Twin Oaks...

Part of the program at Hope Christian Academy, is a reward system. This system has various forms, but perhaps the biggest is at the end of every term. At the close of the term (the last day generally) we take the children on a Field Trip. This is a non-academic field trip designed entirely around having a good time. The school year here goes from January to December and is made up of four different terms with short breaks in between each term; a longer break being in the winter months (generally part of June and into July) and a longer break in the summer months at Christmas. Attending this field trip is contingent upon a few factors. First the student must achieve at least 21 PACEs passed within that term and it must be done with academic balance. Secondly, the student must have all their Scriptures recited to date. This is perhaps the biggest hurdle. So, after boring you with the 'nuts and bolts' of what happens, on to the field trip. We went to a guest farm called "Twin Oaks" that belongs to one of my student's family. It is a beautiful farm set in a slight valley with plateaus behind it and open ground to the front extending on into more plateaus in the distance. It was my first time there. We don't have a school bus per se, so it required some careful manipulation of bodies and the compressing of pelvic and collar bones to make everyone fit, but it worked. The students are always supercharged on a field trip day, so discipline and decorum always become a bit of a challenge, but fortunately, on a farm there is plenty of room for "venting" of those energies. There was a jump castle lined up by our hosts as well as four-wheeler, pony and canoe rides.

Probably the highlight, as far as laughs are concerned, was playing "musical clothes." We took an old bag of clothes, mostly large and very out-of-fashion. The students had to pass the bag around the circle while the music played; if the music stopped while the bag was in their hand, they had to take an article of clothing out of the bag, without looking, and put it on. Many of them were fairly normal apart from size differences.

To the very funny...

Sorry for the quality of this picture, but here is the whole group.