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The
Corner Shack Youth Group
Junior High
Initiation Event a Huge Success
By Kalista King
If you read my article from two weeks ago, you should remember when I
explained the Jr. High Initiation event which took place at The Corner
Shack youth group. You may have also heard it called, “8th Grade
Welcome Night,” which is what we ended up calling it after an interview
with Dan Franks on Joy FM’s Christian radio station. This event was for
any 8th grade student from any school who’s going into high school next
year.
We set up a giant obstacle course for them to go through and assigned a
high school student to each 8th grade student to encourage them
throughout the entire course. This obstacle course consisted of a blow
up obstacle course, tires to shuffle through, tables to crawl under,
and a gauntlet for them to run through, (in which 2 rows of 3 people on
each side stood with pillows to try and keep the 8th graders from
getting through). At the very end, they had to carry backpacks filled
with bricks to the finish line where leaders were lined up on each side
to encourage them to the finish.
This obstacle course was very challenging for most of them, but as all
of them finished, you could see the accomplished look on their faces.
Once this part was over, our seniors shared some advice and encouraging
words to the 8th graders, and we wrapped up that section of the night
by dancing to a fun, upbeat song called, “Rise Up”.
It brings me great pleasure to say that this night was was a huge
success, and we all had a great time! We members of The Corner Shack
and Youth for Christ have been noticing the importance of targeting
students in Jr. High so that when they get into high school, they are
already on fire and ready to make a difference.
As a teen in high school, I can attest to the pressure of fitting in
and being who others want you to be instead of being yourself and who
you want to be. It’s a struggle to be willing to stand out and make a
difference, but with the revival that has come about this past school
year, our hope is that the Jr. High students will know that they’re not
alone in this.
We are in this together as a family, and we encourage them to be the
change that they want to see happen. I know how hard it is to choose
not to partake in the wrong doings that others in high school say is
“cool”, and I also know how much easier it is if you have a body of
friends who will support you in making the right decisions and help
keep your life on track.
Too many kids begin throwing their lives away in Jr. High, whether it’s
by slacking off in school, bullying, or even partaking in drugs and
alcohol, which carries on into high school. This is why we have
recognized the importance of making sure they know that getting into
those worldly things will only bring about pain and destruction in
their life, and there is a much better way to live! Our hope is that as
we try our best to lead by example, they will follow and live in the
light of our Savior, Jesus Christ because nothing is more fulfilling
than that!
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