In Mallory Gatlin's 1st Grade class at Harding Academy, the students studied the Old Testament kings Joash and Josiah. Living into their Storyline of Wonder, Look, Heal and Mallory’s Deep Hope that her students will “wonder and delight in God’s creation, look for the brokenness in it, and find ways to heal it as we work and play for His glory,” Mallory invited the students to come up with ways we can heal brokenness and make an impact on the community around us like these two young kings. Mallory shares photos and curriculum connections of this learning story:

As we considered possibilities to live into our Storyline and Deep Hope, we connected with a Homeless Ministry, Room at the Inn.  In addition to our Biblical Studies curriculum, we studied wants and needs in Social Studies and were about to begin a unit on consumers and produces. Also, we had just completed a study on light in Science. With this in mind, our class decided to have a bake sale to support the ministry of Room at the Inn (RITI) by providing their guests with flashlights. We tied in our Language Arts curriculum as the students made posters with exclamatory sentences, and they practiced their math skills while making bake sale treats and selling them to our high school and middle schoolers. In the end, the two first grade classes that participated were able to purchase 100 flashlights with extra batteries for RITI guests and an extra 50 flashlights to help a fifth grade class with their FLEx of making bags for those who identify as homeless.