Teacher Tuesday: The Basics of Friendship & Fudge

During Preview Day last Friday, I had the opportunity to watch as different staff members talked to potential students and their families about their roles in the college. I heard Mr. Wright welcome our visitors, Mr. Terrill discuss Appropriate Independence™, Miss Houk give a demonstration on R.E.A.L. learning, Mrs. Konopasek, as the Supervisor to the Academic Advisors, talk about matters in and out of the students’ control, and Mrs. Luchterhand introduce the new Ai Academy.  

Mrs. Leith then invited her 2^nd year Horticulture students to the front of the room where they demonstrated what they had learned about flora and fauna since classes started in August. After their impressive presentation, Mrs. Leith asked if the visitors had any questions for her class.

I had a number of them I would have liked to ask as a new gardener – how do I get rid of Japanese Beetles in my organic garden?  What’s the difference between a slug and a snail, and can I stomp the stuffing out of them when they eat my tomatoes, or is that breaking some kind of organic code? Can the Horticulture class come to my house to landscape my yard and call it a lesson?

No one asked these questions. Instead, the questions the parents asked that stood out in my mind had nothing to do with green, leafy things and everything to do with friendships.

“Are you making friends at Shepherds College?”

“Are friendships easier or harder to make at Shepherds than they were in high school?”

“Can a shy person have friends at Shepherds?”

I was so proud of our students’ responses! They were warm and inviting – “Yes, I’m making lots of friends. It’s easy at Shepherds College to make friends. No one bullies or makes fun of you. They just accept you. Even if you’re shy, no one cares. They’ll still be your friend.”

I praised God as I listened to the students’ sincere replies to the parent’s concerned questions. Thank You for pouring your generous spirit into these young adults. Thank You for blessing them with parents who care enough to teach them about love and kindness and respecting others. Thank you for Shepherds College staff who reinforce these values to create a welcoming “home away from home” for these students.

When I returned to my desk, I had a niggling thought, a vague recollection… I knew something about how the college staff reinforces the “friendship values,” but what did I know? And how did I find out? 

I flipped through piles of documents on my desk, scanned my chicken-scratch on mini-notepads, checked all the scribblings on my calendar, scrolled through my email inbox… and there it was.  Weeks ago, Mrs. Kolkman sent me several fun pictures of her first-year Personal Development 1 class as they learned about friendship. I quickly sent her a reply email, “Send me details!”

And here it is – the tried and proven successful, Personal Development 1, R.E.A.L. lesson on friendship:

“Students were paired together and given a worksheet. They had to talk to each other to find out similarities and differences between themselves.  After they found the similarities and differences, they wrote them down in a Venn diagram and drew a picture of themselves to fill in the empty space. We called them Friend-diagrams.

Then students built a Jenga tower, comparing the activity to building a friendship. They talked about how hard it is to build a tall, strong tower and how easy it is to let it fall down.  During this activity, students discovered that encouragement, trust, honesty, love, prayer and kind words are used to build up and strengthen a friendship.

Lying, breaking promises, not being dependable, gossiping, breaking boundaries and speaking hurtful words are used to tear down a friendship. 

And finally, the students worked together to make Friendship Fudge. As they talked about the 'ingredients' needed to make a friendship, they added the fudge ingredients to a bag and mixed it all together by passing the bag around."

The Recipe for Friendship Fudge:

4 C Powdered Sugar

3 oz Cream Cheese, softened

1/2 C margarine, softened

1/2 C cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 C mini marshmallows

Mix all ingredients in a gallon-sized Ziploc bag by squeezing the bag and passing it around the group. When the fudge is completely mixed, cut a corner from the bottom of the bag and squeeze the fudge out onto a pan or cookie sheet. Cut and serve!

The students put a lot of effort into that fudge. They mixed, squeezed, squished, poured and smoothed. And the end result? Something solid, satisfying and fun - much like their friendships at Shepherds College. 

Shepherds College - Guiding Your Transition to Appropriate Independence. Please visit us at www.shepherdscollege.edu.