Faith Integration

Students in 4th grade explore God’s Kingdom story in four acts: Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration, then spend their school year unpacking what it means to live as peculiar people within the restoration. In this 4th grade class, peculiar means bold, and students look for ways to be bold for God’s Kingdom. Whenever they practice being bold, they capture the experience as part of their storyline.

In English class, seventh grade students explore their purpose in God’s Kingdom story. Students begin by identifying what they believe are their purposes, gifts, and talents, and then approach their learning as ways they can learn more to find their purpose and practice living out their purposes, for God’s glory and Kingdom.

Students will understand that worshiping God is about celebrating who God is, what God has done and is doing, and what God has created.
 

Students need to learn to "read" a worldview by asking questions about what is being portrayed in regard to culture, values, and belief systems.
 

Students will create beauty that praises God and enriches our world.

Students will act as agents of restoration.

Students will celebrate God's beautiful handiwork and give testimony to the presence of God in creation. 

Students will work actively to heal brokenness and bring joy to individuals and to culture.

Students will be active pursuers and builders of community in their classrooms, in their neighborhoods, and in the global village.
 

Students bear the image of God in their daily lives. Being an image bearer isn't something we DO. Image bearer is who we ARE.

Students see God's masterful planning and His fingerprints all over creation.

When fourth Grade students studied salmon as part of their science content, they learned that streams in the Seattle area are in need of restoration, specifically for salmon migration and the greater global impact of the salmon population. Students decided they wanted to do work that specifically would impact a stream or river. They decided to partner with Mountains to Greenway Trust and Earth Corps, who work for habitat restoration. Students planted native plants at Issaquah creek to restore the riparian zone near the creek. They captured their experience as earth keepers in personal narratives, and then wrote letters to the Earth Corp volunteers and Mountains to Greenway Trust. This formational learning experience led to deeper learning for students in their science and writing classes and gave them opportunity to be active participants in God’s story as community builders, earth keepers and image reflectors!

Students in Spanish 2 engaged in a semester-long formational learning experience. Every Thursday, students traveled to a nearby elementary school that hosts a bilingual Spanish/English program. Every week, they built relationships with elementary students by acting as lunch and recess buddies. In addition to opportunities to practice speaking Spanish, they also tangibly engaged with their storyline, “The Gift of the Stranger,” by listening, serving, and playing with students who come from different backgrounds and who live in different contexts. This formational learning experience led to greater engagement and academic achievement within the Spanish class itself and students also articulated ways they began to view the world and God’s love for others differently because of the relationships they built.