Bethany Academy

One passion of mine is to offer many opportunities for the students to witness the invisible qualities of power and the divine nature of God through what He has made.  Teaching science sets me up perfectly to act on this passion. 

Romans 1:20 addresses these invisible qualities: “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” One thing can be said about 5th and 6th graders after being with me for a school year: They are “without excuse”!

A quote by theologian Abraham Joshua Heschel often comes to mind as I plan a science lesson on space or life science for my students.  Rabbi Heschel wrote in one of his works, “Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement, to look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted.  Everything is phenomenal, everything is incredible, to be spiritual is to be constantly amazed.”  This is the outlook I have as I enter the woods on my mountain bike, as I blaze a trail through powder on my snowshoes, or as I take nature hikes with my kids or my class.  I roam around in radical amazement at the huge pine trees that withstand the pounding winds and mounds of snow, and at the massive storm clouds that roll across the April skies bringing rain (or snow for this year).  I examine with radical amazement finding tiny hummingbirds that have journeyed back from Mexico to find my feeder, and at the tiniest chorus frogs that spend the winter 95% frozen only to thaw and awaken just in time to fill the forest with a loud call for spring.  I wonder with radical amazement at the grandeur of our galaxy being one of millions in our universe knowing that the same right hand that Isaiah chapter 48 says spread out the heavens is that same right hand that the psalmist praises for sustaining me.

Teaching at Bethany Academy allows me to point young minds to “what has been made” with the goal of seeing qualities of the Creator.  We take weekly walks to the woods nearby to do exactly this, to roam, examine, and wonder at creation.  We study phenology, which is looking at the changes brought about by the seasons.  We watch Louie Giglio’s “How Great is Our God” tour to introduce our section on space aiming our thoughts on the Creator and our place in this vast creation.  It is my prayer that a student’s experience inside my classroom, or outside of it, will leave a lasting impact of living life in “radical amazement”, and rest in the promise of His sustaining right hand.