RJC's Traveling Open House

On Friday, December 2nd, 16 students and 4 staffers loaded the RJC bus and headed to North Battleford for an AWESOME youth event!  We took a part of our traditional Open House "on-the-road", to meet youth who might not be able to make the trip to our campus. We sang songs, danced and played games with youth from churches in the North Battleford area.

Rachel Sings a lovely Song

Landon and Mackenzie help with Sound checks

Everyone who attended had a FANTASTIC time and the students of RJC represented incredibly well!
There were musical renditions from Glee, the Lloyd Schmidt band rocked the house and if I had not seen it myself, I would not have believed that there was a Mennonite Mosh pit!

The "BAND" preparing to ROCK the HOUZE

Sara & Crystal doing their vocal warm-ups

Crystal and Teresa performing "I feel pretty"

The Band plays ... you can't see the Mennonite Mosh Pit .. .Was GREAT

Audio and  Video Techies working to make everything run.. Thanx to Nathan, Trissy and Jared!

Props to all the performers, team leaders, activity leaders, sound & audio techs, roadies, MC's, Lloyd for driving and taking the pictures, Mel and Cheryl for coming and helping out and the youth groups who came out and joined us for the evening.

Fill the sails of my soul...

Duck, Duck What????

 GAME TIME in the GYM was a Huge Hit! The activity team lead the group in games like Mennonite square dance and Duck, Duck, whatever.  What you can't see in this photo though is in the corner of the gym there were enough cookies and goodies provided by the kitchen ladies of RJC to feed 5x's the people we had. YUM! Thanx RJC kitchen ladies!

Duck, Duck ... OUCH!

THE Lloyd Schmidt Band!

Watch for the NEXT GREAT Traveling Open House at a church near you. It will be an event you won't want to miss! There will be posters on your church bulletin boards and invites and information on our FACEBOOK page. Check it out.

Sara and Crystal Gleeking it up!

A special thank you to Hope Mennonite for Hosting us for dinner as well! The next traveling open house will be happening soon! Maybe, PA, maybe, Swift Current, mayyyybe Regina... you never know where we might show up next!

RJC Thanks its Supporters at Appreciation and Fund-Raising Banquet

RJC held it's annual Fund-Raising and Appreciation Banquet on Saturday, November 19.  Over 240 friends of the school enjoyed a great evening of singing, storytelling and good food.  A silent and live auction added to the fun, as did the "passing on the gift" of a live chicken!  The RJC board and staff are grateful to all who consider the Christian education at the school important and support it through attendance, prayers and funds.  Thank you!!

There were many fantastic items available for bid at the silent auction.

Former board member Duff shows off the live chicken that was up for sale.  If you purchased the chicken you were free to give it to someone else who then had to buy it as well in order to be able to "pass on the gift".

RJC Art teacher Denise made a quilt from recycled denim and RJC dress code.  It was one of the featured items of the live auction.

Our guest for the evening was Adriana Koehn.  Adriana is the Connecting Peoples Coordinator for MCC Guatemala and El Salvador.  She is the contact person for RJC's travels to Central America and serves as organizer and tour facilitator while our students are there.  Adriana spoke of the importance of a broader world view that is global in scope and focuses on the servant leadership and compassion of Jesus.

Adriana included many pictures from her experiences in Guatemala and El Salvador to her presentation.

Krista, a 2009 graduate of RJC, responded to Adriana's presentation by reflecting on her learning while in Guatemala and how it has shaped her thinking since then.

Erik, a 2010 graduate, also shared about his Guatemalan experiences including his struggle with eating beans every day as well as a life changing lesson he learned about generosity while at the Lo de Carranza Mennonite Church in Guatemala City.

The evening also was highlighted by the singing of Sonrisa, a group of 25 young women led by Lynne.  All either are alumnus of RJC or else are connected to the school in some other way.  They meet weekly to continue enjoying the gift of singing which was enhanced for them while attending RJC.

RJC Video News November 3, 2011

Third and final offering from the CPT 30 class.

RJC Video News October 28, 2011

Installment #2 of the RJC News presented by the CPT class.

RJC News - CPT Class Video Project

The CPT class has been working on news reports of RJC events.  This is the first installment. It reports on events from last week. Look for a couple more in the next few weeks.

Appreciation and Fundaising Banquet

Reserve your tickets now for the RJC Appreciation and Fundraising Banquet to be held on Saturday, November 10 at Rosthern Junior College.

click the poster above to see a larger version

Guest speakers are Irma & Antony Sanchez Solano (MCC Guatemala & El Salvador) and Adriana Koehn (MCC Guatemala & El Salvador), with special musical guests SONRISA.

Tickets are complimentary, but must be reserved by November 10, 2011. Please call 306.232.4222.

Faith and Life - Trust Chapel

The Faith and Life committee planned their popular annual 'Trust Chapel'  A student is blinded folded and is lead through an obstacle course by a fellow classmate whom they trust to safely navigate them through the course by providing verbal instructions and physical support.

Terry Fox Run

The entire student body at RJC recently participated in the school's annual Terry Fox Run.  A number of students took part in the competitive side of the event, with Matthew Hildebrandt edging out Luke Pomedli in a photo finish to take home the Terry Fox Championship trophy.  Nipping at their heels were Brenden Patkau and Josh Dahl who rounded out the top four.  Everyone enjoyed the beautiful day and in addition worked to raise money for cancer research.

The top four contenders, Luke P. , Matt H., Josh D. and Brendan.

Matt and Luke's photo finish

Grade 11 Spiritual Retreat

On September 13, the grade 11 students travelled to Camp Kinasao for their class spiritual retreat.  Throughout the day, the students were challenged to think about the theme of "Learning to Lead" by Ron Shellenberg from Mount Royal Mennonite Church in Saskatoon and Emily Toews of Northstar Mennonite Church in Drake.  The class explored the many ways in which people lead and how there is a leader in each of us through stories and interactive sessions.  In addition to times of contemplation, students also took part in a wide array of activities such as swimming, canoeing, kayaking, hiking, photo scavenger hunts, and sitting in the camp's wood-fired sauna.  For supper, we partook in a good old fashioned wiener roast, complete with s'mores!  To cap off the night, students showed off their talents in a coffee house.  Some of the more memorable acts included a free-style poetry slam and a fully choreographed version of Michael Jackson's thriller.  All in all, the grade 11 spiritual retreat was a fantastic day full of fun, reflection, and most importantly bonding between this amazing group of students who have become a real community.   

Mike, Sarah R. and Sarah O. acting out their leaders

An active game of cards

Eric, Matt and Landon lead us all in YMCA

Nic and Liam recite poetry with Mike accompanying

Relaxing at lunch

Liam, Eric, Paradise, Kyla and Matt portraying their leader

out on the water

Landon, Say EhToo and Matt about to paddle away

Laura and Phoenix

Danika, Sarah and Crystal on the water

Jonathan, Holly and Jessica decided to swim instead of paddle

RJC grade 11 class of 2011

Grade 10 Spiritual Retreat

The grade 10 class left on their class retreat after the opening program on Sunday Sept 11.  The retreat was held at the Quest Bible Camp at Christopher Lake. The theme of the 3 day retreat was "Risking New Beginnings".  The four sessions,  lead by Jim Epp and Dave Attema, focused on this theme by exploring the story of Moses.   To building on this theme the students also participated in many trust building and cooperative activities during their time at the lake.  We also spent considerable time on the water and in the water.  The weather was very cooperative and although the temperature was not in the 30's as we had hoped, it was a pleasant more moderate temperature in the low 20's.  This did not deter the students from fully committing to tubing all Monday afternoon!  Ron and Edith Regehr graciously provided the boat and the expertise in driving for the afternoon.  (Ron and Edith have been volunteering to help with Grade 10 retreat for many years!) Ewald and Louise Epp also have been coming to help for many years.  Ewald and Louise take care of feeding us for the weekend.

A great time was had by all.  There was plenty of time for relaxing, playing games and having fun! By the time we returned to campus on Tuesday the objectives of the spiritual retreat not only met but exceeded our expectations.

Jim welcomes the group and introduces the theme on "Risking New Beginnings".

Tandy must run the gantlet trusting that his classmates will clear the way!

Working together as a team, Robert, Tandy, Morgan and Josh.

The girls team tries to outdo the boys ... Laura, Hope, Kennedy and Phoebe.

NIck puts his trust in Tandy

Alyssa prepares mentally for the trust fall.

Morgan has no problem trusting that his friends will catch him!

Water fun

Lots of time for board game, card playing, ping pong and fooseball. Lyndsey and Katie are a lethal pair!

Laura and Katie on the high ropes course.

Kennedy escapes the toxic river.

Shane working the tires to gain ground.

A race to fill a tube punctured with holes with water!

A not so simple task of lowering the rod to the ground as a group

The grade 10 class