High School REACH

SBEC’s Junior High/High School REACH program serves students with diagnosed learning difficulties by providing additional instruction, training, and support needed for success in SBEC’s college-preparatory curriculum. The REACH program is designed to meet the educational needs of students eligible for and accepted into the program in at least two capacities.

On an as-needed basis, students receive instruction within the REACH classroom for core curriculum which includes language arts and math. Teacher-student ratios in these classrooms range from 1 to 3 to 1 to 10. These classes are minimally modified for pace and content. All REACH teachers have advanced degrees in special education and are trained and experienced in equipping students to achieve objectives of the curriculum despite the presence of a variety of learning challenges. REACH teachers maintain high expectations and standards appropriate for adequate preparation for post-secondary pursuits.

REACH teachers also monitor and support the classes their students are enrolled in outside the REACH classroom. Their supervision during the students’ study halls provide structure and encourage consistency in meeting the requirements of the regular classroom. Weekly communication with parents regarding the activities, progress, and concerns of both regular and REACH classrooms is maintained.

The REACH program is privileged to serve wonderful, capable students committed to hard work and a disciplined approach to accomplishing their goals. The program partners with parents as the REACH teachers determine how best to help students achieve positive educational outcomes. The program’s effectiveness is evidenced by the many reports of students who leave the program and successfully achieve their goals both at two-year colleges and four-year universities.

Janice Maynard
REACH Teacher

Hall of Heroes

We all need heroes.  Some of our heroes may be historical figures, sports athletes, or even movie stars.  At SBEC we want our students to learn more about Christian heroes, role models whose lives challenge us to live for the Lord.  A. W. Tozer wrote, “Next to the Holy Scriptures, the greatest aid to the life of faith may be Christian biographies.”  To encourage our students to choose Christian heroes to emulate, our sixth grade students presented the Hall of Heroes on Dec. 14.

During the first semester our 6^th grade students studied “My Spiritual Journey” an adaptation of Henry Blackaby’s Experiencing God for Pre-Teens.  The purpose of this study was to help preteens learn how to develop a continuing love relationship with God that is real and personal. Along with this study, the 6^th graders read a Christian biography.  These biographies were about the lives of great missionaries, evangelists, scientists, authors, and others who gave their lives in service to God. 

After reading about a Christian hero, the students wrote a book report as part of their reading class.  They also chose at least two creative ways to share what they had learned about their Christian hero.  Some students dressed as their hero or as someone from the people group their hero served.  Some students served food from or drew maps of their hero’s country.  Others made time lines of key events in their hero’s lives or even shadow boxes of their hero.   

The 6^th graders used the items on Wed., Dec. 14, to share about their hero with the other elementary students.  Displays were set up in the Trojan Hall gym, and the 6th graders were visited by students who listened as they told about the Christian heroes they had studied.  We hope our Hall of Heroes projects inspired some of our students to become Christian heroes too!

Cindy Brassell

Elementary Bible Teacher

From Our High School English Department

Considered one of SBEC’s more colorful departments, our high school English instructors continually involve their students in a wide range of studies and activities. Currently, Mrs. Turner’s seventh graders are concentrating on the modes of writing. Placed in teams, the students are assigned persuasive paragraphs to write regarding the topic of school uniforms.  They then share these paragraphs for the purpose of persuading classmates to accept their viewpoints.  While our seventh graders are engaged in writing, Mrs. Smith’s eighth graders are constructing poetry portfolios.  A favorite project of many, this portfolio contains a variety of selected poems gathered from diverse sources.  Original pieces written by the student are also included, and the entire portfolio is then illustrated.  Similarly, Ms. Holbrook’s freshmen find themselves in the midst of poetry as they voyage with Odysseus in Homer’s Odyssey, the blind minstrel’s second epic. During this unit the classes will construct collages representing the tremendous impact of this work upon modern society, as well as maps of the famous journey, family trees of the Greek gods, and travel agency brochures showcasing legendary sites. While Ms. Holbrook’s freshmen are immersed in literature set in 1200 B.C., Miss Holland’s sophomores venture to the 1800s, completing Alexander Dumas’s novel The Count of Monte Cristo and taking part in a mock trial, complete with personally designed period costumes.  A return to writing occurs in Mrs. Anderson’s AP English class as her juniors practice writing synthesis essays in preparation for the AP exam later in the year.  At the same time, Honors 11 students are in the middle of a short story unit that includes Southern writers William Faulkner, Flannery O’ Conner, and Eudora Welty. Finally, Mrs. Turner’s AP English 12 students are producing poetry power point projects while Mrs. Smith’s and Ms. DeFrehn’s seniors write their own “modest proposals” based upon the Jonathan Swift satire.  Obviously, the SBEC English department is a favorite among students, who know these teachers are committed to the success of each one of their students.

Tommie Holbrook

English Department

5th Grade News

 This year in social studies fifth graders studied about the Oregon Trail and took a hands-on approach as well. As one of our activities in social studies the students were able to experience their own exciting journey and learn what life was like on the Oregon Trail.  The teams were given $10 to make it through the journey and to buy land in Oregon at the end of the journey.  They had to pack their wagons with items they thought they would need and used these items and money for trade and repairing the wagon if it broke.  The point of the trip was to arrive in Oregon with enough money to buy land.  While on the trail the students experienced things such as crossing streams and rough roads, wagon trouble, angry Indians, and even sickness and death!  If they experienced wagon trouble, they had to carry their wagon part of the way through the trail.  At the end of the trail they were able to hunt for food and eat lunch.  The students’ favorite part of the trail was when they had to jump over a small creek while carrying their wagons.  

Wendy Cox

5th Grade Teacher