Summer 2010 - Lancaster Mennonite School

service opportunities reflect lms missionStudents helping studentsso they can change our world throughChristlike love, peacemaking andservice.”“By getting involved in service inhigh school, many students will developa lifestyle of service,” he said.Bare, who also is a math teacher, saidtutoring is very effective because hearinga lesson—math, for example—fromseveral different persons reinforces theconcepts. Besides, she said the youngerstudents really look up to and value thehigh school students.“When the younger students seewhat the older ones have learned already,this builds excitement for learning,”she said. “They want to emulatethese older students.”This past year 22 student tutorsserved in middle school classes andthe Learning Support classroom.Subject areas included science, math,language arts, music, middle schoolFFA, and ELL (English LanguageLearners). See sidebar at right for additionalways students are working withyounger students.Bare believes these student/studentrelationships build communitythroughout the school.“It helps our elementary studentsconnect with the whole of LMS ratherthan just their individual campus,”she said. Students interested in tutoring during2010-11 should contact their assignedguidance counselor. Students receive ahalf credit for all peer tutoring assignments,plus the experience is great to liston one’s resume. A non-credit opportunitycalled “Service” is also available.Other ways high schoolstudents are relating toyounger students• Mentoring middle schoolstudents through PALS (PeerAssistance Leadership)• Reading to kindergartenstudents• Assisting teachers in musicclasses—Lancaster’s middleschool choir and Locust Grove’sband• Family & Consumer Scienceschild development classeshosting/visiting kindergartenstudents• FFA teaching K–3 studentsabout farm animals at LMS farm• Athletes assisting with Kraybill’strack and field day• FFA helping New Danville starta gardenSenior Presentations, continued from pg. 7members were really supportive of eachIn top right photo, Anya Kreider, 2012,tutors middle school math students. Inabove photo, Heather Gochnauer, 2010,reads to New Danville second gradersduring National Reading Week.For two months this past year NickPiraino, 2011, tutored a LancasterCampus middle school studentwho was having difficulty learningpre-algebra in the larger classroomsetting.“The student that I helped seemed hesitantat first to work with me but aftera couple days of learning about eachother ... we grew into friends,” Pirainosaid. “I looked forward to the classbecause I felt like every day ... he madesignificant progress.”Director of Curriculum and InstructionBrenda Bare sees tutoring andother kinds of service opportunities—especially activities where a relationshipEdie Hessis developed—as settings where highschoolers can discover their God-givengifts and experience the value of servingothers.“And it develops their ability to workwith people,” she said, “a great skill tohave in the work force.”For Piraino, tutoring was such a positiveexperience because it made himrealize how sharing his gifts could helpothers. It was tremendously affirmingwhen he discovered unique ways tomake algebra lessons interesting—onesthat actually helped his student learn.Superintendent Richard Thomassees service as an integral part of theschool’s mission to “transform studentsactivities in various areas of the school.I got to know people on athletic teams,in the drama and music departments,in the LMH newspaper, and in someother organizations. It was fun for meto look back over all of my high schoolmemories at LMH and see how thedifferent activities impacted my friendsand my lifestyle. I have had such a goodhigh school experience and I owe a lotof that to my opportunities at LMH.Playing volleyball at LMH mademe realize how blessed I was to playa sport in a Christian setting. We haddevotions before every game, and teamother. Participating in the dramas atLMH helped me to branch out of myfriend group and learn to relate withdifferent people and personalities. Myinvolvement in Student AdvancementCommittee gave me the opportunityto give tours to prospective studentsand helped me realize how much I loveLMH. I was able to go on and on aboutall of the opportunities there are, and Ienjoyed trying to show the people howmuch LMH had impacted my life.I plan to attend West Virginia Universityand major in pharmacy. I attendNew Holland Mennonite Church. Benjamin Kennel, 2012, assists secondgrade teacher Audrey Yoder during Kraybill’sannual track and field day.Candace Rosenberry8 | Bridges SUMMER/FALL 2010Bridges SUMMER/FALL 2010 | 9