OACS News Service

Thunder Bay Christian School’s (TBCS) Grade 8 class show the Christmas gifts they donated.
Students transfer learning about servanthood to community
Friday January 18, 2008 -- Michelle Strutzenberger
Students in Thunder Bay Christian School’s (TBCS) Grade 8 class are learning both in class and the community what it means to be a servant, according to their teacher and principal Bea Hayen.

A Bible study on servanthood and the teaching that those who are the servants of all will be the greatest of all progressed to a discussion on how the students could put that principal into practice, says Hayen.

The class of 16 students brainstormed and came up with several ideas for community service work.

One of these took place during the early part of the Christmas season. The students came up with $200, mostly out of their own pockets, which they used to purchase gifts for a single-parent family with five children.

The students did not know the family, which was connected to the school through a local church.

“I was really pleased with the degree of involvement, and how excited they were to wrap up the gifts and do this for people they didn’t even know,” says Hayen.

This month the class is collecting newly purchased socks and underwear to donate to a local Christian outreach centre.

Again, the students are taking this up on their own, not soliciting funds or items from others.

“I want there to be a more direct connection,” says Hayen, noting the students are only too happy to ask others for money. “That’s part of being a servant, is doing it yourself.”

In February the class will be visiting a local senior’s home to play their guitars and sing. They hope to spend some time interacting with the residents as well as play games and make crafts.

Hayen notes she is proud of the students’ creativity as well as enthusiasm for doing what they can to serve their community.

TBCS as a whole is also involved in a number of other charitable activities, including a World Vision project and a Families in Need Fund for families in the school who are experiencing difficulty.

On a community involvement level, several of the secondary school classes have volunteered at the Lakehead Children’s Water Festival for several years. Lakehead Region Conservation Authority facilitates the event.