Building Leaders Who Serve
M
y experience with Adventist education has revealed that we are called to provide “something better.” Of course, that something better is Jesus, but what does that mean for a family wanting an experience for their students that prepares them for the gap between now and eternal life? What should that look like, and how will we provide that for our students? With the objective of “Building Leaders Who Serve,” a team of educators began asking questions of ourselves and our programs. We asked things like: How are students being prepared to serve in this 21st-century world? How are students being led to find their unique gifts and talents? How can our schools work together, collaborate, and create a network or community of learners for those in our small schools as well as our larger ones? And how do we encourage our elementary students to go on to attend our only Adventist high school in Arizona, Thunderbird Adventist Academy, and continue a path of growth and development during those critical years of decision-making? Some work had already been taking place at Thunderbird Christian Elementary (TCE). Principal Chandra Young has been trained and certified in handson, career-based STEM modules from the PaxtonPatterson company. She and I made plans to purchase some of these modules that could either be stationed at a school for shared, on-campus use or stored in the conference education office to be lent out to all the schools in the conference. We began to write grants to purchase the expensive modules, which are uniquely designed for a real, hands-
36 Pacific Union Recorder
Arizona Conference
on STEM experience meant to help students delve into career possibilities. Students would be able to take part in learning labs that include filling teeth in the dentistry module, stitching up a prosthetic arm in the nursing module, or designing movies in the digital animation module. Thunderbird Christian Elementary had already started their STEM lab with teacher and filmmaking major Kelsie Nielsen hosting two of our small schools and assisting students in using a green screen and videography skills to capture, create, and produce videos. The students were excited to learn and anxious to do more. As we analyzed the results, we were still missing a piece. How do we connect all the dots for students and make STEM a part of the bigger picture of Building Leaders Who Serve? God began to move in our hearts and minds, and what came out of prayer and
