Good morning. Today’s bible reading is Matthew 7:24-27

²⁴ So then, anyone who hears these words of mine and obeys them is like a wise man who built his house on rock.²⁵ The rain poured down, the rivers flooded over, and the wind blew hard against that house. But it did not fall, because it was built on rock.

²⁶ But anyone who hears these words of mine and does not obey them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain poured down, the rivers flooded over, the wind blew hard against that house, and it fell. And what a terrible fall that was!”

I think you all know this story. I remember hearing it as a boy after church at Sunday school. The message of the story is about building a “foundation”. I want you to remember that word: “foundation”.

Building this foundation is one of the most important parts of our school life. A smile and a greeting is the foundation of making new friends. Talking with teachers is the foundation of learning to work with older people. Studying your yumetan is the foundation of learning English.

In the same way, today’s reading tells us that thinking about the lessons in the bible is the foundation to living life. When we have difficulties or troubles, remembering the words in the bible will help us withstand them.

Grade three students, you are about to graduate and then scatter in all different directions. Whatever challenges you face, I hope you remember the strong foundation you have built here at school. Your friends and teachers, your skills and studies. Your spirit and the word of God. Remember them, and I am sure that you will never fall.

—–

Let us pray:

In the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy spirit. Amen.

Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and in the hour of our death.

Holy mother of the rosary, please pray for us.

Holy mother of the rosary, please pray for us.

Holy mother of the rosary, please pray for us.

In the name of the father, and the son, and the holy spirit. Amen.

Hello everyone,

Yesterday, after many weeks of practice, we held our chorus contest. It was a nice afternoon of music. Even though prizes were handed out at the end of the day, I enjoyed each class and their efforts. Good job!

Hello everyone!

I hope you had a good weekend. On Saturday the new students for next year came to our school to try on their new school uniform. They had to make sure they got the right size, with a little room to grow in to. How about yourself, did you enjoy your two days off?

This morning I was checking some writing homework, and one of the common mistakes I saw was about tense. It can be difficult to decide what tense to use in English, because you have to think when something happened, and if it is still continuing.

Anyway, I found an interesting video on the TED education youtube channel that I thought was cute. Watch it a couple times and maybe it will help you decide what tense you need when you are using English. Watch and enjoy!

Hello everyone,

Today there was an interesting picture in the newspaper of the next Mars rover getting ready to go. Check out this big box:

So what is inside the box? It looks like this:

Very cool. The last two rovers lasted much much longer than anyone imagined. Opportunity landed in 2004, and sent its last transmission in 2018. It traveled 45km in that time! The next rover, Curiosity landed in 2012, and is still going strong today. These little robots were designed to work for two years, but have showed a lot of spirit.

Now, the only thing left to do it find a new name for this next rover. Right now there is a contest on the NASA homepage with some different ideas and essays about them. They essays were written by young people in America, so check out the page and read some of the reasons why!

Which name would you choose?

Hello everyone,

This morning we had a few snow flakes fall from the sky. I was worried I wouldn’t see an snow at all this year. It is late to see it, because we are almost half way through February.

This July the Olympics start in Tokyo. Just like our H3 students who are studying hard in their final days of high school, athletes are training hard for their chance at a medal this summer. I am sure we will all enjoy watching the events on TV (or live?). When you watch, try to think about this picture. Please check some of these words:

Behind every champion are many hours of training and struggle. Behind every music star are hours of practice and writing. Behind every successful test is time spent studying and reviewing.

No matter if you are a famous athlete, a girl studying for the center test, or a freshman doing her first small test. If you do the work people don’t see, then you will reach your goals too. Good luck!

Hello everyone,

Yesterday we had the high school entrance exam. Many girls came on a chilly Sunday to take the test. I hope you all did your best!

The day was also special because of the date: February 2nd, 2020. Or, if you write the date in numbers, it is:

That’s right, it is a palindrome date! That is a date that you can read from left to right and from right to left. A palindrome is like a “kaibun” in Japanese. Probably you know the famous one: 竹薮焼けた. English also has single word palindromes, like racecar or kayak but also sentences like this: “Never odd or even”.

As for the dates, well, this will probably be the last one I see in my lifetime. However, you are all still very young! If you stay healthy, eat well, and are happy, maybe you will think of this day on December 12th, 2121, or 12/12/2121.

Enjoy your day off on setsubun, and see you on Tuesday.