Immanuel Academy
Immanuel Academy St. Louis spent a week from October 9-12 completing the first NWEA MAP testing of the new school year. Students in kindergarten through seventh grade paid close attention during exams. The results are out and teachers will communicate the results to parents in the next few days.
Beginning with the first week of school, grades 4-7 at Immanuel Academy St. Louis began a Bible study of the Four Spiritual Laws. Teacher Michelle teaches students 40 minutes a day.
The two lead teachers, Mr. Sam and Ms. Valerie, also attend daily Bible study. They enjoy Bible study and feel it helps them integrate God’s Word into various subjects more deeply.
May all students and teachers gain strength from the Bible studies and draw closer to God every day.
Immanuel Academy St. Louis holds a fresh morning assembly every morning. Each morning, they begin school with teacher’s prayers/devotional and a whole-school morning assembly.The morning assembly includes prayer with response, scripture reading, hymn singing, daily affirmation and pledges. Each section is led by a main teacher, with students also participating. The atmosphere of the morning assembly is very bright, fresh and graceful. May God delight in this occasion and bless each school day with the first fruits of each day.
On September 1, Immanuel Academy St. Louis host Orientation for the 2023-2024 School Year. This is the first time that Immanuel Academy held an orientation event in the new school building. After the opening song “He Makes All Things New”, Immanuel Academy Director Michelle Lai delivered a sermon titled “The Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew 5:1-11). The school has come to a new beginning, a new level, a new dimension, and they want all blessings mentioned in Beatitudes to be guaranteed. As they start a new school year, all need the wisdom to know how to be blessed.During the sermon, Ms. Michelle studied together with the teachers and students how to get blessings and get rewards from God. These scriptures teach the wisdom and essential meaning of life. They want to seize these blessings, bear beautiful fruit and glorify God. Both teachers and students want to challenge themselves to become more like Christ in the new school year. After the sermon, Ms. Valerie and Ms. Krisstal explained the school policies, including student arrival & dismissal, attendance& tardies, academics & field trip privileges, discipline & consequences, and habit formation, etc. They explain the rules in a fun and dramatic way. Everything is well received and remembered. All faculty and staff were introduced to students and parents. The two new teachers, Ms. Janice and Mr. Sam, were warmly welcomed by everyone.All students sang “Shine Jesus Shine” as the closing song. When the teachers asked them if they wanted to follow Jesus in the new school year, they replied “Amen” loudly. May God bless Immanuel Academy St. Louis 2023-2-24 new school year. May this year be fruitful and full of loving memories.
On June 8, Immanuel Academy St. Louis teacher Krisstal Artice shared her heartfelt testimony in morning ceremony about her visit to Costa Maya, Mexico. She shed tears as she recounted the experiences she had at a local school there.
During her visit, Krisstal was deeply touched by the gratitude and humility displayed by the students, despite the poor condition of their school. It made her reflect on our own lives and how much we take for granted, compared to the contentment she witnessed in Costa Maya.
As a gesture of support, Krisstal brought back bracelets made by the Costa Maya students for her class. One bracelet can feed a child for a month. She encouraged her students to share the stories of the school and its students with their parents when they returned home.
Immanuel Academy St. Louis hold an amazing field trip in Meremec Caverns Missouri’s Buried Treasure on May 19.
They had guided-walking tours conducted by trained rangers. The Cavern Tour took one hour and twenty minutes to complete, covering 1 ¼ mile round trip along well-lighted walkways. 3rd and 6th-grade Students learned geography, geology, and history around the cave.
Students loved this place. Beneath the fertile rolling hills of the Meramec Valley, lies a complex of mineral formations and colors as rare and unique as they are beautiful. These jewels of nature which took thousands of years to grow, are preserved in the spectacular sights of Meramec Caverns.
Guided tours by trained rangers are conducted along well-lighted walkways. Students learn how an ancient limestone “Wine Table” and an entire 7-story mansion were formed… all underground. On tour, students saw both the rarest and largest cave formations in the world.
From May 4th-5th 2023, Immanuel Academy St. Louis Director Michelle Lai participated in CMI (Charlotte Mason Institute) Practicing School Observation & Training at Blue Willow Tutorial in Athens, Tennessee with other teachers from Riverside, New York, and Washington DC.
The first day included a morning of classroom observations in grades 1-8 and an afternoon of immersion lessons taught by Lisa Ector, Principal of Blue Willow Tutorial. On the second day, they provide participants the chance to practice teaching lessons to the group with feedback from both the cohort and Lisa Ector.
Fortunately, this time, three CMI experienced educators Dr. Carroll Smith, Dr. Shannon Whiteside, and Kelli Christenberry joined them to observe the pilot program. They provided inspiring insights for all participants.
After the Two-Day intensive training, Teacher Michelle shared, “The training is inspiring and impressive. I can feel their school’s core values are strongly implemented: joy (choosing joy when things are hard), excellence (doing your best), and respect. Students are engaged and peaceful.
I can see the beautiful flow of each class. Students focus on knowledge instead of the teacher’s praise. I admire the trust the teachers have in this educational philosophy. I am impressed by how they conduct history, science, and citizenship class outdoors on green grass.
In classroom observation, I learned more kinds of methods of narration. The students are familiar with partner narration that I also like to use in our school. I love their class hand signals, it’s their students’ favorite part of the school.
Lisa Ector surprised everyone involved by sharing several of her own nature journals made by herself. It’s also one of my favorite things about Charlotte Mason’s education. Lisa showed us that as Charlotte Mason’s teacher, she was always passionate to learn and grow with the children.
Also, it was impressive to see Lisa Ector and her daughter Priscilla co-teaching this time. Lisa successfully raised her seven children through this education. Her rich educational experience and knowledge shined through in the training.
During the Q&A time, Dr. Carroll Smith, founder of CMI, shared with us his teaching life. As a former public school principal for many years, he shared how Charlotte Mason Education is a truly biblical and life-changing education.
He taught us that as Charlotte Mason teachers, we should release ourselves from the traditional mode and switch our mindsets. In Blue Willow, I can see that each teacher has authority in their class and in the meantime, they are very relational with the kids. In class, students are not “managed”, but “pastured”. And their classrooms are very cozy, organized, and natural.
On the evening of May 5th, teachers gathered and shared their reflections on Charlotte Mason’s philosophy. I’m glad to see more and more teachers seeing the benefits that CM education can bring to children, families, and teachers.
This time two St. Louis teachers from other Charlotte Mason schools drove me to the training. We spent two days on the road. We became good friends. They shared more of the Charlotte Mason network for me in STL.
This training was very practical and meaningful. The training showed me how to effectively do the core subjects of the Alveary Curriculum created by CMI. I have a lot to share with our teachers in STL and will make it into good practice in our school.”
On May 16th, it was Sarah Gwon’s last school day at Immanuel Academy STL as her family moved to Jubilee University. The class made precious gift cards to say goodbye to her. They all said that they would miss her sweet smile and gentle love in class.
The Immanuel Academy STL also wants to thank Sarah’s mom, Pastor Aria, for always volunteering her time to help and support the school. Immanuel Academy teachers are grateful for her love and kindness towards them. May God bless sweet Sarah and her family with a brighter future in their new mission field.
Before Mother’s Day, 5th-7th Grade Students grew up seeds of spices and vegetables for Moms in class. They nurtured and cared for them for weeks, just as our mothers help us grow. Their class also created beautiful artworks as gifts for Mothers on canvas as a keepsake.
“These students worked hard for their moms! Thank you moms, for such an amazing group of students!” Miss Valerie Novak, their main teacher shared.
Proverbs 31:28: “Her children rise up and call her blessed…” Thank you for sharing your blessings Moms!
On May 13, Immanuel Academy St. Louis teachers participated in author and educator Karen Glass’s Full-Day Charlotte Mason seminar of “Secure the Foundation” in Greenwood, Indiana. The seminar runs from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm and includes four sessions: Session #1 A few broad essential principals; Session #2 Think Clear: The Mind of a Person; Session #3 Feel Deep: the heart of a Person; Session #4 Bear Fruit well: The life of a person.
Our teachers are passionate learners. They gathered at 5:00 in the morning and drove to Indiana. Together they discover how a solid foundation creates freedom and confidence in our endeavors. Through this seminar, the Charlotte Mason educators pursue to think more clearly, feel the way through more deeply, and take confidence in knowing our efforts will bear fruits well in children’s education.
Karen Glass has been studying and writing about Charlotte Mason and Classical Education for over twenty years and serves on the Advisory of AmblesideOnline. She has four adult children who have all been homeschooled from beginning to end using Charlotte Mason’s methods.
Immanuel Academy St. Louis teachers have learned and read her popular books titled: Know and Tell (The Art of Narration); Consider This (Charlotte Mason and the Classical Education), In Vital Harmony (Charlotte Mason And The Natural Laws of Education.); Mind to Mind and A Thinking Love.
The following is a reflection shared by 5th-6th lead teacher Ms. Valerie Novak after participating in this seminar:
“Today, during Karen Glass’ seminar, we took an in-depth look at Charlotte Mason’s pedagogy and highlights. We explored what it meant that “Children are born persons,” a quote and principle of Charlotte Mason. How we grow up the students in our care depends on the individual Will (intrinsic motivation and Want to do) of the students.
‘Children are not the fruits of our labors, but bear their own fruits,’ stated Karen Glass. We are facilitators of well-chosen texts and quality literature. It is up to the Mind and Will of the student for what and how much they glean.
We, as teachers, create the atmosphere and help joy! We, as teachers, help our students grow through the positive message of the Holy Spirit! We, as teachers, see their individuality and build relationships that channel growth!
I enjoyed meeting others using Charlotte Mason and learning about different people using her methods. Our teachers, including myself, had an opportunity to ask important questions to Karen Glass, which was extremely valuable in my teaching growth. I look forward to further growth in our curriculum and the principles of Charlotte Mason.”
