Vacation Bible School: Faith and Fun for Kids in the Community
By: Jessica McFadden
At VBS, all the world's a stage
This July, children in the school, parish and throughout the community will be embarking on a High Seas Expedition. But no need to pack the Dramamine or limes for scurvy, they'll be staying safely in port at St. John's. High Seas Expedition is the theme for this summer's Vacation Bible School.
Children will be learning about the Acts of the Apostles, singing songs, making crafts, conducting science experiments and playing games, all with a seafaring theme. Hey, at $35 a kid/$70 family, that's a whole lot cheaper than a week at the beach. And this year, as of late May, all classes of children, junior kindergarten through 5th grade, are completely full.
"What? FULL?!" you say? "Is there room to buy a steerage class ticket for my little sailor?" I'm sorry, no.
But the Vacation Bible School program CAN accommodate more children if more parents offer to swab the decks ... aka: volunteer. VBS is seeking two additional parents to serve as classroom and recreation teachers Monday, July 19 through Friday July 23, from 9:00 AM–12:15 PM each day. We are also in need of six additional parent aides who can volunteer for one - four days.
In other words, the ship is overbooked and understaffed. We seek smooth sailing, robust wind and to circumnavigate problems of Titanic proportions. VBS is a parish program of faith and fun for all interested families in the community, no matter their church, school or religious affiliation. Therefore it does fill up fast. And with a tough economy and other summer camp programs typically costing three to five times the modest materials fee that St. John's requests of participants, it has become a very popular summer activity with the families of Silver Spring. We can't close our doors to interested families - our name is St. John the Evangelist, after all. But we can widen the berth. Or to paraphrase another sea disaster movie, we can get a bigger boat.
Students and Faculty, 2009 Vacation Bible School
So as a very green Captain who has not yet earned her sea legs, this is my plea to you land-lubbing parents: if you are able, please contact me about volunteering for VBS. I know we're all exhausted from sailing the seas of the crazy-busy school year. But if you take this week long cruise with me, I promise to bring the sun, the soft breezes and the rum. Yo ho!
To volunteer for Vacation Bible School this summer, please
email Jessica, or give her a
call at 301-288-7435.
