A few weeks ago, we had our Academy Open House. Now, since you can't come to the ship and see how we do things here, I thought I'd share a couple pictures and tidbits of information. It'll be just like you were here, too!
First off, these crazy folks are my colleagues. Yep, these ladies and this lone gentleman (God bless him!) are responsible for educating about 50 students, from pre-school up through 12th grade. Average class sizes run from 2 students to a whopping 8 students per class. That may not seem like much, but squish them all into a room the size of a nice walk-in closet and there is plenty of energy to go round. Since many of our upper-level classes combine grades, we high school teachers cover material on a two-year rotation. Last year, I taught World Geography (in addition to Bible and a couple English classes). This year, we are plunging into History, from Ancient History all the way up through the Enlightenment. I must say, I am enjoying it thoroughly. I've had to read quite a bit to stay ahead of the students, but the material is fascinating indeed (and not entirely new--I do remember some things from college).For Open House, teachers were asked to provide fun activities for our visitors to do that showed the kinds of things we spend our precious time learning during the school day. These happy adults are thinking of things to add to a "Mercy Ships Timeline" we were creating, showing all the significant events that crew members who visited my classroom wanted to add. The timeline ran from 1940 to the present and included such varied events as birthdays, marriages, first baseball games, coming to the ship, the birth/adoption of children and so on. One cheeky man documented the year in which his wife was born. He was smart enough not to write her name, though. Below you will find a picture of the final product. Not bad eh?
Every so often I have to stop and marvel at the remarkable community I live in. Granted, we have our disagreements. You don't get 300+ people all living together without at least a few ruffled feathers. But the generosity I see around me as people get down to the business of pouring themselves out for each other is just breath-taking. It's like a preview of heaven.
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