Yes, that's me at the front of the class!
Check out these pictures of my Senior English Class. You’d never be able to tell it was a gloomy, rainy Monday morning by their big smiles.
You see, I surprised them with a special treat. First, I used a little reverse psychology on them. I leaked the rumor of a pop quiz to one of the boys and swore him to secrecy. Works every time! (And they say girls are the biggest gossips!) Then when the kids showed up for English, I prayed to begin class and handed out this paper:
The Jingo Game Board
It’s a Jingo Card. You play it like Bingo, but all the questions and answers have to do with Christmas traditions. Things like, “What is the French word for carol?” and “Visions of what danced in the children’s heads?” For prizes, I bought items from the dollar store. Lapel flowers that squirt water, cans of silly string, giant sun glasses, reindeer ears with bells, mega-bubbles, candy, and more.
The kids in these pictures are seniors at my little Christian school. They’re planning a class mission trip to Appalachia and just took a field trip to the Guggenheim. (NYC is less than 2 hours by train.) In a few short months, one young man will be enlisted in the Marines. Another will be on his way to college and then med school, with hopes of being a doctor in his parents’ native Haiti. One young lady will be off to nursing school and then on to the mission field. I have a feeling one of the young men will be called to preach. A lawyerly future seems to be in store for one of them. They have serious, godly goals and wish to change the world with their lives.
But today they could act like kids and just enjoy being together before they go their separate ways.
So what was the cost of my little game of Jingo? Printing out the cards: a portion of my stockpile of computer ink. Assorted candy and prizes: approximately 20 of my hard-earned dollars. Resulting camaraderie and joyful spirits: priceless!
Some of the kids were camera-shy, but I hope you enjoyed the photos of the ones who weren’t! And, hey, I guess I gave JOY to the World with the game and this post!
You can find other entries for No Ordinary Blog Hop at this link. Bloggers, feel free to join!
And since my students are such a blessing to me, I linked up to The Blessing Box, a special linky list at the Extraordinary Love blog!
I inherited my Jingo game, but you can find a variety of Gary Grimm’s Jingo games at his website.
