One special aspect of life at White Creek Lutheran School is the interaction among students of different grade levels. Being a small school, most students know ALL of the other students and enjoy spending time with their older or younger schoolmates.
At the beginning of each year, students are assigned Chapel Families - groups of 8-10 students with members from each grade represented. The families sit together in a pew for regular Wednesday Chapel services. They also meet together a few times each quarter for special activities. Sometimes chapel families will compete as teams in all-school challenges. The families choose names and often feel a special camaraderie by the end of the school year.
School days are full of other inter-class opportunities, too. Recess times often include students from a span of four grade levels, and it is heartwarming to see the way everyone enjoys playing with one another. This year our seventh and eighth graders are assisting the first graders during their weekly computer lab time. Kindergarteners are proud to read to older students and show off their learning (and vice versa)!
The partnerships between older and younger students make for a special kind of learning opportunity. Younger students learn skills and gain confidence. Older students practice gentleness, and they feel responsibility as role models. Our prayer is that all of our students continue to grow "in wisdom and in stature" and that they recognize the precious value of every stage of life and learning.