Spring 2018 Semester Course Information

When Unkindness Creeps In

Written by Ms. Corey Foster

Indoor recess can bring about a range of activities, including games invented by students that attract everyone’s attention. In my classroom, during all indoor breaks or recess times, students from both second grade classes convene in the open space to play one of these games. It’s always intense and filled with all the competition, drama, and emotions that you can expect from a group of competitive 7- and 8-year-olds. On one occasion, the degree of conflict surrounding the game caused the entire class to lose game time, so they had to find another activity for the last few minutes. This always comes with a reminder that they can try again later.

One of the many indoor recess games these students have created is a sitting version of four-square which involves rolling, bouncing, and the same competitive nature to get to the top square.

On this particular day, students left the game with a lot of emotions and started to place unwarranted blame on one another. The atmosphere of the room was one of negativity and unkindness. It crept in during a time that is typically characterized by joy. Students embraced the feelings of frustration and hurt that come when being treated unkindly, and they held onto them tightly.

After watching a few students exchange harsh glances and a couple “don’t talk to me” comments were spoken, I stopped the class and made them consider the type of character they were displaying. I sent them to complete their end-of-the-day chores while they thought through their behavior.

As the students worked to organize their physical environment, I prayed that God would guide me to help them work towards the same type of harmony on a social level in the classroom and that God would touch their hearts.

Students returned to the floor for wrap up quietly, not engaged in conversation and laughter like they usually are. We needed God’s presence to get through the range of emotions being displayed, so I asked the students whose image they were created in. They responded that they were each created in God’s image. I asked if they valued the people in the room around them, if they are thankful for them, and if they too are created in God’s image with the same value from God’s perspective. They all agreed.

From there, students slowly began to lift their faces and look around the room. Since cutting each other down had been the response that led to the negative spirit of the classroom, I had students pair up with another several different times: once with another student from the opposite class, then a student of the opposite gender, then a student in their own class, and eventually with a student they had had a conflict with during the week.

While paired up, they were asked to look the other person in the eyes and tell them something they love about them. As students talked with one another, I heard heartfelt comments and wonderful words being exchanged. They were trading in their frustration and negativity for loving and positive words of encouragement.

Students at the Academy learn that when they experience conflict with their friends, forgiveness and prayer brings restoration to their relationship with one another.

The spirit of the classroom began to change. Faces began to lift even more—those that were once filled with sadness and even tears were now filled with smiles and laughter. They hugged each other as they worked to restore their friendships by remembering that they were created in God’s image and they are valuable to one another.

As students finished encouraging each other, we turned to look through the verses that hang on our classroom wall—the verses that these students have worked to commit to memory for an entire school year. I asked the students to look specifically for the verses that would help them remember how to treat their friends according to God’s Word.

They grew louder and louder as they shouted out the truths they’ve learned from God’s Word that show how they are to respond to the friends that God has given them. Verses like, “Love is patient.” (1 Corinthians 13:4a), It’s good to get along like family.” (Psalm 133:1), “Love your neighbor.” (Law 2), "The LORD is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness." (Psalm 145:17), and “Don’t be mean to your family.” (Law 7).

I shared with them that the value of these verses goes beyond memorization and moves into action. I shared that these verses are an opportunity to learn how God would respond and that they have the same opportunity to respond. I challenged the class to take a moment to pray out loud through these verses and for the friends around them. As they prayed with sincere hearts, I too prayed that God would mold them into the type of people who respond to those around them with kindness and love in a world that so strongly values individualism and self-preservation.

As the prayers of each student ended, faces were glowing, and it was clear that God’s presence was with us. Before the bell rang to end the day, one student suggested we sing the song “Lean On Me” to remember this time together and the lessons they learned. In true Academy for G.O.D. fashion, students engaged in a laughter-filled game of freeze dance using “Lean On Me” as the song of choice. The day ended with a giant class hug and smiles all around. Everyone could attest to their spirits being lifted by the Lord and to full hearts. A student led us in one last prayer of thanksgiving before everyone left for the day.

Unkindness was removed from our midst by focusing on the truths of God’s word. God is good. He is close to the hearts of our students. They displayed soft hearts to receive his word and for that I am thankful.

Friendship: A Gold Mine

BRETT MADRON REFLECTS ON ACADEMY FOR G.O.D. CULTURE TOWARDS CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

If you haven’t seen the movie WONDER, you should.  It tells the inspiring and heartwarming story of August Pullman, a boy with facial differences who enters fifth grade, attending a mainstream middle school for the first time. As a father of a son with special needs, I related to the movie on many levels, but particularly the way in which August’s differences affect his social integration into the school system. My son Levi is 7 years old and has apraxia of speech, an acquired oral motor speech disorder affecting his ability to translate conscious speech plans into motor plans, which has resulted in his inability to speak. For now, he uses an alternative communication device (aka his ‘talker’) to express himself.  

Having a child with special needs like Levi, I think one of the main concerns for my wife, Michelle, and I has been how he will fit in socially in the world. What would it look like for him to have good friends? How do we help him begin to develop friendships? In darker moments wondering, will he be damaged as a person because his speech isn't typical, by people ignoring him, by not being able to express emotions in a healthy manner? Just real questions that sort of linger...but that are finding some relief thanks to the gift of the community which we feel so blessed to be a part of.

The marked difference in the narrative of WONDER and my own narrative is the gift my family has in being surrounded by a community of people and a K-12 Academy that are teaching children at a young age to befriend, accommodate and include children with special needs.

Levi presents about his new pet guinea pig during share time at the Academy for G.O.D.

Some highlight moments have been: 

Levi's kindergarten teacher asked students where their favorite place was to go and Levi used his talker to say ‘airport.’ From across the room, Liam Bennecker shouted, “The airport is my favorite place too Levi!” It may seem small, but Levi’s participation and connection with another student are the small steps that we are so glad to see taking place. 

Sometimes Levi struggles to keep up in line when the class is going different places. A few students have naturally started holding his hand to help him stay focused and better balanced. This has been fun to watch. 

A few girls were on the playground playing ‘Choo choo’ where they line up and put their hands on each other’s shoulders and move around. Levi found a train on his talker and communicated that he wanted to play and they were so welcoming to him joining in.

One day, Levi needed help opening something. And he was just grunting to ask for help. Two girls in his class leaned over and used the sign for ‘open’ to tell Levi to use his signs. It showed that they have paid attention to his signs and have showed the care to want to connect with him. 

Again, it’s these small moments and so many more that we are grateful for.

Academy students after their Buddy Break training.

But the same kindness is felt all throughout the Academy, not just in Levi's class. For the past six months, high school students have been volunteering with a program called Buddy Break.  Buddy Break is a non-profit organization that provides a once-a-month children’s program for families with special needs. The program allows parents to go out and relax for three hours in the evening while their children are cared for.  Every child in the family, special needs or not, is assigned to a volunteer at a 1:1 ratio and they spend the evening playing games and doing activities.

After working with Buddy Break, Academy ninth grader Jack Jeffries reflected on his experience, “It’s been great. During my time there, I've made a bunch of fantastic new friends and just have gotten to do what I love, which is having a good time hangin' with kids!  One thing I loved most was witnessing the overall joy of the room. I absolutely love when a kid walks into the room and sees their friend, and their face lights up. It just makes me happy.”

While limitations for sociability do often exist for individuals with special needs, those limitations often get exaggerated because people don’t quite know how to make the step into accommodating and befriending kids like August or Levi. Programs like Buddy Break allow volunteers take this next step, long before adulthood when they might fulfill roles like teacher, counselor or principal.  

Merci Warren, Academy for G.O.D. freshman, helps with an arts and crafts activity during Buddy Break. She says, "I've loved serving kids and giving them a great time!"

Academy vice principal Meg Mathews commented, “Our high schoolers have really enjoyed serving at Buddy Break. As a school, we really prioritize getting students the opportunity to serve in the community and live out the education that they are receiving. We hope this experience shows them how they can meet needs that are right before their eyes. The organizers of the Buddy Break Program told us that our students are some of the most enthusiastic, talented and compassionate kids they have on their team.”

As Levi’s Dad, I couldn’t feel more thankful and blessed to be part of such a wonderful thing taking place at the Academy. More than being on par with their peers academically or the latest in therapy technology, kids need friends and good, caring people around them to love them. In that regard, as hard as some days are, I feel like we hit a gold mine.

Academy Students Explore Careers

STUDENTS GAIN INSIGHTS INTO POTENTIAL CAREER PATHS

If you went to college you are likely familiar with the dreaded prospect of “declaring a major.” As an 18 or 19 year old, you are suddenly forced into a choice of pursuing an education focused more specifically on what you will do “for the rest of your life.” If you are like me, that decision was predicated upon what seemed most likable (“should I teach, do professional ministry, work as a missionary?”) or what seemed most economically sound (“computer programming...what is computer programming?!”). The sudden choice of declaring your future-and-forever career is a challenging one for most college students. A study by the U.S. Department of Education found that 1 in 3 college students change their major by their third year of college. 1 in 10 college students make the change two or more times.

Beyond the burden of choosing a major, there is a dilemma as college graduates enter the workplace. Almost half of college graduates report that their first career choice was in a field unrelated to their degree, while nearly one-third report that they never work in a field related to their college major (1). Worse still is recent data showing that when graduates do enter a field they have a degree in, employers find them unprepared for their jobs, lacking both the hard and soft skills necessary for the careers their degrees represent training in (2).

Acknowledging the difficulty a young person has knowing what “they want to do,” yet striving to avoid the problem of graduates being unprepared for the workplace, the Academy for G.O.D. created the Directed Studies course for high school students. Directed Studies is a program that gives students the opportunity to experience a career field that interests them hands-on. The course emphasizes discovery, exposure, practice, and evaluation - all of which are necessary for students to leave high school prepared to pursue an occupation that they can claim, with confidence, they are suited for.

Genesis Garner, 15, shadows Jaimeé Arroyo, Family Nurse Practitioner, BC. "Being able to shadow at HFC gave me an incredible hands-on, real life opportunity to use my compassion for the sick" Genesis says.

Simon Liley was given the opportunity to shadow Academy elementary teacher, Craig Duffy in the classroom. Simon shared his thoughts on the day, “I've really enjoyed teaching. It’s something I've wanted to do for a long time, and [shadowing Mr. Duffy] in the classes has been a blast. I've learned a lot from it.

Directed Studies adds a dose of reality to student interest, supplementing enjoyment with research and practice. This experience is not just theoretical, as students gain practical experience shadowing professionals in their fields of interest. For an entire school day, students observed their mentors in a professional setting: a student that wants a future in medicine shadowed a nurse practitioner. Another, interested in electrical engineering, worked on the job-site with a professional installing and programming ‘smart homes.’ A girl that wants to run her own bakery observes a small business owner, learning what it takes to start and manage your own company.

All together, the high school class shadowed professional counselors and psychiatrists, veterinarians, mechanics, electricians, business owners, journalists, photographers, elementary teachers, non-profit youth workers, and nurse practitioners. The lessons were tangible: “I learned the importance of knowing how and when to say ‘No’ to the customer.” “I experienced what journalism was like in terms of due dates, scheduling, policies, privacy, and time management.” “Working with a photographer allowed me to use what I was learning about a camera instead of keeping my knowledge idle.” “I saw the value in employees working together to solve problems on site.” “My mentor encouraged me to ‘follow my dreams’, but to do so understanding it would be five times harder than I expect now.”

Merci Warren is interested in pursuing journalism as a career. On the Directed Studies shadow day, she practiced her documentation skills through video and writing.

The passions and interests of young people need to be encouraged, nurtured, and honed. Paul claims that, “We are [God’s] workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works” (Eph. 2:10). Who we are, then, is the result of God’s involvement, and, like any project, must be developed until we are capable of doing the “good works” Paul speaks of. The Directed Studies course is another step in the development of young people, giving them the opportunity to know a little better who they are and what they can do. For each student it is a gift to know better what they like and do not like, what they can and cannot do, and how to best direct their energy into pursuing an occupation that synthesizes what they enjoy with the reality of work, all in the context of participating in those “good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life” (Eph. 2:10).

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1. Leu, Katherine, RTI International (author), presented by National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). "Beginning College Students Who Change their Majors within 3 Years of Enrollment," Data Point, US Department of Education, December 2017. 
https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018434.pdf

2. O'Shaughnessy, Lynn. "New Study Shows Careers and College Majors Often Don't Match." CBS News. November 15, 2013. Accessed April 05, 2018. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-study-shows-careers-and-college-majors-often-dont-match/.

3. 60% of employers surveyed found that college graduates lack the critical thinking skills necessary for their job. 44% found shortcomings in writing ability, and 39% in public speaking. "Which Job Skills Make the Most Money? Infographics | PayScale." Cardiovascular Technologist Salary. Accessed April 05, 2018. https://www.payscale.com/data-packages/job-skills.

Enthusiasm Is Key

HOW THE ACADEMY HARNESSED STUDENTS' INTERESTS TO CREATE A SEMESTER THEY WON'T FORGET

We all know that enthusiasm drives the learning process. Give someone a topic they’re excited about and they will find the determination to push through great challenges to accomplish that goal.

As a homeschooled student I can remember watching my older brother sit at the table with my mother each day, struggling through algebra. He cried through every single lesson. It was such a sad sight that it’s been burned into my memory. He despised math and thought he was terrible at it.

A brief survey of Japanese architecture required the study of proportions, and the use of multiplication to calculate measurements for each layer of these cool, earthquake-proof buildings! Math skills - check. Developing a global awareness- check again. Having a blast while doing it - bonus!

But when my brother turned 15 and began to pursue his pilot’s license, he began to apply math when planning flight routes, calculating angles of descent, and considering fuel needs. With the incentive of being able to fly, he dug into his math studies and passed one exam after another. Private license. Instrument rating. Commercial license. Today my brother is a successful pilot. His love for an activity carried him through the challenge of learning an academic skill that didn’t come easily. Enthusiasm.

This has been a weakness of the current primary educational system in our country, which teaches a set of information or academic skills devoid of real-life application that would produce enthusiasm.

At the Academy for G.O.D., Headmaster Garner has created a schedule of classes that many professional educators dream of. He took time to hear from students what it was they were enthusiastic about and put together a (complex!) grid of courses that use that particular subject matter to teach the academic skills that kids need.

I’ll explain. Throughout the fall semester, Mr. Garner and Principal Johnson met with representative students of every level, from 6 year olds to graduating seniors, to find out what they were enjoying at school, and what they wished they could do more of. After each meeting Garner and Johnson walked away with lists of topics that our students wanted to study.

In Ms. Foster’s Textiles class, 7-8 year olds read about different types of fabric to determine which would make the best jump ropes, then practiced fine motor skills by cutting and braiding old T-shirts, transforming them into awesome recess toys! Students also learned sewing techniques and made their own pillows. 

The 6 year olds wanted to learn “how to make beads, tie bows, and draw animals!” The next group of students (8-10 yrs. old) asked for “robotics, soccer, baking and anatomy”. Students preparing for Jr. High wanted more worship band, survival skills, first aid, and ‘how to socialize’ (yes, we had to sit with that one for a minute too). Jr. High and High students asked for more service opportunities (What?!), science classes and performing arts.

After gathering these perspectives and organizing them by themes, Mr. Garner sat down with the Academy teachers and we began planning how we could use that content to teach important academic skills. We did this by focusing not just on the “what” (raw information) but on the “how” and the “why” (how to access that information, and why it’s important). We then organized the requests into a rubric that connected each topic with one of the three disciplines of study: Language Arts, Creative Arts and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math). The result? Classes with titles like “Sew, Sew, Sew Cool!” (Creative Arts) “Robot Gutz” (STEM) and “Intro to Medical Terminology” (Language Arts).

I teach 10 year olds, and they wanted to learn about ‘exploding stuff.’ However, I’m their Language Arts teacher, so I had to find a way to teach Language Arts concepts while still satiating their curiosity about explosions. So, the first two weeks of the semester I spent teaching them a unit titled “The History of Fireworks”. While we did learn that fireworks were likely invented by a Chinese monk in the 7th century, what I was more concerned with teaching them in those 2 weeks was the skill of note-taking. I taught the students how to identify the main idea in a paragraph and write relevant points down in an organized, abbreviated fashion.

We practiced using a dictionary app on their iPads to define any new vocabulary, and how to follow the trail of a word back to its origin (e.g., search ‘combustion’ and see that it comes from the root ‘combust’.) We took a detour to discuss how dates are recorded, and looked up what the terms ‘A.D. and B.C.’ mean. We compared sources with contradicting accounts and discussed why those contradictions might exist. A few weeks later, when we shifted our content focus to the History of Japanese Gardens, the skill of note-taking stayed central as the academic skill being developed.

“My favorite class so far is baking” says 10 year old Malachi Aaseby. “I like learning about the different measurements of teaspoons, tablespoons, and cups and stuff. It’s my favorite because you get to make foods and see them and taste them and change the recipes. On Saturday morning my mom and I made the pancake recipe that we practiced in school, and they turned out really yummy.”

These kinds of discussions and organic studies are happening in every classroom at the Academy. It has made for a lively learning environment! While the approach demands greater flexibility and discernment from our teachers, the reward has been seeing students excited and focused throughout each class.

Jr. High teacher Ben Reese, shared candidly that the new schedule sets before him a high bar of becoming a more sensitive, responsive teacher, whose focus is on the students and what they need to learn in the moment, rather than what curriculum he could (more easily) prepare ahead of time. “This method of scheduling really focuses on teaching the students how to learn, which is undoubtedly the point of education. Otherwise we teachers would just be replaced by Google.”

As a teacher I have enjoyed equipping my students with valuable life skills that are not limited to a specific subject, but rather give them tools for approaching a variety of situations. They get to see how multiplication applies both in designing a Japanese pagoda, as well as doubling and tripling a baking recipe. When the end result of your recipe depends on if you correctly doubled 3 teaspoons of baking soda, multiplication matters a lot! Enthusiasm. It drives the learning process, and it can be found in spades in our bustling Academy classrooms!