Three small schools in the Washington Conference teamed up earlier in the school year to offer tri-school activities.
"[The three teachers] decided it would be good to get our small, one-teacher schools together once a month this year," says Shannon Whidden, Forest Park Adventist Christian School (Everett, Wash.) principal and teacher. "We wanted our students to have some interaction with other kids."
Forest Park has 14 students while Cedarhome Adventist Christian School (Stanwood, Wash.) has eight and Sky Valley Adventist School (Monroe, Wash.) has four.
The tri-school activities vary every month. For the first outing, students split into teams for a scavenger hunt at the Evergreen State Fair.
Students next explored the Washington State Corn Maze in Snohomish County to see all the major Washington roads and attractions built into the maze.
A few weeks before Christmas, students cycled through five craft stations to assemble Christmas presents.
Recently, the schools joined for Tri-school Science Olympics, where students designed an egg-drop apparatus, produced paper planes, built a tower of straws to hold a tennis ball, and enjoyed other science activities.
"At first, our students weren't so sure about interacting with each other," says Amanda Kobberstad, Cedarhome principal and teacher. "Now they have fun learning together."
The three schools plan to continue their joint learning activities.
Teachers Shannon Whidden, Amanda Kobberstad and Angela Campanello, plan monthly tri-school activities to bring their small schools together. (Heidi Martella)
