Mr. Scott Towns leads an annual Texas History Trip for students in grade 7 and their parents. Photo by Greg Gorman
This week, I am out of my normal routine as I accompany students and chaperones on the annual 7th Grade Texas History Trip, led by history teacher Mr. Scott Towns. (By the way, Mr. Towns is up for Best Teacher in Ellis County—you can vote for him once a day at this link.) It is vital that students have experiences outside of their classroom walls and OCS provides more than 160 outings each year for age-appropriate educational and service opportunities.
Field trips start in October. Kindergarten will head over to our friends at Shadow Creek Pumpkin Farm and grades 4/5 will go north to the Dallas Arboretum. The seniors and grade 6 will take separate trips to visit Mission Arlington for a day of service. The juniors will visit LeTourneau University; currently, 24 of 25 grade 11 students are taking dual-credit courses with LETU. Grade 10 will visit the Dallas Baptist University campus and grade 1 is set to serve at the Ellis County Outreach Center.
These trips don't even include the away games for athletic competitions. You can see the blessing that our new bus has been! Our transportation fundraiser last year got us most of the way to the finish line for this one bus, but we still need more funds to cover the remaining balance. We also continue to need a larger bus to transport bigger groups. Please consider donating towards this incredibly important aspect of our students' education.
We hope to see many parents at next Tuesday's All In Eagles meeting from 6:30–8:00 pm in the Multipurpose Room. The meeting will begin with a short time of parent education and encouragement, followed by informational meetings of the Eagle Parent Fellowship, the Athletic Booster Club, and the Fine Arts Booster Club. The leaders of these parent organizations are excited to stir up excitement on behalf of our school and move forward with plans.
As I witness Mr. Towns speak to parents and students on this trip, I am reminded of Psalm 145:4 which says ”One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.” Parents are educators, too, and we must ourselves be students of the Word so that we portray an accurate picture of our Father God to the next generation.
Penny Hayes M.Ed.
Head of School
Ovilla Christian School
