Growing Wings
Mrs. Dyson with her students, releasing the butterflies
~ Gladys Dyson, Kindergarten Teacher
Three weeks ago, our Kindergarten students released the 5 butterflies they had watched develop from caterpillars. The excitement was high as the insects flew off, but there was some sadness too as our students loved watching these beautiful and fascinating creatures leave our learning space. Tiny caterpillars had arrived in the mail in early May, and we watched them grow, develop into chrysalides, and then waited eagerly for the butterflies to emerge. Our students were so interested in watching the butterflies feed and fly around in their mesh habitat. Most were sad to see them released, but I explained how they needed to be free to move on to bigger spaces and continue to grow.
On Friday, June 2, our last day of the school year, we released our precious Kindergarten students onto bigger things. They flew from the protected space of our K classrooms, much like the chrysalides (one definition is a protected stage of development), since they are ready to take off and learn, read and shine!
When we released the butterflies, 3 flew out of the habitat quite quickly (to rousing cheers, of course!), but two seemed reluctant to leave the safety of the known green mesh space. Those two had to be coaxed out and still one hung around on my finger for about 5 minutes, then on the nearby sidewalk. I find our K students are not much different. Last week, several talked excitedly about moving on to 1st grade and looking forward to what new and challenging things they would do there. But others were a bit tearful and said they wanted to stay in Kindergarten. While I would love to keep any of them, who would want to keep these eager students from the wonders that lie ahead? Who would want to limit their potential? They are ready, and though their excited giggles and delightful unique personalities will be missed, I will enjoy seeing them move on to new challenges and adventures. And I will look forward to the new little ones who will come through our doors in August – ready to grow, learn and again move on.
Traci Brubaker ~ Grammar School Teacher
I looked over and saw Colonel Crabtree had tears in his eyes. Our class really touched his heart knowing we believed in what God was doing for him and his family. After a time of sharing and questions, he raised out of a box the most beautiful plaque I have ever seen. Inside the plaque was a flag flown at the United States Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan on March 2, 2017. It stands for peace and was flown in honor of our classroom! So, I say to my dear friends….Don’t ever feel insignificant. There is no such term in the eyes of our Creator. He has intertwined His people, all the way across the oceans. Our students are learning so much every day about math, reading, science, and history. But, are also learning that they have a mission for the Lord and He will use them if they are a willing vessel.
Mackenzi, a seventh grader, started here as a Kindergartener, a tiny acorn ready for the nurturing soil of Logos Academy. Her family is from Mexico, but Mackenzi was born in York and resides in our city. She came to Logos, following her older brother and sister, to become saturated in the excellent education rooted in Christ, the culturally diverse environment, and community-minded values, to achieve her God-gicen potential. She is growing, blossoming, and establishing roots that will ensure her success and ability to impact the world in a positive way.
While Quiz Bowl covers the middle school and high school curriculum, including American and world literature, physics, chemistry, mathematics, history, theology, music, art, and current events, it often requires students to dig deeper into these subject areas than they would normally do so in their classes. Academic extracurricular activities such as Quiz Bowl offer students the opportunity to take what they are learning in the classroom here at Logos Academy and apply it in collaborative, fun, and competitive environments. Research suggests that participation in extracurricular activities promotes greater academic achievement.
In a standard quiz bowl match, two teams of four players face off against each other and compete to answer pyramidal toss-up questions (questions with three- to five-sentence clues that start out difficult and become increasingly easier) and associated bonus questions. Players each have a buzzer that they may “buzz in” as soon as they want to answer. This rewards players’ breadth and depth of knowledge rather how fast they can press a buzzer.