Passionate Learning Experiences

Graduate school is so fun at times.....today is one of those times. :) On a discussion board, our professor asked us to write about a time when our passion for teaching or student's passion for learning created an amazing learning experience. Reading my classmates' stories is inspiring...and I thought, "What do I have to offer?" And then I remembered. The Justice Journey to Jackson, MS. How could I have forgotten so quickly? I went to Jackson in 2008, then served as a mentor teacher for 2 years. Read on to hear my short account of "Passionate teaching and learning".... At my previous school, I was able to be a part of a team that went on a "Justice Journey to Jackson, MS" in which students applied, interviewed, and took a zero period class for one semester on social justice. Then during Spring Break, the team and some teacher chaperones went to Jackson to study under John Perkins and to work on his land - The Perkins Foundation, in addition to visiting historical sites and discussing justice. It is hard to pinpoint a specific time in which the students/teacher chaperones were passionate, because the whole week in Jackson was full of it! Listening to John Perkins share his life story about his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement and how God is still using him to pursue justice in Jackson was a daily routine during the trip. When we got home from the trip, students had to create a culminating "book" of sorts in which they put journal entries, essays, pictures, scriptures, and the like, and we got to look at all of them together. Finally, the kids put on a chapel for the rest of the school in which they shared about their experiences in Jackson - but it was more than just stories....the students would choose a theme that struck them while they were in Jackson, and would plan their chapel accordingly. I suppose I have gone on too long here...but I just wanted to mention one more piece to this puzzle. :) After a few years, we decided to encourage "alumni" of the trip to apply and become leaders for the upcoming trip. Two were chosen each year, and they were mentored throughout the semester, reading a book (Follow Me to Freedom by John Perkins and Shane Claiborne), and then participating in the trip to Jackson again...but as a leader. I had the unique opportunity to be the mentor teacher for two groups of student leaders - and every time we met it was a passionate learning experience...read "Follow me to Freedom" and you'll see what I mean! OK...enough...thanks for reading all the way to the end! :)

(Shane Claiborne above)

(John Perkins above)