Monday and Tuesday of this past week we had Smart Start teacher training for the Smart Start teachers who will be working at Brown and Pickle elementary schools this Fall. We had both new and returning teachers come to the training. In my opinion, we started Monday morning off just right...with coffee from Starbucks and lots of laughs! In addition to paperwork and walking through handbook materials and curriculum together, we also learned songs and activities that will be taught to Smart Start kids. Some teachers may have been taken a little off guard by the liveliness of our meeting, but if they were I couldn't tell because in no time everyone was running around, dancing and clapping (which kept Austin Stone employees in the adjacent offices quite entertained I'm sure). God has already started building a family together with our Smart Start teachers.
This was my last week interning with CNS. I feel so blessed to have a new group of people entering CNS with shining faces and genuine love for serving the Lord. It was an absolute joy watching the energy these teachers had while singing songs, playing group games and sharing advice with each other on how to best mentor, love on and lead the
children in Smart Start. CNS is fortunate to have
them and I can't wait for God to use each of their unique spiritual gifts this semester to minister to their classrooms of children and the St. John community as a whole!
