2011 Expedition Skit

I will not have the chance to help write the Expedition Skit after all.

Mrs. D had told me I was helping, both in early November and late December. But last week I received a call with the bad news.

I’d wanted to help on the skit for several reasons.

1. It was Will’s senior year, and I wanted him and his fellow seniors to have a great skit to perform.

2. Mrs. Landrum has a full plate, with classes to teach, papers to grade, graduate school, some spells of bad health, and a husband and toddler to care for. Mrs. D keeps an amazingly busy schedule as well. Both have had to bring in substitute teachers several times this school year. I would be happy to ease their load.

3. Helping with last year’s skit was educational, and I wanted to use that experience to help create an even better play this year.

4. With my family and work situation continually changing, I’m not sure what my availability will be in future years.

5. Most of all, I want to use and develop the creative gifts God had given me.

That said, the general idea of the skit sounds great. As usual, Mrs. D has taken the essence of what she’s been teaching and converted into a skit idea that can be hilarious. Will’s character can be legendary. We shall see if the script can take advantage of the idea.

I always try to remember that Living Science is what Mrs. D wants it to be. It's her baby. Nothing wrong with that, since LS started as one small class in her basement. God greatly blessed her ministry, using her wonderful teaching skills to touch hundreds, if not thousands, of student’s lives. Her teaching is a major reason why parents enroll their children at LS. When she has to bring in a substitute there is a dropff in quality, and students and parents aren't getting what they pay for.

LS has been so successful it has perhaps grown to the point where the D’s have had to establish even more restrictive guidelines, to better keep their vision in place. The Landrums signed on to help. Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Hanson also spend countless hours helping keep things moving.

What makes Mrs. D an unparalleled communicator is her passion for the subject, be it science or the Savior. She also has an excellent sense of humor. At the Expedition meeting I was amazed at the number of SL’s and TSL’s lined up in front…well over 30 students (I should’ve counted!). I had never seen so many before.

Living Science seems to best meet the needs of upper middle schoolers. The classes and expeditions are great adventures. The Servant Leader program gives students valuable leadership experience, and many 9th and 10th graders enjoy it immensely. I agree with many parents, that while LS standards may be high, it’s better to aim too high than too low (or not aim at all). What the D’s try to instill in the students are life lessons that any adolescent needs to learn.

The increased responsibility given to LS seniors demands an almost total time commitment, discouraging students who participate in an outside sport, activity, or job.

Teachers, students, and families come and go. Similarly, families are greatly attracted to North Point, and attend for a season and get involved. Some eventually move on to other churches do to changing needs or thought processes. The experience at Living Science is vastly different from North Point. Young people today respond more to loving, growing, forgiving relationships much more than the rigid set of rules and regulations people my age grew up with. No one wants a teen to fall by the wayside.

As a writer I am only at the point of only being able to communicate 50-80% of what I’m trying to get across. There’s more to this that I’m trying to say.