My name is Dean Barrett. It has been my privilege to serve as the sixth grade teacher at the Green Campus of Chapel Hill Christian School since the fall of 1978. I graduated from Asbury College in 1978 with a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education. My wife, Susan, and I have been married since 1979. We have two children. Our son, Jarrod, graduated from Chapel Hill Christian School in 1998. Our daughter, Amanda, graduated from Chapel Hill Christian School in 2000. Susan and I are thankful that both of our children had the opportunity to be nurtured and loved by their teachers while at Chapel Hill.

The Lord truly has blessed me with the opportunity to work with sixth graders and their families during my years at Chapel Hill. Sixth graders are a neat group of young people. I love working with them. It has always been my goal to help my students grow academically, emotionally and spiritually. I also love being their friend. Over the years, I have always tried to be involved with my students in as many ways as I can. We have a great time in sixth grade.

I am committed to working to develop the minds and hearts of the children entrusted to my classroom during their sixth grade year at Chapel Hill Christian School-Green Campus. It is a wonderful experience to partner with your family and church in raising your children during very important years of their lives.

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Sixth graders are a special group of young people. Most of them are experiencing those wonderful pre-teen years. I find that sixth graders have reached a certain degree of independence, but they also realize that they depend on adult leadership to continue to help them to develop academically, socially and emotionally, and spiritually.

I am amazed at the insightfulness of my sixth grade students. Our class discussions concerning current events and real life issues are special times in my class. My sixth graders are great helpers and good citizens in our school. I have found them to be responsible with school jobs that help make our school run smoothly and efficiently. Sixth graders love to work on school projects. Their presentations to their classmates are exciting and fun to watch.

Another fun time for sixth graders is their after lunch recess. They love their times of physical activity. Probably the most heart touching aspect of my sixth grade students is how they show care and compassion for people. We have prayer time in class where we bring before the Lord special people and situations that are dear to the lives of the sixth graders. What a blessing I have received from the Lord over the years working with the sixth grade students at Chapel Hill Christian School.

Some of the major events for sixth graders to enjoy include field trips to the Akron Fossil and Science Center, a spider and insect search fieldtrip to Mr. Barrett's Wilderness, a trip to Hale Farm and Village, and a three-day, two night Outdoor Education experience at Beulah Beach in Vermillion, Ohio.

Also, I enjoy taking my students off campus for trips other than "educational fieldtrips". These trips include a trip to Judgment House at Norton Grace Church in October, a trip to Brandywine for tubing in the winter, a trip to watch the Akron Aeros at Canal Park in the spring, and a trip to Cedar Point on the last day of school. These are just some of the events that our sixth graders are able to enjoy during their last year at Chapel Hill.

Students will work on projects related to our subject matter we study in class. They will sometimes work on an individual basis or other projects will be group projects. Most of these projects will include research in matters of science and social studies. There will be written papers involved with most projects. Also, most of the projects will be in the form of a presentation to classmates in sixth grade as well as presentations made to students in our younger grades.

My students will prepare book reports. These book reports will range from written to oral book reports as well as other creative means of presenting a book report. One such report involves a "shopping bag book report".

I also like for my students to be able to prepare research papers. These range in size from what I call mini-research projects that would require a student to prepare a one to two page paper to larger research projects involving papers four to five pages in length.

• www.funbrain.com
• www.coolmath.com
• www.ars.usda.gov/is/kids
• kids.msfc.nasa.gov
• www.timefprkids.com/TFK/