What is an Early Bird? Well, once or twice a month, every 3rd, 4th, and 5th grader is invited to an early morning PE club. We meet in the gym at 7:00am before school even starts....we average anywhere from 130-150 kids each meeting. To kind of put that amount into perspective...it is like having 8 Kindergarten classes in the gym at one time! WOW! INSANITY! But, let me tell you that it has been a joy this entire year waking up early to spend a little extra time with my students.
The morning usually goes a little something like this:
7am arrival, where they hang out with buddies and wait for things to get started - 7:05 I will talk to them about the previous EarlyBirds meeting. We usually go back over the character-building word from the last month (responsibility, compassion, etc.) - 7:15 is when the games begin! This has involved massive games of Stingray, Gymnastics, CrazyDice, Rock/Paper/Scissors tournament, "CoachSays," and many other large group games. We even had a Karate team come in and do an entire class with them. - 7:45 we will calm back down and eat breakfast...thanks to our wonderful and gracious staff and parents, we usually feast on biscuits and drinks from Claudes. - 8:00 I will introduce the new character-ed word and talk to them about choices they may face throughout the day. Kids really chime in with questions, comments, and concerns during this time. I love it! - 8:15 Students gather their things and head on to class. In hand, they have a calendar of next month's EarlyBird meeting, as well as a character strengthening questionnaire that they will fill out with their parents.
My ultimate vision and goal for this club was altered at the beginning of the school year. I truly believe that Satan did his very best to change the direction that I wanted to go with the EarlyBirds Club. My fiance, Jenny, was quick to point out the effects of Spiritual Warfare! I wanted this to be an FCA-affiliated club very badly, however, we ran through some legality issues that kept us from pursuing this venue. Will I give up? NO! But, I am convinced that I cannot do this without trusting in the one and only God. If I am not saturating myself in his word than I am not able to fully understand the will he has for my life. Maybe the EarlyBirds Club is not in the foreseeable future, but I need God to show that to me....and I cannot allow him to do so if I do not have a personal relationship with him.
No comments:
Post a Comment