5th Grade Forest Program: May 2026

SCHEDULE FOR NEXT WEEK

Monday: Big Red Sketch Day. We will be headed out to Holland State Park 9:25 - 11:30. Students will sketch Big Red and eat lunch by the channel with classmates from Rose Park. Students should bring a sack lunch, water bottle, beach towel, hat, and sunscreen. No swimsuits, please.

In the afternoon we will head out to Sassafras Ridge for our last outdoor learning day!!

Tuesday: 5th Grade Celebration at Pine Ridge 2:00 - 3:00. Parents are invited to join us for this celebration!

We will also be cleaning out our desks and lockers. Please sends a number of bags to school for your child to carry home their things.

Wednesday: Last Day of 5th Grade! Dismiss at 11:30

Classroom Library

Students have been taking books out of our classroom libraries on the "honor system" so we have no way of knowing how many books are out except for the fact that some of the book baskets in our classrooms are quite empty. Please have your child check for any classroom books that may be around your house or their bedroom. Those books are due back to school this week.

We are excited to be ending the year with one more PR CELEBRATION. Kids have worked hard to earn 2,000 tickets in just the last semester-wow! They will be enjoying some frozen treats on Tuesday at lunch recess. Thank you for your continued support in helping all kids be respectful, responsible and practice positive relationships!

The HCHS Theatre Department is excited to announce a special opportunity for young performers in our 2026 Fall Musical, Disney's Frozen! We are auditioning incoming 4th-6th grade students from HC and ZC for the roles of "Young Anna" and "Young Elsa" BEFORE the end of the school year. Please see the attached invitation letter for details. Audition videos are due by Friday, May 29, with in-person callbacks by invitation on Monday, June 1. Elle Nieuwsma, for the HCHS Theatre Department

Batons

Holland Christian Schools has developed a strong culture of adults investing in and mentoring students, cultivating a fruitful context for positive spiritual formation of our students. Starting in Preschool , Holland Christian students know they are loved, affirmed, instructed, and nurtured to become all that God has gifted them to be as his agents of shalom in our world. This happens in one-on-one conferring between teacher and developing reader; on the field, court, pool, or stage between coach and performer; over coffee or breakfast between teacher and teen. HCS staff members invest in students' lives, helping to create a fabric of faithfulness surrounding students who are encouraged to grow and stay strong in their faith.

One way that we tangibly can represent this life-on-life influence institutionally, yet personally, is to pass a customized HCS track baton from teacher to student, and student to the teacher each year that a student is at HCS. Inside of this baton that follows each student throughout her or his HCS years is a scroll of paper with the accumulated personal messages of recognition and encouragement that will be added by that student’s teacher each year.

This special baton, labeled with your child's name, will come home with your child when we celebrate their 5th grade year. Read the scroll inside, celebrate and pray together with your child over the growth that has taken place throughout this school year filled with God's providence, guidance, and love. You may feel free to write a note to your child on this baton scroll and invite another mentoring adult or two to write a thoughtful note encouraging your child. We ask that you store this baton in a safe place throughout the summer months so that your child can pass this baton to his/her new homeroom teacher next fall.

Our week has been full of a variety of activities ...

We spent the day at Sassafras Ridge working on our survival skills, eating lunch together over the fire, sharing our memoirs, and having our families speak Scripture into us! Thank you for joining us for the afternoon!