volume 44 number 4 the may 2004 lutheran educator

VOLUME 44NUMBER 4MAY 2004

The Lutheran

EducatorT h e W E L S E d u c a t i o n J o u r n a l

T H E L U T H E R A N E D U C A T O R

VOLUME 44 NUMBER 4MAY 2004

Editor — John R. Isch

Editorial Board — Cheryl A. Loomis , Philip M.Leyrer, James F. Pope

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Copyright ©2004 by Martin Luther College. Re-quests for permission to reproduce more thanbrief excerpts are to be addressed to the editor.

The Lutheran

EducatorThe education journal of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synodedited by the faculty of Martin Luther College

Christian Joy Produces PrayerJohn R. Schultz 100

Portrait of a Master TeacherTheodore Hartwig 102

The Design of God in a RoseKevin Glaeske 110

A Harrowing Bus RideTheodore Hartwig 113

WELSSALeDell D. Plath 115

Me and the SpiritPhilip Leyrer 120

The L Speaks!Paul L. Willems 123

Making the Classroom into aMuckholeDavid Sellnow 125

As We See It

Patience and Understanding 99

A R T I C L E S

D E P A R T M E N T S

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Patience and Understanding

Patience and understanding, two virtues, no doubt, for which every teacherhas prayed. Consider this perspective of patience. Dan Gartrell, an early child-hood professor, writes of a comment teachers often hear, “Oh, you must be sopatient to work with children.” He states that the dictionary definition ofpatience implies a negative context, being able to bear one’s burdens withoutcomplaining. Gartrell believes that in the classroom, patience implies a “teachervs. child” mentality that somehow the children are the opposition to the superi-or teacher. This certainly does not reflect his attitude toward teaching. Ratherhe believes that patience manifests itself in understanding. People are not see-ing a patient teacher; they are seeing one who understands the population withwhich he works. Can we draw an analogy of patience and understanding to ouroutreach efforts? Do we view change as a burden or an opportunity?

WELS educators have the words of the Great Commission etched in ourminds and hearts. No doubt these words of Matthew 18 form the base for ourschool mission statements. Go and make disciples of all nations – global think-ing. While this goal of outreach may be easy to articulate, implementation takesmany forms and can become challenging. Every congregation and school withinour synod carries out this command in a different manner – local actions. Asschool populations become more diverse, educators must develop a broad per-spective concerning family involvement. The gospel message transcends all dif-ferences.

WELS Schools Challenge 2010 encourages an outreach strategy to “promotean outreaching spirit within WELS schools” along with “developing strategies forreaching the entire family of new students.” Are teachers working toward thesegoals with an attitude of “patience” or one of “understanding”? Working withfirst generation Christians will be quite different from fourth or fifth-generationChristians. The challenge to understand differences can cause some to losepatience. Stereotypical notions of race, gender, parenting styles, and socioeco-nomic status influence our attempts at understanding. Outreach may bereduced to strategies and programs without attempts to build relationships. It isthe teacher’s job to reach out to all families especially those who are hard toreach. Understanding our schools from the viewpoint of a family new to theWELS will provide valuable insight and increase our understanding of a family.

Family life is never far from a child. Parental involvement has been proven tohave a positive influence on a child’s academic success. Much more than earthlygain is at stake for children and their families as we share the Gospel with them.Pray that the Lord will bless our efforts to understand others as we reach outwith the message of salvation. CAL

As we see it

Be joyful always; pray continually; givethanks in all circumstances, for this is God’swill for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Th 5:16-18)

A surprise gift is received, a vacationis taken, an old friend telephones—peo-ple are naturally happy on some occa-sions. However, this happiness dependson circumstances. Christian joy is notdependent on circumstances, but looksback to what Christ has done and aheadto the resulting eternal salvation. ThisGod-given joy is constant. It is inter-twined with saving faith. Among otherthings, Christian joy is expressed in con-tinual, regular prayer.

Continual prayer certainly involvescalling to God in times of crises. In 1980the Mt. St. Helens volcano in the stateof Washington was threatening erup-tion. Standing near the crater filmingfor a local television station was a youngreporter. Suddenly the mountain blew.Steam and ash were hurled thousandsof feet into the air. The reporter ran forhis life while the camera was rolling withthe mike on. The reporter’s words–hisprayer as he is running–is preserved forposterity: “Oh, God, oh, my god–help!

Help!–Oh, Lord God, get me through.God, I need you, please help me; I don’tknow where I am. It’s so hot, so dark.Help me, God! Please, please, please,please–oh God!” God did help him. Hesurvived. “Call upon me in the day oftrouble; I will deliver you, and you willhonor me” (Ps 50:15).

Christian joy leads us to pray continu-ally in all of our affairs, even those thatmay tempt us to be discouraged: thecancer patient whose test results keepgetting worse, the friends or relativeswho, despite our prayers, divorce any-way. The Apostle Paul could relate toseemingly unanswered prayer. Threetimes he prayed to the Lord to takeaway the “thorn in my flesh.” Paul didnot get the response he wanted, but theLord answered his prayer: “My grace issufficient for you, for my power is madeperfect in weakness” (2 Co 12:7-9). Godanswers prayer. He answers in his ownway and in his own time, but always forour good. “We know that in all thingsGod works for the good of those wholove him, who have been called accord-ing to his purpose” (Ro 8:28).

Christian joy moves us to “give thanks

100 T H E L U T H E R A N E D U C A T O R

Christian Joy Produces

Prayer

John R. Schultz

in all circumstances” (1 Th 5:18). Howeasy it is to forget to thank God. Oursinful flesh causes us to forget, or worseyet, to lethargically neglect humble grat-itude to God. Remember, ten leperswere cured; only one returned to thankJesus. As joyful Christians, we pray con-tinually that God would give us an atti-tude of gratitude. “Sing and make musicin your heart to the Lord, always givingthanks to God the Father for everything,in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”(Eph 5:19-20).

Pray continually—how is it possible?We accept Jesus’ invitation to call on

him in trouble; we bring all things tohim in faith that he will hear our prayer;we have an attitude of gratitude for allhe does for us. God bless your joyfullymotivated prayers.

Read some more: Ephesians 6:18-20Dear Lord God, we would speak to you.

Our joy in what you have done for us andwhat you have promised us in eternity moveus to pray to you continually. Hear ourprayers according to your will. Amen.

John R. Schultz served as principal/administratorof Minnesota Valley Lutheran High School. He iscurrently retired and living in New Ulm,Minnesota.

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Schultz

MLC Graduate Level Courses

Martin Luther College is offering a series of graduate level courses in profes-

sional education. These courses are intended to improve the skills and compe-

tencies of teachers and principals in Lutheran elementary schools.

In the future the college will apply to the Higher Learning Commission of the

North Central Association and the State of Minnesota for permission to offer a

full masters degree in education.

Enrollees select one of three emphases: leadership, curriculum and instruc-

tion, and special education. Each course carries 3 credits. Students will earn 30

or 36 credits in the program depending on an option for a paper.

The courses will begin in the summer of 2004. The first two, Foundations of

Ministry and A Balanced Approach to Reading Instruction will be offered on

campus in the summer session. Beginning in the fall of 2004, two on-line

courses will be offered each semester. The courses scheduled for the fall

semester are Educational Leadership and Teaching Children with Learning

Disabilities. Courses offered in the spring session will be Improving

Instructional Methodology and Issues in Education.

Costs for the courses are $200 per credit. Scholarships are available from

the Commission on Parish Schools. Contact James Brandt for more informa-

tion.

For more information and application material for the summer session cours-

es visit the MLC website (www.mlc-wels.edu).

IT HAPPENED ONE DAY in a physiologyclass during our eighth grade year.

Our teacher was an inveterate cigarsmoker. During recesses and over thenoon hour he regularly indulged hishabit in the cloakroom behind ourclassroom. It would be either a freshcigar or the butt of a previous one. Onthis particular day during a class hourand as we watched in amazement, he litup one of those butts, drew a clean,white handkerchief from his pocket,took a long drag from his cigar, andblew its smoke through the handker-chief. It left a distinct, deep, yellow stainon the area into which he had blown.Then came the lesson: “Now you seewhat smoke does to your lungs.Smoking is not good for your health.Don’t fall into this bad habit!” Andwhether his advice was followed or not,all of us remembered this shocker of alesson for the rest of our lives.

He served as principal and teacher ofthe upper grades at St. John’s LutheranSchool in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin,through the 1930s and into the mid40s.At the time of my three years under hisguidance, he was nearing in age the midcentury mark. After retirement, he lived

his last years, a member of our WELScongregation, in Burlington, Wisconsin.Apparently impervious to the normalravages of heavy tobacco use, he died inDecember 1969, at the age of 85. Hisname was Max Hackbarth.

On moving with twelve sixth gradeclassmates into our school building’ssecond floor classroom, our first impres-sion of this new teacher was consumedby the strictness of his discipline. Heachieved it neither by threats nor byshouting but rather, I suppose, by theausterity of his external appearance(our first male teacher) and by his nononsense demeanor and classroom regi-men. There was no empty bluster. Hisdiscipline was unfailingly backed up byapplied punishment in the form of with-drawing coveted privileges and, at theclose of each day for anyone who hadtransgressed his strict rule against whis-pering, a slap on the outstretched palmof the hand with his ruler. This was gen-erally both administered and receivedwith good grace. The hurt was more tothe feelings than to the skin. We werestill living at a time when children didnot try to set their parents against theteacher and, even more critical, whenparents did not regularly side with their


Portrait of a Master TeacherTheodore Hartwig

offspring against the teacher. In thecontext of the no whispering rule, Ishould add that we resorted to lip-read-ing so that, with three years of practice,we became quite expert at this silentform of classroom communication. Asfor the discipline, our impressions of itsstrictness changed over the course ofthree years. It happened not from relax-ation of the dis-cipline but fromour becomingadjusted to it,much in thesame way asalmost anythingdifficult at thestart becomeseasy and enjoy-able with experi-ence. Thus, aseighth graders,we were nolonger aware ofbeing schooledby a strict disci-plinarian. In ourperception, theclouds hadbecome sun-shine.

No doubt, Mr. Hackbarth’s classroomdiscipline, with the apple more in evi-dence than the rod, contributed mighti-ly to his effective teaching. His pupils,by and large, learned willingly, acceptedhis steep assignments as a matter ofcourse, and drew broadly and deeplyfrom the wells of knowledge, which hedispensed. In catechism class, the textwas used to fix Luther’s six chief parts

indelibly on our memory. In the 130pages of exposition with supportingBible passages that accompaniedLuther’s Enchiridion, we had to memo-rize 319 of those 551 passages, but werespared trying to master the exposition’s457 questions and answers. Our teacherdid the explanation and practical appli-cation of Luther’s six chief parts in his

own inimitable way.Our Bible history

text from sixththrough eighthgrades was theBible itself. Withoutbenefit of notes orother helps, he toldor professed thosestories and their sig-nificance to us, andwe reviewed theirsources in the Biblefor ourselves. HisBible teaching wasstrengthened byassigning hugequantities of memo-ry work. Thisincluded shortparables such as thePharisee and the

Publican, shorter chapters like 1Corinthians 13, the shorter Psalms—1,23, 121, and 130, and larger portions ofScripture such as the Sermon on theMount in Matthew 5 to 7. After threeconsecutive years of identical assign-ments, these treasures of Scripturebecame part of our flesh and blood. Itdid not occur to us to make a fuss athome about all this work, nor would

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Max Hackbarth

that have evoked parental sympathy. Wewere living at a time which took forgranted that learning does not happenin the absence of pain. It was also a timeof fewer outside distractions such asover-hyped athletic competition withother schools at the elementary level.Work with the Bible was also accompa-nied by play. To strengthen expertisewith the Bible’s 66 books, about once amonth we were involved in a game offinding Bible references, chapter andverse, as quickly as possible. The teachergave the reference, there was a flurry tofind it, the first who located it read itout loud, and so the race would pro-ceed over a course of about twenty pas-sages. This was but one device amongmany whereby Mr.Hackbarth exhibitedhis knack at teaching without our realiz-ing that we were learning and enjoyingit.

As occasions presented themselves,the Bible’s spiritual lessons were but-tressed by applications to our personallives. One well-remembered examplewas his answer to a student’s questionabout one child deserving preferredtreatment for possessing what another

child did not have. So he respondedwith a story. “One of you has a dime,another a penny, not enough for the 50cent price of admission to the movieyou would like to see. Yet the man at theticket booth lets both of you into themovie free. Why? Because one of youhad a dime, the other only a penny? No,money was not the reason, but theman’s kindness. Now draw your conclu-sions for yourself.” This was our teach-er’s parable similar to the supremeMaster Teacher’s parable of theLaborers in the Vineyard, Matthew 20.

To his accompaniment at the piano,we learned hymns by singing them inour devotions at the beginning andclose of each day and then brushing upon what had already been half learnedthrough private review. At the rate ofone hymn per week and with the sameroster of assignments repeated eachyear, our memory chest grew to selectedstanzas of about 35 hymns. His hymnchoices, mercifully, were those with fourline stanzas, such as “Abide, O DearestJesus” and “Lord, Keep Us Steadfast inYour Word,” plus the occasional excep-tion such as “A Mighty Fortress.”


Hartwig

Sentence Diagrams

All of Mr. Hackbarth’s pupilsadvanced from eighth grade to highschool with an above average commandof the English language. The competi-tion of spelling bees honed our exper-tise in this area. Frequent exercises indiagramming complicated sentencesdid the same for recognizing the mean-ing, function, and variant forms of theeight parts of speech. A gerund, forexample, required different diagram-ming from a noun or pronoun. Whilethe latter were written directly on thehorizontal line, a gerund required stiltssupporting curved lines.

Correct usage of grammar and com-mand of vocabulary were exercised withquizzes and composition assignments.On one occasion, a quiz took the follow-ing form. At his desk on a platform atthe front of the room, Mr. Hackbarthhad written down a list of some fifteennouns ending in …city, such as mendac-ity, pugnacity, felicity, audacity, ferocity,and so on. While the class was busy atpersonal assignments, he called each ofus, one by one, to the front, showed usthe list on his desk, and asked us quietlyto define the words. At the end of theexercise, the words were put on thechalkboard and explained to everyone.It goes without saying that no one cameout of this experience with distinction.Though somewhat humbling, itachieved its purpose; we rememberedthose words and their meaning. Onanother occasion he challenged ourvocabulary and composition skills bydictating twenty out-of-the-ordinarywords. These were to be put togetherimmediately into a coherent composi-

tion. Not an easy, yet a memorable exer-cise in word knowledge and usage.Furthermore, these assignments did nothave to be geared to the level of slowerlearners and could be done without anyembarrassment to them.

Exercise in reading fluency was car-ried out by having us take turns, up anddown the row, at vocal reading fromselections of poetry and prose. Nodoubt, the effectiveness of the exercise

lay in the encouragement it gave toemulate or outdo one another at thisimportant skill. Love for good literaturewas instilled by the teacher’s reading tous, at the close of Friday afternoons,selections of a continued story from theclassics. One of these, perhaps in anabbreviated version, was Victor Hugo’sLès Misérables about an impoverishedFrenchman who was sentenced to thegalleys for stealing a loaf of bread.

Our history education was restrictedto American history. It began withColumbus and ended with Franklin

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A master teacher atany grade level canheighten the good

recollectionsimmeasurably.

Roosevelt. The first century of this eraconcentrated on learning all the majordiscoverers and explorers connectedwith the western hemisphere, theirnames, the nature of their discovery orexploration, and the year it occurred.The colonial history of the next centurywas occupied with the first thirteencolonies, learning the founders’ names,years of founding, and reasons forfounding. In subsequent American his-tory, we had to know the presidents,their years in office, and the chiefevents during each administration. Forgood measure, with all of this we com-mitted to memory a list of America’smost important inventors from RobertFulton and Eli Whitney to the Wrightbrothers, together with the year andnature of the invention; also a separatelist of America’s wars, their duration,their causes and consequences; alsoanother list of foreign territories

America acquired through wars, as agift, or by purchase.

Our geography exercises were no lesschallenging and memorable. All six con-tinents came into our purview. Eachcontinent’s land and water boundariesneeded to be memorized, as well as theearth’s major islands. Each continent’ssovereign nations, together with theirrespective capitals and major cities, hadto be known. Thus, I have no troublerecalling that Chile’s capital is Santiagoand its major cities Valparaiso,Conception, Antofagasta, and Iquique.That last city’s name and pronunciationmust have endeared Chile to me. Wealso were required to define terms suchas island, lake, peninsula, bay, isthmus,and strait.

For the geography of America we hadto know all the states, their capitals,their chief cities and resources, as wellas America’s major landforms such as


Hartwig

The author’s eighth grade graduation class. The author is third from the right in the back

row.

mountains, deserts, rivers, and theGreat Lakes. In Wisconsin, we had toknow the major cities, their popula-tions, and their chief industries. ThusMilwaukee was associated with manufac-ture of heavy machinery and beer. Andlest it be overlooked, all of geography’sproper nouns had to be correctlyspelled.

Except for mathematics, there wasnothing outstandingly different aboutMr. Hackbarth’s treatment of civics,penmanship, art, and science. Facilitywith numbers, however, was instilled ina variety of interesting ways. Besides theusual word problems, such as moneyspent for various grocery items or costof supplies to paint or wallpaper a roomof given dimensions, the unique featureof our training with figures concernedmental multiplication and speed addi-tion. For the former exercise, we weretold to put our hands behind our back,then given a set of two-digit numberssuch as 74 x 69 to compute in our headsand, when done, to write the producton the sheet of paper on our desk. Thisexercise was designed not for competi-tion but to stimulate our powers of con-centration. The speed addition exercise,however, appealed to our love of games-manship. It certainly improved our facil-ity at this kind of arithmetic besidesbeing great competition. The game wasannounced about once a month–“todaywe’ll add”—and ran over a space of 15to 20 minutes. Mr. Hackbarth dictated,at maximum speed (there was a goodreason for the speed), a series of eightfive-digit numbers for us to add asquickly as possible. Whoever finished

first rushed up to his desk, put his paperon the teacher’s desk, and movedaround his chair to head up the longline of students which, following thefirst student’s path around the teacher’schair, formed along two walls of theroom, the second person giving hispaper to the first, the third to the sec-ond, and so on. The noise of feet run-ning on the floor must have been dis-turbing to the classroom below, but we

never gave that a thought. At a giventime limit — perhaps two or three min-utes — the correct answer wasannounced. The first to have it right gota score of 100, the next a 95, the nexttwo a 90, the next three an 85, and soon.

As early as the sixth grade and contin-uing to the eighth grade, the same boyin my class was almost always first inline. In eighth grade, he divulged hissecret to me. By the time the teacherhad completed his dictation (there was

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Hartwig

Argument pursuedfrom a weak fund ofknowledge, or from atotal void, lapses into

an exchange ofignorance.

a reason for the speed!), this boy hadalready finished adding the column atthe far right. Thus he enjoyed a five toten second head start on the rest of us.Memory of competitions won at thisenjoyable game has long faded intooblivion, but not its educational value. Itwas a fun method of improving ourfacility with numbers, and it hasremained one of my cherished learningexperiences with Mr.Hackbarth. Anotherwas his joining us dur-ing the springtimeweeks, after we hadeaten our noon packedlunches, at our gameof softball on anadjoining empty lot.We chose sides, and hewas the perpetualpitcher for both sides.This did not beginuntil our class was inthe eighth grade, andthen it lasted only untilhe broke his fingerwhile fielding a throwto first base. We were sorry to lose hiscompanionship. My father, a few yearshis junior at our synodical school inWatertown, Wisconsin, told me that Mr.Hackbarth had been a crack baseballplayer during his student years. His join-ing us out of doors in our recreation,brief though it was, added anotherdimension to our love and respect forthis teacher.

Many facets of educational experi-ences through the years of my youthhave grown dim with time. An excep-

tion would be what I remember fromsixth through eighth grade. These areimpressionable years, to be sure, but amaster teacher at any grade level canheighten the good recollections immea-surably. Thus, in my own ministry as aneducator at our college in New Ulm,Minnesota, I made it a regular habit toshare this truth with my senior level stu-dents about to enter the same ministry.

As teachers they can exercise muchinfluence for good on children commit-ted to their care. Teaching at the ele-mentary level, or at any level, is a highand precious calling.

Reflecting on Mr. Hackbarth’s teach-ing methods, one might question themfor overmuch emphasis on the kind ofmindless rote learning that goes onamong the madrasas of Islam. Of whatpractical value, for example, is it toknow, and spell correctly, the cities of


Hartwig

Conception, Antofagasta, and Iquiquein Chile? And why need mental exercis-es in arithmetic consume classroomtime any longer when nowadays chil-dren are equipped with calculators todo the thinking for them. The sameholds for committing information tomemory about history, geography, andso on. The facts are now so readily avail-able on the computer. Perhaps theargument could spill over into memo-rization of Bible passages and hymns aswell.

Given today’s technology, those seem-ingly ancient educational methods ofthe past do have continuing value. Theyexercise the mind by training it in con-centration and quick thinking. Theyexercise the memory, furnishing it witha fund of knowledge immediately avail-able without recourse to outside help.What a blessing when it comes to hymnsand Bible passages! A fund of immedi-ate knowledge is also vital for thosehigher aspects of education, whichrequire the give and take of argumentand debate. When papal champion Dr.John Eck of the University of Ingolstadtnear Munich debated at Leipzig in 1519with Dr. Andreas Carlstadt and Dr.Martin Luther of Wittenberg University,Carlstadt was constantly referring to themass of books at his elbow to supporthis position whereas Luther, like theopponent, had the facts at his finger-tips.

Argument pursued from a weak fundof knowledge, or from a total void, laps-es into an exchange of ignorance. Evena natural familiarity with cities and land-forms around the globe makes reading

or hearing about places and peoples inforeign lands more satisfying and enjoy-able. It distinguishes a well-educatedperson.

Furthermore, Mr. Hackbarth’s teach-ing methods did not lack challenges toreasoned thinking as well as creativethinking. Reasoned thinking was givenexercise in the mathematical word prob-lems assigned, in diagramming longand complicated sentences, and in testswhich required application of spiritualtruths. His composition assignments, intheir unexpected variety, certainlydemanded creative thinking. And theknowledge itself acquired from hismethods equipped his pupils so muchmore adequately for the greater chal-lenges to reasoned and creative think-ing in their future education. To regardMr. Hackbarth’s teaching methods asout of date misses the truth completely.

In reviewing the now perceived halcy-on years under this teacher, I have onelarge regret. During those many yearsafter graduation from eighth grade, Ifailed to seek him out in order to renewacquaintance with him. It would havebeen a golden opportunity for me, as anadult with a better sense of values, toexpress my appreciation for all that hedid toward shaping my future. Hisexpertise as a master teacher made thepath so much easier through the yearsof my later education. It remains aregret that can no longer be mended inthis life.

Theodore J. Hartwig is professor emeritus ofMartin Luther College, New Ulm, MN.

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The heavens declare the glory of God; theskies proclaim the work of his hands (Ps19:1).

The above verse is often used as aproof passage for the evidence of cre-ation. All anyone has to do is open hiseyes and peer into the deep night sky tosee the wonderment of the universe.This goes for Christian and non-Christian alike. In the course of myadult life, I have explored the wonder-ment of God’s creation. Instead of gaz-ing deep into the far reaches of space,my inquiries have been much closer tohome. Sometimes this exploration takesme a distance no further than theflowerbed.

In this essay I wish to examine God’sdesign, not so much for its complexity,but rather for its simplicity. In order todo this I will with the aid of my back-ground as an organic chemist put fortha solitary, simple rose.

An organic chemist wouldwant to isolate the chemicalresponsible for producing itspleasant aroma. To accomplishthis I would take the petals of adozen roses and boil them in asuitable solvent in order toextract the desired compound.

(I know this is destroying a pretty flow-er, but such is science and I have apoint to prove.) After suitable purifica-tion I would have at my disposal (hope-fully) a viscous, colorless syrup known asgeraniol (1).1

Geraniol (C10H18O) upon furtherinspection can be broken down evenfurther into twopieces of five car-bons apiece(Equation 1).Now in these twopieces lie theheart of the mat-ter. These five car-bon fragments areknown as isoprene units (2) after thesimilar compound 2-methyl-1,3-butadi-ene (3), more commonly known as iso-prene (Equation 1).

Isoprene units serve a very pleasing


The Design of God in a Rose

An exploration into organic chemistry

Kevin Glaeske

role within God’s creation. They com-bine to form a class of compoundsknown as terpenes. Terpenes servenature by providing aroma for almostall plants and trees. Most commonly iso-prene units are connected head to tail,but, as we shall see, they can connecthead to head or tail to tail. In someinstances isoprene units can be cross-linked as well.

If I start with geraniol and form abond between two of the carbons andremove the oxygen group (Equation 2),I would have a new compound,limonene (4). Limonene

2 is

found in the skins oforanges, limes, and lemonsproviding the citrus smellof these fruits.

Taking this new com-pound and manipulatingthe carbon skeleton byremoving the double bonds and adding

a hydroxyl (-OH) group, one wouldhave menthol (5) or the familiar scent

of peppermint.Instead of remov-

ing the doublebonds in limoneneone could rear-range the doublebonds and this sim-ple ten-carbon

skeleton would now provide the mildscent of a -phellandrene or eucalyptus(6).

The fun does notend here. If theskeleton oflimonene is furthercross-linked,(Equation 3) I nowhave a bicyclic struc-ture (7), whichupon addition of a carbon oxygen dou-

ble bond, now gives hope to singleyoung women3 as the essential oil cam-phor (8).

Even with just two isoprene units, onecan account for some particularly pleas-ing aromas, but adding more isopreneunits can make many other compounds.The addition of one isoprene unit togeraniol gives one the very commonaroma found in churches every springin farnesol (9), which is found in Easterlilies (Equation 4). A fourth isopreneunit (can you find them all?) will pro-

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Glaeske

vide cembrene (10) or the essential oilfound in pinewood.

One interesting thing to considerabout farnesol is its composition ofthree isoprene units. Terpenes made upof three isoprene units are known assesquiterpenes and make up the bulk ofterpenes found in nature. At Easter thischemist wonders if our Triune God isleaving a Trinitarian signature over hiscreation. We cannot know for sure, andI am not looking for a sign or com-pelling proof from God’s design.Moreover, I also have to be careful sincemy science could very well be wrongand my inferences could contain bias.There are things that are “too wonder-ful” for us to consider while on earth(Job 42:3). I will have to wait until theglory of heaven before I can get theanswer to this question.

As I have stated earlier, many of thecompounds used to provide the prettyscents in nature are terpenes. Thedefining factor of these terpenes is thatthey can all be reduced to a straight-for-ward structural unit known as an iso-

prene unit. From this short essaywe have seen that from theseseemingly simple carbon piecesGod has carved out a big nichein nature for these “simply”derived compounds. This is justone thing to consider as you stopand smell the roses.

NOTES1 It should be noted the convention for

drawing organic molecules has a car-bon atom at the end of a line or at thecorner of two lines (e.g. —- would beCH3-CH3). Multiple lines indicate mul-tiple bonds (e.g. = would be the same asCH2=CH2). So in the case of geraniol, itis an eight carbon chain containing twocarbon-carbon double bonds.

2 For an easy way to isolate limonene fromorange or lime peels, please see“Making Sense of Terpenes: An explo-ration into biological chemistry,”Glaeske, K.W.; Boehlke, P.R., Am. Bio.Teacher, 2002, 64, 154.

3 The reference here refers to youngwomen having hope chests made out ofcedar wood. Camphor helps give cedarwood its pleasant smell.

Dr. Kevin Glaeske teaches chemistry at WisconsinLutheran College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.


Glaeske

THAT TRIP

(1988)brings to mindthe one we livedthrough in 1982,the only one ofall nine tourswhich can justlybe labeled har-rowing. It hap-pened on the dayafter a July 4 whichwe celebrated with banners and songson shipboard crossing the Adriaticthrough the night from Patrai on thenorth coast of the Peloponnesus inGreece to the port of Brindisi in south-eastern Italy. On the morning of the5th, we received word on the ship of anearthquake-caused landslide near theBay of Naples which blocked the directhighway to our destination at Sorrento.In our behalf, the ship’s purser wiredahead to inform the hotel at Sorrentothat, since we would be detoured by wayof a longer roundabout road comingfrom Amalfi to the south, our arrival atthe hotel would be late. Little did wethen realize that this detour would takeus, not along a sea level route but onthe spine-tingling Amalfi Drive which

threaded its way over ahigh mountain passoverlooking theBay of Naples. Itwas a narrow two-lane road huggingthe edge of themountain at theright and, at theleft, overlooking,without guardrails,

the sheer cliffs thatdropped down sev-eral thousand feet

to the Mediterranean Sea below.Fortunately, the night was balmy andbeautiful, an overhead full moonreflecting its light on the quiet seawaters far below. Unfortunately, howev-er, there were some five to six verysharp curves along the road, which werenot at all made to accommodate our 55-passenger coach, the largest in the busowner’s fleet. Indeed, a bus of our sizehad no business on that road. At everyone of the curves, we two leaders had tostep out of the bus, one at its front, theother at the back, giving directions tohelp our driver negotiate the curves byshifting forward and backward a num-ber of times while hugging the innerrock face at the right as closely as possi-

113M A Y 2 0 0 4

A Harrowing Bus RideTheodore Hartwig

ble, so closely that at one curve the rightback window was deeply scratched bythe sharp rock. As the bus roundedeach of these tight, no-guard-railedcurves, its front floated out over the leftedge of the cliff, giving a view of the seadirectly underneath and frightening thepassengers who sat at the front, so thatseveral of them, overcome by nausea,had to retreat to the back of the bus.Some were sure we would never survivethis trip. Even more distressing to every-one in the coach, while in the middle ofone of these curves, our driver, AlbinFrank, stopped the bus and, with handson the steering wheel and head on hishands, exclaimed, “Ich kann nicht weit-er” (I can’t go any further). As if thiswas not trial enough, the narrow moun-tain road was choked with the motorcy-cles and small cars of jubilant Italians.Celebrating that night their country’svictory over perennial powerhouseBrazil in the semi-final world cup soccermatches, they kept honking at our slowmoving bus bringing all traffic to a haltat the curves and then scooted around itwhen the road was momentarily clear.After 3? hours of this ordeal, we arrivedin a state of mental exhaustion, Albinmore than anyone else, at the trulyregal Sorrento Palace hotel at 1 a.m.There, to our amazement, we weregreeted by a lavish lunch laid out for usin a beautiful dining room and servedby a corps of sympathetic and attentiveformally dressed male waiters. It was anever-to-be-forgotten experience, des-tined to frequent telling and re-telling,which allowed our entire company of 55students, two leaders, and the driver to

regard ourselves as the Amalfi survivors.The story would not be complete if its

sequel were missing. On the evening ofJuly 25, our last day in Europe, we cele-brated our usual farewell party atCochem on the Mosel River. For thisparty, one of our students, TimothyBuelow, prepared a diploma for presen-tation to our coach driver in gratefulacknowledgement for bringing us safelythrough that terrifying ordeal on theAmalfi Drive. In beautiful Gothic letter-ing, the framed diploma was formallypresented to him in the presence of ourentire group. It declared that AlbinFrank was herewith officially awarded aPhD in the profession of coach driving.

This excerpt is from Potpourri ofReminiscences, a recounting of the internationaltours led by Professor Hartwig from 1972 to 1989.The entire document is available on the MLCwebsite (www.mlc-wels.edu) under The LutheranEducator tab.


Hartwig

WELSSA = Wisconsin EvangelicalLutheran Synod School Accreditation.In 2003 this new ministry effort wasapproved by the WELS Board for ParishServices who designated theCommission on Parish Schools (CPS) asthe WELS school accrediting agency.

The concept of school accreditationis not new to WELS schools. About 30WELS schools have completed a self-study, hosted a visiting team, andreceived accreditation from a state rec-ognized agency. Also in the nineties theCPS developed a set of standards whichschools could use to examine them-selves through a self-study. Up to thistime, however, WELS did not have itsown accrediting agency. With theadvent of WELSSA this has changed.

CPS - the WELS Accrediting Agency

WELSSA resembles numerous otherschool accrediting agencies. The agencygoverns the entire accreditation opera-tion. For WELS the CPS is the accredit-ing agency and is responsible for the fol-lowing: ● Establish and administer all policies

of WELSSA● Appoint the Executive Director of

WELSSA, establish his positiondescription, and annually assess hisministry

● Pay appropriate honoraria toWELSSA consultants

● Evaluate and improve WELSSA● Promote WELSSA and its benefits

throughout WELS● Publish appropriate materials and

resources for implementing WELSSA● Work closely with the district Parish

Schools Coordinators (PSCs)

Rationale for WELSSA

Even though the CPS in the past con-sidered establishing our own WELSaccrediting agency, the time was notright. Why now?

This past 18 months the CPS hasaggressively promoted Challenge 2010.A major thrust of that ministry effort isschool improvement. All associated witha WELS school are deeply committed tohaving the very best school possible.That attitude is an outgrowth of ourcommitment to serving our Lord out ofgratitude for the blessings he has givenus.

Self evaluation through a rigorous

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WELSSALeDell D. Plath

self-study is one of the most effectiveways to improve the quality of a school’sministry. The benefits of completing theprocess of school accreditation thatincludes a self-study are these:● Helps the school recognize and main-

tain the multitude of blessings,including all of its strengths, it hasreceived from God

● Helps the school identify which areasof ministry it needs to work on sothat it better serves God, the congre-gation, and the community

● Involves a large number of interestedpeople and this increases theirknowledge of, understanding of, andcommitment to the schoolAfter a school has achieved WELSSA

accreditation, it can look forward tothese benefits: ● Recognition by WELS as an accredit-

ed school carries with it a high levelof credibility. Being accreditedthrough WELSSA, which has receivedcandidacy status from the NationalCouncil for Private SchoolAccreditation, carries with it addi-tional credibility. This accreditationwill likely be helpful as a schoolencourages its congregation mem-bers to enroll their children. Thiswould be especially helpful as WELSschools seek to reach out to the fami-lies in the community who likely havelittle or no knowledge of WELS orWELS schools.

● WELS schools can support andencourage one another throughWELSSA.

● Accreditation has proven to beimportant as a school seeks grants

and employer matching gifts to assistwith funding special programs.

Field Test

The CPS has developed the WELSSAHandbook that contains all WELSSApolicies and all necessary information aschool needs to proceed through theWELSSA process. Because quality is ofprime importance and because this pro-cess is new to WELS schools and to theCPS, WELSSA is being field tested overthe next two years.

Twenty-eight WELS elementary andhigh schools volunteered to participatein the field test. The CPS oriented andtrained the principals of these schoolsin the WELSSA process in a two-dayworkshop in January 2004.

That workshop served two other func-tions: consultants and team captainsnumbering 22 were also trained, andthe schools and their consultants beganthe planning necessary for the schoolsto reach their goal of WELSSA accredi-tation.

As of this writing three schools havebeen approved for candidacy status.This means that they have demonstrat-ed that achieving accreditation is wellwithin their grasp.

During and after the field test theCPS will gather information from allparticipants in the field test with onegoal in mind—to improve WELSSA.

WELSSA Process

The WELSSA accrediting process is


Plath

similar to that of other accrediting agen-cies. A school follows these steps toachieve WELSSA accreditation.● Approves pursuing accreditation● Studies the benefits and process for

achieving WELSSA accreditation.● Requests a consultant be appointed

to the school● Applies for candidacy status, pays the

fee● Does a self-study using the WELSSA’s

Ten Self-Study Standards● Completes a school self-study report● Hosts a visiting team who validates

the school’s self-study report● Receives accreditation upon recom-

mendation of the visiting team, thedistrict Parish Schools Coordinator,and the WELSSA Executive Director

● Develops a school improvement planbased on the visiting team’s report

● Submits an annual report whichdemonstrates progress in the school’simprovement plan

Details - WELSSA Process

Providing some details will improveyour understanding of WELSSA. Assoon as a school begins work on theWELSSA process, a trained consultantassists and encourages them.

WELSSA’s Ten Self-Study Standardshelp the school evaluate every aspect ofits ministry. A Steering Committee andseveral sub-committees, which are madeup of school personnel and membersfrom the congregation, assess each ofthe 200+ items included in the Ten Self-Study Standards to determine the

school’s level of achievement for eachitem. The assessments of all sub-commit-tees are used to develop the School’sSelf-Study Report. That report is submit-ted to the Visiting Team, which hasbeen appointed by the ExecutiveDirector of WELSSA.

The Visiting Team spends severaldays at a school in an onsite visit.During this visit they validate theSchool’s Self-Study Report. One of themain questions the team asks is, “Doesthe school have a well-defined missionstatement and is it striving to achievethat mission in all that it does?” Theteam further validates the School’s Self-Study Report by interviewing schoolpersonnel, observing the school andclassrooms in action, and by studying avariety of school documents andresources.

At the conclusion of its visit the teampresents an oral report of its findings toa gathering of interested school people.During this oral report the team sharessome basic information about its find-ings and relates what it will recommendregarding the school’s accreditation sta-tus.

Following the on-site visit the teamprepares its detailed written report,which is forwarded, to the school, thedistrict Parish Schools Coordinator, andto the WELSSA Executive Director. TheExecutive Director presents the team’srecommendation to the CPS who makesthe final decision regarding a school’saccreditation.

After receiving accreditation theschool is expected to submit an annualreport to the CPS. This report shows the

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Plath

progress the school has made on itsimprovement plan.

To maintain its accreditation status, aschool must do a self-study and host avisiting team every seven years.

Credibility

As indicated earlier the CPS is deeplyconcerned about helping WELS schoolsimprove their ministry. If that is to beaccomplished, WELSSA must have ahigh level of credibility within WELSand in the education community. Toensure this credibility the CPS has devel-oped a rigorous process of schoolaccreditation through WELSSA. TheTen Self-Study Standards, when used asintended, thoroughly evaluate everyaspect of a school’s ministry. Other ele-ments of the WELSSA process help toachieve credibility: trained consultants,trained team captains, thorough onsitevisit by a qualified team of educators,annual reporting of school improve-ment by the school, and the expectationthat a school does a self-study and hostsa visiting team every seven years.

To further ensure credibility the CPShas sought recognition from theNational Council for Private SchoolAccreditation (NCPSA). The NCPSA isa national entity that serves as anaccrediting association of private schoolaccrediting agencies. It is “dedicated tothe distinctives of the private school sec-tor and based on external standards ofexcellence and credibility as fulfilled byvoluntary peer recognition—the basicconcept and rationale of accreditation”(NCPSA Introductory Information and

Directory 2001, p.2). Fourteen privateschool accrediting agencies are recog-nized members of the NCPSA.

The CPS submitted the WELSSAHandbook to the NCPSA in 2003. Afterscrutinizing WELSSA policies and pro-cedures the NCPSA granted WELSSACandidate status in their organization.

As part of the process that NCPSAuses to determine if WELSSA meetstheir standards, they have assigned aconsultant to work with the CPS duringthe field test of WELSSA. This consul-tant will examine the WELSSA field testprocess, peruse the record keeping sys-tem, accompany a visiting team to anonsite visit, and be present at a meetingof the CPS when it decides on a school’saccreditation status. Following thoseactivities the consultant will present arecommendation to the NCPSA regard-ing the WELSSA status.

The NCPSA is a member of TheCommission on International andTrans-Regional Accreditation (CITA).Membership status in the NCPSA wouldgive our accredited schools the benefitsprovided by CITA. Being listed on TheInternational Registry of AccreditedSchools would be one of those benefits.This registry is used world-wide by vari-ous individuals, colleges, universities,and businesses to verify a school’saccredited status. The North CentralAssociation of Colleges and Schools,that agency which accredited MartinLuther College, is a member of CITA.

Membership in the NCPSA and CITAhas exciting potential for doing missionwork in foreign countries throughWELS schools.


Plath

Opportunities - Open Doors

A second thrust of Challenge 2010 isencouraging our schools to reach out tothe unchurched. A critical element inthat effort is the quality of our schools’ministries. Unchurched families desireto enroll their children in a school thathas demonstrated concern for qualityand has achieved that goal. It is quitetypical that when a new family in aneighborhood is seeking informationabout which school to enroll their chil-dren, they ask this question: “Is yourschool accredited?” To that family beingaccredited is an indication of quality.An open door for outreach? Definitely!

It seems the Lord is opening addi-tional doors. A previous paragraphdescribes the advantage of membershipin CITA. Representatives of NCPSA andCITA have shared with WELSSA repre-sentatives that many foreign countrieseagerly seek organizations to open qual-ity schools in their nations. We need to

be ready to walk through those doorswhen the Lord opens them for us.

More Information

When learning of WELSSA severalWELS schools who are not part of thefield test have inquired about pursuingWELSSA accreditation now. Thatoption is open to any WELS school.Should a school desire more informa-tion about WELSSA, you may use one ofthe following means of doing so:● Phone: Jim Brandt, 414/256-3221 or

Lee Plath, 262/514-3407● Email: [email protected] or

[email protected] CPS has developed the WELSSA

Handbook especially focusing on ele-mentary schools. Work is currentlybeing done for accrediting Lutheranhigh schools and early childhood min-istries.

LeDell D. Plath is the Interim Executive Director ofWELSSA.

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Plath

WELS FACTOID

Highest Degree Earned by Private and Public School Teachers

Affiliation Total Teachers Bachelors Masters

Catholic 137,000 61.0% 31.9%

LC-MS 13,000 68.0% 28.2%

Episcopal 8800 49.3% 49.3%

Seventh Day Adventist 4300 53.4% 37.7%

WELS 1900 85.1% 11.6%

Friends 1500 46.5% 44.4%

Nonsectarian private 57,200 52.7% 37.8%

Public 2,727,000 52.0% 42.0%

National Center for Education Statistics, School and Staffing Survey, 1999-2000

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity,but a spirit of power, of love and of self-disci-

pline. So do not be ashamed to testify aboutour Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. 2

Timothy 1:6-12 People in many different professions

follow the practice of framing theirdiplomas and then hanging them intheir offices. Aren’t we, after all, some-what comforted to see our doctor’sdiplomas on the wall as we await histreatment?

Christians, too, in all walks of life mayhang diplomas as proof of training. Butan even more worthy and importantdocument might also hang in ouroffices, studies, classrooms and work-places—our certificates of baptism.

Finally our call to faith is what quali-fies us for everything else we do in life.All God-pleasing professions are noble,and when we bring our faith to ourwork we honor the Lord who gave usour faith and we are the salt and lightthat Jesus spoke of.

At our baptisms the Holy Spirit tookup residence in our hearts and his pres-ence affects us from the inside out. Youknow the way some people have thatability to light up a room. Where theylive, a certain spirit of enthusiasm or funor optimism is pervasive. The peoplearound them are lifted, and their hope-

ful outlook becomes contagious. In larger terms, such an atmosphere,

such a spirit dwells in us because theHoly Spirit lives there. And in our textPaul helps Timothy and us understandwhat kind of influence and affect thisspirit has.

Recall that Timothy was one whoprobably suffered from a lack of self-confidence. Put another way, Timothylistened too closely to his fears. For himand for us Paul lays out just what thisspirit he has—and we have—is and isnot.

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidi-ty, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”

This spirit we have is not timid. Yes,plenty of things scare us: heights, orthings that go bump in the night, or tor-nado warnings or growling dogs. ButPaul is talking here about our spirit offaith. Our ability to confess Christ, ourdesire to live according to his will neednot be timid, even though we might be.

If Timothy was one to listen to hisfears, how critical these words are: “ForGod did not give us a spirit of timidity.”Elsewhere in Scripture this timidityrefers to fear in the face of a personwho holds great authority or the fearthat comes from being rejected. MaybeTimothy had difficulty witnessing to


Me and the SpiritPhilip Leyrer

strong personalities and maybe he wastoo reserved in talking about his faithbecause he was afraid of causing con-flict.

But that was Timothy. That was notthe spirit God gave to Timothy. Do wesee the difference? This is not unlike adisappointed parent who has justcaught his child using foul language.And he says, “You certainly didn’t learnthose words at home?” In other words,you have chosen behavior that runs con-trary to how we raised you.

And so I may have trouble telling mystrong-willed boss that church is a prior-ity for me, and I may have troubletelling my friends I can’t join them intheir unchristian behavior, and I mayhave trouble telling the person in theseat next to me who is obviously in dis-tress about a Savior who cares for her,and I may be afraid to stop my sinfulflesh from over-indulging, but that isme, not the spirit God has given me.That spirit is quite different.

It is, our text says, a spirit of power.This is God’s power. And you knowwhat God’s power can do. It calledLazarus forward from the grave. It wason display Easter morning. It brokePeter free from prison. And, as Paul saysin our text, “by the power of God, whohas saved us and called us to a holy life.”This is the power that called us fromspiritual death to life at our baptisms.

This power marks the spirit in us.When we share our faith, we share thispower. When we witness to Christ’sname we bring this power forwardwhether or not we see results. Standingwith and for Jesus is not something we

have to do obnoxiously or with greatfanfare. We can do it quietly and confi-dently. But standing with and for Jesusis not something for which we shouldapologize either, as if our Lord is somegreat inconvenience to us and others.

Second, this is a spirit of love. In ourtimidity, we might hesitate to show lovebecause we are afraid it will make usappear weak, What will he think of me ifI bring him a can of soda for no reason?And we will use sarcasm and ridicule onone another and then justify it by say-ing, ”Well, that’s just the way we com-municate.” But, again, that’s us; it is notthe spirit in us. That spirit is not afraidto be kind because Jesus has been kind.That spirit is generous because ourLord has been so generous to us.

Finally, this is a spirit of self-disci-pline. Self-control and prudence aresuggested here. When I am timid I maynot set limits for myself. When I amtimid I may abandon reason and let awhole bunch of insecurities unsettle me.That is me; that is not the spirit I havebeen given. The spirit of self-disciplineapplies God’s word evangelically. Thespirit of self-discipline helps me findcenter in Christ at those times when Iam riddled with self-doubt.

How marvelously this spirit was ondisplay in the Apostle Paul as he sat inprison. He was not afraid of his captorsand he was not afraid to die. Thoughhis body was restrained by chains heknew the power of his spirit and so hewitnessed to the end to any who wouldlisten. In love he put others ahead ofhimself and reached out to Timothyand the church through this letter of

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Leyrer

encouragement and despite his impris-onment he had the self-discipline tokeep from despair knowing his God hadnot left him and would soon call himhome.

Such a spirit is ours, and timidity is nopart of it. So will we listen to our fearsor to the spirit of power and love andself-discipline? If you knew how toadminister the Heimlich maneuver anda person who was choking stood in frontof you gasping for air, would you listento your fears? Would you think, “Youknow, to help this person I’m going tohave to put my arms around him, and Ireally wouldn’t want him to get thewrong idea.” Would you think, “She’spretty nicely dressed and I wouldn’twant to make a mess of her outfit.”

The illustration is oversimplistic and

doesn’t fit a whole bunch of situationswe find ourselves in, but the questionremains. Will we listen to our fearsinstead of the spirit of power and of loveand of self-discipline?

Christ, our Head and Master, was notashamed of us, and he goes with usevery step of every day. Let us ask himregularly to put our fears in perspectiveand to concentrate on the spirit we havebeen given—the spirit of power and oflove and of self-discipline. And thenmay we have the confidence of theApostle Paul who encourages us: “So donot be ashamed to testify about ourLord.”

Philip Leyrer is Vice President for EnrollmentMamagement at Martin Luther College, NewUlm, Minnesota.


Leyrer

Easter

Sing, soul of mine, this day of days.The Lord has risen.

Toward the sunrising set thy face.The Lord has risen.

Behold he giveth strength and grace;For darkness, light; for mourning, praise;For sin,his holiness; for conflict, peace.

Arise, O soul, this Easter Day!Forget the tomb of yesterday,For thou from bondage art set free;Thou sharest in his victoryAnd life eternal is for thee,Because the Lord is risen.

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

IT WAS ONE OF THOSE strange winterdays in the classroom. The students

had just come back from a “snow day,” aday off because of a snowstorm in thearea. They were elated because it wasbeginning to snow again. They were alsoexcited about the intramural basketballgames played earlier that morningbefore school began. Their exuberancecarried over into the classroom and pre-vented the start of the lesson. They wereagitated. They were noisily chatting toone another. “Please calm down,” I said.The noise level increased. The teachertalks funny. What a hoot! “Caam down?You mean Cal-m down,” Jenna said.“No,” I replied. “I said, and I mean,“Calm down.”

Has this happened in your classroom?It has happened many times in mine. Ijust passed over the student’s pronunci-ation problem until that snowy day.They were pronouncing the “l” in wordslike calm and palm. These letters aresilent, you know. My students wereamazed at my ignorance of the Englishlanguage. “There’s an ‘l’ in cal-m,” theysaid. “You have to say it.” “Do you?” Iasked. “How about the “p” at the start ofpneumonia? What about the ‘w’ inanswer.” “Those are different,” my stu-dents insisted. “Those letters are silent,but you have to pronounce the ‘l’ in

cal-m.” After discussing other silent let-ters in words, such as the “k” in knifeand the “w” in sword, I suggested welook to the dictionary as our guide inpronouncing “calm.” They were morti-fied at what they found. Calm and palmare pronounced with a silent “l.” Theletter “l” is not to be voiced in calm andpalm. Being the kind of day it was, thestudents went merrily on their way anddecided to continue to pronouncecal-m their own way anyhow.

Is the English language changing? Iremember the struggle my elementaryteachers had with the word “ain’t.” Wewere forbidden to use it. “That is not aword,” we were told. I do not forbid theuse of “ain’t” in my classroom, nor do Iinsist on “may I” rather than “can I.”English is a living language. It is in con-stant flux. It has and it will change.Check your dictionary for “all right.” Iwas taught to spell this word just as Ispelled “all wrong.” It was two words,not one. Now dictionaries commonlygive the spelling “alright” as a correctalternative to the old way of spelling allright. “A lot” is also two words. Spellingis one thing, but what about pronuncia-tions? Is it to be “cal-m”? If you listen tomany pastors as they read fromScriptures, some will tell you they arereading from the book of “sal-ms.” Isthe “l” learning to speak?

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The L Speaks!

Paul L. Willems

I can anticipate “tal-king” about otherchanges in the English language. Wemight do just that as we “wal-k” alongthe path by the “pal-m” trees that swayeven when the wind is “cal-m.” Whilethis silent “l” that speaks may just be alocal colloquialism, it may become areal change in our language. We may beexperiencing a revolution in our moth-er tongue. What excitement! What a

thrill, just as in the days of WilliamShakespeare, to be a witness to changesin the English language. We may behearing history in the making right inour classrooms.

Paul Willems teaches at Minnesota ValleyLutheran High School, New Ulm, Minnesota.


Willems

A Child’s OfferingThe wise may bring their learning,

The rich may bring their wealth,And some may bring their greatness,

And some bring strength and health;We, too, would bring our treasures

To offer to the king;We have no wealth or learning:

What shall we children bring?

We’ll bring Him hearts that love Him;We’ll bring Him thankful praise,

And young souls meekly strivingTo walk in holy ways;

And these shall be our treasurersWe offer to the king,

And these are gifts that evenThe poorest child may bring.

We’ll bring the little dutiesWe have to do each day;

We’ll try our best to please Him,At home, at school, at play:

And better are these treasures To offer to our King,

Than richest gifts without them;Yet these a child may bring

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

A review of Janovy, John, Jr. Teaching inEden: Lessons from Cedar Point. NewYork: RoutledgeFalmer, 2003.Bibliography, index. ISBN 0-415-94667-0, paperback, 187 pages,$22.95.

I still remember a grade school fieldtrip to the municipal water treatmentplant. Maybe it’s due to the stayingpower of raw sewage … but it is also thecase that powerful learning takes placewhenever a subject is studied up closewhere it can be seen, felt, smelled. Thatpremise is what has prompted educatorslike biologist John Janovy and col-leagues at the University of Nebraska,Lincoln, to get students deeply involvedin field research at a remote placecalled Cedar Point Biological Station.Using subjects such as parasitology,Janovy unleashes student potential byputting them in direct contact withtheir subject in its own messy environ-ment, not the tidy confines of the lab.Dr. Janovy contends that it is a “funda-mental principle of teaching … that stu-dents must—must—have the real stuff.And if you don’t have it at your immedi-ate disposal, then you have to figure outhow to make it, or find it in placeswhere it’s not supposed to be” (17). He

devotes much of this book to the chal-lenge of finding ways to make in-the-classroom experiences more real, moretangible. You can’t always take studentsto the muckhole to study microscopiclife. But, if you’re creative, Janovy con-tends, you can make the classroom intoa muckhole (and that’s a good thing).

Owing to his intention to get studentshands-on with the real stuff of theirfield, Janovy is skeptical about trendstoward web-based education. He accusesdistance learning of being little morethan “charging tuition and giving col-lege credit for something anyone with alibrary card could do on his or her ownfor free” (76). He maintains that “thereis no real stuff on the World Wide Webexcept, perhaps, for airline and hotelreservations” (17). What he senses mostnoticeably missing in information tech-nology is context:

Sitting at your computer, you canget your words into the face ofsomeone halfway around the worldin an instant, but it might take alifetime to understand that sameperson’s worldview and you have noidea what his dinner smells like(76).

He is not enamored, either, with tech-nologically savvy classrooms as a substi-

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Making the Classroom into a Muckhole

David Sellnow

tute for thinking and communicating.So here is the crux of my argu-

ment about education in generaland higher ed in particular: peopleare the source of our accomplish-ments, not buildings, facilities,money, or computers. Humanbeings do wonderful things; build-ings stand empty, sucking up ener-gy, and computers devolve intoscreensaver mode, until a persondecides—usually on his or her ownvolition—to walk inside, sit down,

and proceed to put substance toideas (25).

Janovy even goes so far as to say thatfine facilities with comfortable seats andair conditioning sometimes can impedelearning; he obviously prefers the rawexperience gained in the mud andsweat of the field station. But he recog-nizes that expedience calls for manycourses to be taught in standard class-room settings. Therefore, applying hisargument to put human inquisitivenessat the center of the learning process,Janovy shares ideas he has used in histraditional classroom to connect coursecontent with real life. If educationbooks were to be rated according tohow many usable ideas for teaching theyconvey to the reader, this work gets highmarks. In my notepages from reading, Ican count more than twenty-five tech-niques, strategies, and methods that Iwant to try implementing in my teach-ing. From course design concepts toessay assignments to grading proce-dures, Janovy presents a panoply of pos-sibilities. Absorbing a bit of his creativityin and of itself makes the book a worth-while purchase.

Janovy speaks from a broad range ofexperience. His greatest joy clearly isfound at Cedar Point in research cours-es with advanced students. But he alsoregularly teaches those gigantic collegecourses in introductory biology, with300+ students at once in a lecture hall.And he has served in administrativepositions for the university and its muse-um. Thus he is able to note the chal-lenges and opportunities of higher edu-cation from several perspectives. He


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Sitting at yourcomputer, you can getyour words into the

face of someonehalfway around theworld in an instant,but it might take a

lifetime tounderstand that

same person’sworldview and youhave no idea what

his dinner smells like.

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insists on getting to know his students.(Even the 362 freshmen in Biology 101are each invited to converse for a fewminutes individually in his office.) He isunabashedly critical of colleagues whoare reluctant to try anything novel.“They are too proud, too strangled bytheir paradigms … too embarrassed toadmit being unable to think of an idea”(127). He is similarly disparaging ofadministrators who are out of touchwith what is really needed for learningto take place. Yet he is not a negativeperson; his comments against gainsayersare studied and thoughtful. A case inpoint: He contends that we want to pro-duce students who are investigative, whoask good questions, who explore issues,who seek out problems for furtherresearch. But we teach in ways that pre-sent problems for which we already havesolutions, and have the students followtracks others have already traversed.Janovy analyzes the situation:

Because our entire educational sys-tem seems designed to produce prob-lem-solvers instead of problem-seekers,perhaps we’ve managed to hide a lot ofcreative talent by not asking it to stepforward, depending, instead, on thosenaturally inclined to challenge our pre-vailing paradigms. Thus, the purposefulproduction of good, or even habitual,questioners is a found problem in sci-ence teaching (88).

Science teaching is Janovy’s contextfor this book, but it is not a book aboutbiology or only for biology teachers.Along the way, he avows his own insis-tence that science students take liberalarts courses because of their intrinsic

educational value. A modern-dayRenaissance man, Janovy wants his stu-dents to be more than one-dimensional,exploring fine arts, for instance:

Art is not a frill, but an essentialcomponent of education even for anascent scientist. Art is constantpractice at reaching into our mostelementary resources—our ideasand perceptions that are theessence of our humanity—andrecording these resources usingsimple means (61).

Janovy describes essays he hasassigned in biology that require alsoaptitudes in English and advanced com-position. (He could be a poster boy for“writing across the curriculum.”) Heseeks opportunities to apply his modelsand methods to other types of courses,particularly history and subjects in thehumanities. In the end, for Janovy, it isall about learning how to learn, regard-less of the subject. He wants us to “ele-vate our teaching and learning to aplane above the subject matter itself”(84), insisting that it is far more impor-tant to teach attributes than informa-tion. “And in the final analysis, there isno easier way to teach these attributesthan to give our students some reallywild plants or animals” (126) … or inhistory, primary sources … or in philos-ophy, letting them fully wrestle with aphilosopher’s argument and its applica-tion (rather than merely summarizingin lectures what happened in history orwhat certain philosophers said). Janovyproposes a grand goal for teaching: Notthat we teach biology, but that we teachstudents to act like biologists; not that

we teach history, but that we teach stu-dents to do what historians do, even ifonly for a semester. This, he contends,will make them better lifelong learners,whatever the field.

Not everybody likely will like every-thing Janovy says. [Maybe you don’teven like what you’ve read so far in thisreview!] He takes predictable potshotsat creationists, whom he calls “an armybuilt on grand delusions” (140). As ascientist, he is strongly in the traditionof Francis Bacon—don’t start with anypre-existing notions, don’t let pastauthority dictate to you, make your ownobservations. As an educator, he is evi-dently a disciple of John Dewey, wantingstudents to learn in the context of prac-tical application, not merely in the edu-cationally “impoverished setting” of arow-upon-row standard classroom where

you “can never find … real stuff in itsproper context” (74). He devotes achapter to his biological views of animalrights, which is too bland to win overany animal rights activists and too inaneto interest anybody else.

All in all, however, Teaching in Edenachieves a purpose its author would bepleased to see. It will make you thinkabout your teaching, brainstorm howbetter learning can take place, experi-ment with alternative ways of devisingassignments. If a few more teachersattempt to bring some sort of a “swamp-in-a-jar” (80) of the real stuff of theirsubjects into their classrooms, for stu-dents to examine up close and directly,Janovy’s educating effort will have beena success.

David Sellnow teaches philosophy and history atMartin Luther College, New Ulm, Minnesota.

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