Pennie Wredberg

05 Aug

BASKETBALL AND ART FILL SUMMER VACATION AT LIGHTHOUSE ADVENTIST CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

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RMCNews with Pennie Wredberg – Fort Morgan, Colorado … The usually quiet gymnasium during the summer months at Lighthouse Adventist Christian School, instead was filled with laughter and the sounds of basketballs dribbling during July.

Partnering with Fort Morgan Adventist church, Lighthouse school ran a basketball camp during the mornings and an art camp during the afternoons. Everyone was invited, no matter the age or ability level.

“The first year of having a Lighthouse Basketball Camp was really about learning some basic skills like dribbling and passing,” stated Brian Nadon, volunteer and parent at Lighthouse Adventist Christian School. “We tried to make that fun with games and obstacle courses that focused on improving these skills.”

Pretending to be a pirate, basketball students would steal the ball and dribble away, leaving their friends behind to become the new pirate. They drew a random number and practiced that many chest passes or bounce passes with a partner. To work on accuracy, they bounced the basketball on pretend water lilies on the floor, trying to beat the number of water lilies their friends hit. They even learned to hit the magic corner on the backboard when running a layup.

The planning for both the basketball camp and the art camp began months in advance. The first art camp offered easier projects that were linked to a children’s book. A favorite picture created by the students was of what you would see if you shone a flashlight in the woods at night. Would it be a bear, a skunk, or maybe a bat?

Later in the day, a more advanced art camp utilized multiple mediums in the creation of pieces of art. A picture might use torn paper, chalk pastels, acrylic paint, and a sharpie. Using all those mediums on one piece increased not only the complexity but also the involvement of the participants.

“Last summer was difficult”, said Pennie Wredberg, Lighthouse Head Teacher. “And even during this school year, I saw my students having to relearn social skills. We wanted to provide fun, safe activities this summer where anyone could be involved and feel successful and retain those social skills. I believe we succeeded. What I loved the most was having parents stay and do the projects with their kids or a grandmother practicing basketball skills alongside her grandson.”

–RMCNews with Pennie Wredberg, headteacher at Lighthouse Adventist Christian School; photos supplied

22 Apr

FORT MORGAN LIGHTHOUSE SCHOOL BIRTHDAY BOXES BRING JOY TO THE COMMUNITY

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By Pennie Wredberg – Fort Morgan, Colorado …“It is like creating your dream birthday celebration,” said Lighthouse Seventh-day Adventist  Christian School student Paloma. “My favorite part was choosing what to put in our box.”

Recently, students at Lighthouse created birthday boxes for children in the community who might not otherwise get to have a celebration.

The idea started in February when students were talking about homelessness and other difficult situations that kids face today. “What would it be like to not get a birthday party,” the students wondered. “That would be very sad,” they concluded. So, they decided to plan a party in a box.

The project was explained during church and a note went home to parents describing what the students wanted to do. Donations for the boxes came pouring in from parents, church members, and even the students themselves.

Student partners decided what the theme of their box would be and together decorated the outside of a cake box. Soon the chapel was filled with boxes covered with pictures of horses, flowers, magnifying glasses, footprints, and waterfalls. Working with their co-designers, they walked up and down the tables set out in the chapel on Friday, deciding what type of frosting they wanted to match the cake they had chosen for their box. Then they added the candles, balloons, toys, and everything else needed to throw a small party.

“I hope that this makes someone happy,” a student was heard saying. “It would be so sad to not have a party for my birthday.”

“Can we do this again?” another student asked. “This is one of my favorite community service projects ever!”

All together there were eleven boxes, decorated and filled, donated to Fort Morgan County Family Center.

Mary Gross, Executive Director of Fort Morgan County Family Center, accepted all of the boxes and said that her staff would make sure the boxes would go to the families that needed them most.

Before the boxes left the church the students prayed that they would go to kids who needed to know that someone cared about them.

–Pennie Wredberg is the head teacher at Lighthouse Seventh-day Adventist Christian School; photos supplied

Addy and her buddy, Damian, even went shopping together for their ocean themed box, and
they had a very specific list of items they wanted to include, right down to a blue frosting to
make the cake look like the sea.

 

Mary Gross, Executive Director of Morgan County Family Center, and Pennie Wredberg,
Principal of Lighthouse, holding two “birthday boxes”.

 

Students worked with partners to choose, decorate, and fill their “birthday boxes.”

 

Brayden and Isaac’s birthday box was spy themed and included magnifying glasses, notepads
for recording clues, and squirt guns.
Riley and Emmery created an outdoor themed birthday box full of games that could be played
outside during a party.

 

Camila and Paloma’s floral themed box included seeds for planting flowers and a tiara so a
lucky someone would feel like a princess.
23 Feb

STUDENTS STUDY THE BOOKS OF DANIEL AND REVELATION

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By Pennie Wredberg – Fort Morgan, Colorado — “Can we study the book of Revelation for morning worship?”

That was the question posed to Pennie Wredberg, head teacher at Lighthouse Christian School in Fort Morgan, Colorado by students from the upper grades.  They wanted to begin their day immersed in the fifth gospel of Jesus Christ–Revelation. The reason the student gave was simple. They had been talking about recent incidents on the news with their parents and wanted to know what the Bible had to say about end-time events.

It soon became evident that the students needed some guidance in their study after a few days of attempting to study on their own. That’s when Wredberg asked Dr. Ralph McClure, head deacon at the Fort Morgan church and an area physician, if he would be willing to spend time with students helping them understand what they were reading.

McClure agreed and explained to the eager, future Bible scholars that, “In order to understand the book of Revelation, we need to go back to Daniel.”

They agreed to study the book of Daniel first. The school ordered journals for each student with Bible pages on one side and blank paper on the other. They were challenged to draw pictures and write notes as they read, and promised a prize to be awarded in May for the best journals.

The students are thankful for the experience.

“I’ve realized that God can help me in any situation,” Julia, a student said.

Another student Brayden remarked, “Reading Daniel and Revelation makes me take a look at my choices and realize I need to make better ones. For example, in Daniel they changed their diet for 10 days and it made such a difference. What would happen if I took my choices more seriously?”

Another student, Paloma, is enjoying journaling about the book of Daniel and creating visual images to help her better understand the messages in the book.

They are taking their time by studying a few verses each day and are committed to continuing their studies no matter how long it may take to understand the books of Daniel and Revelation.

–Pennie Wredberg is head teacher at Lighthouse Christian School in Fort Morgan, Colorado; photos supplied