Day 23: The one with the middle schoolers and power tools.

Watch your fingers, girls!

So, Scotty is both the middle school Bible and science teacher at Highlands.  He didn't study to teach science, but has an inquisitive mind and an appreciation for helping kids understand the world from a Biblical perspective while enjoying how the subject lends itself to more creative teaching techniques.  One such teaching opportunity came today.  I rolled in to pick up the girls after school and saw that a bunch of middle school students were scurrying around the back patio area like little mice with black and neon green gloves on.  I knew this had to be the work of Scotty Miser.  Highlands was at one time a brick factory and this particular part of the school is still a wonderland of bricks, random brush piles, cement stairs and platforms.  In other words, the place where every 6th grader wishes they could be during school hours.  Some kids were picking up branches, others were picking up garbage and then a lucky few were using a power circular saw.  Now, for those of you who have middle school kids, have had middle school kids, have ever been in the presence of middle school kids or were ever a middle school kid, you might cringe, cover your eyes and shake your head when I put the words "6th grader" and "saw" in the same sentence.  However, rest assured that Scotty has given comprehensive instruction on power saw safety and is standing by every moment of its operation.  But, as a mom, I think there's a mental reflex that happens when you see tweens handling power tools.  I asked one boy what he was doing and he happily answered, "We're cutting fire wood for the hike!"  Then I realized that all those other kids working together in groups were also inventing new and fun ways of creating fire wood.  Scotty calls this "Creation Care Wednesday" and it is such a fun way to teach the kids how to recycle, take care of the earth (sometimes they collect garbage around the school grounds) and generally value this incredible resource of Earth that the Lord has given us.

Another thing I think is so fantastic about working at Highlands are things like the hike that the one boy mentioned.  In a couple weeks, every willing 6th-8th grader will head out into the mountains with my husband and a couple other teachers.  A few years ago, they discovered a hikable trail behind a nearby mountain where they can drive, drop off the troops and then pick them up a town or two over.  The spend the night in the wild outdoors and for the vast majority of the these kids, it'll be the first time they've ever hiked, slept in a tent or spent so much uninterrupted time out of doors.  The struggle is real, but it has become one of the things most elementary students look forward to as they think about becoming middle schoolers (cause, let's face it, middle school can be rough) and I know Scotty loves the opportunity to connect with the kids outside of the classroom in a more relaxed and enjoyable way.  This will also prepare them for the 2 Incan trail hikes they'll have the opportunity of doing when they reach high school.

How fun is our school?!