Operation Christmas Child!

Our 3rd Annual OCC Packing Party was a huge success! With the help of the BFA community, we were able to pack 116 boxes!!! Here are some pictures to give you a glimpse into our packing party that was run by our awesome middle school students.

We really got into the Christmas spirit! 

Everyone who participated got an OCC sticker!

Our box checkers made sure each box had everything it needed!

"Elf" was playing for those who were done packing their boxes!

These are just some of the students who came to pack a box!

Way to go BFA!

Quarter One Is Already Done!

The title of my last blog was "First Weeks in Fast Forward," and I feel like each week is going by even faster! We are officially 1/4 of the way through the year already. We've filled the days with learning, laughter, and lots of fun! Here are some things that I have been up to for the last few weeks.

Balloons make any day better!

I had the privilege of joining other fellow Canadians for Thanksgiving! I made mashed potatoes and "grandma" buns for our group to share. What a special time!

 Students can come see me every Monday during lunch to say a fun fact and receive 

a candy! I've found that Jolly Ranchers are a huge favourite! On October 13, this jar became the "thankful jar" in honour of Canadian Thanksgiving. It was so neat to 

hear all that our students are thankful for! 

 Here are our 5 chapel band kids leading worship for the MS!

 During the week of Halloween, we had students create costumes using items inside a trash bag (tin foil, balloons, straws, toilet paper). These are some of their fun creations! 

I am in charge of helping organize worship for Chrysalis each week. Our grade 12 students do most of the work but I am around if they need anything and to help with set-up/take-down. 

This past weekend most of the BFA staff/students headed down to Basel, Switzerland,
to take part in Herbstmesse! This festival is over 540 years old! Bumper cars are the 

main attraction for our group of kids and adults!

Our 3rd annual Operation Christmas Child Packing Party 

will take place on Monday, November 10! We've been getting ready by collecting donations and making sure LOTS of shoeboxes are wrapped and ready to be sent!

Here are some other events coming up between now and Christmas Break:

November 6-8: Black Forest Academy presents "High School Musical" the musical

November 7: Parent Teacher Conferences

November 10: BFA's 3rd Annual OCC Packing Party

November 14: Middle School Class Parties 

Late November: Heather and I will host our 5th Annual Thanksgiving celebration!

Thank you to all of your who make it possible for me to consider serving at Black Forest Academy! Even though you are miles away, you are still vitally important to the work God is doing here in SW Germany. Please keep BFA in your prayers as we continue to undergo staff and student changes in the middle of the year. May we have wisdom to know how to deal with each situation that comes our way. 

First Weeks in Fast Forward!

The first two weeks of school are already behind us - crazy! We have welcomed 69 students into our middle school this year and they have truly brought this place to life! Between the addition of the 5th grade to our campus and my normal beginning of the year tasks, I have been keeping quite busy!

First day of school!

Our student council welcoming new students!

So far this year we have had new student orientation, first day of school activities (which happened to land on my 25th birthday!), parent teacher fellowship, and many fun interactions with students! I have started up my 'fun fact' jar again this year, and the kids are enjoying sharing their random facts with me (some I have no idea how true they are!) to receive a piece of Canadian candy.

Chapel band has also started up again and we have 6 students who are excited to be leading their peers in worship. Five of these students are entirely new to the middle school this year! Heather and I played with them on Friday for their first time, as some of them aren't comfortable leading on instruments just yet. I'm looking forward to sharing my passion for worship with these students this year!

Middle School Chapel!

This week is 'Spiritual Emphasis Week' (SEW) at BFA. This week will help set the spiritual tone for the school this year. Each day we start off with a combined middle school and high school chapel followed by a modified schedule for the rest of the day. On Wednesday we will not have any classes, as it will be our second annual school-wide 'Impact Day'. On this day we will split up into 37 groups and go out into the community to do different jobs. The middle school students will be in charge of baking cookies and delivering them to 3 different assisted living homes in our town. I'm excited for this opportunity that our school has to make difference in our community. Please pray for our students this week - that hearts would be open to hear God's voice. 

Three middle school students at SEW!

Chrysalis begins tomorrow! We have over 35 grade twelve students who will be leading in some capacity this year. It is so cool to see them excited to serve the middle school students! Tomorrow we will begin with having the SEW speaker and worship leader join us - in addition to an awesome new game of 4-corner dodgeball! It should be a fun time!

Training session with the seniors

Thank you so much for your prayers and support as we have started a new school year at Black Forest Academy! Your partnership in this ministry is so vital. Please pray for us as we continue on into the school year. Even when we get into the school year routine, may Christ be our daily focus.

"On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you." John 14:20 [School Theme Verse for 2014-2015, "Indwelling"]

Middle School Awards Ceremony

This past Saturday was my most intense and rewarding day of the entire year. It was the 8th Grade Dinner and MS Awards Ceremony. Many hours and weeks of planning go into this one evening.

Each year the MS staff take the entire 8th grade class out to dinner to celebrate their accomplishment of "graduating" out of middle school. Beforehand I collect baby pictures and congratulatory notes from the 8th grade parents (some of whom have not seen their children in over a month) to share with the students. At the dinner, students find these notes at their places and enjoy seeing the slideshow of baby pictures. There are certainly a lot of laughs! It's one of our last moments with this class which we will soon be sending off into the new world of high school.

After we finish dinner we drive back to the high school where we join the rest of the middle schoolers and their families. These are the 90 minutes that I have thoroughly planned out for weeks now. We alternate between teacher tributes for 8th graders and special awards given to students. These awards are for achieving top grades, demonstrating perseverance, and encouraging other students. It's a great night celebrating all that we have seen in our students throughout the last 9 months.

While this night takes a lot of work printing awards, collecting notes/pictures, and decorating, I love seeing the end result each time. What a blessing it is to be a part of the middle school where we get to see such growth in our students from 6th through 8th grade. These 8th graders that are now moving on to high school were new to the middle school the same year I was. There have definitely been challenging times for this class over the past three years, but it has been so amazing to see them grow into the young men and women they are today.

I had the privilege of writing and reading a tribute for Luke. He joined our chapel band as a 6th grader and continued all three years of middle school (even when he was the only boy this year!). It has been such a joy to see him grow academically, musically (he is a fellow guitar player!), physically (he now towers over me!), and spiritually. It is evident that Luke loves Jesus and loves to live a life of worship. I look forward to seeing where God takes Luke in the future as he continues to follow Him. 

Pictured below are Heather, Ruth, and I. Ruth was the first MS Principal I worked for (last two years) and is a fellow Albertan! She and her family will be moving to Central Asia in the fall to head up a school there. They will be greatly missed! 

European Championships

This past weekend our history team traveled down to Rome, Italy, for the International History Bee and Bowl European Championships! Back in March our team qualified to compete in this event. Last year they had a total of 12 teams that participated, and this year they had 36!! There were a lot of hard questions, but our kids did their best and had a lot of fun!

Our weekend consisted of traveling by plane, train, car, and metro! There were long hot days but our students were such good sports through it all. On Saturday, three of our students competed in the Bee (individual) portion of the event. One of these students came out as a semi-finalist in the Junior Varsity division! On Sunday our team participated in the Bowl (team) portion of the competition and placed 3rd out of 8 teams! We are so proud of the hard work they put in this year with extra studying on top of all their regular class work.

Our students had many opportunities during the weekend to share with other students about our school, why it exists, and how they are missionary kids. I'm not only proud of the way they played, but of the way they let their lights shine for Christ throughout the weekend!

Looking out the window as we landed in Rome!

A fun afternoon visit to the Colosseum!

Even Miss Custer (teacher) and Mr. Stewart (parent) played in a fun round!

These students love to read!

All ready to start a Bowl round!

Our winners!

Out of Character

Those of you that know me well know that I am fairly introverted. This past week has included more than one occasion where I have done things that seem "out of character"... in a good way!

This past Tuesday we held our annual "Chrysalis' Got Talent" night. This night included a variety of performances from skits to musical acts. A few other adults and I decided that we were going to put on a lip sync dance to a mashup of "Bye Bye Bye" and "I Want it That Way" to surprise the kids. Sunday afternoon we got together and spent a few hours watching and re-watching N'Sync and Backstreet Boys youtube videos to choreograph our dance just right. On Tuesday we got on stage, threw 50 glow sticks into the crowd and started our "moves" as the stage lights turned on. While it was definitely nothing like that of an N'Sync or Backstreet Boys concert, it was so fun to be a part of something that got the kids so excited. I think they enjoy seeing us being silly as much as we enjoy doing it!

Last night was another night that would have felt out of character to me 4 years ago but now feels like a new normal. Twice a year our middle school student council holds middle school wide parties - "Fall Party" and "Spring Party." Last night the staff dressed up as villains for the Disney-themed Spring Party. Can you spot me in the picture below? I dressed up as the witch from Snow White. It was fun to play life-sized memory with the students and to watch them dance and take pictures at the end of the evening.

I am thankful for these moments to do things "out of character" for our students as it shows them that we really do care about them. I know that God is using me not only within the walls of the middle school but also when I get to do crazy things and share life with these students.

"This day could not get any better!"

This past weekend my co-worker, Katrina, and I, took six middle school students to the International History Bowl and Bee a few hours away. The weekend consisted of traveling via train and metro, sightseeing, lots of eating, and many quotable moments! On Sunday our team competed against 5 other teams in a variety of history questions and came out in first in the Junior Varsity Bee, Middle School Bee, and the Junior Varsity Bowl!! I am so incredibly proud of how well our kids played and how they cheered each other on. I couldn't have asked for a better group of students to take on a trip like this. Here are some pictures from our fun weekend away! 

"This day could not get any better!!" - M.S. (grade 8)

MS Activity Day

Last Friday, February 28, was our annual "take over the high school campus" day! Each year around this time the high school vacates their campus and goes on a weekend retreat. The middle schoolers love this because it means we can invade!

In the morning we took a bus about half an hour away to an indoor water park. The kids LOVED the water slides and I am pretty sure they just ran up and down those stairs non-stop for two hours.

When we returned to the high school campus in the afternoon, we had a time of worship and watched part 1 of an intro video (Butterfly Circus) to our new theme on transformation. After chapel the students had the choice between watching "How to Train a Dragon," board games, or open gym time in the high school's full-size gym! I helped with the board game room and ended up playing "In a Pickle," which was new to me. Definitely a fun game for those with large imaginations!

After weeks of planning transportation, facilities, and activities, I think it was a fun and successful day! It even had me in bed before 9:00PM on a Friday!

MS Olympics

There were many conversations about the Sochi 2014 Winter Oympics in our Middle School hallways these past few weeks. It was a highly competitive atmosphere as we weren't all cheering for the same country. As you may have seen on Facebook, our 7th grade Geography class worked on updating an Olympic Medalists bulletin board as the games went on! It was neat to see the final results in each category! 

This past week at Chrysalis, we had our very own Chrysalis Olympics! The evening began with the lighting of the torch (football inside of a cone) and the passing off of the torch to 3 different Olympic athletes! Each country consisted of a girls and boys Chrysalis group that had to create their own flag and country name. Our program team came up with 3 different events (curling, 3-legged race, finger wars) that our 6 countries rotated between. The winners in our olympics, however, did not receive gold medals but lots of candy (which is probably more appropriate for our audience!)!!

Chrysalis Olympics 2014!!

"Let the games begin!"