Biblical Education Put into Practice: Monthly Service Project Highlights

At least once a month, Jr High and High school students have the great privilege of serving those in need in our community and the greater Nashville area. It’s a practical way our students are learning to put the biblical education they receive in the classroom into practice.

This month, students served both on our school campus and neighboring communities. It is such a joy to see our students work together, strategize, and display teamwork to meet needs. Here are a few highlights:

Life Care Center- A group of students went to the Life Care Center, an elderly home in Madison, TN. They sang three worship songs and played bingo with the residents. One of our students even got to call out the bingo numbers for the game! The presence of youth brighten the day for the residents, and it’s a blessing to see our students shine in this way.

Hopewell Neighbors- A group of students also planted flowers at an elderly woman's home across the street from our school and raked leaves in one of our neighbor's yard!

School Playground & Elementary Students - Students weeded our elementary playground and the memorial garden to beautify our school campus.

Parents Day Out and Pre-K - Students weeded around the Parents Day Out Program building to beautify our entire campus.

Ugandan Students - Students wrote letters to our home education students in Uganda and encouraged them in their studies with midterms taking place. They were so precious as they have felt more and more connected to these students over the years and looked forward to connecting with them in this way.

The Elderly at McKendree Village & Chippington Towers - Students used their time yesterday to plan for a Christmas party at McKendree Village and Chippington Towers. This is a highlight for the residents each year!

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” - Matthew 5:16

The Complex Cortex of Camille Lively

High school performing arts teacher, Mr. Ownby, with Esther Bargatze, playwright, and songwriters and musicians, Justice Garner and Kiah Roufs.

The 8th-10th grade performing arts students at the Academy for G.O.D. finished a semester of learning about performance related to theater and music. To end the course, students produced an original one-act musical titled “The Complex Cortex of Camille Lively.” The script, music, program artwork, and acting were all produced and performed by the students. I had the privilege of teaching and directing these talented students this semester as they accomplished this project and successfully performed their one-act musical on Friday, December 18th to an audience of their fellow students. 

This class was such a joy as the giftedness and potential of each student was further unlocked as they responded to the challenges associated with producing this performance. It was a blessing to instruct the students and also be able to envision all of the ways that God will continue to use their skills for the world to better know and experience his goodness. 

From Esther Bargatze, 8th grade student and lead playwright: 

The play was written to give insight into what goes on in the complex growing minds of the young and lively, in a meaningful and comical way.

Life can be difficult no matter what stage you find yourself in, but being a teenager can be incredibly difficult as you try to navigate the world, figuring out how to be you while yet potentially so influenced by everyone and everything around you. “The Complex Cortex of Camille Lively” explores the tensions of being a young teenager through the main character of Camille Lively (Young and Lively) who gets bombarded by issues with her siblings, tensions with friends, and the various input she receives from her best friends that ultimately leads to her feeling misunderstood by everyone. Julian, Camille's best friend, offers the perspective of the young male teenager who also deals with the influx of voices from those close to him in his life that influence decisions he makes, good and bad. Ultimately, this is an exploration of the necessity for perspective-taking and communication. There's a lot to consider when navigating life, but these considerations are best made with a group of faithful friends surrounding you.

This musical production was written and produced by 8th-10th grade performing arts students at our school. The play is about a teenage girl, Camille, and all of her friends (Penny, Emily, Lucy, and Cassy) who have significant influence into the decisions she makes just by being themselves. Alongside Camille is her best friend Julian Barnaby, and his group of friends (Donald and Dan, Parry, Logan, Eddy, and Cory). Camile and Julian's friends are there to help communicate how much we can be influenced by our peers, but also to communicate thoughts and feelings that happen in teenage minds through each character.

As Camille continues to work through her feelings with the help of her parents, she learns the importance of considering others’ perspectives, and how to handle the strong emotions that can feel overwhelming.

Throughout the play, Camille faces challenges with her family, and when her emotions get ahold of her, it affects her behavior at school and her friendships.  Camille is reminded that she is not alone and that she has friends, teachers, and her parents who love her and can offer her invaluable wisdom. When we were writing this play we wanted the theme to be about considering others’ perspectives, and not just thinking about our own. As teenagers especially it can be very easy to stop paying attention to the people around us because we're so caught up in our own feelings. We hope this production encouraged everyone to consider the interest of others a little more, to communicate, and to trust those around us who love us.

How Academy Online Isn't Your Typical Online School

That’s a wrap on our 2019-2020 school year, and with the fourth quarter held fully online, our students adjusted to a new way of learning in just a few weeks! We are proud to showcase some fun, quality projects our students completed over their final quarter. Enjoy!

One of our weekly themes was “Endurance”. Students were presented with a variety of assignments that required focus and perseverance to complete. We received a number of submissions that were creative and inspiring. Check out this “trick shot challenge” from one of our elementary students, where they were to set up a challenging shot and practice endurance until they succeeded at the shot.

The shift to online learning meant exponential opportunities to practice technology! Elementary students learned the ins and outs of iPad apps like iMovie, while learning practical skills like how do laundry! In one Creative Arts course, students created step-by-step presentations to teach others how to properly wash laundry. This was one of our favorites!

Our Jr High students’ backyard gardens are thriving! They’ve been applying what they learned in elementary gardening classes to manage pests with homemade organic sprays, and control weeds with mulching methods like cardboard and wood chips. Way to go students, we are so proud of you!

Also in Jr High, the Nutrition & Meal Prep class, emphasized skills such as proper knife grips, and how to work safely around heat in the kitchen. Their final project was to plan and execute a 3 course meal, documenting both how they used their skills, and the fellowship that was enjoyed on the other side of their efforts!

One of our high school students, Genesis, composed a poem in her Social Studies course reflecting on what they’ve learned in the class.  It was a joy to see students creatively express themselves and the content they had processed through online modules. 

“Life Hacks” was a favorite class with our younger elementary students. Teachers were intentional in embedding STEM skills (geometric shapes) and Language Arts skills (following and articulating step-by-step processes) into fun, creative projects.

In her 8th grade Project Development course, this Jr High student created a product called “No-Dough” to assist her in making bread and cleaning her supplies. This class trained students to create a product that met some need that they had, and could be marketable.

Memorizing and writing scripture is a component of our Language Arts courses. These are some submissions from elementary students!

This Jr High student did an excellent final project for his Visual Arts course! His video showcases the creation process.

And finally, this documentary by one of our upper elementary students blew her teachers away! The students were asked to use the videography and storytelling skills from the Documentary Making to produce a mini-documentary on a subject of their choice, something that was interesting and feasible to do within a 6-week period.