In Case You Missed It...

There was an article about STATS in last Saturday's Muskegon Chronicle!! You can read it by clicking here.
There are some great pictures as well! Way to go, STATS members and leaders!
A couple corrections:
*4 of the team leaders are teachers, not counselors.
*Jan Spoelman was part of a group that founded STATS. We are thankful she is still with the program and active in it today!
Thank you to the Chronicle for a great article and recognizing the importance of this program!

Mini-Retreat

Just over a week ago, our STATS teams came together for the first time since Retreat to show each other what skits they have come up with. Mini-retreat is a time in which the students also share who will be giving personal talks and what their topics are about and it is also a time of constructive criticism by all the team leaders, directors, and special guest, Kyle Warmington. This year we were on a time crunch during the actual day of mini-retreat so it was an intense two and a half hours. We are pleased to see how each team has come along, though, and look forward to final critiques when all has been sharpened and perfected!
This year at mini-retreat we also wished a very happy birthday to two of our fearless team leaders, Mrs. Westerhof and Mrs. Stapel, who celebrated birthdays that weekend. We appreciate their hard work and sacrificing time out of their birthday celebration weekends and family time to be with the STATS teams!

STATS Retreat 2010

We had a beautiful September day for our STATS retreat! This is a time when the peer educators are educated themselves on important information and tips for how to do a successful presentation. They also meet as teams for the first time and start putting together their creativity to write skits, songs and plan out who is giving a personal talk on what subject. It is a long day...but it is always a productive day and there is fun to be had!

Our fearless team leaders!!

We are thankful that Kyle Warmington from CURE International is gracious enough to provide help in skit development. He comes with his creative juices flowing and really gets the kids to think outside the box.

While the students do work hard during the day, that doesn't mean they don't have some time to play! There is an afternoon break in which we walk down to the beach and let them run their energy out. Some do things like dig holes...
...or play volleyball...

...swing...

...play with a giant frisbee...

...or hang out with friends...

before coming back inside to listen about the gross but true facts concerning STDs (sexually transmitted diseases.)


Thank you to Maranatha for providing us with the space to hold this retreat!

Our 2010 STATS Team!

We look forward to the coming year and all that it will bring with it!!