Thrown to the Lions and Whales

Permanent Bahá’í schools play an important role in empowering young people to contribute to the core activities of the Five Year Plan. This report from Louhelen Bahá’í School in Davison, MI (C) shows how accompaniment and encouragement helped give one youth the confidence to serve as a children’s class teacher and as an animator of junior youth groups.

A recent high school graduate decided to offer service at Louhelen Bahá’í School for a few months, hoping to deepen her Faith before starting college. The experience surprised her. The very first day, she was thrown to the “Lions and Whales” as a teacher in the local community children’s class of that name. She had never taught children’s classes before, and, by her own admission, had always been afraid to try. With the support of her co-teachers and weekly practice, she reports, “I finally got over my fears and found that it was rewarding helping the children.

Later, she participated in training at Louhelen for animators of junior youth groups. She learned new games and songs and found the facilitators excellent. She described the program as “the best four days of my life”.

As a result of her experience at Louhelen, She is now better prepared to serve her community when she returns home and support the activities of the Five Year Plan.

Office of Education and Schools