Column: Eighth-grader says farewell to WCS

• Worthington Christian School

Worthington Christian School

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WORTHINGTON — My name is Achan Alwal, and I am an eighth-grader at Worthington Christian School and have attended WCS for nine years. I will be graduating this week and as an assignment was asked to write about my experiences here at WCS.

My first memory of Worthington Christian School was how kind everyone was. I really didn’t see any fighting my first years here. I enjoyed making new friends. They accepted me the way I was, and we are all still friends today. My first teacher when I came to WCS was Mrs. Lubben. The best memory I have the first years was when we went to Sioux Falls to a circus with my first- and second-grade class. What I thought was cool was a woman was doing flips on ropes high off the ground.

One of my favorite school subjects as a kid was vocabulary. I found it simple to memorize words and their meanings. One of my favorite subjects in the more recent years is science. Mrs. Slagter had us dissect a frog and a sheep’s eye last year in class. I never thought that a sheep’s eye was formed the way it was. My teachers at Worthington Christian School have been helpful in every way you can think of. Miss Bosma has been helpful because she made sure that my grades are all right, and she doesn’t want me to just get by with things. She wants me to do all things well and God-pleasing.

Over the years at Worthington Christian, I have grown so much spiritually. One of the ways we started to learn about God was we memorized verses in kindergarten, and we memorized one a week. One I have kept close to me is Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through him who gives me strength.” As an eighth-grader, I enjoy chapel because it’s praising and worshipping God in really fun ways. My favorite chapel was when Mrs. Eekhoff did a chapel on the Armor of God. She put on a hat to represent the Helmet of Salvation, a belt for the Belt of Truth, a vest for the Breastplate of Righteousness, and boots for the Feet fitted with the readiness of Peace.

We just recently went to Minneapolis for a class trip. It was so fun! We went to the Mall of America. I was really impressed on how big it was. We also went to the capitol building, and we got to sit in and watch our senators make or introduce laws. What was really shocking was when this lady was speaking no one seemed to be really paying attention. We also went to the James J. Hill House (mansion!). It was very interesting. How big it was really amazed me. I think it would be pretty fun to live in a house that big, but cleaning probably would not be. The house is very old and I wonder what it is like to live in a grand house.

The highlight of my eighth-grade year was playing sports. The girls on my team are truly amazing, and we play great together. We encourage each other, and we help each other up if we get knocked down.

Now I know why I am going to be sad this next school year, and it’s because I won’t be attending Worthington Christian School. I will be attending Worthington Senior High School. I’ve been attending WCS for so many years. I am going to be a girl at the high school showing that I have Jesus in me in everything I do.

Tags: opinion, columns, education, faith, worthington