Gerry's Walk for Education

This November marks the first anniversary of the passing of our Beloved security guard, Mr. Gerry Smith. In honor of Gerry, Upper Room Christian School will be hosting the first Annual "Gerry Smith Memorial Walk for Education" fund raiser. The Walk-A-Thon will be held rain or shine on Tuesday, November 24th, at 8am, at Upper Room Christian School, 722 Deer Park Road, Dix Hills, NY 11746.

Gerry laid down his life for the cause of Christ through his ministry to both the Church and to the School. As a result, Upper Room Christian School will memorialize him, through this event, for his heartfelt devotion to the school and to the students. Gerry was a great father-figure who encouraged the students, staff and graduates during the schools 28 year history.Gerry, along with his wife Alice, and their family have been an integral part of the Church and School's growth since the late 1970's.

All of Gerry's five children graduated from U.R.C.S. and celebrate successful Christian lives to this day. His legacy continues to live on through his grandchildren who are enrolled in the school today! He was a strong supporter of our Baseball and Basketball programs and loved attending games and cheering on our athletes and cheerleaders. Always visible in his wheelchair, Gerry never missed an opportunity to help and serve at our Athletic and Fund Raising events.Please consider joining with us as we honor the memory of this great man of God while helping to keep his legacy of giving going!

There are several ways for you to get involved!
1- By calling in a donation for this great event at 631-242-5359.
2- By mailing in a donation to Gerry's Walk, 722 Deer Park Road, Dix Hills, NY 11746.
3- By donating online thru Pay Pal at www.Gerryswalk.org .
4- By making a donation at our table in the lobby of Upper Room Christian World Center after a 8am or 11am service.
5- Or by getting family, friends and business' to sponsor you for our 10 lap 2 1/2 mile walk on Nov.24th.

100% of the proceeds from "Gerry's Walk" will go directly to U.R.C.S. to help pay for new bus transportation for our athletic department and school field trips. A portion of the donations will also be used to help underwrite the financial aid program for needy U.R.C.S. families. All donations to "Gerrys Walk" are tax deductable.

Gerry's Walk will begin at 8am at Upper Room Christian School. We are estimating the event to take between 2 - 3 hours to complete the 10 lap course. All Walk-A-Thon participants will receive a memorial keepsake scarf and a stamped verification card upon completion of the 10 laps. Water, fruit and a healthy snack bar will also be provided throughout the walk.

Summer 2009

We are getting ready for the 2009-2010 school year! Lots going on as we prepare for our 29th year of Christian Education here on Long Island, NY! Our website has been updated with this year's calendar http://www.URCS.org and we are busy enrolling students for this year. We are adding another college level course this year that will be taught by our Principal, Pastor Gregory Eck. This will allow students to graduate URCS with almost one full year of college credit accredited from St. Johns's University!

Our 2009 Valedictorian, Joshua Nunziante, is preparing to leave for Rensellear in a week or two! He'll be the second student to attend the prestigious institution in 4 years! Daniel Hashim just graduated Rensellear and will be attending Rice University as he continues his studies in Nano Technology.

We are so blessed to have the great leadership, staff and families that make up Upper Room Christian School! We look forward to another great year of trainning up young men and women spirit, soul and body for their journey through this life. We thank our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for His grace and presence as we seek His will concerning our school and everyone involved with it!

Be blessed and be a blessing,

Pastor Ed

URCS Middle School!

The 6th grade curriculum offers a Christian cooperative, constructive learning environment. With a “team teaching” approach, the teachers integrate all subject areas into the numerous curriculums. The main task with the reading curriculum is quite simple-to keep the class reading. I do this by integrating numerous genres and books into the curriculum.

Currently for the month of February our reading theme is: Around the World Literature. We are studying numerous short stories in all the genres from around the world. Students learn about: different countries, cultures, time zones, and character traits. The theme of the month incorporates: Reading, Bible, Science, Math, Writing, and Social Studies. Through Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop differentiated teaching is also incorporated; we know that all students learn in different manners.

As far as our Bible theme for the month of February students created the theme: Allow the Spirit to Guide the Way. The students worked collaboratively to create the theme and work “hands on” with the teacher towards creating all the Bible lessons for the month. We have just completed an effective and fun week of Biblical poetry.

Science is taught through a Christian lens. We have a extraordinary Christian Earth Science textbook. Our Science theme for this month is: Text to Self Connections. Students are learning about the importance of an organic way of living by connecting the Science concepts to their real life experiences. Through numerous “hands on” activities and parent involvement students are “dissecting” their way of living under their own scientific microscope.

The junior achievement representatives will be coming into the building on Wednesdays (starting next week) for the next 6 weeks. They will be here between the periods of 4-7 working with grades 6-8!

The 6th grade won the David Scarpa contest. He is writer who wrote the film: The Day the Earth Stood Still....He sent us an editor's DVD which the class each received a copy and we will be conducting a phone conference with him where the students will come up with questions to ask him...His movie tied into the Earth Science theme we were working on...We are ecstatic to have won!

Lastly, in Computer class this month the students are learning how to use Microsoft Word features: highlight, cut/paste, word count, inserting tables, etc. They are also learning how to evaluate good research vs. unreliable research on the Internet for the upcoming unit in writing: research paper.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Rotziokos

To learn more about our school go to www.URCS.org !

Middle School Progress

The middle school did such a wonderful job with the ELA exams, we are truly proud of them! For the month of February the middle school students have decided to act as "mentors" towards the elementary school (bridging the gap)....They are writing weekly letters to the elementary school students focusing on Black History Month...Each middle school student has a new elementary pen pal in the school! This project is an integration of Language Arts & Social Studies It is constructive and cooperative learning. We will also be posting a bulletin board by Ms. Claudio's room of the letters, responses and pics of the pen pals!!!They absolutely LOVE IT! With these letters all students are learning proper letter writing techniques, as well as the history of some of the greatest African American role models to have ever lived. With fun and creativity we are spreading the love and knowledge of writing and teaching within our own school environmnet.

Mrs. Rotziokos

You can see and hear more about the school at our web page http://www.urcs.org/ .

Or go to the Upper Room Christian School Group on facebook.com .