Academy Street Fun Day

August 5, 2012 by

“What did you like best today?”  One boy, in line for another pony ride, immediately said, “The pony!”  A very wet young girl responded, “The waterslide!”  And another young lady thought pensively and then shyly answered, “Everything.” 

Waterslide

The waterslide with a line of children waiting for their next turns!

That’s just want Berryville Baptist Church volunteers wanted to hear.  The church held its first Academy Street Fun Day on Saturday, July 28th, with the focus totally on fun and games for the community.  The event started at 4 pm on the hot and sunny afternoon, and was in full swing by 4:30 with kids lined up 20 or 30 deep for the water slide.  

“It’s hard to get a good count with kids coming and going and running and playing, but we think there were about 75 children at the event,”  said Pastor Dan Stanley.  “We’re pleased with the turnout and overjoyed at the smiles on the faces of the children,” added event coordinator Jan Cantrell. 

Church neighbors, friends and family turned out for the water slide, bouncee, pony rides, volleyball, face painting and more.  And they enjoyed hot dogs, snow cones, popcorn and more delicious treats.

ponyride

Jessica Myer leads pony Heartbreaker

Kids playing volleyball

Volleyball!

Volunteer Fran

Volunteer Fran Combs helps to make the day fun and safe for the children.

See more smiling faces on the Berryville Baptist Image Gallery at http://www.berryvillebaptist.org/ImageGallery.htm or their Facebook album at www.facebook.com/berryvillebaptistchurch (click on photos).

This was the third mission-oriented event held by the church this summer.  The first was an afternoon Vacation Bible School held at the gazebo in Rose Hill Part in Berryville.  The second was a week-long mission trip to Indianapolis, where the Berryville Baptist Rascals puppet troupe led several Vacation Bible Schools and held puppet shows for children and their families in the hospital and for men and women in shelters and half-way houses.  Then, on Wednesday, August 15, at 1 PM, at the Clarke County Fair grandstand, the Rascals will hold a puppet show for fairgoers.

For more information, visit the church website at www.berryvillebaptist.org or their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/berryvillebaptistchurch.  The church is located at 114 Academy Street, Berryville, Virginia.

Filed Under: Feature

Puppets Travel to Indianapolis

August 3, 2012 by

Photo Caption: Bruce Ward — creating smiles and touching lives

“From Berryville to Indianapolis, my Jesus is so fabulous!”  This is the tagline the youth from Berryville Baptist Church applied to their most recent mission trip.  On July 13, 17 youth and 7 adults travelled to Indianapolis for a 9-day mission trip, sharing God’s love with all ages.  This was the church’s 21stannual mission trip, some of which have happened as far away as South Africa.  Joan Houck, who has led all 21 trips, commented that this was the best trip ever, incorporating more technology, and with participants doing the best they could do.  It’s truly incredible to see youth sharing their talents and reaching the hearts of others.

The team stayed in the Metro Baptist Center  and shared Vacation Bible Schools (VBS) — Sunday morning at the neighborhood community church and then every evening at a local trailer park reached by MBC.

In addition to VBS, the group held programs at the Men’s and Women’s Wheeler Homeless Shelters (getting a surprising request for encores!), helped with the Sunday School Programs at the Metro Center and at the Community Church, hosted an afternoon of Arts, Crafts and Music at a Women’s halfway house for those re-entering society after imprisonment, and held a special puppet show in the lobby of Riley’s Children Hospital for children, their families and other visitors.

The Metro Baptist Center is built around evangelism, teaching Biblical truth, fellowship and the desire to meet the needs of those around us.  Before leaving for Indianapolis, the mission team learned about some of the most basic needs of the people the Metro Baptist Center serves, and helped to provide some “bare necessities”, filling a suitcase with new underwear that they donated to the center.

Upon their return to Berryville, the Youth led the Sunday morning worship service, sharing some of the Bible stories, songs and puppet skits, along with testimonies of their trip.  Bradley Braithwaite, one of the puppeteers, recounted the story of one of their afternoons at the trailer park.  When the youth were sharing the story of Noah’s Ark, a storm was brewing in the distance.  That day, the youth were lucky and no rain came, but they had a beautiful rainbow – accentuating the story of Noah where God sends a rainbow as a promise to his children that He won’t flood the world again.  Another puppeteer, Bruce Ward, shared how he asked God, prior to the trip, to help him and the team touch lives.  The stories they brought back and the pictures of children’s smiling faces was proof that they did just that.

This summer, the mission trip was one in a series of mission outreach programs which started with Vacation Bible School held at Rose Hill Park in Berryville early in July and continued on July 28 with the Academy Street Fun Day, an event focused totally on fun and games for the community.

Want to see the puppets in action?
They’ll be at the Clarke County Fair, Wednesday, August 15, at 1 PM, at the grandstand.

The Berryville Baptist Rascals is primarily a children’s ministry and travels with a full puppet ministry that they incorporate into every mission trip and Vacation Bible Schools, and also share at shelters and churches in the Berryville area throughout the year.   If interested in having the Rascals visit you, contact the church office at 540-955-1423.  For more information, visit the church website at www.berryvillebaptist.org or their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/berryvillebaptistchurch.  The church is located at 114 Academy Street, Berryville, Virginia.

Photo Caption: The Youth just after arriving in Indianapolis: left to right: Jeffrey Rosenberry, Bradly Braithwaite, Dane Duncan, Bruce Ward, Zach Bartasiewicz, Robert Rosenbrook, Garret Rosenbrook, Amanda Gordon, Sarah Cantrell, Ted Schulz, Alana Bartasiewicz. Back row right……….Anna Louthan, Kristina Bartasiewicz, Sam Whitacre, Kierstan Tinsman. Sitting: Lee Louthan, Caroline Louthan

 

 

 

Filed Under: Clarke Voices, Feature

Little Rascals Puppet Troupe Braves the Heat in Berryville

July 5, 2012 by

Although incredibly hot, Sunday afternoon at Rose Hill Park was still filled with fun and blessings! The Berryville Baptist Rascals and Little Rascals puppet troupes held Vacation Bible School for 3 hours around the gazebo.  There were puppet shows, Bible stories, singing and dancing, crafts, games, snacks and more, all bringing smiles to the faces of neighborhood children and adults.

In just a few weeks, the Rascals and other members of our Mission 2012 team will travel to Indianapolis for a week long mission trip, filled with the same types of activities – sharing the love of God with children in the inner-city.  Their schedule also includes programs at a prison half-way house for women and at Riley Children’s Hospital.

The puppet troupes welcome any community members, no matter their church affiliation.  For more information, call 540-955-1423 or email marysue@berryvillebaptist.org  or stop by the church office, Berryville Baptist Church, 114 Academy Street, Berryville, VA.   You can also visit them online (and see lots more pictures!) at www.berryvillebaptist.org or www.facebook.com/berryvillebaptist.

 

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Filed Under: Community, Feature, Photo Galleries Tagged With:

Berryville Baptist Church: 3rd Annual Operation Inasmuch Day

April 29, 2012 by

“Free stuff makes everyone smile.”  Tim Walraven made that comment after attending Berryville Baptist Church’s “Free for All” Yard Sale Saturday, April 14th.

And that’s what Berryville Baptist Church was after – putting smiles on faces in Berryville and neighboring towns.   On April 14th, 78 members and friends of Berryville Baptist Church participated in its Operation Inasmuch Day, a community mission program.   17 teams went out into the community helping others, reaching out, making new friends and hopefully making people smile.  In addition, others participated in advance, donating time and materials in preparation for the day’s activities.

Lisa Gum looks through the "Free for All" Yard Sale items. Photo credit Betty Hill

Preparations and planning started in January as Rose Staples, chairperson, and Berryville Baptist’s Missions Committee collected ideas for team projects, needs in the community, and volunteers.  They worked hard to find missions where every age and every talent could participate.

For the third year in a row, the church hosted a “Free for All” Yard Sale.  Congregants and friends donated items ahead of time, and then community members were invited on Inasmuch Day to “shop” for free and take what they could use.  Clothing is by far what is donated most, and what people come for.  But this year, the yard sale also offered yard maintenance tools, exercise equipment, household items, toys and stuffed animals, and more.  One picture on the church Facebook page shows a smiling young lady, Lisa Gum; one of her friends, Tim Walraven, posted “Free stuff makes everyone smile.”   So true!

There are several other projects that have happened all three years.  One favorite is a tea party, held this year for ladies at Mary Hardesty house.  Another is picking up litter along roadsides, this year at the east end of Senseny Road.  There were also mattress flipping, window washing and yard work teams who helped community members this year in Berryville and Millwood.  Another favorite is the “Sunshine Baskets,” baskets filled with fruit and goodies for distribution at the Clarke County Senior Center.  Several people shared “We Care” kits of toiletries and small gifts and visited with residents at Washington Square apartments.  Pastor Dan Stanley led the “Water Bottle” team, handing out bottled water to passers-by on the corners of Church Street and Main Street and sharing a simple message “Have a Great Day!”  This was especially appreciated this year, as this was also the Berryville Yard Sale Day, so there were a lot of thirsty people walking along Main Street. And, to support all the teams and give them energy for the day, the “Rise and Shine” team provided breakfast and bagged lunches.

Resident Cecilia Stillman holds Joshua Foltz during the visit. Chrystal Fiechtl commented “I'm sure that warmed her lap...and her heart!” Photo credit Betty Hill

This year, the “Caring and Sharing Cards” project invited each member of the congregation to participate by writing a short note on a greeting card.  Three project team members visited residents at Golden Living at Rose Hill and left the note cards for them to enjoy later.

In a new project this year, children decorated fleece lap blankets with beads and shared them with residents of Godfrey House.  The kids then sang “Jesus Loves Me” for the residents.

Two hymn sings were held, one at Greenfield Assisted Living and one at Godfrey House.  Residents commented on how the visit, fellowship and hymns just “brightened their day”.

Operation Inasmuch takes its name from Matthew 25:40 where Jesus says, “…inasmuch as you have done such things for the least of my brothers and sisters, you have done the same for me.”   Pastor Dan sums it up this way:  “During Operation Inasmuch days, people from Berryville Baptist Church put this verse into action.  It is my prayer that we will continue to reach out and care for others in an authentic way with no strings attached.”

Berryville Baptist is participating in a national Operation Inasmuch program that rallies congregants from churches around the world to serve their community in the “Compassion Revolution.”  (http://operationinasmuch.org/)

A special celebration service was held at the church on Sunday, April 22nd, with a slideshow of pictures taken by the “Camera Crew” team.  To see the full set of photos from the day, visit the Image Gallery on the church’s website at www.berryvillebaptist.org or the church Facebook page at www.facebook.com/berryvillebaptist.  For more information, please call the church office at (540) 955-1423 or visit the church at 114 Academy Street, Berryville, VA.

Filed Under: Feature Tagged With:

CCPS Teachers Prepare for New Math Standards

November 15, 2010 by

Being a Clarke County teacher isn’t just about sharing knowledge with students. The role requires continuous work to keep instruction skills sharp so that students receive the best educational training possible. That’s why the Boyce Elementary teaching staff met after a full day of teaching last Wednesday for instruction on standards of learning changes to the mathematics curriculum.

“Mathematics content has been under review by Virginia’s Department of Education and new Standards of Learning have been approved” said Clarke County Public Schools Director of Curriculum and Instruction Lisa Floyd. “This means that for the 2010-2011 school year teachers will be required to teach the 2001 Standards of Learning as well as the new 2009 standards. For the 2011-2012 school year only the 2009 Standards of Learning will need to be taught and tested.”

Boyce Elementary School teachers prepare for teaching new mathematics learning goals - Photo Edward Leonard

Moving from the 2001 standard to the more current mathematics approach means a lot of work for instructors beginning with simply understanding which concepts have changed and which concepts remain the same. That’s why two Boyce Elementary instructors, Kindergarten teacher Erin Wymer and 2nd Grade teacher Rayanna Davis, were selected to lead the teaching team through a series of exercises designed to efficiently communicate the new curriculum changes.

“Standards of Learning begin in Kidergarten and follow all the way through high school” Wymer said when asked why the entire Boyce teaching staff, which spans Kindergarten through 5th grade instructors, should receive the SOL training together. “It’s important for each grade level to understand what the other teachers are presenting.”

The change in content means that teachers must focus on pacing to ensure all material is appropriately covered to mastery by students. Wymer and Davis attended a Virginia Department of Education ‘math institutes’ to learn about the new Standards and to share the information with both colleagues at Boyce Elementary as well as elementary teachers at Berryville Primary and D. G. Cooley. The guiding document for the transition from old standards to new, known as a “crosswalk:, is used to align the Standards of Learning with state students Standards of Learning assessments.

“Think ’orange’ for ‘old’ and ‘blue’ for ‘new’” Rayanna Davis said as she passed out SOL summary documents designed to help her teacher-students learn the new teaching objective. “Throw the old standards on the floor because we’re not focusing on them anymore.”

”The goal is for teachers to have an opportunity to see how the Standards of Learning have changed and to track those changes so adjustments may be made in their instruction this year” said Lisa Floyd. After learning and understanding the new SOL approaches, each individual instructor must integrate the new concepts into their teaching materials and approach. The success of each teacher’s ability to communicate the new approaches and materials to students is measured by student performance on individual SOL mathematics tests.

Boyce Elementary School Principal Susan Catlett particpates in K-5 mathematics Standards Of Learning training - Photo Edward Leonard

“The teacher is required to determine how to deliver the new concepts but administrators are responsible for monitoring the instructional pacing as well as interim testing to make sure that students are learning the material being taught” Floyd said.

During the training session Wymer and Davis led the other Boyce teachers through a series of poster-making exercises where small groups of teachers identified the new or different concepts that needed to be taught for each class level. Discussion included subjects like fractions, number patterns, geometry and measurement. Each teacher group then presented their findings to the others.

For example, the teachers learned that 1st Graders will now be required to learn both analog and digital clocks, (previously only one clock format was required) while 3rd Graders will be required to tell time to the nearest minute. 4th Graders must now be able to recognize images of figures resulting from geometric transformations, such as translation, reflection and rotation however, instructors must remove the terms slide, flip and turn when presenting the materials.

After the session several teachers said that being presented with the changes for all elementary class levels provided a valuable perspective.

Kindergarten teacher Pam Thompson said “We lay the math foundation and the other teachers build on it. It’s good for all of us to see the changes to the entire curriculum.” Kindergarten teachers Wendy Rae Venskoske and Joyce Eller agreed. “I like the pocess of seeing the alignment from one grade level to the next” Eller said.

The goal of SOL instructor training is to ease the burden for teachers during the transition from one set of standards to the next according to Lisa Floyd. “Imagine if teachers are just given both sets of Standards with no guidance other than, ‘Teach these’. This training should help teachers target the changes in the Standards, know where to spend more and less instructional time, and to know what to measure in their classrooms as they work to get students to mastery. Additionally, by meeting with all grade levels, teachers are able to see the vertical alignment of the Standards and what to prepare students for as they progress from grade level to grade level.”

(l-r) Boyce Elementary Kindergarten teachers Pam Thompson, Wendy Rae Venskoske and Joyce Eller review new mathematics learning objectives - Photo Edward Leonard

Because Standards of Learning changes affect all grades, every teacher of the elementary schools will be exposed to SOL training by Wymer and Davis. Middle and high school teachers will experience similar training but with different content in the near future.

Elementary school training will continue at DG Cooley Elementary on Wednesday, December 1 at 3:45 p.m.

Filed Under: Feature, Schools

Berryville Baptist Church Launches “Operation Inasmuch”

May 16, 2010 by

clarke-voices-thumb

Editor’s Note: CDN is launching a new section open to contributors in Clarke County called “Clarke Voices.” This section offers residents of Clarke the opportunity to share their own   stories and events with CDN readers. We hope you enjoy.

What can 100 pairs of willing hands and  happy hearts do?   Lots!
On April 24th, 101 members and friends of Berryville Baptist Church held Operation Inasmuch, a community mission program.     Working in teams, they went out into the community helping others, reaching out, making new friends and hopefully making people smile.

Volunteer Group Photo

Volunteer Group Photo

The Missions Committee organized the event, working with congregants, to find missions where every age and every talent could participate.       Rose Staples, chairperson, said, “It was all about helping hands — helping people.     We decided to take what we preach on Sunday mornings out to the community and put it into action.   Sometimes actions do speak louder than words.”

Young children decorated cupcakes and then shared them with the police, firemen and post office workers, with great thanks.   Another group of kids made greeting cards and shared them, along with small stuffed animals, with residents of the Golden Living Center – Rose Hill.
If you were at Food Lion that morning, you may have been helped by one of the teenagers who carried groceries.   The Youth Sunday School team served breakfast at the Salvation Army in Winchester.     And one team held a “free for all” yard sale; all items, including books, clothing, baby items, small furniture, live plants, and more, were free!

One team held a hymn sing at Greenfield Assisted Living.   The “Sunshine Baskets” team made fruit baskets for shut-ins of the Clarke County Senior Center.   Several people shared “We Care” kits of toiletries and small gifts and visited with residents at Washington Square apartments where one resident commented that it was “just like Christmas!”

Another team gathered baby items for young, single moms.   Several women at Godfrey House Assisted Living were pampered in the morning with salon treatments, and then treated to a quaint tea party at the Berryville Baptist parsonage.

Some groups cleaned windows and house interiors for residents in Berryville, picked up litter along Senseny Road, and performed car safety checks.   Pastor Dan Stanley led one team to the streets of Berryville where they handed out water bottles to those on foot and to those in cars stopped at the Main Street – Church Street intersection.   The “Hearts and Hammers” team fixed a deck and helped with yard work.

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April Waugaman tells the story of Bingo which was scheduled at Godfrey House but, due to a mix-up in times, could not be held.   The gift bags with treats and prizes that were to be used at Bingo were, instead, donated to the “free for all” yard sale – and at just the right time.  There was a young boy there looking for the perfect Mother’s Day gift; he took home one of these gift bags!   April said, “Even in the mix-ups, God was working through the hearts and hands of the volunteers.”

Operation Inasmuch takes its name from Matthew 25:40 where Jesus says, “…inasmuch as you have done such things for the least of my brothers and sisters, you have done the same for me.”     Pastor Dan summed it up this way:   “This past Saturday, 101 people from Berryville Baptist put this verse into action.   It is my prayer that we will continue to reach out and care  for others in an authentic way with no strings attached.”

To see the full set of photos from the day, visit the Image Gallery on the church’s website at www.berryvillebaptist.org.   For more information, please call the church office at (540) 955-1423 or visit the church at 114 Academy Street, Berryville, VA.

Filed Under: Clarke Voices, Feature