Every year when Bethany students come back to school after Christmas break they experience something completely different from most schools. J-Term, also known as January-Term, for high school students (9th-11th graders) is about have one class a day for the two weeks.
Teachers introduce the J-Terms they will be leading and teaching in mid-September. This year there are seven J-Term options; Imagineering with Benji Hurst, Koinonia Farm with John Mast and KP, Geography and History of Baseball with Brent Reinhardt, Ukulele Choir with Dale Shenk, Appalachian Sojourn with Sherry Good, Civil Rights & MDS with Eric Kauffman, and Bicycle Touring with Josh Weaver and Michael Yeakey.
Almost all of the J-Terms will be traveling this year which makes them more appealing to many students. However if some students would rather stay in the area more, there is still an an option.
Imagineering was a clear top choice. This group of students will be going to Disney World in Florida. According to Ronit Goswami (‘18) “I wanted to go to Disney World and learn more about design. Plus Benji is hilarious.” and as Jackson King (‘17) said, “Because I have an interest in visual effects and design.” Many students though just hoped to be in this J-Term because they wanted to go to Disney World.
The second choice was Koinonia Farm and going to Georgia for the second week. Elaina Youngberg (‘18) stated that she wanted to go because she enjoyed the idea of, “the hanging out together and getting to know each other,” and “The traveling was a plus.” Adele Schloneger (‘19) said “It sounded fun and a good experience because you would get to know a lot of people.”
The Ukulele Choir and Geography and History of Baseball are the top two choices if you wanted to stay around Goshen the second week of J-term. Steven Horsch is excited about Ukulele Choir because he wants, “to try a new experience with an instrument. My family plays a lot of stringed instruments like guitar or banjo and I would like to try to learn a stringed instrument.”
Civil Rights & MDS and Bicycle Touring are also two great options. Eric Kauffman’s Civil Rights & MDS group will be traveling to a location that is still to be determined by MDS (Mennonite Disaster Service) as well as learning about civil rights for their two weeks. Bicycle Touring with Josh Weaver and Michael Yeakey won’t be traveling until the beginning of June. However, they also get an extra week of Christmas Break before coming back and learning how to pack and many other essentials for the trip. Tarynn Clark (‘18) is excited for the trip because it seemed, “like a fun learning experience.”
Last but not least was Appalachian Sojourn with Sherry Good. Students will travel to West Virginia to do service for a week. “I feel like being away from electronics and helping others can help me focus on the world and the people in it,” says Shelby Rahe who is certainly looking forward to this J-Term. She also wrote, “I care to[o] much about what people think and its all about me….The world contains all these beautiful people that have no home, no food, no money, and no clothes. I would like to live in a world where everyone’s needs are satisfied.”
While not everybody was able to get their top choice of J-Term class, almost everybody is excited about the choices they had. While not everyone gets into the J-Term they wanted, students have a good two weeks with no regular classes.
~Carissa Woolace