Bible Club starts up for the 2007-2008 year

By Jami Spaulding


The first week of Bible Club was super exciting, but also a bit nerve wrecking too. Could 14 preschoolers really last in the auditorium for an hour? Would they understand the new routines in class? It turned out to be a great night indeed. The kids were so excited to be back. The LOVED the worship and talked and talked about singing and dancing for Jesus with the big kids.

The best part, however, was dinner. The preschoolers were fascinated by the idea of a host table. The kids chosen took each of their jobs so seriously and were thrilled to have a job. Those being served were very polite as they went through the line. It was darling and inspiring all at the same time. How cool, that they can learn to serve and to eat in a way that is pleasing to God. They loved the dinner questions. We took lots of rabbit trails, but I think they just loved being heard and were willing to listen so others could be heard too.

We are so excited about this new year of growth and structure in Preschool-Kindergarten class. I know God has big plans for the hearts of these little friends.

Kids' Enthusiasm Grows

By Jennifer Harrington

As the first session draws to a close I look back with fondness over the last nine weeks. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to interact with each student at the ILC. It was exciting to watch the kids bond with each other as well as with the teachers. I feel like I had the chance to get to know each student fairly well, and I enjoyed visiting with them about school, sports, friends, etc.

As the Program Coordinator I had the unique opportunity to observe each student in the various aspects of the program. I hung out with the kids and played games with them when they first arrived and monitored them while they had snack. After the students were in their classrooms, I got to pop in and out and observe the lessons. At times I acted as a listener for the older students as they worked to master stories, while other times I was a reader for the younger students during free reading time. Often I observed the students as they interacted with adult volunteers from the community.

It was exciting to watch the students' enthusiasm for reading grow as the weeks wore on. As they learned new techniques for reading and comprehension, I could see their confidence increase. I feel certain that every kid at the ILC has been greatly benefited and that they have been set on the right path to achieve academic success, which will help them use the strengths God has given them to improve their world.

Confidence and passion for learning

by Bethany Larson

On any normal day I am the Reroute Coordinator, but the past couple of weeks, I will be honest, I have not been working too hard during programming. Very few students have entered my room due to conflict. Believe me, I am not complaining!

When I enter the Read rooms taught by Miss Jami and Miss Ashley, I begin to understand why the students would not want to leave. Both teachers have done a wonderful job of engaging their students in reading activities and instruction. I have enjoyed stopping in and observing their classrooms.

This past Friday was the last day of the first quarter, which both classes took time to celebrate their accomplishments. I snuck into the 4th and 5th grade classroom, where they were reading Halloween poems. Each student picked a poem, practiced it, and read it aloud to the rest of the class. Student after student proudly read their poem with excitement in their voice. Though part of the excitement was due to the fun poems, another part was the students’ growing love and improvement in reading. Students, who a month ago were apprehensive about reading, stood confident in front of their peers. This made me realize that this reading program was much more than literacy. Here reading is a life skill that evokes confidence and a passion for learning. That’s exciting!

Reflections

By Ashley Larson

As we near the end of our first quarter of the Impact Learning Center it is quite obvious God has been working here. I have spent the last 8 weeks in the 4th and 5th grade classroom, and I’m excited to announce that almost all of my students have advanced at least one grade level in their reading packets! Even now as I write this blog I’m sitting in class watching the students quietly reading books of their choice, completely immersed in whatever adventure their book is taking them on. Anyone who has worked with this age knows how tough it can be to get them focused and quiet for long periods of time, especially on books. It has been our class goal though to make reading a fun experience, and these last few weeks these youth have been begging for extra long independent reading time! Each kid is unique in the books they like to read and it has been fun for me as their teacher to have book discussions with them. Quincy and Garett, two boys in my class, both love non-fiction books about volcanoes, snakes, sharks, and other animal and weather topics. They have been teaching our class a lot of interesting information in those areas during our weekly book discussions. Jocelyn is one of my favorite readers because she uses so much expression and does a great job acting out different character parts. Tabitha raises her hand many times during quiet reading to share all the connections she has with the books she reads. These are just a few of the students who have really started to take a personal interest in reading.

Besides reading, I feel as though these kids have really grown in other areas too. For instance, we have really pushed putting others first in our classroom and it is amazing to see them respect one another by listening, complementing, and encouraging each other during program time. There have been much fewer conflicts these last couple weeks. Instead I’ve actually had more issues of kids wanting to talk and laugh with one another during class time! That is a problem I have taken some joy in dealing with. Overall, the first quarter of ILC has been very rewarding and I look forward to meeting with a new set of kids next session.

Experience in the R.E.A.L. room

By Jenna Gerstenschlager

I had the opportunity this past week to work in the R.E.A.L. room and experience first hand what being a tutor is all about. I had the opportunity to work with both Madison and Simone. My first tutoring session was with Madison. I had a few jitters to begin with, but as soon as we started there weren’t any problems and the lesson ran very smoothly. I was really impressed with not only how well Madison read, but also her enthusiasm. The next day I worked with Simone. Once again I was taken back by how eager these girls were to read. At the beginning of our time together Simone read a story she had been working on for a few days, and to her delight she mastered it. Anyone could tell by the smile on her face that she was pleased with her work. She happily took the story out of her binder and placed it in the “stories mastered” section. With just that one success, Simone’s confidence grew as we continued to read.

Initially I was a little afraid that some of the kids wouldn’t enjoy the tutoring experience; that they would think it was too much like school. Instead I found that the kids have really developed a love for reading. I think that in the kids with the achiever or competition strength this program works really well because the challenge of trying to master a new story and move up levels keeps them going. For others, it’s just fun and has become a normal part of their everyday afternoon activities.

Appreciative Inquiry

By Anna Zach

This past spring was when I first heard the words “Appreciative Inquiry.” Intrigued and curious I began searching out what this concept was all about. As spring became summer and the ILC began to wind down and the summer programs were gearing up, we began to wonder about using this “Appreciative Inquiry” concept for the development of a summer project with our Teen Job Club. After a successful debut utilizing AI, the hunger to know more began to rumble.

The opportunity to dig deep came in the form of the International Appreciative Inquiry Conference. So this past week, I found myself in Orlando, Florida exploring a wide range of workshops about AI. One of my favorite breakout sessions was about Appreciative Intelligence. As I considered things like the ability to perceive the positive potential in situations, reframe stories, and appreciating the positive, I realized that many fellow saints of old have been experts so to speak in Appreciative Intelligence. Paul was able to see the good in the thorn the Lord had allowed in his flesh. It was God’s gift to him. 1 Peter 1:6-7 says, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." Corrie ten Boom, a survivor of a Nazi concentration camp, was able to see the good even in the fleas that occupied the straw mats they slept on (these fleas were the reason the guards would not come in their bunk houses). So, even though I was interested in all that was shared in the conference about Appreciative Intelligence, I have become even more encouraged by it as I have seen the spiritual side of it. I find myself now challenged to look for the good and hidden treasures in all the circumstances that the Lord allows in my life. I am learning to appreciate even the shadow.

God made me and loves me

By Jami Spaulding

Daddiz, Milandra, Madison, and Grace have fun dressing up and reading books.(Picture above)

I was so encouraged this week to hear the younger kids talking with the older kids as they waited for their rides to come. Sometimes you wonder if they are really understanding the things we talk to them about, or even if it's making a difference in their world. I heard them saying things like, "We're talking about schema, it's what you know," and "Our schema is getting bigger and bigger. We're really smart." It's exciting to see them begin to apply what they are learning and to embrace the potential God created them with.

On Friday, we finished up our mental image week. We ended with a lesson on God's mental image. We read from Psalm 139 and then a poem by Jack Pretulsky. The kids were a bit restless as the Psalm has a lot of vocabulary in it, but as we started to talk about each word and what it meant the kids started getting into it. Daddiz blurted out, "God's mental image of us is good!" It was like he finally understood that God made him on purpose and is crazy about him. The kids used that comment to have a discussion about how they know God loves them. We then looked at the illustrations in the poem and talked about how God made them each different and unique. As we did the art project afterwards, it was fun to hear them saying things like,"God made me responsible, he made me caring, he made me creative...." When we came together to share our projects the kids made the connection that God made them and loves them. Milandra said, "We should add that to our schema and then when people are mean to us we don't have to get mad becasuse we know what God thinks about us is true." Mickela said, "We cause our schema and remember God's mental image of us and then we'll remember to act like him, like be kind and respectful to everyone." Madison talked a long time about how God made her special and how He will help her reach her dreams.

It was exciting for me to hear my students using the language of reading and to apply it to God and their everyday lives. How I pray it will take root in their hearts and help them to love Jesus and choose His truth over everything else in their lives.