Kingdom Assignment 2012 starts February 1st! It has been eight years since we first started the February Kingdom Assignment journey.

In June of 2009, we were blessed to be one of several ministries highlighted in Anaheim at the Well Done Awards, The ceremony was hosted by the pastor and his wife who started the first Kingdom Assignment at the church in California and wrote a book – The Kingdom Assignment by Denny and Leesa Bellesi.

Our seven year total is: $$55,392! THANK YOU!

Here’s how it works! On February 1st, we will be handing out five dollars to every student, including PK! (Some thought they were too young, but many of them have done very well.) Wait a minute, a private school giving away money? Well, there is a little more to this opportunity.
LETTER TO PARENTS:

Parents – I need you to do a little homework:

1. Read the “Parable of the Talents” in Mathew 25:14-30.

2. If you think giving $5 away is strange, take a look at a Pastor who gave 100 members of his church $100 each at www.kingdomassignment.com

3. When you take a look at that – take a look at what happened in the lives of those who were changed by Christ!

Let me stress to every family, as we do each year, if you choose not to participate all you need to do is return the five dollars – no questions asked! If you choose to accept this mission, you will help us continue the legacy of helping students attend FMCS. In Once you do your homework, you’ll understand the “investment” that we will be making in our school! During this past week, I spoke to our students in chapel to explain to them what we are doing:

Our rules:
A) Realize that the money is God’s and not theirs; Pray to find a way to multiply your “talent” ($5.00); and time frame: They have the month of February and then they will have to return their “talent(s)” on March 1^st .

B) Students will be raising money to help us with our financial aid fund. Each year, we supplement the financial aid account in our budget. I would like to see our students begin to help others – great concept! As a result of this assignment, our students will be learning to help others and take pride in the school that they have been blessed to be a part of each year. They may also begin to see what God can do through them if they are obedient to His call.

How can my child “multiply their talent”? If you look through the binder in the middle school office or if you go to our website, you’ll see the great ideas that families used last year for their Kingdom Assignment. February is a great time to raise money at Super Bowl events, Valentines Day, and The Edison Parade.  You can begin by telling those outside of our school, “Hey, our Principal sent money home with my child today!” You will be surprised how many people want to know what is going on and how they can help! (Students MAY NOT sell items or raise money during school hours on campus)

Start first by praying with your children – then let’s see what God will do! All of our financial aid families say “THANK YOU!”

In His Service,

Mel Mitchell, Principal

HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2011:
- Doing extra chores around the house
- Sending out support letters asking for a donation with a return envelope
- Selling plants, homewmade soup, leotards, books, bottles water, candy bars, popcorn, lemonade, cookies, cupcakes, earrings, homemade chocolate lollipops
- Donating clothes to a consignment shop
- Bike-A-Thon and swim-a-thon
- Cleaned houses, washed mailboxes, walking pets
- Matching donations

HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2010
- Used the $5 to buy window cleaner, washed car windows at a tennis match – made $32
- Brothers had a “swim-a-thon – 5 miles swimming total and made $500
- “This expereince was wonderful and I’m now calling to have my Pastor involve our church in this wonderful journey” – parent comment
- Used the $5 to pay for Ebay listing, sold items on that site and Craig’s List – made $100 (”and enjoy less clutter in our house”)
- Ran the Edison 5K – made $37.50 (from pledges and a garage sale as well); other students sold drinks at the parade and made $32
- Washed white mailboxes in our neighborhood – sisters made $15 each
- Did chores, bake sales, sold goodie bags, garage sale, made Valentine cookies; sold candles, laundry soap, candy bars, muffins, Christain t-shirts, mow lawns, pizza, hot chocolate, and more!

VPK (Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten) School Year Program provides early childhood education to four-year-olds who will be entering kindergarten the next fall. The program allows for 540 hours of FREE education time during the school year. The VPK goal is to prepare preschool children for kindergarten.

Parents: For more information on VPK, go to http://www.elcofswfl.org/provider-vpk.php

Call us today at 939-4642, space is limited!

At FMCS:
- the program runs Monday thru Friday, 5 days a week
- the free program covers 3 hours per day: a student can stay for only those three hours (free), or they can use the voucher to deduct the amount of the voucher from the full tuition. Our normal school hours are 8:15-2:40.

* GREAT EDUCATION -CHRISTIAN BIBLICAL PRINCIPLES – PREPARATION FOR KINDERGARTEN!

Attention fathers and sons: you are invited to the “Breakfast of Champions” provided by First Assembly of God and Kidztown ministries.

Date: Saturday, February 4th

Time – 8:00 am to 10 am

Location: Preschool chapel of the Children’s Center

Tickets are $5.00 and can be purchased at the Kidztown office

On November 10th FMCS, for the 11th year, welcomed veterans on our campus to share with our students. We are thankful for all our veterans and when they can come in and share stories of courage and patriotism, it makes for one of the best days of the year. See more by clicking here

Congratulations to FMCS graduate, Kevin Morrow. Fort Myers Christian School received a letter from Florida Gulf Coast university on October 26th announcing that Kevin had received the $400 United Christian Giving Scholarship and had been verified for fall enrollment in their pre-nursing program. Kevin will be working on becoming a doctor one day and in a portion of his letter to the scholarship commitee he stated:

“I graduated from Fort Myers Christian School in 2007 under Mel Mitchell as my principal. I graduated from eighth grade at the very top of my class with a GPA of a 4.00. Attending Fort Myers Christian was a fantastic experience where, not only did I receive a good education, but I was taught how to live like Christ and follow His example. I am truly thankful to be a part of Fort Myers Christian School alumni.”

Thank you Kevin and congratulations!

On Thursday, November 3rd, FMCS had its kick-off for the Mission 25:40 program for 2011-12! This year:

- Preschool – Pajamas Project - Pajamas, story books and various items for children in foster care.
- Kindergarten: Red Cross blood drives and raising money to fight cancer in memory of Joe Weber
- The first grade Salvation Army canned food drive brought in 404 items! They also provide other items during the year
- Second grade has been a blessing at the Senior Friendship Center!
- Third grade will be working with the the staff at WAY-FM!
- Fourth grade supports Ronald McDonald House!
- Fifth grade works with New Missions Systems International
- Sixth grade will work with Habitat For Hope
- The seventh grade’s Barnabus Ministry has been a blessing to Christian comedian, Michael Jr; Cheryl McGuinness, whose husband was the pilot of the first plane that was hijacked on 9/11; Tim Tebow and many others.

- A new team of 8th graders, parents and staff prepare for their missions trip this spring to Corpus Christi, Texas, March 8-14, 2012.

Finally, we also kicked-off Operation Christmas Child – we are once again partnering with First Assembly of God this year!

Updated 10/8: “Twas the day after the banquet…” – we would like to thank the crowd of 300 people who came last night to our Banquet 2011! The theme was “Make Your Mark” for Christ, and that was certainly the case in so many ways:

- Our students singing, led by Mrs. Benjamin
- Three, very poised students, who gave “Make Your Mark” speeches – Tori Weller, Chastity Roark and Sarah Sweirsz
- A video from 1996 alumnus, Nolan Tarantino, on how God is helping him “make a mark” in Europe for Christ; and his parents, Anthony and Jody Tarantino, for sharing their perspective on their eternal investment in FMCS for their kids, Nolan and Rachel.
- Silent auction – thank you to ALL the volunteers that helped with pottery items, baskets, donations, purchases, and chairpersons: Lourdes Aldana, Nicole Gala, Dana Barfield, & Kelly Nicolosi.  A total of $8171 was raised for new computers for the elementary computer lab.
- Mary Snyder and the Eagles Nest Cafeteria staff for the meal
- All our parents who helped set-up the gym
- Masters Commission students who served in the gym, helped with the auction, and assisted Mrs. Edwards with the students in the cafeteria
- K-5 teachers who watched the students during the last part of the banquet
- Office staff and Charlie Sandburg (sound), Pastor Jeff Leatherman (making sure we had all that we needed for the sound and tech), Tom Sinex (video) and Eddie Zarick (lighting)
- First Assembly of God and Pastor Betzer for their support
- Most of all, Mrs. Paula Dillon for her vision, decorations and organization putting it all together.

- PRAISE: Over $6800 raised from the auction and another $10,000 in donations that night!

- Special Giving that night:
A gift in honor of Jordan Bergmann (grandson) by the Hayward family
A gift in honor of Kyle Palmer by the Lessard family
A gift in honor of Robert Hofener by the Blikstad family
A gift in honor of Haven and Leyton Harrington by the Neville family
A gift in memory of James Stiglich by the Reeves family
A gift in memory of Jim Stiglich by the Goguen family
A gift in memory of Clara Rodriguez by the Gossmann family

September 16, 2011 – our fall fundraiser was provided by Move Southwest Florida ! We had a great day with students working very hard to raise funds for FMCS and win prizes. In the weeks to come, pledge money will be collected and we will find out how we did. Thank you to EVERYONE that was involved! More pictures can be found here. As of 10/26/11, $18,000 has been collected of the $20,327 that was pledged. WE MADE OUR SCHOOLGOAL OF $15,000 – ENJOY DECEMBER 21ST OFF OF SCHOOL!