As I wrote about in a previous blog regarding a middle school leadership conference, the four eighth grade officers of the LOL juggling team officers planned to lead the elementary classes at our school, Windham Christian Academy, in a variety of ministry projects this Christmas season. This was carried out earlier this week and each was a huge success.
Corban, along with her work team of four other middle schoolers, led the pre-K, kindergarten, first and second grade classes in a very unique project. the younger students sat around our library's Christmas tree and sang a variety of Christmas carols as the teens filmed them. Interspersed between the songs, individual kids wished Merry Christmas to children in the Agape House orphanage in Uganda. After some editing, the middle school kids posted this Christmas greeting on the Agape House Facebook page. They literally wished holiday greetings and sang to kids on the other side of the world all in the same day.
Cutter may have had the biggest challenge. He and his work team led the fifth graders in baking cookies and apple crisp. They sweets came out great, but the school kitchen was a mess! By the time they were done, everything was cleaned up, and the food was ready to be delivered. The next day, the fifth grade and Cutter's work team drove across town to the police station and dropped of the goodies as a Christmas thank you.
Amanda and her team organized the sixth grade into a well oiled machine. The kids made Christmas cards and bracelets for the children on the Psychiatric ward of St. Mary's hospital in Lewiston. The sixth graders have been into making bracelets all year, so this was a perfect project. Amanda and her mom will be dropping the cards and gifts off soon. This has special meaning to them as Amanda has spent time on this unit in St. Marys in years past.
Unfortunately, Nick was absent the day we did this, so Stephanie took the lead on that work team. With the help of our art teacher, Steph and her team led the third and fourth in making ornaments out of random puzzle pieces. These were brought to the Teen Challenge house in Augusta just today by some parents. TC is a faith based rehab ministry started over 50 years ago by Dave Wilkerson of Cross and the Switchblade fame.
These projects made for a great way for kids of different age groups to work together for the benefit of others. It was a great way for the middle school kids to take on leadership, and the teachers were all impressed with their ability to do so. We are already planning to do something similar this spring.