Wow, it is hard to believe this is our last month of preschool before we transition into our summer fun program! We are looking forward to seeing those of you who are continuing on in the program for summer and next fall. It will be hard for us to say good-bye to many friends who have been with us for the past few years. We know it is the natural process of life, but we will miss you all.

A few calendar reminders for you for the month of June. We will be having one of our parents, who is a San Diego Life Guard, coming in on Monday and Tuesday, June 9 & 10 to teach the children about water safety. Thank you Mr. Sanders! Monday, June 23, 2008 will be the last full day for our M-W-F children and Tuesday, June 24, 2008 will be the last full day for our T-Th and 5 day children. On Wednesday, June 25, 2008 we will be having an all school picnic at Lindberg Park, from 10:00 a.m.. – 12:00 p.m. Please bring your lunch and we will see you there! PARK IS ON ASHFORD STREET. THE BACK FENCE OF THE PARK RUNS ALONG THE 805 FREEWAY.

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We will be having a quilt raffle at the picnic. The children created their own art squares and we had a generous grandmother donate the material and her time to sew beautiful quilts of each rooms art work. Thank you Audrey Continelli’s grandmother! They will be displayed in the classrooms the week of June 16, or sooner. We will be selling raffle tickets June 16, 2008 – June 24, 2008. You do not need to be present to win. If we pick your name and you are not at the picnic, we will call you on Monday, June 30, 2008 and let you know you won.

The entire staff of Northminster Preschool would like to let you know how much your children have meant to us this year. It has been a pleasure to watch them grow and mature. Thank you for all you have done to help us make Northminster Preschool the best preschool in San Diego!

Shelli Harder

When these little folks put their minds to it, just look out! The word went out that the Preschool would be collecting peanut butter (… and jelly) as a mission project for CCSA. With “Peanut Butter Enthusiasm” those little people jumped into the mission and the jars came rolling in. We ended the month with over 120 jars of peanut butter! ( … and some jelly.)

Curriculums this month are varied. Some classes are investigating the community around us, with trips to the grocery store, fire house, post office and pet store. These aren’t isolated projects. They are integrated with math skills, reading, socialization and motor skills. It takes a talented staff to put this all together.

With funds raised by the Preschool parents, the Pacific Animal Productions will present two programs with hands-on touching in the animal kingdom.

Pastor Markus will accompany the children on his guitar at the Art Celebration on Monday, May 19, 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. This is a popular event with both children and parents, so the sanctuary and classrooms will be full with participants. All are welcome.

Come by and visit and see what we are up to at the preschool!

Our Women’s Bible Study Small Group will be on Wednesdays. The first will be May 14th at Northminster from 7pm-9pm. You can purchase the workbook at our first session for $20, or from the Berean Christian bookstore on Clairemont Mesa Blvd. I am very excited about this and all of you who said you will be coming, see you Wednesday! God Bless- Chelsea

Our next Car Wash to raise money for camp will be May 31st from

10am-1pm in the Northminster parking lot! See you there!

(Free, accepting donations)

Chelsea

Can you believe it is May already? We have one more month of preschool and then it is Summer Fun time! I just want to remind all the parents that this year school is going until June 24th and the All School Picnic will be June 25th. More information will follow in June.

There are a couple of dates to mark on your calendar. Our 2nd annual Northminster Preschool “Celebration of Art” Night is Monday, May 19th from 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. It is a combination singing production and art open house. Please feel free to invite grandparents and siblings, and make sure you bring your camera. We will also have a surprise presentation for you! Bring your children to the church sanctuary and have them sit with you until we are ready to sing. Then after they sing you will take your child to the preschool to tour the classrooms. Make sure you tour all the classrooms so you can see the different ways art is interpreted depending on the age of the child. It will also give you the opportunity to see who the other teachers are here at Northminster. The entire preschool staff is extremely excited about this event, so please join us!

The preschool will be closed on Monday, May 26, 2008 in observance of Memorial Day. Also, please keep an eye open for the Summer Fun letter and room assignments. The letter will be going home with your child on Tuesday, May 27th and Wednesday, May 28th.

I want to thank all the parents who participated in the Ice Cream fundraiser and the Kids Art fundraiser. We appreciate everything you do that continues to support Northminster Preschool and the children. I also want to thank you, on behalf of CCSA, for your contributions of peanut butter and jelly. We collected over 125 jars of peanut butter and jelly to help fill the food shelves at CCSA. Your generous contributions will help needy families here in the Clairemont area, so THANK YOU!!

On behelf of the entire staff, we would like to thank you for bringing in snacks to share, contributing your time, skills, paper bags, and any other little or big thing we need! You are always so generous when we ask for your help. It does not go unnoticed and we thank you for all of it. You make it easy for us to love what we do!

Shelli Harder

Please join us on Saturday, May 10, for our Annual Mother’s Day Luncheon.  This will be a wonderful event catered by JoAn Johnson and offering musical entertainment by the Monettes!

This is a great opportunity to honor your mother, daughter, friend or neighbor this Mother’s Day!  Everyone is welcome.  Come join us and bring a friend!

Tickets are $7 and $3 for children under 12 and are on sale now.  See Helen Melbourn and Winnie Hawkins before and after church on Sundays or contact the office for ticket information.  We look forward to seeing you there!

Help kids get to CAMP! Tomorrow-

Car wash 10am-2pm FREE, accepting donations

Thank you!

Chelsea

The Women’s Association of Northminster is a part of Presbyterian Women in the Presbytery. We meet with that group once a month September through June and join in their mission outreach programs. We also attend regularly the 5 meetings per year of Church Women United which includes women of all denominations. In addition we have our local missions here in the area such as Northminster, its Youth Group, Young Life, and Community Christian Service Agency known as CCSA which provides needed supplies from food and clothing to help with household furnishings, etc.

We also have two Bible Study Groups on the second Tuesday of each month, September through June using the study guide provided by the Presbytery Church’s national headquarters. The coming year’s study will concentrate on the book of Luke. Any Northminster women are welcome to join us at any time. Faith Circle meets at 9:30a.m. and Rebecca Circle at 7p.m.

Friday, May 2, we will be meeting at the Pioneer Oceanview United Church of Christ at 250 Fairfield St. here in Clairemont in the Bay Park area. Salad pot-luck will follow the meeting. Please let either Sheila Mura at 619 275-1748 or Winnie Hawkins at 858 278-6788 know if you need a ride. The speaker will be Mark Jennings. Their ministry is through theater and he has performed in London’s Houses of Parliament to California’s Venice Beach. There is no charge but there will be a goodwill offering, half of which will go to the National Church Women United, the other half to local group for their mission work. We hope to see many of our Northminster women there.

Saturday, May 10,tickets will go on sale this week for our annual Mothers Day luncheon. Catered by JoAn Johnson we know it will be wonderful meal. Tickets are $7 and $3 for children under 12. Look for Helen Melbourn and Winnie at the welcome table on the patio before church on Sunday and immediately following the service. The program for the luncheon on May 10 is a musical one and we will be entertained by the Monettes. Come and bring a friend!

Kids, come join us for music, crafts, games, Bible drama, snacks, science experiments, video, new friends and more, while learning about Jesus’ power to help us to be helpful, be thankful, be brave, live forever and tell others about God.

July 28th to August 1st 9 am to noon

Pre-registration- starts on Sunday April 27th between our worship services.

FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED…..AND IT FILLS UP FAST!!!!

• $40 for first child in family, $30 for each additional child
• Potty trained 3 year olds to 5th graders are welcome
• 6th graders and above can volunteer

Registration forms and volunteer applications are available in the church office

If you would like to see what happened last year, go to our Photo Gallery,

Between services last Sunday, the families and friends of Northminster got together in celebration of our Grand Re-opening of our Nursery Shower Party! It proved to be a great opportunity to enjoy fellowship, cake and punch as we received new toys, bedding and baby items that were gifted to our nursery in honor of all of the youngest congregants at Northminster.

Our new nursery is being set up just outside of our Sanctuary, so new mothers and dads can be most comfortable in knowing that their babies are safe and well cared for during service. Thank you all for helping us celebrate with your loving contributions.