Overheard in the Middle School

On Thursday

MB: How did the Soviet Union even come to be.

Me: Great question. We're actually going to talk about that on Monday.

On Friday, with guest speaker.

Guest Speaker: Any other questions about Russia?

MB: Can you tell me how the Soviet Union came to be. Miss Custer didn't know.

HW: I'd like to thank KS for all her contri-butations to my speech.

Colleague: Hey, Katrina, are you teaching the 6th graders that brains come out noses?!

Me: Yes, in the mummification process in Ancient Egypt.

Colleague: ... oh. They failed to mention that detail.

A Troubled Day ... to His Glory

Tuesdays in Homeroom are "Troubled Tuesdays." It's the day when the kids can spill out any of the things that are troubling them, we dump it all on the board, and then we pray about them coated in the trust that God knows our troubles intimately and cares about them. Today was no exception, and boy was it a day that would need to be bathed in prayer.

I usually arrive at school around 8:15. By about 8:20 today, I could tell things were setting up to be a pretty crummy day. By 8:55 it was even more definite. Several mean e-mails, two poor tests, and a lunch detention later, I was dropping with hunched shoulders into my chair and just about to pop in the headphones to escape when I heard a small voice behind me, "Miss Custer?"

It was one of my 8th grade girls. Amidst the craziness of the staff room, she came straight up to me, got really close, and asked in all seriousness if we could talk somewhere in private. My heart went straight into my throat, and I have to admit my first thought was, "Uh-oh, now what?" But I followed her out into the hallway and then into the privacy of an unused room, and that's when she opened up. She wanted prayer. She said some really nice things about trusting me and just being in a place right now where she was asking all kinds of questions about God - is he really there for her? Does he care? What are his intentions with her life? Can he be trusted? And then she asked again, "Will you pray for me?"

What a blessing to be able to approach the throne with her, not as a student but as my sister. I wasn't sure about the right words, but I prayed with and for her. And when she left to go back to class, I had trouble fighting back the tears. More than anything, I was completely humbled and frightened - humbled that she had allowed me that privilege, and frightened because I was reminded of the scary responsibility I have here to represent Jesus to these kids. The thought that played over and over in my head the rest of the day was this one: "If they're looking at us, who do they see us looking at?" I sincerely hope they see me gazing intently and forever into the face of my Savior!

Think Seuss

BFA's music department was feeling especially ambitious this year and decided to put on our first-ever Musical. It was to be a joint venture of the High School and Middle School and include a live orchestra, directed by my friend, Jill Musick. The chosen play was Seussical, and it was an exciting day in the Middle School when our "young ones" nabbed 2 of the main parts. Over all, the cast included some 20 odd Middle Schoolers, 10 more worked on the crew and on the set-building team, and 1 was even in the orchestra. Even among the High Schoolers, I was thrilled to see many of my former students. And THEY ROCKED IT! I can't begin to describe how impressed I was with all of their performances. If I'd been wearing a button shirt, they would've all been on the floor. :-)

MC, representing the Middle School in the orchestra

The center bird is our 7th grader, AM.

I was so proud of my small group freshmen, HH and EE. EE played the General!

Another former student: BD as Horton the Elephant.

Cat in the Hat, Bird, and Jojo (AD, AM, and CC)

11/11/11 at 11:11:11

My kids begged me to have a second of silence on Nov. 11 when we hit exactly 11:11 and 11 seconds. They're so funny!

Pictures from the AMAZING Fall Musical about to come.

Fall Party 2011

Fall Party is our best dress-up party of the year. My German neighbors thought it was a bit strange to see Little Bo Peep standing at the end of the driveway in a hoop skirt in October, but they're pretty much used to the strangeness that is BFA by now.

The M.S. party theme this year was "Movies." The staff went as the characters from Toy Story, hence my costume of Bo Peep (sadly, this is the only picture I have. See facebook for more):

The kids are as creative as always. Below you'll find characters from High School Musical, the old man from Up, Despicable Me (the minions were super funny), Remember the Titans, and Alice in Wonderland.

When TCK's get a hold of idioms

"Fall has sprung!"

"And then, right out of the bat, ..."

"I've been trying to get him to do that all morning, but it's like pushing teeth."

Dr. Finkelbaumer

My predecessor in the Middle School social studies position basically gave me all his materials and powerpoints when he left the Middle School two years ago. One of them was this great lecture for the 6th grade on what some of the major gaps are in Evolution. Because he was still around last year, I had him come guest lecture on that day, and the kids ate it up, even though the content was at a very high level for them.

This year, he was gone, but I really wanted the kids to have this lecture and not just from me. I knew with it begin somewhat difficult material, they would zone out after 20 minutes. So, on Tuesday, I announced that we would be having a very special guest speaker on Thursday: Dr. Finkelbaumer. The class began peppering me with questions about her - what she looked like, what her first name was, if she was a Christian, etc - and they were genuinely excited to have this science Dr. come to their class.

By Thursday morning, I felt pretty guilty because truthfully there was no Dr. Finkelbaumer. As class started, they looked around frantically. "Where was she?!" I slipped into the closet to "call her," and then proceeded to make a costume change and put on some nerd glasses my friend owns. I hiked up my skirt to my chest, put on mismatched shoes, tied up my hair in a bun, and emerged as made-up Dr. Doris Finkelbaumer. I wish I had taped their reactions. Some snorted, one put his head in his hands and shook it, and the rest looked seriously disappointed while I thought, "What kind of a horrible, lying teacher am I!?"

Anyway, the basic idea for the plan worked. 90% of the class stayed with me as I lectured about Darwinian gaps and all these new evolutionary concepts, and they dutifully took their notes and asked tons of questions as we went. They did also spend the rest of the day accusing me, Ms. Custer, of impersonating the famous Dr. Finkelbaumer, and I had to defend the crazy scientific possibility that we could look so much alike! :-)

If she ever comes to class again, I'll take a picture next time.