Core

A kindergartner records her voice for the shine line

Core Formation is a series of intentional, focused opportunities for students to engage their head, heart, and hands that will shape how they relate to God, to others, and to their own selves over the course of their lives.

Our Core specialist class is a unique offering that provides students with smaller, bite-sized learning experiences that culminate in a larger project.  Each grade level focuses on a different project and students build a number of skills as they learn from experts, conduct research, launch their projects, and see how their work can profoundly impact others.

Projects in the Core class are designed to help students integrate our core values in practical ways:

  • Faith Formation // Distinctively Christian
  • Academic Formation // Exceptional Academics
  • Vocational Formation // Cultivating Potential
  • Community Formation // Caring Community

Who is your child becoming?
What values do you want to see nurtured in their hearts?
How do you hope they engage with the world around them?
What does it look like to partner with them in the formation of their selves?

Core Class in Action

Click through the photos and read about the various ways each grade is engaging with incredible learning in Core.
Three students hold up shine line buttons
Kindergarten: Learn to Love, Love to Learn

Kindergartners work on projects meant to bless the members of the Minnehaha community while practicing their growing skills as a learner. One of their recent projects was the Shine Line, a special call-in service for encouragement. Students recorded themselves sharing a scripture, word of encouragement, or prayer. Community members can call in each week to hear a new message to brighten their day. People from all over the US and Canada have been blessed by the Shine Line and have left messages of thanks for our kindergartners.

First graders do a traditional dance.
First Grade: The Whole World in His Hands

First graders focus on how to bless others in their school, their city, their state, their country, and in the world. A recent project focus was learning about Ukraine and finding ways to bless the incoming Ukrainian refugee community as well as raise support for a school still operating in Ukraine. This included guest speakers, a coat drive and fundraiser, Ukrainian culture and dance classes, and leading a Lower School Ukrainian day to teach other students what they learned.

A girl sells Kindness Grams to a fellow student
Second Grade: Kindness in Common

Second graders focus on practical ways to show kindness. This past year, students created a traveling Kindness Cafe where they offered hot cocoa and practiced eye contact, warm smiles, and kind words. They photographed examples of kindness and created a display with their work. They also operated a "Kindness Grams" service. Finally, they worked with a publishing company to publish their book, Kindness Is: 265 Ways to Show Kindness. 

Third graders learn about filming a documentary.
Third Grade: Faithful Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Third graders step into the role of historian and documentarian as they explore the unique history of our school. They meet with our school archivist and producers at Film North in preparation for their project, write, direct and film a documentary, and then proudly attend the premiere with their families at the Riverview Theater! The project helps students see evidence of God at work, recognizing his hand both in an institution and in individual lives.

Watch the Documentaries

A student interviews a member of the community.
Fifth Grade: Welcoming the Stranger

Fifth graders learn to express God's love through relationships in unexpected places, and to see opportunities to build community with people they may not have otherwise connected with. Recently, Minnehaha parent Eden Habtes spoke with students about immigrating from Eritrea. She suggested questions they could ask someone who might be new to the country and shared how it feels to be welcomed in and brought into the community. Students used resources provided by the Minnesota Historical Society to develop interview skills and invited people from the Minnehaha community to share their stories. 

Breaking Down the Class

Our Core specialist class is rich with opportunity for students to learn from experts, lead projects, experience different roles in a group, and create a final product that they are thrilled to share with others. The class weaves multiple disciplines together with our core values and it can be a challenge to convey the deep connections that happen throughout the year. Here's an example of our fourth grade Core class, broken down into its various parts, although this doesn't cover all of the meaningful work that happens throughout the year in the class. 

The ultimate goal is this: The formation of the mind, the heart, and the potential of each student. We long to see God's truth and light shine through them as they discover more about the world and the unique calling He has for each life.

Students perform their accessible theater production

Fourth Grade: Theater for All

The Goal: Learn how to make art spaces more inclusive for all kinds of learners and ages, and understand how doing so is a way to demonstrate God's love.

The Research: Students learned about the challenges various individuals in the disability community face when engaging with the arts. This includes everything from sensory overwhelm to physical access to the art. They then learned how medical professionals and experts in child development work with theaters in the Twin Cities to support different learners.

Expert Advisors: Upper School art teacher Mr. Stromberg took the students on a behind-the-scenes tour of the theatre department. He described what goes into designing a set and props for a theatre production and students had the opportunity to ask questions and learn from an expert as they began work on their own production.

Field Work: Each class had the opportunity to work on a play that would be appropriate in length and interest for kindergarten and preschool audiences. Students took what they learned over the course of the year and workshopped the play to be more accessible to those with a variety of sensory and other challenges.

The Final Project: Fourth graders put on their own theatrical performances, Spookley the Square Pumpkin and The Mitten. Students wrote their own scripts for the plays based on two books they read. This was a truly student-run production, with fourth graders actively working as directors, sound operators, script writers, and, of course, actors. They adjusted lighting and sound, included some sign language, and created easy exits for anyone who felt overwhelmed.

This experience helped me see that it's important to listen to others and their ideas and figure out how to include some of my vision as well as the vision of others.
-Milena, Grade 4 Co-Director & Co-Script Writer

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