religion - Beaches Episcopal School

August 27, 2015
The Beaches Leader/Ponte Vedra Leader
Daily Meditation
Meditation is offered three times daily at
the World Community for Christian
Meditation Neptune Beach Center located at
1112 Third St., Suite 9, Neptune Beach. For
information, call 904-241-4738, email [email protected] or visit www.wccmneptunebeach.org.
Book Signing Fund Raiser
Jacksonville native Mike McCarthy, author
of the “Rainbow Option,” will be at Fort
Caroline Christian Church, 7535 Fort Caroline
Road, Jacksonville, at 6 p.m. Friday to sign his
latest release. He is donating part of the proceeds from the book signing to the Benghazi
Tribute on Sept. 11, 2015. Call 904-705-6439
for information.
Bunko Benefit
Fort Caroline Christian Church, 7535 Fort
Caroline Road, will host a bunko benefit at
5:45 p.m. Friday to raise funds for the
Benghazi Tribute at 7 p.m. Sept. 11. Tickets are
$20 per person. Call 904-672-5872 or visit
www.eventbrite.com/e/bunko-benefit-tickets-17963058993.
Block Party
Palm Valley Baptist Church will have a
block party Saturday from 4:30-7:30 p.m.
There will be live music, a hot dog roast,
bounce house and water slide. The event is
free and open to everyone. The church is
located at 4890 Palm Valley Road. Call 2852447 for information.
Issues for Maturing Adults
Christ United Methodist Church, 400
Penman Road, Neptune Beach, presents
“Issues for Maturing Adults.” The program
will be held Sunday from 9-10 a.m. The topic
is “Aging Well: Simple strategies for eating
healthier, moving more and managing stress
for optimal wellness to last a life-
Religion
time.” Attendees are welcome to stay for
church at 10:15 a.m. Call Cindy Kastner at
904-221-4103 for information.
Mommy and Me
Chabad @ the Beaches offers “Mommy and
Me,” a program in the framework of a Jewish
environment, for ages 6 months through 3
years. The program is held Mondays at Chabad
@ the Beaches’ Center for Jewish Life, 521
A1A N., Ponte Vedra Beach. Call Leah Kurinsky
at 904-543-9301 for information and registration.
Sewing Circle
The sewing circle of St. Paul’s Catholic
Church meets Monday at Murphy Hall at 10
a.m. Fabric, yarn and notions are provided.
Call Virginia Maxted at 992-1171 for information.
Divorce Care
A Divorce Care class will be offered
Tuesdays at 6 p.m. at Beach Church. Call 2492343 to register or for more information.
Jewish Historical Society
The Jewish Historical Society will mark the
450th anniversary of the presence of the
descendants of Crypto-Jews. The event will be
held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 8, at Fountain of
Youth Archaeological Park, 11 Magnolia Ave.,
St. Augustine. The cost is $12. Call 804-9144460 for information.
Bible Teacher Bill Cloud
Bible teacher Bill Cloud will be at the Dillard
house Convention Center in Dillard, Ga., Sept.
10 through Sept. 12. The conference is free; a
love offering will be accepted. Cloud and his
family have launched an effort to re-introduce
Christians to the Jewish Y’shua, and to educate believers in the Hebraic roots of their
faith. Hours of the conference are 7-9 p.m.
today, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday and 1-8 p.m.
Saturday. If you plan to attend, email [email protected].
She is Loved Conference
The “She is Loved” Women’s Conference
will be held Sept. 10 through Sept. 12, 7 p.m.,
at New Life Christian Fellowship, 2701 Hodges
Blvd., Jacksonville. The cost is $25 ($35 after
Aug. 30). Visit www.nlcf.org or call 904-2236000.
Bell Choir
The hand bell choir resumes Wednesday,
Sept. 16, at 6:30 p.m. at Ponte Vedra United
Methodist Church, 76 S. Roscoe Blvd., Ponte
Vedra Beach. Additional ringers are being
sought. Email Eleanor Snite at nflagal@aol.
com for information.
Grief Support
The Grief Recovery Support Group meets
Thursday, Sept. 17, at 7 p.m. at St. Paul’s
Catholic Church, 578 1st Ave. N., Jacksonville
Beach, in the library of the Family Life Center.
The group is for men and women grieving the
death of a family member or friend. Call Kathy
at 553-8933 or Catherine at 247-0665 for
information.
Fish Fry
A fish fry fund raiser will be held Friday,
Sept. 18, from 6-8 p.m. at St. Andrews
Lutheran Church, 1801 Beach Blvd.,
Jacksonville Beach. The cost is $10 per plate
for fish, fries, hushpuppies and coleslaw. Call
904-707-5241 for reservations and information.
Power of a Wise Woman
The Refreshing Women Push Ministry will
share “The Power of a Wise Woman”
Sunday, Sept. 20, at 3 p.m. at Power of Faith
Church, 3910 Atlantic Blvd., Jacksonville.
There will be a speaker and praise dancers.
Call 904-220-6400.
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Retirement Celebration
Palms Presbyterian Church, 3410 3rd St.
S., Jacksonville Beach, will have a retirement
celebration for Pastor Carol DiGiusto
Saturday, Sept. 26, at 5 p.m. at Oasis Garden.
There will be a potluck garden party, in addition to music, videos, stories and more, and a
special program at 7 p.m. There will be more
celebration Sept. 27 following all services in
the sanctuary.
Blood Drive
Ponte Vedra United Methodist Church, 76
S. Roscoe Blvd., Ponte Vedra Beach, will have
a blood drive Sunday, Sept. 27, from 9 a.m.12:30 p.m. Anyone who is in good health, at
least 17 years old and weighs at least 110
pounds may donate. Call 280-5141 or visit
www.pv-umc.org for information.
Festival of Praise
The Festival of Praise Tour will be held at
the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena
Sunday, Oct. 11, at 6:30 p.m. The tour features
Grammy, Dove, Stellar and BET Awardwinning artists Fred Hammond, Donnie
McClurkin, Kim Burrell and Hezekiah Walker,
as well as supporting artists Isaac Carree,
Jessica Reedy, Zacardi Cortez and comedian
Marcus Wiley. Tickets are available at the
Tom Bush Family of Dealerships Box Office
located at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial
Arena, all Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at
800-745-3000 and online at www.ticketmaster.com.
Chris Tomlin
Grammy and Dove Award winning contemporary Christmas music artist Chris Tomlin
will perform at Jacksonville Veterans
Memorial Arena at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16.
Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com and
Ticketmaster outlets, and by calling 800-7453000.
Beaches Episcopal School becoming Maker
school merging science, technology and art
by CHELSEA WIGGS
STAFF WRITER
Beaches Episcopal School is becoming a Maker school — incorporating science, technology, mathematics, art, engineering, programming and woodworking for hands-on learning.
Through the school's newly established IDEA Studios - short for
Imagine Designing Everything and Anything - students can experience an advanced model of the Maker movement, said the school's
Director of Communications, Dallas Skornia.
"Our teachers and administrators are passionate about the
Maker movement currently spreading throughout the United
States and globally, and these spaces will cultivate curiosity, inspire
wonder, encourage playfulness and celebrate unique solutions," he
said.
According to Time magazine, the Maker movement is the
umbrella term for independent inventors, designers and tinkerers
who create. A convergence of computer hackers and traditional
artisans, "Makers tap into an American admiration for self-reliance
and combine that with open-source learning, contemporary design,
and powerful personal technology like 3-D printers."
Lead teachers on the school's Maker transition, Betsy Bailey,
Melissa Devers and Ansley Doughty, said they believe that everyone is a maker. The teachers say BES has re-imagined traditional
classrooms into spaces within the IDEA Studios to help students
develop inherent abilities and basic skills.
"I personally feel it embraces our society's needs - we all three
feel that way, too," Bailey said.
The planning for the BES Maker movement initiative began during the 2014-2015 school year as research was done, webinars and
online courses were participated in, and conferences were attended.
Once the information was gathered, BES began putting the plan
into action, which involved Bailey, Devers and Doughty spending
their summer transforming the BES computer lab in McCormick
Hall to IDEA Studios, where students have access to iMac computers, Lego robotics, Makeblock robotics, Makeblock inventor kits,
Make It Electric kits, sewing machines, hand tools, power tools and
more. Bailey said the goal is to eventually include a laser cutter as
well. Within IDEA Studios, students will learn skills through their
own experiences in success and failure.
"That's the other thing that I think makes this such a developmentally appropriate concept because sometimes when children
fail, they stop," said Bailey. "That's not what's happening. Failure is
part of this process, it's part of being a great engineer."
The enthusiasm that IDEA Studios has sparked is also being
shared by the parents. Devers said BES parents have showed an
interest in contributing to the Maker movement by offering to
share their professional skills with the students. Currently, an electrician and professional artist have spoken to the teachers about a
possible collaboration.
Doughty said the education world is no longer going toward the
teacher standing in front of a classroom talking, but rather to small
group instruction and collaborative work with the students, which
IDEA Studios embraces. The teachers said BES plans to continue
growing the Maker movement on a school-wide level to incorporate more spaces outside of IDEA Studios.
"When you make, it doesn't just happen in one space so we're
photo by CHELSEA WIGGS
really adopting the whole Maker mentality ... ," said Bailey, who
referred to IDEA Studios as "the first brick" in building BES into a Jacob Sweat, Gabriel Bowman and Ella Palmer collaborate in
the Beaches Episcopal School IDEA Studios.
Maker school.
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