Liel Dorm 2010/2011

Black Forest Academy and the Liel Dorm

     This past year Sue and I have been dorm parents of a co-ed middle school dorm in the village of “Liel”, Germany. Liel dorm is one of seven residential facilities of the Black Forest Academy.  We had seven girls and four boys, plus our son Marshall who was a 9^th grader this year.  Also in our dorm “family” was Lauren, our resident assistant (or RA).  As dorm staff our goal was to create a home atmosphere where each student felt loved and a part of “the Liel Family”.  With God’s help we succeeded, and in this nurturing environment our students were enabled (in the absence of their parents and siblings) to achieve their academic and extracurricular goals.  We need to add that we had a lot of help by our “dorm subs”, who filled in for us on our days off, and by several teachers who donated a lot of their time coming to our dorm in the evening to tutor our students in their studies.

      As a family we played together, ate together, did chores together, attended one another’s sporting and musical events, worked on homework together, and went to church together.  As dorm staff, we laughed with our kids, cried with them, had times when we were not on the best of terms with them, had fun with them, worried about them and prayed for them, instructed them, were at times disappointed by them, and were many times awed by them.  Our role in their life journey was only one school year, but we believe it was significant – for them and for us!

 Lauren (our RA) Sue and Bob

Last Week of School 2011

June 2011

Our last week of school!

Our last week of school was full with our students studying for their exams, packing up and preparing to go home, cleaning the dorm, parents arriving, and lots of last things.

Eighth Grade Banquet

(These are all the 8th grade girls- can you pick out our five)

All the eighth grade boys - including our 4

 Spring concert

Participating from our dorm were:  Josh, Ira, and Laura on the violin and G.I. on the flute.  Here center on violin is Ira.

The reality of the school year being over began as parents began showing up to take their kids home for the summer.

Ira and her mom!

Josh's dad the photographer! 

 Luke and Marshall cuttin loose from studying to dance in our kitchen!

Dorm Cleaning:  Part of living in community means each one of us doing our part to keep our home and yard clean and in order.  The whole dorm must be cleaned before our students can leave for the summer.

 Beating the dust out of the living room rug.

Ira and Britta doing some thorough cleaning in the kitchen.

Marshall  

Final Band Practice







Marshall got together with his band "Cyprus" buddies to jam one last time before the summer.  Two BFA alumni, Merrit and Jack (middle of picture), came to watch and listen.  Merrit and Jack had a rock band when they were students at BFA.  Merrit gave drumming lessons to Marshall and Jack gave guitar lessons to Parker (bottom left in picture).

May Birthdays

May 2010

Greetings from Sue and the Liel dorm! 

May was a very busy month as we approached the end of the school year. Each Sunday we celebrated the birthday of one of the four Liel Kids who have summer birthdays. There were also school organized banquets to attend and Sue and I went to the USA for 8 days to attend Alison's college graduation and to help her move out of her apartment.

Happy Birthday Joshua

Joshua will be turning 14 this summer.  He is a Korean American whose parents work in Asia.  Josh loves sports and goofing around with the guys.  He is serious with his studies though and with his music.  Josh plays the violin and his favorite sport is soccer.

Hamburgers and hot dogs with all of the fixins was Josh's choice for dinner, and Lauren cooked him up a birthday cake.

Who's on the bottom?  Oh,... well,... that would be Josh.  Alright, everybody up before you break something!

These two guys: Andrew and Pepe, Josh's small group (Chrysalis) leaders came as unexpected guests.  They had something to do with why Josh is looking all wet.....

Because he was hauled off to the nearby water fountain and "Troughed".  Man did he put up a fight.

After getting troughed its your obligation to hug your captors.

Happy Birthday Joyce

Joyce is the biggest hugger at the Liel dorm.  She can play the piano and sing, and has even written her own worship music

 The gift of friendship!

 An accident in the kitchen!  When Lauren opened the corn starch it just kind of blew up in her face.

This was NO accident!

Chocolate fountain for desert.

Alison's Graduates

May 2010

Alison Graduates from Taylor University

Sue and I are so proud of Alison!  She worked so hard these past 4 years earning money for school and studying hard to get good grades.  Her major was English Literature, with a minor in Sociology.  She also received a certificate for teaching English as a second language.  She graduated with high honors, receiving Magna Cum Laude.

Sue and I flew into Charletsville, VA from Germany and drove out to Taylor U. in Indiana with Sue's father and Hannah.  Hannah had already completed her second year at Cornerstone U. and was living with Sue's sister and dad in VA.  Sue's sister Judy flew in to attend Alison's graduation from Colorado.

Although we were tired and jet-lagging, it was nice to be together in the USA again. 

 "On the Road Again"....!

At a rest stop we discovered this truck full of piglets,..... so cute!

Alison had finished packing before we arrived!

After the ceremony Pictures:

Alison and her room mate, Kenzi

After graduation we packed up Sue's dad's van with Alison's possessions.

Sue and her "little sister", Judy.  It was a special treat for us that she came.  Alison's stayed with Judy and her family (cousins) in CO the summer after her first year in college.  That summer she worked at Focus on the Family.

As we went our separate ways, Sue's dad flew with Judy to spend time with them, the Franklins, in Colorado.

Then Sue and I, Alison, & Hannah drove back to Virginia, packed to the hilt with Alison's belongings!

 

Sue and her sister Lois in VA.

Enjoying a meal with Aunt Lois, Uncle Earl, and Justin.

Alison & Hannah remained at Aunt Lois's for several weeks to work at their B&B.  They made beds, did laundry, and served meals to back packers and other guests who flooded in during their stay.

For the past two years Alison baby-sat Phoebe, this little adopted girl.

Presently Alison is raising money to serve for 5 months in Uganda to help care for orphaned babies.

She will be doing this from August through December of this year.

Alison has also applied for the Peace Corps.  She is working through the application process and awaiting her appointment.  She will be serving for two years and will be teaching English.

May's Highlights

May 2010

Just 4 weeks left!

May was a month packed full with many school and dorm activities for our Liel family!

 



Kate's Birthday

We started out celebrating kate's (Han Seung's) birthday.  Kate is one of our 8th grade girls.  She is from Korea and her father is a dentist.  This was Kate's first year at BFA and her first experience as a dorm student.  Kate is known for her laugh and her screams!



We celebrated Kate's 16th birthday although her real birthday is not until later in June.

Sue and Lauren cooking up some special Asian dish in honor of Kate.

Ira, Aubry, and Laura

Birthday Games

 Waterballoon violence about to begin!

A new kind of volleyball using a tarp for tossing a water balloon over the net to the other team.  Hey, it worked great, try it!  Both teams have a tarp.

Water slide!

And if that is not enough fun, how about a water slide?  Incoming... Kate!

Sue's Small Group

Sue at the Junior-Senior Banquet with her group of Junior girls.

Sue has been working with these girls for two years.  They meet every Wednesday evening for Bible study, lively discussions, prayer, and have done lots of fun things together.  Her co-leader this year is Dani Jernigan. 

Here below they are enjoying a picnic at our place - the Liel dorm.

 

 Two of our eight grade girls, Laura & Priscilla, joined the High School track team this spring.

They are great athletes and good runners. 

Kjersty, the girl on the right in this picture was a Liel girl for two years.  She is now a senior.

For Hot Lunch Tuesday this week we had baked potatoes with all the toppings!

Middle School Banquet

 Here is Bob with all of his dorm girls plus "Jaz" (a girl who will be a Liel dorm girl next year).  Our Liel Kids really got dressed to the hilt for this affair

Sue and her Liel boys!