"For four Sundays in June and July, Trinity Presbyterian Church sponsored an intergenerational Sunday School class using the program Pathways Through Jerusalem. Children ages five through older adults participated. Each class used about 10 minutes from various "guided tours" off the CD for projection onto a large screen. Songs and stories, some written by co-teachers Marea Stratton and Mary Louise Bringle, also involved the whole class. Additional activities (as described below) enabled adults and children to interact in small, self-selected groups. Copies of all original items are available upon request."
~Mary Louise Bringle, email mbringle@brevard.edu

(In addition to teaching with computers in CE, Mary is the Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Brevard College, Brevard NC.)

What caught our judges' eyes...

1. Intergenerational! and four weeks in a row at that.
2. Use of images from the program in related activities
3. Inclusion of program outline in their entry
4. The photo of the gentleman and woman at the computers, and the older man coloring!
5. The use of Pathways Through Jerusalem, which isn't the easiest program to teach with, though terrific in depth and quality.

Outline of their program:

Opening with prayer, Scripture, a hymn

Storytelling: David and Goliath. Herod's life and a Jewish poem about Wailing Wall. The Gethsemane Cat. Constantine describes his very special mother.

Singing: "Little David Play on Your Harp." Original song about the Legend of the Threshing Floor. "We Are the Church" with two original stanzas about Herod's Temple. Original song about the Gethsemane cat. Lord's Prayer in Xhosa, accompanied by rhythm instruments played by participants.

Projection of selected portions of Pathways on large screen (from King David, King Herod, Daniella, Raphael, and Queen Helena)

Activities: hanging events on time-line showing dates 1000 BCE - 500 CE; putting together giant puzzle pieces to form a wall map showing present-day quarters in city of Jerusalem; coloring pictures of Pathways guides and legends (threshing floor, true cross); cutting out and painting paper "rocks" to construct a Western/Wailing Wall; creating a Via Dolorosa on Fellowship Hall floor, using heavy brown paper and stands (made of pool noodles) with pictures of the fourteen stations of the Cross; writing meditations for inclusion in congregational Lenten devotional book; painting "tiles" for a mosaic of the Lord's Prayer in Latin.

Three additional computer stations enabled class members to access other parts of Pathways through Jerusalem CD, and complete worksheets as desired.

Coming in a close second and ALSO winning $75 worth of software is...

Our Savior's Lutheran in Naperville IL
for their "Campfire Creation"

"During week three, the story of the Good Samaritan shone out of Camp Creation’s outhouse onto the night sky. Using the “Good Sam the Samaritan” software on our laptop computer connected to a projector, the class heard the story, explored the geography sections, and then broke into two teams to play the game. Each child had a turn at operating the mouse that was peaking out of its mouse hole and sitting on a piece of cheese (see picture).

At the end of the class each child made a first aid kit and placed a label with the Bible memory verse on the top. The children loved the game and the interaction with the computer. Out of the outhouse, onto the screen, into the hearts and minds of children, God’s light was brilliantly reflected at “Camp Creation.”

The following entries "all tied for third place" winning a free CD from our catalog.

Trinity Baptist Church, San Antonio TX, for their Oasis Outreach Mission at 6 apartment complexes for low income families.
(seen below)

Trinity United Church of Christ in Pottstown PA, for their “Super Surfin’ Summer Sundays” beach party theme at Fisherman’s.Net Lab.

Melbourne Church of Christ in Melbourne, FL for their Coco's Computer Hut during VBS. (seen at right)

Bethany Presbyterian Church, Monroe, N.C. for their detailed explanation of how they integrate their computer software into every day of their VBS and every summer.