Newton Christian School hosts Community Servants Day

Students at Newton Christian School are taught spelling and science similarly to students in any school across the country, but there’s more to the Christian school’s curriculum.

Principal Mary Patterson said part of the kids’ education is learning how to serve their community and be good citizens.

In an effort to build connections, the school hosted a Community Servants Day on Friday, and area leaders met with students to answer questions and discuss community service.

Students were organized into seven teams of 12-14 members. Each group met with one or more community leaders. Newton Mayor Mike Hansen, Sen. Chaz Allen, Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Amanda Price, Police Chief Rob Burdess, Fire Marshal Mike Knoll and others were present for the gathering.

“If the whole city goes into anarchy, it’s because all your leaders are here,” Patterson joked.

Newton Christian School has students from kindergarten through eighth grade. Student council members from the upper-grade levels led the meetings with local leaders. Throughout the year, each team of students meets six or seven times, and groups brainstorm ways to encourage community servants.

“In the fall, they decorated cupcakes and made thank-you posters,” Patterson said. “At Christmas, they made some Christmas decorations, where they wrote encouraging things on them and signed cards.”

In the classrooms, community servants connected with the students. Mayor Hansen asked his group about ways they had thought about serving the community. Students responded with examples of being a police officer or being a doctor.

Down the hall, Newton police officers discussed the challenges of their service to the community and talked about the department’s canine, Smokey, who balances work and play. A couple doors over, Sen. Allen answered questions from curious students.

“The kids were all attentive and wanted to ask questions,” Allen said. “We went around for 30 minutes, and they never ran out of questions. It was a lot of fun.”

Patterson, who is in her sixth year as principal at the school, has seen student enrollment nearly double during her time there. She said Newton Christian School is not trying to compete with home schooling or public schools but just offering a different philosophy of education. She said she is glad to serve the people who want this kind of education for their children.

Contact Justin Jagler at 641-792-3121 ext 6532 or jjagler@newtondailynews.com