I love that I can share my faith with the students as I teach them the skills they will need for life. As Colossians 1:16-17 states, "For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth...He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." Those verses shape my philosophy of teaching at ICS…
I kept an eye out for open English teacher positions at ICS upon first moving here in 2011, but I found out about the opening after I already had a teaching position with the homeschool Co-op in 2015. After the job was offered, we had to make a quick decision about a major change, but we felt God was leading us to ICS. We are so happy to be a part of the ICS community, and grateful for God's guidance during that time.
“ICS students fulfilled all the roles to operate a Chick-Fil-A, First Security Bank, Merit Medical, and KSL News station, and declared the experience “the best school day ever!’”
“He kept writing, practicing, and competing. By the end of his sophomore year, that stutter had disappeared and, in his senior year, he was a respected and confident contributor in classes. This young man morphed from a quiet and shy freshman with a stuttering problem to a confident young man currently attending college.”
“She came to me in early October to ask if MSLT could start a middle school Worship Night at ICS once a month. To be honest, I was a little reluctant about this at first because that would mean two events per month (instead of one).”
God is bringing more and more international students to study in the United States every year and you have an incredible opportunity to impact a students' life.
We want our students to do everything wholeheartedly, for God’s glory. We want them to take joy in hard work done well. Tess Tally is modeling this through the stage, our teachers are teaching this in the classroom, and our coaches expect this on the courts and fields.
The success of the Speech and Debate program is not necessarily about the high intelligence of the students (although that doesn’t hurt), but it is the way each student is valued as an individual.
ICS did so much for me socially, academically and spiritually, but it also developed in me a love for math and science.
In December of 2007, I took a group of high school band students to Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, CO. There was a relatively new event for select high school musicians called Best of the West. One of the special components of Best of the West is that CMU commissions a composer each year to write a piece of music for the university’s Wind Symphony to perform. This composer is in residence during the event and works with the high school musicians as they perform one of his pieces for the Best of the West finale concert. It is truly a highlight for our students each year.
This past December during the Best of the West, I was having a conversation with Benjamin Taylor, the commissioned composer for the year. As we talked about various things that directors and composers talk about, Benjamin became more and more intrigued with ICS and the band program here. He then said, “Nathan, can we talk about maybe working together on something soon?!” The following week we spent a little over an hour on the phone talking further about the ICS band program and how it has been able to offer unique opportunities to our students. We went on to talk about the possibility of a direct commission for ICS. After speaking with various supporters of the ICS Music Department, the funds were lined up and we were able to commission a piece to be written for the ICS Symphonic Band. To the average person, a commissioned band piece doesn’t sound like a very big deal. On the contrary, it is a huge deal! When I mentioned to Leon Chodos (Utah Symphony bassoonist), Graeme Mutchler (Utah Symphony bass trombonist), and Josh Reimann (Eastmont Middle School Instrumental Director) that we were commissioning a work for the band they each reacted with great excitement. Leon stated, “Most music students never experience being part of a commissioned work throughout their schooling and even through the university level!” This year, the ICS band students in 5th through 12th grades get to be part of a once in a lifetime experience! One very special aspect of this commission is how Dr. Taylor is going to work through this with our students.
Often, when a band work is commissioned, the composer is paid and then writes the piece of music and sends it to the group to be performed. Not so with this piece! Dr. Taylor is going to do a couple of Skype sessions with our band students during class time this fall to introduce them to the process and give them an idea of how he goes about composing a piece of music. Throughout the fall he will keep us up to date with the progress of the piece. Then, in January, we will have a final Skype session where he will present us with the finished product. Our students will be able to have input on portions of the piece as well as naming the work. We will begin rehearsing the music in January in preparation for our Spring Instrumental Concert on April 30, where we will perform the world premiere of the work. Dr. Taylor will be coming to ICS to work with students on final touches and then be presented for the premiere concert. To learn more about Dr. Benjamin Taylor, visit his website at benjamintaylormusic.com.
By Nathan Hope, ICS Music Director
He washed me with His grace as I entered into a knowing that He’s used ICS, this community, these friends, mentors, and teachers to come alongside him.
My experiences on music tour were the guiding factor in choosing to now be a double major in International Studies and Christian Ministries.
“This past week our family experienced an emotional and unexpected journey. Our oldest son, who is an ICS Alum (c/o 2016), is a Cadet at West Point Military Academy in New York. He was home for our youngest son’s 2019 graduation from ICS and headed back to WP for field training.”
“…college coaches are actually more interested in players who play multiple sports because they have more of a tendency to always compete.”
“As a busy parent, who hopes to create a reading culture for your family, you might need to multi-task while read-aloud is happening. Instead of being the voice reading the story, allow an audible device (car, Audible App or CD player) to play that part. While prepping for dinner, folding laundry or driving to dance class, you, along with your children, will have the opportunity to hear exceptional vocabulary and the templates of beautiful language patterns.”
Well, the time has finally arrived and my baby is about to fly the coop. She will graduate this week and head to a land far away...Alabama. My husband and I are incredibly proud of her. It has been a long road from the days when she would throw her shoes at the back of my head in our minivan, buck so I couldn’t buckle her into her car seat, and pitch fits monumental enough that visitors at Old Faithful begged me to take her back to the hotel. True Story. So what changed and how did we arrive here at this point with all three children still alive and relatively normal? How did we make it through the 12 total years of raising high school students?
Here are the top 3 ways we survived high school parenting:
1. OFFERING THEM UP
I distinctly remember the day that I was studying God’s Word and reading about Abraham offering Isaac up to the altar of the Lord. I was so struck and realized that God was asking me to do the exact same thing with my then high school aged son. We were having a rough time. He was wanting to do his own thing. He thought he knew more than we did...about everything. We weren’t thrilled with the choices he was making, and yet the Lord clearly told me, “Offer him up. Leave him to me. Put him on my altar. I’ve got him. I love him far more than you ever could.” It was tough and I struggled but did what I felt God was leading me to do.
Did things change dramatically? No. Did everything end up sunshine and roses? No. But I trust God implicitly and He showed me through that experience that He is faithful and good. We are now 8 years post high school graduation and we have continued to encounter bumps, lots of them. But I am sure that God has the BEST plan for our son.
2. BEING AVAILABLE AND FLEXIBLE
With our youngest, I can remember driving down the road when she was a toddler. We were having a particularly bad day. She had ripped the matching bow from her hair and threw it at me. She was talking incessantly in gibberish which I could not understand and I sat at a stoplight and just cried. I thought about how much longer I would have to endure this child and I would I count the days, the months, the years, but now I would give anything to have that time back. As we near the end of our baby’s high school career, I am more and more aware of time and I have literally put other things on hold so that I can spend time with her. And I’m talking stupid bits of time...running to the grocery store at all hours of the night with her so I can just talk with her, laugh with her and be with her. When she wants to just sit and watch Netflix, I do it. When she snuggles with me on the couch, I savor it. Time is passing quickly and it won’t slow down, so treasure every moment.
3. LOVING THROUGH DISAPPOINTMENTS
Little kids, little problems; big kids, big problems. Truer words have never been spoken. As a toddler, problems are pretty insignificant. They can be exhausting for the parent, but they’re usually pretty innocuous and as our children reached high school age, it was pretty apparent that their issues were becoming more important, with more opportunity for character-building. How would our child’s character grow when he had a sport-ending injury? How could we help him see the big picture and the plan God may have for him? How could we love him well? Heart-wrenching events such as this make a Mama’s heart ache and yet, pointing the child to Christ, the Sustainer of our faith, is a good start. Hearing their disappointment and helping them to see the bigger picture and loving them and being available to listen goes a long way. Disappointments will happen. God’s Word promises it. How we walk through the disappointment develops our child’s character, and ultimately our child’s character should be one of our prime concerns.
The Clement Family
My husband and I have done none of this perfectly. As a matter of fact, as I look back, I think we messed up a lot. I wish we could have some do-overs. And yet, in this beautiful mess of life, I think God uses it all...the bumps, the bruises, the mistakes. He takes our broken parenting and holds our children in the palm of his hand and walks the journey with them. So, don’t stress, don’t beat yourself up...God’s got you and he’s got your child.
And one additional blessing...although our baby is graduating, we have the incredible honor and privilege to be guardians of a fourth child, a junior in high school. So as much as I am sad about our baby graduating, I get to do this one more year! God truly is good!
By Leslie Clement, Mom of a Senior at Intermountain Christian School
Let’s take a trip together- traveling into your memory-mind’s eye. Do you see whose face appears when I ask who was your favorite teacher? Did you take it back to your kindergarten days with his/hers undoubtedly kind smile, or perhaps that one awesome basketball coach who pushed you harder than any other during sophomore year? Do you have him or her in your mind? Now hold on to the feeling- not the image of their face, but the feeling they left in your heart which you are revisiting now- The peace you received during that rough personal time, the laughter bubbling up because they had a killer sense of humor, or the immense pride you feel in yourself at this moment because you know your life could have turned sideways if they had not crossed your path at that exact moment they did. Welcome to the teacher effect.
I would argue that whether you were a total school-loving, high-performing nerd to the max (like myself) or the kid who couldn’t wait to bust through the doors of your school for the last time and never look back (like my husband)- No matter where you stand on the grading scale, there was that one teacher who you had and currently have this undeniable fondness for. For me, it was my third-grade teacher, Mrs. Greer. She was the eldest teacher I ever had, and my goodness gracious her strict disposition was palpable, but she had this effect on me throughout the remainder of my schooling days that set the tone for my drive toward achievement. I was drawn to her teaching style- her almost military-like standard of focus really hit a note for me and to this day I still sing her praises (obviously).
Let’s return. We’re here watching our children make their own relationships, evaluations and memories with teachers of their own. A greater sense of appreciation has hit us as we see from the parenting perspective how each teacher molds, uplifts and pushes them to greatness better than we can ourselves. This year alone, I never knew how monstrously impatient I could be until attempting (ahem, *failing*) to help my son learn to read. That is, until Mrs. Brown came along to take the reins with a calm confidence, followed with Mrs. Veldhuis coming in with the assist (like a perfectly timed “alley-oop”) in “Reading Intervention.” With months of frustration internally building and often times spilling over at my son’s expense, he came home from school one day, sat himself at the counter and began to read me a book as I prepped dinner. Slowly and all at once, my kindergartner was reading and I wasn’t sitting next to him painfully going through each. and. every. word with him. HALLELUJAH! Something clicked for him in that classroom, at the side of his teachers, that spurred a realization to greater achievement than I was able to. As a parent, welcome to the teacher effect.
Being on the outside looking in to a life building within and around your children is one of the hardest realities of becoming a parent. But, man oh man, when I see the beauty through pain, the accomplishments through hardships, and the blessings through steadfastness, I experience that same calm confidence that Mrs. Brown had brought to the table. The stronghold of control in making sure my kids are okay easily slips away. I have the calm confidence in the molding of their minds and characters because of their teachers.
They are cared for.
They are loved.
They are heard.
They are stretched and challenged.
They are held to a higher standard.
They are becoming who they are in large part due to their teachers.
3 John 1:4
“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in
the truth.”
Remember that teacher in your memory-mind’s eye? The good work he or she has done in your own life is the same good work your son or daughter’s teacher is doing right this very moment. The teacher effect is generational. I encourage you, do not hold back your tongue in thankfulness for those men and women who show up displaying God’s goodness in your kids’ lives. May the position of gratitude in your heart be expressed outwardly toward them today. If she were still alive today, I would track down Mrs. Greer and thank her for instilling a love of learning in my life, for giving me a king-size Snickers bar when I finally mastered my times tables and for keeping me in line when I was easily distracted by my crazy friends. Go thank a teacher today and let him or her know that their impact is tangible, life-bringing and ever so important.
Comment below who your favorite teachers were and share on Facebook!
Written by Erica Smith, ICS Mom
“We are not computers so how can we teach students to do things that computers can’t do?
The answer?
We need to teach students how to think, how to engage, how to take concepts further, how to do research, and how to use more of their brain.
A traditional approach to teaching has the tendency to limit our reach on the students who may not fall in line with the middle-of-the-road expectations. And that is why Katy McCombs is so passionate about Gifted and Talented Education; because of the reach for all the students, below, at, and above the average learning level.
Katy McCombs has been with ICS for two years and will receive her Master’s in Gifted and Talented Education in December of 2019. Her presence at ICS and in the classroom with our students is of immense benefit in that, as the students grow, they will reap tremendous reward to impact the world around them. In the 2019-2020 school year, ICS will be implementing a pilot program utilizing the gifted and talented approach to teaching. This program will expand opportunities for children, benefiting every student, even the ones that in the traditional classroom would be identified as “falling behind.” The benefits are clear and we look forward to the impact this approach to learning will have on our students.
Here are 5 WAYS THAT THE GIFTED AND TALENTED APPROACH BENEFITS STUDENTS:
1. DIFFERENTIATION - Gifted and talented education emphasizes variety - teaching which takes into account student’s abilities and interests. Using differentiation is taking a broader approach to learning. Differentiating between content, processes, the learning environment, and product creation brings different opportunities and perspectives to students.
2. INDIVIDUALIZED LEARNING - Gifted education means teachers meet students where they are and then push them to learn more. Making a path for the learner to follow means that the teacher has an idea of where the students can go if properly led. Gifted and talented students can be motivated by making a new learning discovery that is further than where they might naturally go on their own.
3. ADAPTABLE, BUT STRUCTURED
The gifted and talented learning journey is intended to take students deeper into more complex thinking. Walking up the path of Bloom’s Taxonomy and reaching across the Levels in Webb’s Depth of Knowledge is how deeper, more complex learning takes place. When combining these methods, it has the added benefit of preparing students for the kind of questions asked in standardized testing. Yet at the same time, students and teachers must remain flexible in their studies. If teachers have the knowledge to adapt their lessons to optimize student engagement, it ensures all the students have a better learning experience. Adaptable teaching reaches more students.
4. PROJECT-BASED AND PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING
This is where students learn how to think through a situation and reach a solution. These group projects promote teamwork, reward “out of the box” thinking, and help students to connect what might seem like disparate ideas. Problem and project-based learning lends itself to working through real-world scenarios that have real-life opportunities connected to them. This is a great place to be innovative!
5. GOING BEYOND THE CLASSROOM - Students need to be introduced to enriching outside resources. We want to think past the end of the school day, school year, and school career of a student and look forward to what’s ahead. Gifted students have big potential for having highly-influential roles careers, and they need to be introduced to possibilities in the world and challenged by witnessing excellence around them. The world needs our gifted students to reach their full potential to be Christ-like and wise influencers.
We want all of our students to shine and thrive! There’s no shame in being smart or being good at something and we want our students to be engaged, not bored. We also need to be vigilant to the responsibility of God-given talents, because like the age-old saying goes, “If they don’t use it, they lose it.” Mrs. McCombs and ICS are strong advocates of every student and we look forward to how the Gifted and Talented Education pilot program coming up in 2019-2020 will better serve our student body. We are proud to have such a forward-thinking faculty member as a part of our ICS family and we look forward to all that the ICS students will reap from what has already been and will continue to be sown into their lives.
Click on the links below to read through the fantastic resources on Gifted and Talented Education:
http://nagc.org/resources-publications/gifted-education-practices
Athletics is not just sport, but an experience. "Athletics are really the foundation of how kids' attitudes are formed and shaped. And that has to work with the coach and the parents." -Herm Edwards (works with the Positive Coaching Alliance- PCA)
I can try to control the process, take the bull by the horns, and act like I can muscle (which really is more like stumbling) through it, or I can speak what is true; and the truth is that I, as a parent, am much more effective when I am found humbly at the feet of Jesus.
Stoddard is part of an offensive one-two punch at the 1A Intermountain Christian, which has a 7-3 overall record going into Tuesday’s matchup against Wendover, the top 1A school in the state. Stoddard and fellow junior Caleb Koski — a first-year transfer from Roy High School — each average 4.7 made 3-pointers per game, which is tied for first in the state and 12th in the country.
We at Intermountain Christian School know we have a great preschool program but many do not understand the value and worth in sending their 3 and 4 year olds to a structured, academic setting. Here at ICS we offer a program that nurtures and loves children of this preschool age, allowing them to flourish and grow. Our program also offers many benefits from teaching the ABCs and early math skills to developing their social and emotional skills.
