Day at the Museum
September 18th, 2008
by Deepika Azariah
This past Sunday, Mr. Wayne Turgeon took his Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ freshman class on a field trip to the Oklahoma Museum of Art. An exhibition of Roman Art from the Louvre at the museum is on its third and final stop in America.The freshman class—along with Mr. Turgeon, two juniors, one graduate and one local teen—spent over three hours studying 184 artifacts of Roman life and culture which included full-sized sculptures, jewelry, mosaics, maps, manuscripts, timelines and more. Two online students, Aunt Bonnie & Granny Pat, drove all the way from Texas to be a part of this class trip. They were welcomed enthusiastically by the college students and left with plenty of hugs.
Our Rappelling Labor Weekend
September 2nd, 2008
What an awesome view!
posted by Adar Kielczewski
Hi all. This past weekend, a group of us here in Edmond went to Wichita Mountains, which is about two hours away, for our annual Lawton campout. We arrived Friday evening a ways before sunset, pitched our tents and then enjoyed a nice start to the Sabbath. The students were treated to steaks, potatoes and corn on the cob, which John Rambo prepared for them. Saturday we went to services in Lawton. The brethren were really happy to have visitors and truly spoiled us. They had snacks before and after services for us. We thoroughly enjoyed their hospitality. Saturday night we played cards and sang around a bonfire. Sunday we rappelled and rock-climbed and then headed back home. Here’s some pictures from our weekend.
The True Education Reading List!
August 18th, 2008
posted by Adar Kielczewski
Reader Lisa J. left a comment on “The Club I Love” suggesting we put together a reading list. So we’ve started one! Here are some of the books we enjoy. Expand this list by sharing your favorite books in the comments!
Steel and Velvet
August 6th, 2008
posted by Adar Kielczewski
Two fondue pots—one chocolate, one cheese—strawberries, pound cake, sourdough bread and meatballs were on the table. Ten of us sat around the food, each with our own copy of the night’s topic of discussion—Man of Steel and Velvet. For us six girls it was our second book club meeting. But a week ago we opened the door and invited two men and one married couple.
The idea was pretty simple—to have a book club and invite guests of the opposite sex and at a different stage in life. It went great! Sometimes it’s far too easy to get caught up in your own viewpoint. It’s easy to think you’re right on when really you’re still thinking in the same little bubble you always do. Meaning, you may think you’re considering all the possibilities, but that may be quite impossible without another perspective.
“Must Go!”
July 3rd, 2008
posted by Philip Nice
It’s on. Here at headquarters, Philadelphia Youth Camp preparations are rolling right along, with Herbert W. Armstrong College students receiving their assignments, instructors working on their lectures and counselors getting to know their campers—on paper, at least. I remember pouring over my campers’ applications during my counselor years. But this morning, one application stands out: mine.
The Club I Love
July 1st, 2008
posted by Adar Kielczewski
A few months ago I saw a movie that sparked an idea for me to begin a book club. Now, being at headquarters has its challenges sometimes—one of which is finding time for yet another activity. One of my friends brought this up when I mentioned my “brilliant” idea. Discouraging thoughts came to mind: Who wants to read anymore anyway? Didn’t I do enough reading in school? I was dissuaded—for a while.
So a few months passed and I forgot about it.
But that’s not how it ends! Coming back from a recent road trip, a car full of girls got to talking (as you know we always do) and I brought up my idea once again. This time it stuck! And so a book club was born.
Free Download: A Majestic Tour of the Universe
May 29th, 2008
Get ready to soar through eternity!
By Joel Hilliker
I took a tour of the universe yesterday. It was breathtaking times jaw-dropping times awesome!
I grew up in Washington State in a place where the night sky was largely hemmed in by towering pines. But I’d still scramble up onto the roof of our house to open up the view just a little bit more. We used to take trips to the coast, where the canopy of stars stretches clear down to the flat, inky horizon. When I was a teenager, I visited the Wisconsin farmlands and laid on my back in a field one crystal-clear night. That was when, for the first time, I saw—no, I felt—the entire three-dimensional dome of the heavens all at once. I was in an incomprehensibly enormous fishbowl of shimmering limitlessness.
As I drank in that tremendous view, I was probably seeing fewer than 5,000 stars.
Getting and Keeping a Summer Job
May 21st, 2008
How can you get a good summer job? How can you keep that job all summer and then be welcomed back to work the next summer? Here’s how you can develop a good work ethic and get on the fast track to a life of success!
By J. Tim Thompson
“Summer Help Wanted,” said the sign in the shop window. Sixteen-year-old Tom got off his bike and looked curiously through the window into the store packed with busy shoppers. He wanted a pair of expensive Nike high tops which his parents couldn’t afford, and he wondered if a summer job would give him the necessary money.
I wonder how much they pay? Tom thought. Then he remembered that he didn’t have any work experience and didn’t even know how to ask for a job. Nah, I don’t want a job, he said to himself. I won’t be able to shoot hoops with the guys if I have to work all summer. Mom and Dad will just have to work overtime to buy me some Nikes.
Tom’s dilemma is a common one for teenagers. He wants “things” but he doesn’t have any money, and it seems like there’s no way to get it short of doing something illegal—like some kids who steal and pawn things or sell drugs. Working all summer and missing the fun of hanging out isn’t a good alternative to him either. Why can’t someone simply give him the money or the things he wants? Life just isn’t fair, Tom thought.
What’s a fella to do?
The Mozart Effect
April 29th, 2008
By Ryan Malone
Can Mozart make you smarter? Well, that’s what researchers at the University of California-Irvine asked back in 1993. The answer?
Frances Rauscher, Gordon Shaw and Katherine Ky gave preschool and college students standard tests of spatial reasoning (being able to turn an object in one’s head or to imagine how pieces of a shape fit together). The tests were given after the students had experienced three different conditions for ten minutes: one condition was silence, one was listening to a relaxation tape, another was listening to Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major. Performance on the post-Mozart spatial tests were significantly better.
But, of course, not all scientific experiments are reliable. Every experiment must be proven over and over before it can be accepted as fact. So in 1994, researchers at the University of Auckland examined the effects of listening to Mozart contrasted with other types of music or silence. Seventy-nine college students were divided into three groups. One group listened to Mozart (the same piece used in the ’93 study). Another listened to silence. The third group listened to a piece by Philip Glass—a composer of music based on endless repetitions of patterns. The two latter groups showed no significant increase in spatial IQ. But the Mozart group did!
Do Your Own White Water Rafting Adventure
April 10th, 2008
By Ivory Vendig
Have you ever seen white water? White water can be found in the middle of mossy forests or in deep canyons surrounded by layers of rock and soil formations, oftentimes in the mountains. Now, have you ever been on white water? Drifting along in a raft, it would be easy to become distracted by the beauty of creation—until you hit your first rapid! White water rafting is physically and mentally demanding, but fun if you go willing to participate and ready to learn. If you’ve never considered going on a white water rafting adventure, maybe it’s time you should!