While school “houses” are well-known across Europe and have been popularized in film, community-building house systems are steadily making their way across the pond to American schools. Mount Paran Christian School finished another year of its middle school House system and shares lessons learned, key wins, and future plans for the program.

Welcome to Y’allywood! The state of Georgia has become a booming location for the entertainment industry. Building on its long history as a musical powerhouse, Georgia has become the undisputed “Hollywood of the South,” with film and television generating billions of dollars each year - an astounding $9.5 billion in 2018, according to the Georgia Department of Economic Development. The economic impact extends even further when considering the thousands of jobs that are created as a result of the Georgia entertainment industry. This is due, in part, to one of “the most competitive tax incentive programs in the country, along with a broad network of production and recording facilities, a large and skilled workforce, the latest production equipment and suppliers, gaming and interactive media developers, and technology and support services.”

This skilled workforce is being trained at schools across the state. While it is unusual for a K-12 school to have a recording studio, an increasing number of high schools and career centers in America are creating audio education programs to give students a head start on entertainment-centric college curricula and careers.

Determining how to offer in-person learning in a safe environment was a huge challenge during the approach to the 2020-2021 school year. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools faced many new and unique obstacles and opportunities. Mount Paran Christian School serves as a case study in how to deliver on programming while still meeting the rigorous demands of health and safety compliance, particularly with Christian Life events and events within the arts, both of which primarily took place indoors in the theatre of the Murray Arts Center. The school found itself balancing health and safety restrictions with staying focused on offering the fantastic programming families and students expected. What follows are key lessons learned to help schools remain innovative, no matter the situation, in providing new ways to execute great programming without missing a beat.

Often, when we hear the word innovation, our minds immediately journey to the realm of technology. However, innovation should not be limited to technology integration. Rather, innovation should be an innovative mechanism for advancing areas a school community deems important.

Look anywhere in education today. The words innovate and innovation are displayed everywhere. For some, innovation in education is a fashionable trend. For others, innovation ensures students are prepared for jobs in a world of work where science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) are dominant. For Mount Paran Christian School, we have taken a different approach to innovation, STEAM, and education as a whole. 

 

Be always humble, gentle, and patient. Show your love by being tolerant with one another. Do your best to preserve the unity which the Spirit gives by means of the peace that binds you together.
— Ephesians 4:2-3

After a bleak winter, the cheerful, sunny yellow of daffodil blossoms are a sure sign that spring is upon us. On the Mount Paran Christian School campus, more than one thousand such reminders sprout each year. The blossoms have special meaning for preschool and lower school students at MPCS, with the daffodils serving as a reminder to love and respect others. As part of the WingTips “Innovation in Education'' series, which explores best practices for teaching and learning through real-world examples, read on to discover how planting daffodils teaches the youngest of learners empathy.

Which sports legend is responsible for once saying,
“Hank Aaron is the only man I idolize more than myself”? 

What holiday did professor Dr. Maulana Karenga create?

Who became the first black woman millionaire and
invented hair care products for black women?

These questions represent but a few of the many thousands of historical and modern-day facts that middle school students study as part of the annual Black History Bowl — an academic quiz-bowl competition run by the Kennesaw Teen Center. Middle school students who participate with the Mount Paran Christian School Black History Bowl team dedicate their time to learning facts such as these.