So, I thought I'd take today to share with you guys a little bit more about what I do at PSOTA. You can read my title of Assistant Director of the Proskuneo School of the Arts, but that doesn't tell you much. Most of you know that my job means that I work in Clarkston and that I get to raise support through ministry partners, but you don't really know much else. I figured the best way to tell you guys would be just to tell you about my day today.
2:00PM- I arrived a few minutes early to set my stuff down and then it was time for Staff Meeting. We like to make the most of our time together as a staff, so staff meetings always have a purpose. Some days the meeting is a time for us to pray, worship, and study God's word together; this is one of my favorite parts of my job. Most days we have to spend the meetings focusing on business, and that was the type of meeting that we had today. This summer is pretty crazy for Proskuneo, we have PWI (our summer worship institure), and the school of the arts is hosting 8 weeks of summer arts camp. That is in addition to our weekly lessons, classes, and youth nights at PSOTA, as well as all of the other Proskuneo work that continues through the summer. The majority of the meeting was talking about training the summer camp teams, PWI plans, and to do lists for the staff members.
3:30PM- The meeting was adjourned and we all went to work. I started by finalizing the flyers and sign up for our bi-annual festivals at PSOTA (basically our versions of recitals). I designed the fliers earlier last week, but I had to make edits, print them out, and hang them up around the school. After those fliers were complete I went to work on the fliers for the Arts Camp. Have you ever designed an eye catching flier advertising a music and art camp for grades K5-12th? It has to be professional enough for parents to want to sign their kids up, but fun enough for kids to actually want to go, but not too childish so that teens won't want to go. Easy right? You'd be surprised how important the design of a flyer can be.
4:00PM- It's time to play, "Let's Pick a Theme!" Each month I pick a theme that the students will learn about, this month's theme is Joy. Once I pick the theme, I pick a Bible verse and quote for the students to memorize. It has to be a clear theme, verse, and quote that would makes sense if your first language was not English.
4:30PM- Time to check in with the parents, students, and teachers. We have lessons at PSOTA from 2pm-7pm on Monday's. I go over in the middle of the day to check in and build relationships with a our parents and students. This is another favorite part of my job, the conversations that I get to have and the relationships I get to build are just the best.
5:00PM- Time for attendance and the weekly grind. This is pretty straight forward, I keep track of which students and teachers come to their lessons and we follow up with the ones that don't.
5:15PM- Since we have teams coming all summer it is important that we give them some materials and ideas for the summer. I worked on uploading CD's of multicultural music to our google drive and labeling them so we can share them as resources with all of our teams.
5:30PM- It was time to get to work a secret thank you's. I don't wanna say too much about it, but it involves stamping and addressing lots of envelopes, and hand writing many a thank you note. This part of my job is another favorite. It means the world to me that people support our ministry, and I'll write a thousand thank you notes to show people that we are beyond grateful for them and their support.
6:00PM- Time to prep the Bible Study for Saturday. We are currently finished with the earlier parts of the Old Testament and have entered the book of Psalms. The Bible studies have to be able to be taught in 5-10 minutes, they have to include a reading, question/discussion, and prayer section. Each study has to work for 5-89 year olds, boys and girls, people who speak English and people who don't, and people from all over the world. Easy, right?
6:15PM- The end of the day means it is time to check in the money that students paid for classes.
6:30PM- It's almost quitting time, but first it's time to start closing up empty class rooms, cleaning up the art room so it is ready for Saturday, changing trash cans, cleaning out the coffee makers, and putting music books away.
So, that is what my Monday afternoon at PSOTA looked like. This is very different from my Saturday's at PSOTA, but it is a side of my job that most people don't see. I love getting to do what I do, and I love that I have amazing people who support me. My current goal is to raise full support by the time Amelia Wilder makes her grand appearance. If you guys are interested in supporting me financially, check out: proskuneo.org/get-involved/give just click the donate button and select my name in the drop down menu. If you guys have any questions or would like to talk more about what I do or how you can be involved please don't hesitate to reach out to me.
2:00PM- I arrived a few minutes early to set my stuff down and then it was time for Staff Meeting. We like to make the most of our time together as a staff, so staff meetings always have a purpose. Some days the meeting is a time for us to pray, worship, and study God's word together; this is one of my favorite parts of my job. Most days we have to spend the meetings focusing on business, and that was the type of meeting that we had today. This summer is pretty crazy for Proskuneo, we have PWI (our summer worship institure), and the school of the arts is hosting 8 weeks of summer arts camp. That is in addition to our weekly lessons, classes, and youth nights at PSOTA, as well as all of the other Proskuneo work that continues through the summer. The majority of the meeting was talking about training the summer camp teams, PWI plans, and to do lists for the staff members.
3:30PM- The meeting was adjourned and we all went to work. I started by finalizing the flyers and sign up for our bi-annual festivals at PSOTA (basically our versions of recitals). I designed the fliers earlier last week, but I had to make edits, print them out, and hang them up around the school. After those fliers were complete I went to work on the fliers for the Arts Camp. Have you ever designed an eye catching flier advertising a music and art camp for grades K5-12th? It has to be professional enough for parents to want to sign their kids up, but fun enough for kids to actually want to go, but not too childish so that teens won't want to go. Easy right? You'd be surprised how important the design of a flyer can be.
4:00PM- It's time to play, "Let's Pick a Theme!" Each month I pick a theme that the students will learn about, this month's theme is Joy. Once I pick the theme, I pick a Bible verse and quote for the students to memorize. It has to be a clear theme, verse, and quote that would makes sense if your first language was not English.
4:30PM- Time to check in with the parents, students, and teachers. We have lessons at PSOTA from 2pm-7pm on Monday's. I go over in the middle of the day to check in and build relationships with a our parents and students. This is another favorite part of my job, the conversations that I get to have and the relationships I get to build are just the best.
5:00PM- Time for attendance and the weekly grind. This is pretty straight forward, I keep track of which students and teachers come to their lessons and we follow up with the ones that don't.
5:15PM- Since we have teams coming all summer it is important that we give them some materials and ideas for the summer. I worked on uploading CD's of multicultural music to our google drive and labeling them so we can share them as resources with all of our teams.
5:30PM- It was time to get to work a secret thank you's. I don't wanna say too much about it, but it involves stamping and addressing lots of envelopes, and hand writing many a thank you note. This part of my job is another favorite. It means the world to me that people support our ministry, and I'll write a thousand thank you notes to show people that we are beyond grateful for them and their support.
6:00PM- Time to prep the Bible Study for Saturday. We are currently finished with the earlier parts of the Old Testament and have entered the book of Psalms. The Bible studies have to be able to be taught in 5-10 minutes, they have to include a reading, question/discussion, and prayer section. Each study has to work for 5-89 year olds, boys and girls, people who speak English and people who don't, and people from all over the world. Easy, right?
6:15PM- The end of the day means it is time to check in the money that students paid for classes.
6:30PM- It's almost quitting time, but first it's time to start closing up empty class rooms, cleaning up the art room so it is ready for Saturday, changing trash cans, cleaning out the coffee makers, and putting music books away.
So, that is what my Monday afternoon at PSOTA looked like. This is very different from my Saturday's at PSOTA, but it is a side of my job that most people don't see. I love getting to do what I do, and I love that I have amazing people who support me. My current goal is to raise full support by the time Amelia Wilder makes her grand appearance. If you guys are interested in supporting me financially, check out: proskuneo.org/get-involved/give just click the donate button and select my name in the drop down menu. If you guys have any questions or would like to talk more about what I do or how you can be involved please don't hesitate to reach out to me.