Hello and welcome to another Friday Faces. Today we are highlighting our LMS and UMS staff. In case you are not up on all your SLOCA acronyms, LMS stands for Lower Middle School, which is our 5th and 6th graders. UMS stands for Upper Middle School and is our 7th and 8th graders. No matter how you spell it or abbreviate it, these people are amazing. We hope you enjoy learning more about our magnificent middle school staff.
Name a SLOCA character trait you are personally working on. (How’s it going?)
- Cade: For the past couple of years I’ve been working on humility. Life has given me so many opportunities to be humbled, and each makes the next instance easier to learn from. After more than fifteen tries over the course of the last twenty years, I’ve finally been able to daily write in my gratitude journal which has allowed me to focus less on myself, reduce stress, and, coupled with considering the Less, But Better approach, focus on what truly matters.
- Jennifer: On top of it! Always so much to juggle, plan, and ponder when teaching all subjects and creating engaging lessons for eager LMS students!
- Sarah: Humility (We shall see.)
- Wendy: Diligence…I love to play, but I’m continuing to learn how to consistently get the tough stuff done…so I can play again:) Still a work in progress.
- Pam: Gratitude and joy moment by moment and working on seeing the love, the Imagio Dei in each person.
- Guy: On-Top-Of-It: Well, not always on top of it, thankfully I am a pretty entertaining juggler!
- Jenna: Patience. Surprisingly, homeschooling my five-year-old has taught me more about patience than teaching 75 middle school students.
- Issac: Gratitude. I always try to remind myself to be thankful for everything I have–especially the little things that might be easy to overlook.
What is your favorite book genre? (Feel free to add your favorite title that falls into that genre.)
- Cade: Historical Fiction: Les Miserables is a favorite of mine for its beautiful depiction of grace.
- Jennifer: Historical Fiction.
- Sarah: 19th-century novels–especially British and Russian. It is hard to pick a favorite–maybe either Anna Karenina or The Way We Live Now.
- Wendy: Historical Fiction…of course!
- Pam: I enjoy reading biographies, history, mysteries, children’s picture books. A book I fell in love with a few years ago is called The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane, so beautifully illustrated and written. One favorite author my husband and I enjoy is Scottish novelist John Buchan, he wrote mysteries rather like the infamous Agatha Christie. Oh, so many books to read and so little time! I also love reading poetry or give me anything by C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, Flannery O’Connor, Wendell Barry. Right now I am enjoying The Prince and the Pauper with the LMS & UMS students. I could go on…
- Guy: Poetry & any collection of Haiku
- Jenna: Murder mysteries, especially those by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie. Currently, however, I’m reading The Count of Monte Cristo, and I’m loving it!
- Issac: Non-Fiction Science (Bird Sense: What It’s Like to Be a Bird by Tim Birkhead)
Aside from necessities, what is one thing you could not go a day without?
- Cade: A cup of hot coffee with Joy before the kids wake up as we reflect on each yesterday and prepare ourselves for each today.
- Jennifer: A cup of coffee in the morning.
- Sarah: Prayer
- Wendy: A hug…and a cup of coffee;)
- Pam: Praying and coffee and exercise and sunshine…I guess that is more than one thing.
- Guy: Sky, and a moment to stand underneath it, and breathe.
- Jenna: Right now, my fabulous U-shaped pregnancy pillow that takes up half the bed.
- Issac: My favorite running partner (my dog)!
What is your favorite Shakespeare play? Why?
- Cade: Hamlet has always been my favorite. I appreciate how Shakespeare has us consider many important questions about the nature of human beings, and the answers he provides aren’t always so flattering. Which brings me back to the first question. I recognize some of my own weaknesses here such as indecisiveness and (sometimes) inaction. It’s humbling.
- Jennifer: Hamlet has become a favorite for me because it’s a complex and engaging play that my students can comprehend and love performing, especially the final scene!
- Sarah: Twelfth Night. This is the play that I find most purely entertaining.
- Wendy: A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I like the comedic aspect of it.
- Pam: A Midsummer Night’s Dream is so funny but I think Hamlet is one of my favorites. I love the language, the battle with self, the trying of loyalties, the songs of Ophelia grip your heart.
- Guy: Much Ado About Nothing.
- Jenna: My favorite play is Hamlet because it is so rich and layered there is always something new to take away from reading or watching it.
- Issac: Hamlet. I really appreciate all of the different emotions that are evoked throughout the play.
Hmm, coffee and Hamlet sure seem to be popular with our LMS and UMS staff. We’ll let you draw your own conclusions about that.
A huge thank you to our LMS and UMS team for participating in our Friday Faces and for all they do!
Have a wonderful wintery weekend!
3 thoughts on “Friday Faces: LMS and UMS”
As a long-time parent here in our 8th year, I just want to say how truly wonderful our teachers are at SLOCA. They have consistently challenged, inspired, nurtured, encouraged and modeled learning for my child from Kindergarten to present. Love these fun profiles and feeling deeply thankful for each of these teachers.
Well said, Kary! I wholeheartedly agree.
I read through these with my daughter and she had something fun and wonderful to say about each and every one of them! What a fantastic, loving, warm group of mentors!