Berean
Christian School is a private K-12 school in Knoxville, TN. Berean is your typical private school in many ways: all students are required to wear those ugly uncomfortable uniforms and there are many rules. No gum. No PDA. No untucked shirts (seriously).
Other than the rules and uniforms and whatnot, Berean is unlike any other private (or public) school. Because the
high school has little over 100 students, it’s a family. The lunchroom (yes, lunchroom, there’s no cafeteria) is home to two refrigerators, one for the boys' lunches and one for the girls'.
Gender segregation, you say? Believe me, it's for good reason. The ladies' fridge is clean and bright...while the guys' is moldy and smells like
death.
Each Monday morning the entire
high school gathers for family council, a time for everyone to share announcements and, occasionally, sort through the lost-and-found bin and return all the unclaimed items to their mortified owners.
Daily
life at Berean is completely unpredictable. One
day, your Spanish class
will be pulling pranks on the teacher (hiding behind the door and, upon her entrance, pelting her with plastic vegetables!) or competing in "review games" (running around the building chanting world capitals) or playing hide-and-go-seek in calculus. Luckily, all (or most) of the teachers are very laid-back, and while they demand good work they also enjoy a good joke or two. In fact, most students
will tell you that the community at Berean is what makes it worthwhile.
Berean
Christian School Student #1: "Oh no, I forgot to wear a belt today!"
Berean
Christian School Student #2: "Best go grab one out of the lost-and-found before a teacher gives you a detention!"
Berean
Christian School Student: "Oh man, I have so much homework today!"
Public School Student: "Me too man. I have to write some papers and stuff. What do you have to do?"
Berean Christian School Student: "I have to write some papers and stuff, film a 30 minute movie about the constitution, memorize a whole book of the Bible, and sew a giant stuffed mole for my chemistry class!"
