Engineers in the Making?
Enthusiasm was high as the third graders at Dutton Christian School studied simple machines in science this past semester. Of the six simple machines - pulley, wheel and axle, inclined plane, wedge, screw, and lever - each student was challenged to create a complex machine that included at least two of these simple components. The talent demonstrated in making each one’s own simple machine was incredible! Altogether fourty-three different machines were demonstrated such as bubble-blowing machines, quads, ramps with a lift, ferris wheels, balloon poppers, and even a guitar. Who knows? Some students may be gifted by God to serve Him as engineers some day!
Sara Bennink, Jane Blacquiere, and Pam Zietse
Third grade teachers

Farewell to Those Who Served Faithfully
Our theme this year is “The Armor of God” based on Ephesians 6:10-18. Teachers and parents have a unique opportunity to train children how to use this armor in spiritual warfare to stand our ground. Teaching is a challenging profession with high expectations to be prepared for each class, provide instruction to meet the needs of each student, daily correct papers, and manage students in and outside the classroom. Christian school teachers have the added responsibility to nurture the faith of each student. Our staff members joyfully embrace this charge and as a result, forever leave a mark on the hearts of their students.
This year we say goodbye to a few staff members who have had a meaningful impact in their short stay here at DCS:
Mrs. Amy Zwiep did her student teaching in the DCS kindergarten classroom and continued on for two more years in first grade. She said, “Students teach one so much about all aspects of life. Teaching doesn’t feel like a job, it feels like a privilege.” She and her husband, Matt, were blessed with a healthy son this year, and she is excited to begin this new chapter of her life. She anticipates returning to the classroom one day. May God richly bless her as a stay-at-home mom.
Mrs. Cheryl Pluger worked for almost six years as a parapro. Her main task was working with students in the Saxon Math program. She enjoyed working at DCS.
Mrs. Margie Broene was a shared-time elementary technology teacher for the past two years. She provided instruction twice a week to students in grades 1-5. We pray that God will bless her future plans.
Statistics indicate that 35% of new teachers leave teaching in the first five years for various reasons. Therefore, when a teacher has committed thirty plus years to teaching, we need to celebrate how God has used these teachers to shape the minds and hearts of students.
Mr. Al De Vries has taught at DCS for thirty-eight years. He reminisced how he began teaching with 6th/7th and 8th/9th in the classroom at the same time. Over his career, he taught everything except science. He started the 8th grade PE program which now includes many activities such as golf, skeet shooting, high ropes at Camp Roger, and bowling. Mr. De Vries also started the fall and winter 8th grade retreats. He has been very involved with athletics as a coach, official, and athletic director. He has managed the middle school magazine sales and organized the 8th-grade soup suppers. Mr. and Mrs. De Vries have never missed the class trip to Cedar Point. This will be their 36th consecutive year. Al and Sandie have three children and seven grandchildren. A staff member described Mr. De Vries as a “counselor.” We respect his wisdom! We recognize Al’s multiple contributions to DCS over the years as the school has grown, and pray God’s blessings on him.
Mrs. Adriann Hulst has been at DCS for thirty-six years. For twenty-six of these years she has been a classroom teacher, and ten years as a parapro. She counts each day she walks into the classroom a privilege to be able to work with the students. This is an awesome responsibility not one to be taken lightly. Mrs. Hulst has taught 2nd, 3rd, 4th grades and middle school science. She is a recipient of the “Best Practices in Technology” award from the State of Michigan. In 1998 she was chosen to participate in NASA’s Newmast Program for two weeks at The Lewis (now Glen) Research Center in Cleveland, OH. In 2002-03 she was chosen to participate in the “Building Science Leaders” program by the Regional Math and Science Center at Grand Valley State University. Mrs. Hulst started the Science Olympiad program at DCS. “I am thankful to God for giving me the wisdom and patience that I needed to teach each one of my students. I am thankful that I could teach in a school where I had the freedom to share my faith-walk with students, and for administrators who were supportive and encouraging,” she says. We appreciate Adriann’s unique contributions to DCS and ask for God’s blessings on her.
Miss Emily Katje has been a teacher at DCS for twenty-eight of her thirty-five years in Christian education. She writes, “There have been so many wonderful students, supportive parents, encouraging colleagues, and always a school board dedicated to providing the best Christian education possible. It has been a joy to teach with colleagues who not only love children and teaching, but love the Lord above all.” Miss Katje sees each student having unique gifts given by God and considers it a pleasure to help them develop those gifts. In retirement she hopes to spend time with family and friends, to do tutoring, to work in her flower gardens, to read, draw, paint, to write, and to be available for what the Lord has planned for this next stage in her life. We thank Miss Katje for her diligent work in providing the gift of reading to so many students and ask God’s blessings on her in the future.
God is a faithful God who has used all these teachers for a combined service of more than 110 years! Thank you, teachers, for being a blessing to DCS and providing teaching and leadership for so many years.
Daniel J. Netz
Administrator
 

Gift Giving
The federal government has promised to provide an economic incentive to give the economy a boost. When you receive this economic stimulus you might consider giving 10% to your church or to Dutton Christian School. This could give a “boost” to our school if you designate your gift in one of the following ways:
1. Tuition Assistance – Almost $40,000 is needed annually to assist families requesting tuition assistance. Once our needs are met for the 2007-08 school year, collected money is set aside to offer assistance for the 2008-09 school year.
2. Capital Projects – Over spring break we replaced our middle school gym roof which had several leaks. Gifts to the building repair fund help us to make repairs in a timely fashion.
3. Foundation – Interest from the Foundation is returned to reduce the tuition costs for each student. Your gift will keep on giving for generations to come. The Foundation has assisted in keeping tuition increases at 1.75% for this and next school year.
 

Planned Giving
If you and your spouse passed away, would your current will distribute your assets according to your plans?
The concept of “planned giving” allows you to identify the assets God has given you and helps you plan to give some of those assets away while you live and/or distribute those assets after you pass away. If you don’t have a will, you know that the State will NOT distribute the assets according to your plan.
Joel Roodvoets is the planned giving coordinator for Dutton Christian School. He can put you in touch with the Barnabas Foundation so you can receive free professional advice on setting up a will. Please contact Joel at 616-293-1059.

Paper Gator
Have you ever wondered where all the money is going that we are raising from the Paper Gator? With all of our contributions of scrap paper, we have raised more than $2,700 since September of 2006.
$400 was split between the DCS Tuition Assistance Fund and the DCS Foundation to help the families of today and tomorrow with the cost of Christian education. These gifts will be annual as long as the “Gator” is in use. The money was also used for a family in need from our school community.
The fund has helped those outside our community by matching funds raised in the middle school to buy Bibles for World Wide Christian Schools. Any fund raiser done by the students for others can be boosted with these matching funds. A $100 check to the John Knox food pantry was sent along with the students’ gifts of food. Recently, we were able to send $200 to the Red Cross to benefit those from the Indian Village condo fire in Wyoming. $200 was sent with the McGraws when they went to Guatemala. The money will be used to help build homes for widows. $250 was sent to the Eagle’s Nest orphanage in Guatemala through the Bykerk family connection. Finally, Courtney Hoekwater and her mother will take along $200 to the VBS program and the building of a church in Ukraine this summer.
Do you know of any families in our community with increased needs due to the difficult economy? Do you have a mission trip planned and would like to bring along some supplies? Please contact Mr. Sloterbeek or Mr. Netz with your ideas. They will then get together with a student committee and confidentially discuss appropriate ways to distribute the funds.
Thanks for your help in this venture.
Alan Sloterbeek,
Middle school teacher

Science Olympiad Goes to State!
For the first time in DCS history our Science Olympiad team qualified for the state competition.  Sixty-five DCS middle school students chose to embark on this journey with fifteen students eventually selected to represent our school at the very competitive regionals held at GVSU.  Dutton took ninth place at regionals, securing a spot among the top ten teams who move on to the state competition.  The following students participated at this level:  Emily B., Shane B., Sam B., Emma B., Troy C., Lauren C., Tyler G., Makenzie M., Kelsey M., Alex N., Josh N., Josh O., Jennie P., Landon P., and Katie V.  Forty-eight of the best middle school teams in the state competed at MSU on April 26.  Dutton Christian finished eighteenth as a team.  Our top place for a single event was fifth.  Overall, the team competed very well and had a tremendous first showing at State!  Many thanks to Coach Reuben Sportel and his assistant coach, Theresa Post, for their dedication throughout the season.  Additional thanks to the sixteen volunteer coaches in the various events and to the numerous parent volunteers who helped in immeasurable ways.

From Mr. Van’s Fifth Grade Class
As as extension of our school’s mission statement, we state that you can “Expect Community” at DCS. This happens in many ways, one of them is through time spent with our buddies. Our 5th grade students are buddies with pre-kindergarten students in Mrs. Deppe’s class. Together we have shared feasts, read books, and made silhouettes. Below, Joselyn B. is reading a book while Maci V. and Tessa V. listen. Also Ashley V. is reading while Alexis M. and their pre-K buddies, Ashleigh C. and Lily H. (and snowman) enjoy the story.

Alex Goes to the State Geography Bee!
A HUGE congratulations goes to 8th grader, Alex N., who qualified for the state level of the National Geographic Bee. The competition included 100 students in 4th to 8th grades from across the state of Michigan competing for a spot in the National Bee. Five million students participated at the school level, 5,000 students took the geography test, and the 100 top scorers qualified to go to the state competition; so it is a fantastic accomplishment to attend the State Bee. The questions covered a range of topics such as US Geography, World Geography, Historical Geography, Political Geography, and Current Events. Alex did very well and placed in the top half. This was a great tribute to our school to have Alex there to represent us! At DCS over the years, Alex has been exposed to many topics and has been challenged to develop good thinking skills. These experiences helped prepare him for this competition. Congratulations, Alex!

We Congratulate the Eighth Grade Class of 2008!

Jacob A.
Emily B.
Shane B.
Sam B.
Travis B.
Emma B.
Troy C.
Lauren C.
Ben C.
Nathan D.
Sam D.
Lindsey D.
McKenzie D.
Justin E.
Travis G.
Tanner H.
Morgan H.
Caitlyn H.
Kurt H.
Sydney H.
Luke K.
Zachary K.
Kyle K.
Stephanie L.
Laiya L.
Ross M.
Kelsey M.
Alex N.
Joshua N.
Jennie P.
Jon P.
Karlina P.
Landon P.
Levi S.
Jonathan S.
Arianna S.
Michaela S.
Mark V.
Michelle V.
Kaitlyn V.
Hannah V.
Jamie V.
Steven W.

As you look forward to this new and exciting time in your life, may you feel
God’s blessing and guidance. Congratulations!