.”( Judges 17:6)

There is no king here at NHCS either…

…but WE here at NHCS do know “THE KING”, and it is from HIS lips we are given the Beatitudes.

This list is for each and every one of us, personally.

It is from the 3rd Beatitude we chose the theme for our 2024/25 school year, ‘Strength under Control’, we feel this summarizes the Beatitudes as a whole…

…. JESUS gave the SERMON on the MOUNT as a teaching…JESUS understood that the people listening needed taught these concepts…..and a key word for us here at NHCS is ‘teach’……just like the people on the mount needed the teachings from JESUS……our children and us adults need these teachings also. ….

As mentioned earlier how the world is going its own way…. why?....because they do not know the KING…we are going to use the words of the KING to teach our students here at NHCS how to live a life with STRENGTH under CONTROL.

We have written the Beatitudes in a simplified form in order to express their meanings; not only for our students, but for us adults also who are teaching them.

You can find The Beatitudes in Matthew 5:2-12

The Beatitudes

2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons[a] of God.

10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

• When I remain teachable. (September)

• When I’m truly sad when I sin. (October)

• When I use self-control in difficult situations. (November)

• When I seek what is biblically right. (December)

• When I show mercy to others. (January)

• When the motives of my heart are innocent. (February)

• When I seek peace with others. (March)

• When I stand for JESUS, even when it is hard. (April)