UMM Stories


Jesus fits
Amelia was restless at quiet time. She asked me, “Is Jesus with me?” I said, “Yes.” I asked her how that makes her feel. She replied by saying, “Maybe a little sad because I can’t see Him.” She then was quietly talking and thinking, and then she said, “When there is a hole, He can rescue us.”


Pray for those teachers
Layla’s lunchtime prayer included these key words: “Thank you for the school we have and help the teachers be good.”


training?
Sydney was concerned when Ms. Kendra served lunch instead of Ms. Bethany. I was explaining to them that Ms. Bethany is doing training. Soon I heard Sydney tell her friends that Ms. Bethany is doing “train tracks” and that’s why she didn’t serve lunch.


No sad teachers
I was pretending to cry while playing with the friends. Leah looked at me with very concerned eyes, then said, “Don’t be sad, teachers are happy.”


A student who loves history class wrote the following creative story:
One day, I got transported to the time of Ancient Rome. As soon as I got there, I saw many of Jesus’ disciples. I was dressed like them. I saw many Roman people lining up to a big building. Then I remembered my teacher talking about the Colosseum. It was the Colosseum! I got in line, but a Roman soldier stopped me. He asked me, “Are you one of Jesus’ apostles?”
“No.” I said.
“Do you believe in Jesus?”
“Yes!”
“Then, I will take you to Emperor Nero!”
I was shocked and terrified. I remember that Ms. Melanie said that Paul and Peter were killed by Nero.


Street connections with an HCS Family
I was on the way home from church one dark, rainy evening. I heard a bunch of voices on the other side of the street and heard a man call to me. I turned and saw the Semgrove family. Sam and Joseph were yelling “Ms. Melanie, Ms. Melanie,” and waving enthusiastically from their places in the van. Somehow they had spotted me all the way across the street in the darkness. Dad opened the van door, and I went over to talk to the family.
Dad said, “You just made their night.”
Grandma said, “I don’t know what you’re doing to these kids, but every time they see you, they get so excited.”
Sam said, “I’ll see you on Monday!”
The family was on their way home from church and had stopped to drop off the grandmother when I walked past. They certainly made my night too.


Witty Kids in Grades 1-2
- Riley, as to a reason why he didn’t want to eat all the food in front of him: “I don’t want to be fat so my stomach goes all the way to heaven!
- Misha burped (very unlike her). Riley: “This is how you do it. ‘Excuse you, bro!'”
Children teach Manners
In the 2-year-old room, the daily visit from Ms. Kenzie with the food cart at lunchtime is a big event. Everyone wants to say “Hi” and “Bye when she comes and goes. At the end of the food cart visit, Ms. Londa started telling her class, “Say bye and thank you to Ms. Kenzie.” While playing out on the playground one day, Cody offered Ms. Londa some fries and a burger. As he turned to leave, Cody looked over his shoulder and called out to Ms. Londa, “Say bye and thank you!”
Sweet moments with a 3’s child
One day during quiet time Cassie was sad. That morning her papa told her he would be going away and coming back in 2 days. I was sitting beside her, and I whispered in her ear, “Do you even know how much I love you? She said for 2 days. I said how about for 2 days and forever. She said “yes.” That has become an almost daily thing we say to each other at quiet time.
“Cool” Bible Story book
When Caden first came into my classroom, other kids would talk about Jesus. He would say, “Who’s Jesus?” Several weeks later, after the Bible story, he was getting books to look at during quiet time. Caden asked for the “cool” book. So, I showed him multiple books, but none were the “cool” book. I then showed him the Bible storybook and yes, that was the “cool” book he was looking for.
—Ms. Rosene


Grades 1 and 2 problem solves together in history class:
Claudia: “There are 4 things and 4 people. Everyone can do 1.”
Vesper came to me and said, “We voted for 2 things, and everyone wanted 1 thing, and no one wanted the others.” I asked what the problem was. “It’s not a problem; it’s a good thing.”
Claudia: Should we do it like this?
Vesper: Or we could. . .
Spencer: Let’s see what Vesper wants.
Vesper: Draws on the white board.
Everyone: Yeah!
Spencer: We all agreed!
All Smiles
After lunch, I normally help Ms. Gina bring her kids inside and help get them ready to take their naps. One of her little boys often asks me to draw “happy” on his doodle board. He means a smiley face. I proceeded to draw smiley faces on his doodle board. He then decides that I need to draw “happy” daddy, “happy” mommy, “happy” brother, and “happy Judah. I asked him, “Mimi?” He looked at me with a wide smile and said, “Happy Mimi!” —Ms. Kenzie


4’s kid wants to fill parent’s buckets
We had read the book about filling our buckets several days ago. Isaiah asked if we were going to go to the back field when we went outside. When asked why he wanted to go to the back field, he said, “So I can pick flowers for my mom and dad to fill their buckets.”
Child Teaches What She Learned
I was trying to teach Amber to say, “Excuse please” before leaving the table. After much effort, one day I saw her playing with two dolls at the table. She gave them their food, went to each one, patted them on their heads and said, “Excuse please!” When I witnessed that, I realized that “Excuse please” must be sticking! —Ms. Rosene


2’s child’s creative coverup
One day as I asked Joanne what she wanted for seconds, I noticed that somehow her vegetables were doused with applesauce. I asked her what happened and why it happened. She looked me in the eye and said, “No reason, Ms. Beckamy, nothing happened, it’s just there.” While mildly concerning in the truth-telling department, this moment demonstrates her keen grasp of cause and effect and her ability to clearly articulate her perspective.
Miss Gina Makes it Look Fun
It was snack time in the seedling classroom when Hajira came to pick up Jamal. All the kids were sitting at the table with their bibs on waiting for me to give them their snack. While waiting for her son, Hajira says, “I could do this.”
2’s child is very kind
If a friend needs help with something or is asking for more toys Chloe is a very kind friend and says, “Don’t worry. Don’t worry. I can help you.”


1st Grader Cares for Homeless Person
This morning, K – 3 sang together as they frequently do Friday mornings. We started out with our theme song “Show a Little Bit of Love and Kindness.” A student raised her hand and said she saw something this morning and she thinks Jesus would like us to do something about it. She hopped up and grabbed a marker, ready to draw or write it out. I suggested she just tell us with her words. She said on the way to school they saw a homeless man sleeping on the sidewalk by a nearby church. She wondered if we could go and take him home and give him some food so he wouldn’t die. I told her maybe we could do something and that we could talk to Mr. H later. After classes were dismissed from singing, I took Grade 1 down to the office to talk with Mr. H. She explained to him what the problem was and wondered if we could take him some food. Another child wondered about some clothes. Mr. H wondered about taking him a Subway gift card so he could get food if he was hungry and perhaps he could find out if he needs food. The children were ready to go with him to help the man, but I told them Mr. H would take care of it but that we could pray for the man. We went up to the classroom and 3 of the kids had heartfelt prayers for the man (and also for another student’s bite on his neck). Her prayer included “Help our class to be flourishing and the whole school to be flourishing and not to be toxic.” Mr. H later came and told us that he had gone over to the man and he was still sleeping, so he decided not to wake him up. He put the Subway card beside the man so he could see it when he woke up.


Toddlers David and Mollie are inseparable friends
David is often asking about Mollie and wondering where she is. David was the first friend to arrive and was eating breakfast without any of his friends. I was praying with him and he kept saying “Mollie, Mollie” basically the whole time we were praying. He was concerned about where she was.


Gardening at HCS
The HCS garden spot in our back walks has been flourishing this summer! Recently a teacher put some free vegetables from the garden out for parents to take home. A parent was super happy to find a cucumber from the HCS garden. She said her child loves cucumbers; they were out of cucumbers; and this would hold them over until tomorrow. We find that many of our parents are very keen on getting their children to love vegetables. One 3 year old always has a snack when his parents come pick him up, and sometimes it’s Peanut Butter Broccoli – raw broccoli with peanut butter.