NEW PHONE NUMBER

We had a little issue with our phone lines this summer.  Once our main church offices moved, it affected our phone lines.  However, we now have our own line and phone number.  Put it in your contact list!

Shining Light - 615-656-1673

**We have been asked to do another school supply give-away on August 4th.  So we are still collecting school supplies.  You can drop them by downstairs any Tuesday or Thursday.

Our last give-away resulted in 310 children receiving backpacks and supplies to get them started off on the right track this year.  Thank you, thank you to all who donated!  We would like to say a special thank you to Adler Slocum's daddy's law firm in Columbia - Harlan, Pierce & Slocum who donated 50 backpacks and supplies!

Fall Financial Information

Hi Parents!

My name is Betsy Turnage and I am the new financial administrative assistant at Shining Light.  I have previously been a Preschool teacher AND a parent here so some of you already know who I am.  For those of you who don't, I can't wait to meet you all!!!

Some of my duties here are to handle all tuition and forms for Shining Light.  SOOOO if you have a question or concern regarding your payments or balance you can email me any time at betsy@franklinchristianchurch.com.   

I am very excited that we now have a new online system for payments on the church website.  You can access this by going to www.franklinchristianchurch.com and click on the 'ONLINE GIVING' tab in the upper right hand corner.  On this tab you will find where you can make a payment directly to Shining Light.  Then follow these simple steps:

1. Enter the amount of your payment beside 'Shining Light'
• 1 Child $160.00 per month
• 2 Children $300.00 per month
• 3 Children $410.00 per month
2. Donation Frequency:
• Choose 1 time (Because you will only pay for 9 months, you do not want to choose monthly.)
3. Press continue and on the next screen you will enter your information and can create an online profile/login that you can use each time you pay online. 

Your first payment is due August 15, 2013.  Your final payment will be due April 15, 2014.  Each payment is due on the 15th of the month. 

If you opt to pay by check, please make it payable to Franklin Christian Church and mail to the following address:
                             Franklin Christian Church
                             Attention: Shining Light
                             4040 Murfreesboro Rd.
                             Franklin, TN 37067

In addition, our student information form is now available online at www.franklinchristianchurch.com and click on Shining Light.  It will be listed under Students Currently Registered For Fall 2013.  You will need to bring this form filled out to the Meet the Teacher/Parent Meeting on August 28/29. 

I look forward to seeing you all at the meeting and in the mean time if you have any questions, please feel free to email me.

Enjoy the rest of your summer!
Betsy Turnage

FYI

Reminders:

We are collecting school supplies to help children in the Columbia, TN area targeted by DCS as in need of help getting started on the right track for school this fall.  We need both supplies and volunteers to help on Friday, July 19th in Columbia.

To donate:  bring in supplies on Tuesday or Thursday 9:00 - 2:00 PM.  There are bins in the front downstairs foyer.

To volunteer:  contact Joni Myers at shininglight@franklinchristianchurch.com.

As we gear up for return of the school year, some items that you will need to have for your child:

• Shining Light provides a tote bag for your child's belongings, so you will not need to purchase a backpack.

• You will need to pack a lunch, so a good lunch box will be needed.  We do not have adequate space to store in a refrigerator, so you may want to purchase cold packs or other insulated items.

• Nursery, Toddler 1 and Toddler 2 will need a nap mat.  We like to use the blue/red plastic ones from Walmart or Target.  They fold up and we are able to store them adequately in the rooms.  You can bring a cover like a king size pillowcase, or you can find companies online that make nap mat covers.

(We are in discussion about Toddler 2 having a rest period rather than a full nap time.  We will gauge parent interest at beginning of year.)

All items brought to school (nap mats, sippy cups, pacifiers, lunch boxes, etc.) need to be labeled with your child's name especially in the very young classes that cannot say whose pacie is whose!

First month tuition will be due August 15th.  We pay one month ahead, so your last payment for the school year will be April 15th.  We will have the ability to pay online, or you may send in a check to the church.  Stay tuned for more specific information.  There will also be a student form that needs to be completed before school begins.  It will be posted on the church website by July 25th.

Hope your summer is going well!

Community Outreach Opportunity

Dear Families,

FCC and Shining Light have been given the opportunity to help 300-400 families in the Columbia, TN area.  DCS has identified that many families who are in need of school supplies to get their children ready for the "fall".  Fall is a loose term as their schools start back the week of July 22.

There is going to be a Back to School Fair for the families on Friday, July 19th.  Area businesses are providing them with health physicals, haircuts, and supplies to help get them started on the right track for school.

FCC plans to help out with the schools supplies.  We are going to set up a table and give out as many free school supplies as we can gather over the next two weeks.

We would like to ask you to help out by bringing in school supplies to Shining Light July 9, 11, 16 and 18.  Betsy Turnage and I will be going down to Columbia on the 19th along with other volunteers to give out supplies that day.  If you would like to join us, please just let me know! We need all the volunteers that we can get!

School supplies needed:

backpacks (not the rolling kind)

paper

pens (black and red), pencils

binders

dividers

pocket folders

crayons

colored pencils

markers

glue 

glue sticks

We will have a box set up in the downstairs foyer to collect items.  Anything that you can do to help would be greatly appreciated!  

If you have any questions, or would like to volunteer to fill packages or work on Friday, July 19th, please contact Joni Myers at shininglight@franklinchristianchurch.com.

Thank you!

SpoiledRottenPhotography

SpoiledRottenPhotography portraits are here!

Pick-up Date:  Thursday, June 6

Times:  9:00 - 10:00 AM and 1:00 - 2:00 PM - you may pick up at either time.

**Shining Light Summer program is currently in session, so please come at the above posted times.  Portraits will be available from Will Smith at the front foyer desk.  

Notes for Summer

We have begun to work on Fall 2013 and are excited about some upgrades that we will have for fall.  It is also never too early for some of you to start working on getting your little one ready for preschool!

• Meet the Teacher/Parent Meeting is set for August 28 and 29.  Parents of Nursery, Toddler 1 and Toddler 2 children will come with their child at 9:30 AM.  Children will stay with their new teachers while parents meet with me in the Chapel room.  Parents of Preschool and Pre-K will come at 11:00 AM.  If you have two children in the different age groups, you will want to attend the second meeting.  IF YOU ARE NEW TO SHINING LIGHT AND HAVE TWO CHILDREN IN THE DIFFERENT AGE GROUPS, YOU WILL WANT TO ATTEND BOTH SESSIONS.
• Franklin Christian Church is now set up with online giving and that means you will also be able to make payments on our website.  In fact you will be able to set up a user profile, and I've been told, print out all your payments for use with your tax requirements/filings. Take a look at the new set up at www.franklinchristianchurch.com.  As a result of this new upgrade, we will no longer use PayPal.
• Speaking of financial matters, Ms. Betsy Turnage, formerly of Preschool 2, will be taking over as our financial administrative assistant.  You will still be able to use the mdorecords@franklinchristianchurch.com as a means of communication with her. 

• Nursery, Toddler 1, and Toddler 2 parents - this applies to you!  If you are new to Shining Light, your child will nap in Nursery, T1 and T2.  We use the plastic nap mats that you can purchase at Walmart.  They are red/blue and fold up neatly.  You can purchase covers for them online or use a king-size pillowcase for covering.  If you think your child will never sleep on a mat because he/she is used to a crib, try this tip.  Several weeks before school begins, have your child nap on the new nap mat in his/her room.  It will take a few days to get used to.  Use a covering, blanket, pacifier, stuffed animals, anything that they need to feel comforted.  Be sure and tell them this is how "big kids" nap at preschool.  Stick to it and you will have then used to it by the time school begins!
• Preschool parents!  We need your child potty-trained by the start of the school year.  If not completely potty-trained, they need to be actively working toward it.  Once school begins, we will ask that they be in underwear or pull-ups only.  On October 1 we will ask that you ONLY bring them in underwear - no diapers, no pull-ups.  We encourage you to actively work on this. Our rooms are not equipped with diaper changing tables.  The majority of the children will already be potty-trained and potty breaks will be scheduled throughout the day.  Thank you in advance for helping us with this task!

I hope everyone is having a fantastic summer!  For those of you joining us for the summer session, we will see you next week!

Oklahoma

I grieve every time I hear of children being endangered, and the tornadoes yesterday were tragic.  Even though we practice both fire and tornado drills at Shining Light, I am sure in the back of our minds we are thinking "this won't happen to us."

On the news this morning they are asking for a donation of $10 to Red Cross and if all gave that amount, what a blessing to Oklahoma that would be.

Please pray for those who lost everything, including family members.

www.redcross.org