I’ve been here several days now and the dust is settling; conversation is picking up at the supper table, and people are getting just a little bit crazy in the study rooms. With over 60 students here, I still haven’t nearly got everyone’s name down. Crystal and Krisanne are about the only students here from my era. I’m taking Principles of Teaching and College Algebra. I’m the only student in Algebra, so Mr. Koch and I are having a grand time of it.
Charlene and John, my sister and her husband, made a surprise run from PA to VA just to see us! We were so happy. This evening Johnny took them fishing in our pond. From left to right, it’s Patrick, Erinna, and Johann.
Well, I know I’ve been a total slacker with this blog lately, and thought that now that I have some time, I should give you a little update. So below are a few pictures from the last month or two, with some brief captions. (Continued)
Thank you Charity, Rachel, Glenda, Levi, Vincent, Caleb, Abigail, Rolanda, Janelle, Dorcas, Loretta, Byron, David, Dana, Dorcas, Johnny, Deborah, Kendall, and Lorita for a wonderful year!
Where I teach–at our church school here in Stuarts Draft–high school is optional. That’s because we’re “Amish” and Amish don’t have to go past the 8th grade, thanks to the 1972 Wisconsin vs. Yoder Supreme Court ruling. While many students elect to take high school, some “graduate” from the 8th grade and quit. To take high school or not has been quite the controversy this year in my class. One of my students presented a convincing speech on the issue–and gave me permission to post it here. I thought she did well in not only talking about the high school question, but also about our responsibility to learn
Dorcas Yoder
Mr. Hershberger
Tenth Grade English
10 October 2007
High School: Its Purpose and Benefits
Is high school necessary? Is it really good for teenagers to spend their time studying or should they be working and learning practical skills? Is high school just a boring waste of time or an unnecessary amount of hard work? I don’t think so. While it may be impossible to prove that high school is necessary, there are good reasons for doing it. High school is required by Virginia law. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and it’s a good way to train your mind in order to use it for God and for the fulfillment of God-given responsibilities.
According to Virginia state code 22.1-254,
Hold your mouse over each pic for a title. Click the picture to get a larger view.
Just finished an upgrade to WordPress 2.3.3, which fixed that lousy database error on my blogroll. I also imported all my 87 bloglines feeds into my blogroll. So there you go, world. =)
Well, 2008 looks like a very promising year. It’s such a lovely number, don’t you think, so even and reliable.
I am enjoying school quite a lot these days. It was really good to come back after Christmas vacation. I’d love to tell you more about it, but I am dreadfully tired. So more later, hopefully. A Happy New Year to you all!