Wilmington Christian Academy

2012 will begin my 34th year teaching at Wilmington Christian Academy.  I began here replacing the French teacher and was privileged that year to teach our current administrator, Mr. Barren Nobles. Not many teachers can say that they taught their boss.  Maybe that just means that I am old! 

I have taught in two other Christian schools prior to coming to WCA.  I taught for my first six years at Goldsboro Christian School in Goldsboro, NC, my hometown.  I then went to Wilson Christian Academy for two years and finally found my way to my home at Wilmington Christian. 

I have taught most of my career as a high school French teacher, getting my bachelor of science in French education degree from Bob Jones University.  In addition to French, I have taught English in 7th through 11th grades, middle school history and government, Latin, Bible, creative arts, yearbook, and creative writing.  There could be a few others, but it's been a long time since 1970 when all this began! 

 

 

Currently I teach English in the middle school and have since its inception five years ago when Mr. Craig Tucker came as the principal.  We have worked as a team and now the middle school is thriving, having the largest enrollment ever in our area.  I also teach Bible to the 8th grade girls.  This year I am undertaking a new venture by having a class of middle schoolers to do the middle school section of the yearbook.  I was the yearbook adviser for 20 years from 1988 through 2008, and I thought that the students in our part of WCA would know more of what is going on  with them than would the high schoolers.  I am looking forward to a better, more thorough account of what middle school is all about in the 2012 Reflections.

 

 

Another ministry that I hope to reinstate is the group. No Joke.  This is a clown troupe that in the past has been involved in presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ through clowning.  So far all our presentations have been here on our campus either in the elementary or in the Grace Baptist Sunday school for the bus children and our Pathfinder ministry, a class of handicapped teenagers and adults.  My goal is to be able to carry this witness out into the community where people are not familiar with the truth of God's Word.  We call our group No Joke because the truth that we speak is in reality no joke; it is very serious and something that everyone must believe in order to go to heaven.  Without the truth of the gospel, no one can go to the Father. 

 

 

This past summer I had the rare privilege to teach one of the summer enrichment camps, and of all the things suggested to me, I decided to offer ululele camp!  What was I thinking??  I had 10 little 3rd grade girls sign up for the camp and what I had not considered was the age of these campers and the fact that each day was for four hours!  To put it mildly, my fingers were SO SORE after the first day, I could hardlly touch my strings on day two.  Things got better, however, and after a bit, I acclimated to the whole thing.  The "fun" part was tuning up a couple of times every day...yes, I had to do everyone's uke without a tuner; I did it by ear myself.  Tedious, I must say.  We did have fun!  We learned nine songs in the first four days and then on Friday we put on a concert for the day campers and the girls' parents.  I think we did a great job!  The funny thing was that a few of the little girls never seemed to get the idea that to make the correct sound, you must presse the correct strings.  Those who missed the point had just as much fun as the ones who "got it," and they sang, strummed, and smiled all the while.  I learned a lot myself, and if I have the camp next summer, I know a bit more going into it than I did this year.  So, aloha to all.  Get yourself a uke, come by and see me, and I will teach you a few chords!