Westlake Village, CA (PRWEB) July 30, 2014 -- Samantha Farinacci, Oaks Christian Online High School’s (OCO) Bible teacher and Spiritual Life advisor, has created two senior Bible courses to be launched this school year. Bible 4 and Bible Senior Seminar are new courses in a series of Bible classes that all OCO full-time, online students participate in. The new Bible 4 course examines the kinds and the ways that Christians think about things. Through discussion topics on such things as suffering, the historical objections to the church, how God is showing up in the world today, and pre-modernism, modernism and post-modernism, students find many ways to talk about and experience Christian world views. The second new online high school course, Bible Senior Seminar, is the first elective course in the Bible curriculum. This course gives students choice and options while reflecting on faith in culture and then choosing among book options and assignments. Topics in the course range from social justice and basic theology to a loving relationship with God and other people. Both courses are highly interactive, accessible and foster real, accountable, high-level reflection. As culminating, capstone courses, Mrs. Farinacci also gets to see students reflect on previous courses in the Bible series. Mrs. Farinacci says, “You wouldn’t believe how much the students grow each year. The courses also level the playing field, as all students can participate – from those who come in knowing Christian ideals to those that have no history with the Bible.”
Samantha Farinacci holds a Master of Arts in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary and has been in youth ministry as well as a teacher at the elementary, high school and college levels. Mrs. Farinacci has been with OCO for three years and uses the online high school courses as a springboard to real spiritual reflections by asking students to step away from their computers to complete activities and by steering them away from rote responses through carefully crafted discussion questions. She says, “It has been a blessing to write and then to teach these courses - to imagine the dialogue and then to see them experience it.”
The mission of the Oaks Christian School, in Westlake Village, CA, and its online high school counterpart is ‘To dedicate ourselves to Christ in the pursuit of academic excellence, artistic expression, and athletic distinction, while growing in knowledge and wisdom through God’s abundant grace.’ The online school has student athletes, student actors, students wanting to excel or accelerate, and homeschool students from all over the world. This summer, students participated in Bible 4 from three different states as well as other countries. These new courses exemplify and foster the school’s mission and carry that mission to students outside the main-campus’s geographical boundaries.
The main campus of Oaks Christian School in Westlake Village, CA opened in the fall of 2000 and Oaks Christian Online School (OCO) opened for full-time, online students in the fall of 2011. The online high school provides a rigorous, accredited, NCAA approved, college-preparatory education for high school students all around the world in a Christian environment. Oaks Christian Online School continues to enroll part-time and full-time students throughout the school year and regularly hosts information sessions on its main campus – 31749 La Tienda Drive, Westlake Village, CA 91362, as well as virtual information sessions for prospective student families. Interested students can visit the website http://online.oakschristian.org to R.S.V.P.
Vicki Conway, Oaks Christian Online School, http://online.oakschristian.org, +1 (818) 665-2094, [email protected]
Share this article