GIFT School Inkubator?

For those of you familiar with the challenges of religious education at Christian Schools, I've got something to toss your way.

We've had schools in the past use some of our stuff for religious education, but have never put a whole system together for them. Our GIFT (Generations In Faith Together) is set up with Unveiling and Celebration events as bookends for each Bible and Catechsim theme. Like the Faith Stepping Stone materials you've seen, GIFT has music, art, skits, teaching time, PowerPoints, cartoons, handouts, and a host of other teaching aids that could easily be spread across a week of teaching in a Christian school. It also has home devotions already written at the elementary level that could very nicely connect school, church, and home in on the theme. (Our mission statement is "incubating faith every night in every home).

Here's what I'm thinking:

The GIFT School Incubator

It would be fun to have a few schools test out GIFT using our resources, brain research, Powerpoints, music and materials in the following way:

Monday - Theme Unveiling
Basic Bible/Catechism Theme is Unveiled, Gameshow previews the theme, the Key Bible Verse is taught in song and sign language, classes are broken into small groups and each are assigned a project on the theme for Friday's "Show and Tell", the oldest class begins work on Wednesday Chapel skit, art, and sign language for the Bible verse song, musicians prepare to play/teach the song

Tuesday
Bible Study begins on the theme, Terms of the Week Gameshow previews the theme, small groups continue work on project for Friday, oldest class does dress rehersal for chapel with skit, art, and sign language for the Bible verse song

Wednesday
Chapel - Pastor/speaker preaches on the theme, oldest class leads litany, presents the skit, shows off newly created art, and teaches the Bible verse song in sign language, musicians play the song live or with PowerPoint Karaoke to teach it

Thursday
Bible Study continues, all small groups do a dress rehersal of their "Show and Tell" Celebration project for Friday

Friday - Show & Tell Celebration
The older class serves as MC/Hosts for this event that pulls all the arts surrounding the theme and all youth share their part in teaching it to each other. The Bible Song is played by their youth band, taught once more in sign language, and explored through the arts that the kids have created.

And, of course, all week long parents and kids are doing "Highs & Lows" every night in every home, along with the FINK devotions that go along with that theme.

Sunday - Worship & Sunday School
The best of the best is shared with the non-school kids during Sunday School opening, and with the whole congregation in worship. The art for the theme fills the hallways. A powerpoint of the best of what they've done plays during the offering and the kids from the school, along with the youth band, teach the Bible verse in song and sign as the "offering that doesn't fit in the plate" (thus creating the "school to worship to parent connection" most schools are lacking on a weekly basis)

The Quartely Dinner Theater
At the end of each theme set (10 themes in 10 weeks), the school puts on a theater production to pull all ten songs, all ten skits, all ten art presentations together on a Sunday night, serving a dinner fun & fund raiser (or a really, really delicious dessert during intermission), and charging $10 ticket prices for the "Dinner and a Show" in support of the shool.

Three dinner theater shows a year - having advertized week after week after week in worship - pull in $30 from every person with any connection to the school each year (minus food costs) and serve the multiple purposes of:

1. Engaging kids in teaching the faith as they learn it
2. Connecting religious education at school with nightly faith dialogue at home
3. Connecting school to congregation every week in worship
4. Connecting school and congregation to the community every quarter
5. Building a buzz in the community for the school as a place where education, the arts, and fun go hand in hand
6. Raising fun and funds at the same time without another rummage sale, bake sale, or meaningless fund raiser.

The list might go on and on.

So, what do you think? Do you know anyone who might like to be a guinea pig on something like this? Do you know any Christian schools with administrators who are ready to try something else?

If you need an excuse to do a little exploration on how our stuff might fit into a Christian School curriculum, let me know. We could send you a complete GIFT theme set (Old Testament, New Testament, Apostles' Creed, Lord's Prayer, Ten Commandments, Lent, Advent, Luther, Wesley, Calvin, Baptism, Communion, Stewardship) and see if you think it would be something you'd like to explore.

FYI - April 6 - 8 is the time we have our partners together out in Colorado and we'll be looking at all the new things God might be sending our way. We could put together a FINKtank after Easter to explore this with a test group of schools.

Pass this on if you would and let me know.

Blessings,

Rich

Comments

[Carl Eliason]

Would be very interesting in more information about GIFT school as you develop it or test it out. We have been using your H2H materials for 6 years and are now implementing FSS more fully with your new materials.

Please keep us posted.

Peace,
Carl

[Linda King]

Dear Mr. Melheim,
I am the principal of Immanuel Lutheran School (prek-8) in Hillside, IL. We have only 83 students. Of that number, only 9 are in confirmation class. To make things more challenging, we have no permanent pastor at the present time. I would like more information about your GIFT program, but am a little intimidated by the magnitude of the process and my limited abilities in the creative area. If you can address these concerns, please e-mail me. Thank you for your dedication and service to God, Linda King, Principal
Immanuel Lutheran School
2329 South Wolf Road
Hillside, IL 60162
708-562-5580