Change

It's hard to believe that tomorrow is the last day of school for students. Right now they are finishing up exams, cleaning out their lockers and turning in their textbooks. Soon this very busy school will be quiet.

Last night we went to dorm sub at Storch for the last time. We ate with the girls outside, baked two different kinds of cookies, and just cherished those last few hours we had with that special group of people. The time I have spent at the dorm this year I will treasure forever. I not only love those students dearly, but the dorm parents there have become dear friends of mine as well. They will indeed be missed when they leave.

As we end this year, please pray for us. BFA will never be the place it was this year. Everything about this place will change over the summer. Students will graduate or transfer to another school, staff will move on, or go on a year of home assignment. For the rest of us, next year will again be a year of transition. A year of welcoming new people into the BFA family and for some of us even starting new jobs. For those of you who have not heard, I will be the Middle School front office secretary as well as the vice-principal's assistant starting in August. The school will be moving out to Sitzenkirch (where the elementary school is located now) which will be another change for all staff and students. I am looking forward to this new role I will be in. While change can be scary sometimes, it also gives us the chance to grow and be stretched to become more like our Heavenly Father. Despite this time of change we will soon be in, we are again reminded that our God NEVER changes. It brings us hope for tomorrow and for the new year ahead!

The tour continues...

 "The truth shall make you free... "

(a sign that welcomes you as you enter BFA)

Below are 2 pictures of "the paper room." 

This room supplies paper for the whole school!! 

This room is located across from the Front Office.

 

Here are the areas of communication between staff and students.

On the left are the student mailboxes, 

and on the right are the staff mailboxes. 

These are often filled with graded exams, encouraging notes and sometimes even bills! 

While the colour of the picture make be dark - the atmosphere is far from that. This is the school cafeteria! Students are all around, munching on their lunches, and catching up with friends. The students sure love this time even though it can be hard on the office staff (sometimes me) to make announcements, as I am sure you can imagine! :)

 This is another happening place -the student center! Here kids can eat their lunch, catch up on homework or just hang out with their friends between classes. Often class parties take place in here with a big screen movie or some fun board games. 

There are many areas of the school that I have not 

taken you to, but these are a few 

of what I believe to be the important places for the students 

in their school day and for myself in my work environment. 

If there is any area of the school that you would like a special tour of, 

please let me know and I would love to share that with you!

A peek inside my office...

Welcome to Black Forest Academy. 

Let me show you around my office!

You will see this bulletin board directly across 

the hall from my office.

(created by me)

This is the main window. You will either see myself,

or my co-worker sitting there.  

(We don't usually have Canadian decorations)

Come on in! This is the main sound board.

Some call it the "bus driver" seat!

This is where late slips are written,

attendance is submitted and phone calls are answered.

(This is the same seat that I am sitting in, in the above picture)

This is the view from the front seat. There are packages to be

picked up, and faxes that need to be sent. This area 

doesn't look too chaotic now, but it cant easily have 5-10 

people in it at a given time.

This is my desk! 

(We have one less staff in the office 

for the remainder of the year, so I will

be sitting in the "bus driver" seat until

the end of the year)

Let's go back out the hall and to the left this time

(we came in from the right side).

These are the bulletin boards you will see:

(created by me)

 

Pause a moment and look to see what is happening 

in the community and how you can get involved! 

The tour to be continued....

Canadian Spirit Day!

The Canadian History teacher, Kristi, announced last week that Monday, May 2, would be Canadian Spirit Day! Simply a day to dress in red and white, love a Canadian, or love BEING Canadian!

I took it upon myself to decorate the office up with my Canadian pride. This is what others saw as they walked down the hallway today at school!

Happy Canadian Spirit Day!

Six Simple Words ... With So Much Meaning!

This past Friday we had dinner at Storch to spend some time with the students and staff after not having seen them for a few weeks. It was a great time of catching up and hearing about some of their mission trips! Afterwards, we were invited to stay for a Friday night bonfire. Unforunately the weather didn't allow for an outdoor one, so we had a fire in their living room fireplace. Jim (dorm dad) asked if I would bring my guitar out and lead worship. I was thrilled by the invitation and so Heather and I ran home to gather up the "supplies" (guitar, pick, music). 

We sat around the fire and Heather led the singing while I played guitar. There were only a few girls around at the beginning but by the end we had about 10-12 there singing along with us. It was an incredible time of sharing our gifts/passions AND worshiping with these high school girls.What a blessing.

When my fingers couldn't play anymore, the girls passed around my guitar and led us in more worship. They excitedly ran up to their rooms to grab more music or scrap paper to write down new songs they had learned. I was so incredibly blessed to share in that time at Storch on Friday night. My heart was overflowing with joy as we left, and some of the only words I could get out were:

"This is why we are here!"

(Storch Dorm)