<![CDATA[WEST SAYVILLE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

<![CDATA[WEST SAYVILLE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL - School News]]>Wed, 18 Mar 2026 10:18:35 -0400Weebly<![CDATA[Nature Hike, Birding, and Carmans River Seining at Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge]]>Mon, 13 May 2019 22:57:50 GMThttps://www.wscs.org/school-news/nature-hike-birding-and-carmans-river-seining-at-wertheim-national-wildlife-refuge

“But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind…” (Job 12:7-10)

On May 2nd, West Sayville Christian School (WSCS) took the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade students on a field trip to Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in Shirley, NY. Wertheim NWR is part of the Long Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex, managed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It was a beautiful day so Mr. Jerfelis took advantage of this great opportunity to teach the children about nature conservation, what the National Wildlife Refuge System does, and the need to protect land as a habitat for plant and animal life.

Next, Mr. Jerfelis and his Visitor Services colleague, Rachel, loaned everyone binoculars before leading a hike through a nature trail looking for wildlife. Kids and adults saw several species of birds while “birding,” or actively observing birds in their natural habitat. Mr. Jerfelis and Rachel helped identify different birds spotted, like the double-crested cormorant, yellow warbler, downy/hairy woodpecker, and tree swallows. Along the trail, turtles were lounging on rocks and logs along the Carmans River.

After the nature walk, Mr. Jerfelis and Rachel put on waders to drudge the river with a giant seine net. That brought up shrimp, baby eels, small fish, and macroinvertebrates, such as the Water Penny. Then, WSCS youth had an outdoor lab exercise with those same species. They filled observation cups with water to scoop marine life into them using small nets in order to examine the animals with a magnifying glass. At the end, Wertheim NWR hosts carefully returned all marine life back to the river. This adventure allowed those involved a chance to study the complex ecosystem while enjoying the natural environment that surrounds them.

Submitted by
Christine Bailey (Parent)
Mr. Jerfelis Pimentel (Teacher)

]]><![CDATA[Calling All Spellers!]]>Tue, 19 Mar 2019 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.wscs.org/school-news/calling-all-spellers

On March 19, 2019, West Sayville Christian School hosted the Long Island Fellowship of Christian Schools Annual Spelling Bee. Six Christian schools sent contestants for both the 5/6th grade team and 7/8th grade team. All of the students were well-prepared and demonstrated the fruit of the Spirit.

The 5/6th grade team winners were:
1st Place – Smithtown Christian School
2nd place – Emanuel Lutheran School

The 7/8th grade team winners were:
1st Place – Emanuel Lutheran School
2nd Place – West Sayville Christian School

The Top Spellers for the 5th & 6th Grades were:
1st Place – Christina Caputo (SCS)
2nd Place – Derick Koestner (ELS)

The Top Spellers for the 7th & 8th Grades were:
1st Place – Thorston Knatz (ELS)
2nd Place – Briseyda Soto Galeas (WSCS)

We would also like to thank those who served as Readers and Judges:
Dr. Heather Lee (SCS)
James Trofa (OSNAS)
Andrew Snavely (FCS)
Pastor Dominick Scibetta (LEBCS).

We look forward to seeing you again next year!

]]><![CDATA[Serve-a-Thon Kickoff]]>Wed, 19 Sep 2018 20:35:41 GMThttps://www.wscs.org/school-news/serve-a-thon-kickoff

Todays’ chapel service was centered around our Serve-a-thon theme, “Be the Light” (Matthew 5:14). It is our mission to raise up children who enjoy serving Jesus by serving others. Every year, each class participates in a community service project. Our students have worked with various ministries, such as Operation Christmas Child, Lighthouse Mission, and God’s Provision; or worked in our own community cleaning parks and beaches, singing Christmas carols at nursing homes or in the neighborhood, or feeding the elderly.

Our special speakers today were two young women who have been involved in mission trips. Colleen, a WSCS graduate, shared about her mission trip while a student here in the 8th grade. After that, her heart for missions brought her to El Salvador where she ministered to local people and helped building houses. This past year, she went to Uganda on a mission trip and taught children about Jesus during Vacation Bible School. Alissa, the niece of one of our teachers, shared her experience in the mission field in Kosovo, teaching design to children in a school. She was able to share her faith with some of the Muslim people and prayed with students who asked for prayer.

It was a very inspiring chapel! Three of our middle-school students shared what they did for their summer community service project and how God ministered to them through it. Later in the day, during devotions, several of the students expressed their interest in going on mission trips and questioned me about the possibility of doing a mission trip this year. That’s awesome!

BE THE LIGHT!

Karen Warren, Principal

]]><![CDATA[Excitement in the Air!]]>Fri, 31 Aug 2018 15:11:10 GMThttps://www.wscs.org/school-news/august-31st-2018

Teacher Conference Meetings were held Wednesday and Thursday, and a buzz of excitement filled the school. It was wonderful to see everyone again and get to know new teachers. Our time in prayer ushered in the sweet presence of the Lord. Teachers engaged in devotions, discussed new policies, and decorated their rooms in readiness for our students return. We are all excited about Tuesday, September 4th, our 1st day of school!
Ms, Warren

"Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!" 1 Chron 16:34

]]><![CDATA[Get Ready!]]>Wed, 22 Aug 2018 16:13:55 GMThttps://www.wscs.org/school-news/get-readyFor everything there is season, and a time for every matter under heaven... Ecclesiastes 3:1

Ms. Warren, Principal

Although we would like summer to continue for awhile, the season is changing quickly for us at WSCS. It's beginning to look a lot like school around here again! The floors have been given their final coat of wax, classrooms are being decorated, and teachers are coming and going in an effort to prepare for the first day of school.

We are excited about the new students and teachers that will be a part of the WSCS family as we learn to "Walk with Jesus" this year.

So get ready for a great year!

]]><![CDATA[Challenges in Nature]]>Mon, 27 Nov 2017 05:00:00 GMThttps://www.wscs.org/school-news/challenges-in-nature

Greetings from Mrs. Kleisler!

Our middle-schoolers enjoyed a lovely day outdoors when we participated in a Team-Building & Course Challenge at Nassau BOCES Outdoor Education Center at Brookville. I was amazed by how our students embraced the program and learned how to work together by applying Biblical principles:

encourage one another instead of blaming one another
think before you talk
build one another up instead of tearing one another down
listen to each other’s ideas
take turns being a leader

Our middle-schoolers bonded that day!

Led by their Naturalist, Dana, and her trusty companion, rubber chicken Rufus, they overcame personal obstacles, physical obstacles, and met God in a new and different way.

Here is what our kids had to say:

Cherelle W: It was fun, we laughed a lot, and we were a team, helping each other work out our differences.

Isaac A: When I first heard about the field trip, I thought, “I don’t want to go, it sounds boring. Why go?” But God told me, “You have to go, you will enjoy it, it’s going to be lots of fun.” So I said to myself, "Ok, I’ll go" and I’m glad I went because it was a blast. My favorite part of the trip was when I walked on a wire called the Cable Bridge. At first I was really scared, but it turned out to be lots of fun. Overall the whole trip was fun.

Severino R: My favorite [team-building] games were Rufus’ Physical Therapy tarp toss and Chicken Baseball. Team-building helps us to work together and it was really fun.

Nicholas B: I loved Chicken Baseball, but I hated the PT throw.

Sarah W: One of the activities we did was a Cable Bridge which was an extension wire connected to two trees. We had to walk across to get from one tree to the other. It took courage to walk across the rope at such a great height ( 5 feet high 😉 ); it took trust that if you slipped, your friend would help you. We also had to trust God, that our friends would be safe.

]]><![CDATA[Packing with Purpose]]>Wed, 15 Nov 2017 17:29:09 GMThttps://www.wscs.org/school-news/packing-with-purpose On November 14, 2017, the 2nd and 3rd graders volunteered their time for our annual Serv-a-thon. For their community service project, they worked with Operation Christmas Child. They started out loading all of the shoeboxes donated from WSCS into a SUV. Traveling to two local churches, the children loaded up all of the donated shoeboxes into two more cars. All three cars were filled front to back with generous Shoebox donations from our community!

The excited classmates then headed to The Church on the Sound in Stony Brook, which serves as an Operation Christmas Child processing center. The children unloaded the precious cargo for the boxes to be counted. Once checked in, the kids helped move all our boxes, as well as, every other box, that had been delivered that day, to the back sorting room. Our students worked in two teams: some stacked boxes on tables, while others placed rubber-bands around the boxes to secure them during shipment. They helped tape together shipping crates and then loaded them up with Shoeboxes. Knowing the importance of these special packages, the children were particularly careful not to rip any wrapping paper, stickers, or bows. In order to make all the puzzle pieces fit together, our students searched all the tables to locate the perfect size & shape boxes, so they could fit as many as possible in each crate.

We are all so proud of the 2nd and 3rd grade classes! They worked hard and were true servants, demonstrating what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

- Submitted by parent, Christine B -

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