Learning through service immersion - outside classroom walls.
Service Intersession is a unique week long immersion experience for our Upper School Grade 7-8 students. The program's goal is for students to engage with communities and service organizations from a place of mutual respect and appreciation for the people they serve. Students apply Biblical learning into their experiences, seeking to identify strengths within themselves and others, regardless of their current situations.
Accompanied and guided by their teachers, students grow as they start to understand how God's Word through Scripture and their own unique traits can help them make an impact serving in God’s world. They challenge and strengthen their Christian faith as they engage respectfully with different cultures and viewpoints.
The 7th grade faculty, in partnership with churches and ministries, plans an impact-filled service week. Students participate in team building activities and service at Camp Chatauqua in Miamisburg, OH then serve in smaller groups at locations throughout Greater Cincinnati. We add emphasis on growing empathy for groups society often deems less important by working with organizations like the Restavek Foundation (human traffic/modern day slavery) and senior advocates/senior residences. When students return to campus, they reflect and share why their work mattered, how they saw strength in those they served, and apply their learnings to the themed Bible verses. All grade 7 students participate and have similar, but not identical, Service Intersession experiences.
Building on the Grade 7 Service Intersession curriculum (service from a place of respect and how to leverage their God-given strengths), all grade 8 students engage in and learn about different cultures, regardless of their course location which can be local, domestic, or international. The Grade 8 faculty plans six unique courses for students to learn how they can make a kingdom impact within our own community, as well as the world. Within their small course groups, students participate in faculty-led reflection activities and sharing to deepen their understanding and connections within these smaller peer groups. All Grade 8 students participate in a Service Intersession experience, ranking their choices from the six annual offerings.
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