When we started Faith Christian Academy in 2021, we decided to do something unique with our students to enrich their learning in the classroom. We wanted to take what they learn in the classroom and apply it with hands-on projects.

Two very important components to this would be critical thinking and taking the kids outside of the classroom as much as possible. Learning is much more than math, language arts, history and science, it is “branching out” into practical everyday occurrences and ways we can think more critically. Every chance we get we have the kids engaged outside in God’s creation.

Of course this does come with obstacles in the snowy West Virginia winter months. We have learned that our students learn and retain what they have learned so much better being out of the classroom environment. Our first year our students were blessed to be able to use a 950 acre campus that is used as a church camp.

One beginning project that our students did was to build mini catapults made from plastic straws and other resources. At the end of the week our students learned many practical things about levers and pulleys. On Friday of that week, we brought out a large catapult (built by a staff member's husband) and launched water balloons at each other. The kids had a blast and a memory they still talk about!

Other opportunities our students have had are to go to a bank and learn how a loan works from start to finish, how to balance a checkbook, how a debit card works, how to extract syrup from a maple tree, and how to make apple butter.

One very fun and educational project our students did was to use only a compass to find and plot different coordinates on a map to find a specific area on the property.  We brought in a military veteran who set 4 different courses up and plotted them out on 4 separate maps. The students then had to use only a compass to find their destination. We brought in a chef to teach the students about different kinds of whole foods.

She also taught them how to cook different dishes and then they were each able to cook their own unique dish using the whole food ingredients! Our students have had the privilege to do many other great STEM projects. One project was learning about the circulatory system and then using resources given to “unblock” their artery.

If you ask our students this is their favorite part of their day. Even our parents have raved about the enrichment program. Other Christian schools have asked about our program and have started their own version of enrichment. Sometimes you must take what God has given you and turn it into a great learning tool. The thing to remember is not all learning is done within the four walls of a classroom.

James 1:22 tells us to be doers of the Word and not hears only. In other words, take what you have learned in the Word of God and apply it to daily life. That is where experience takes place is in applying what we learn in the classroom and critically thinking how to apply it to our everyday lives. Soaking up knowledge in a classroom and regurgitating it on a test doesn’t mean that a student understands what they have learned. It just means they're good at memorizing what they need to know to ace a test.

What shows that a student truly understands what they have learned in the classroom is that they are able to apply it in real life. They must be able to think critically on how to use that knowledge they have been taught. Sometimes learning means branching out and doing something unconventional.