Calendar
Pictures
Video
Facebook
TwitterJ-Term Courses Reach Out And Stretch Students
The Delmarva Christian High School 2010 J-Term concluded with a Showcase Friday morning on January 22, when students explained and exhibited how God had worked in their lives as they studied and served in locales as near as Georgetown and Seaford and as far-flung as Baltimore and Jamaica.
Senior Jessica McCleaf returned from a nine-day missions trip to Jamaica with 23 other students from Delmarva Christian High School and a contingent from Central Worship Center in Laurel.
“The group numbered 65 in all, and this was my second year,” she said. “We were involved in several construction projects, and we went to schools and performed Christian dramas. It was great that the kids were open to us and really did understand the messages we were trying to convey in our skits.” One of the many messages the students shared acknowledged that everyone can get stuck in sin. Other skits addressed the need to surrender to God and how many temptations and distractions must be dealt with in order not be pulled away from God.
DCHS junior Evan Urgo participated in the Digital Media/Tae Kwon Do course that combined short video production, using the school’s state-of-the-art Apple computer lab, with self-defense instruction. “It was awesome getting to do Tae Kwon Do and learning all the techniques. And, we filmed and edited a movie about jaywalking. Ultimately, we learned we could work better together in a group than by ourselves.”
Interning at The Tabernacle in Salisbury, freshman Emily Shelton was pushed from her comfort zone this J-Term. Whether she was simply cleaning the church or gathering donations for missionaries Tom and Bev Brumbley, who had their church damaged from the earthquake in Haiti, Emily learned how to be bold for Christ. "God spoke to me and I got out of my shell," said Emily. "I am doing what I am called to do, to go and make disciples of all nations."
Joining a group of 27 other DCHS students, freshman Dustin Williams learned construction skills while pitching in to build a new home for a local familythat truly needed it. Working in partnership with Habitat for Humanity, the students built a house on campus, took it apart and moved it to Concord Village in Seaford where they reassembled it. “I learned how to use a hammer and saw,” Dustin said, “and it was nice helping someone else.”
For senior Tom Catalfalmo, the J-Term provided an opportunity to visit several colleges and prepare for the SAT® and ACT® in the SAT/ACT Prep course. “It was very helpful,” he said. “I brought my scores up through practicing. It will definitely be worth it when the time comes to take the tests for college entrance.”
Junior Aubrey Birowski was tested in a creative writing and dramatic arts course held on campus, where, “I really felt like I became prepared for my career in photography and writing. It really helped me in all the creative areas.” The students wrote a one-act play set in a midtown Manhattan restaurant around a table at which sit United Nations ambassadors from various countries. A theology debate ensues. “I learned about various religions and how they are truly about different sets of rules instead of a relationship with the one true God,” Aubrey said. “It was good preparation for what He is calling me to do.”
Many DCHS students worked internships throughout the Delmarva region. Senior Keina Harmon interned with social worker Fran Franklin at Children and Families First, a counseling agency. She studied case files and went out on home visits. “I learned to be thankful for the family I have,” Keina said, “and to constantly stay humble, because there are people who don’t have what I have.”
Other groups of DCHS students participated in local ministries and an inner-city mission in Baltimore; visited historical sites and colleges; created artwork using various mediums; achieved basic athletic training skills; learned culinary skills, restaurant management, and catering coordination; and studied archaeology through treasure-hunting adventures, artifact identification projects, and museum visits.
DCHS Freshman Christina Gulab is surrounded by Lighthouse Christian School students she came to know through her internship experience. As a short-term "teacher," Christina said she "really got to understand the true meaning of a frustrated teacher." She learned that teaching wasn't as easy of a job as she once thought.
While at Children and Families First in Georgetown, Keina Harmon worked closely with Dr. Franklin and had the opportunity to attend two home visits. "The internship was a learning experience, it helped point me in the right direction for college and I how have a better understanding of what it is that I would like to do as an adult," said Keina.
Learning how not to take life for granted and to find blessings in the everyday are the lessons learned from Lynsey Lofland as she interned with mentally and physically challenged children at the Howard T. Ennis school. "God has showed me so much this past month," said Lynsey. "I don't need the coolest outfit or the newest shoes or any material thing. I should just be grateful of the day He has given me to get out of bed."
Senior Mike Tirrell discovered he had a passion for mentoring others while at the Boys and Girls Club in Dagsboro during the DCHS J-Term. Mike said, "This experience altered my life." In addition to providing academic coaching to 5th- through 8th-grade boys, Mike engaged the boys in recreational activities, and assisted the Club's administrative and financial departments using QuickBooks, Kidtrax, Purchase of Care, and Excel computer programs. Mike summed it up by saying, "To be able to know and even see that I am making a change in someone else's life is a constant source of encouragement."
