Seminary Award Plaques

When my older children attended Seminary and earned the Master Scriptorian Award, they were presented with these beautiful plaques.

Fast forward to the past 3 years when I became a Seminary teacher and wanted to find these plaques for my own students. It took some detective work, including THIS POST,  however, I eventually located the contact for ordering the plaques thanks to a fellow Seminary teacher who is a member of the LDSSeminaryTeacher Facebook Group.
Here is the information for ordering the plaques, with below photos directly from Barbara Williams, the contact person.

Barbara Williams
DCWill44@aol.com
931-223-5221
615-418-1967
Cost:
$9.75 per plaque plus shipping
Add to the cost:
1 line-  $2.10
2 lines-$3.10
3 lines-$4.10

MAKE SURE YOU ORDER 30 DAYS IN ADVANCE.

Each year has a design that compliments the course of study. The upper right hand corner is the Doctrine and Covenants-Church History design.

Below is a plaque I have not seen before, the Lamp of Knowledge

(Could be used for graduates)

Seminary Sacrament Meeting 2014

You are looking at an amazing group of young men and young women.

Last Sunday, we sang in Sacrament Meeting for both Wards in our building.

In addition to singing, I presented the students with their awards for

Attendance, Course Completion, Scripture Mastery, Book of Mormon Reading

We are missing a few students in the photos below, 

but this is the wonderful sight I get to see each morning at 6am.

For more details, click HERE

 They love being together, they love coordinating the colors they will wear when they sing, they just love life and I love them.

Seminary Awards

The entire class

 (minus 1 who was on vacation already)

 The Master Scriptorians...

This was my first year teaching Early Morning Seminary. I was called to teach this class in October after the year had already started.
The 24 students in my class were from the two wards that meet in our building.

Because I had been bringing my daughter to this Seminary class for a month before I was called, I knew that they did not have a smooth start to their Seminary year. I have had 3 sons graduate from Seminary and I know Seminary can be an amazing experience for the teacher and the students. From all observations, this was not looking like a positive experience for the teacher or the students.

As I began teaching, it was apparent that they had not had a consistently positive Seminary experience for several years. Eventually, I would learn that for my Seniors, they had four years of continuous changes in teachers, teachers who did not hold class regularly, and teachers who did not emphasize Scripture Mastery.
The fact that they continued to attend class speaks to the amazing youth that they are.

When I took over the class, they were about 1 month behind in the manual and not one Scripture Mastery verse had been introduced. As I worked with my class, it was clear that they had not received a solid introduction to the course of study, The New Testament, so I ended up going back to the beginning at some point during October. I realized I could not assume they had covered any material in the manual.
Incredibly, we got through the New Testament. We had to race through the last books and we did not get to study Revelation in any depth, but we accomplished far more than just getting  through a manual.

Both Bishops told me to be prepared for my class size to get smaller as the year progressed. They told me it is "normal" for the class to have about 20-25 students at the beginning of the year and to end with about 5-6.  To me, this is not "normal" and I was determined to see this change and I was willing to do the work.

With this in mind, I set some goals for this year (not necessarily in this order):

• Finish the year no matter how difficult it became
• Introduce and emphasize Scripture Mastery
• Require each student to have his/her own set of scriptures, to mark the Scripture Mastery verses, and to have their scriptures in class each day.
• Each student needed to learn how to use an actual set of scriptures (paper) No electronic scriptures, etc. No electronics during class at all. 
• Teach how to scripture chase.
• Create an environment that would encourage a love for the Savior, the Scriptures, and the Gospel
• Start on time-even if only 2 people were in their seats
• Make sure the tables and chairs are set up on Sunday for the week.
• Never have my students arrive to a harried teacher who is setting up tables and chairs just to get the day going. (I arrived between 5:40 and 5:45 every day)
• Have the hymns playing on a CD as the students arrive each day.
• Get to know each of my students and their parents (this was a challenge as half of them are in another ward and some of the parents do not speak much English) I would step out of our meetings to go find my students and their parents each week until I had met them all. Now they are dear friends.
• Prepare and teach in a manner that my students would know that I love them and the Savior, Jesus Christ.
• Raise the bar for daily class devotionals and require everyone to participate. If they were late, they gave a closing devotional. If they were absent, they gave their devotional the day they returned, even if there was another one, also.
• Use several different teaching methods every day. Keep them interested and guessing what may come next.
• Offer Awards that each student was capable of obtaining.
• Present these Awards at the end of the school year during a Seminary Sacrament Meeting. (Recognizing their efforts in front of their parents, peers, and ward members was a beautiful experience.) You can read more about our Seminary Sacrament Meeting by scrolling down a few posts.

Here are the Awards my students could earn:

Course Completion

Everyone received this, which was what I had hoped for. When we had the Seminary Sacrament Meeting-everyone received at least one award. It was so important for my students to taste and feel success in a gospel setting.

Reading 

• Read the entire New Testament (The Completion of The New Testament Award)
• Read the 4 Gospels (The 4 Gospels Award)
• Read for 10 minutes per day for at least 30 days in a row (Consecutive Days Reading Award)

Scripture Mastery

• Scripture Scholar- Explain the meaning of each Scripture Mastery verse to me any time during the year
• Scriptorian-Memorize all 25 Scripture Mastery verses and recite them to me as you memorize them during the year
• Master Scriptorian- Memorize all 25 Scriptures and recite them all in one sitting

Attendance:

• Excellent Attendance 90% or above
• Superior Attendance 95% or above
• Perfect Attendance 100%

(All of them received an Attendance Award of some type. Six of my students received perfect attendance)

The students may make up days that they miss for illness or school/family travel or days they miss due to no control of their own (car trouble, ride issues, etc). They may not make up days that they miss due to "just wanting to sleep"

I found some nice wood  award plaques at Deseret Book that fit a half page size award inside under the plexi-glass. I think they are made by Sounds of Zion and can be ordered on-line. They were $10.50 in the store at Deseret Book.

If you look at the photo of my students with the awards, you can see what they look like.

I printed the awards on parchment paper and put a gold notary seal on them.

I will tweak these awards for The upcoming Book of Mormon year once I have a solid plan. Right now, I am trying to enjoy summer, yet I am finding that I suffer from "Seminary Teacher's Brain"...it is nearly impossible to turn off Seminary thoughts completely. Not such a bad thing, but I do need to accomplish a few summer projects that are not Seminary related.

Do you suffer from "Seminary Teacher's Brain"?

What type of awards do your students earn?

Seminary Graduation and The End of The Year

12 more days to teach Seminary this year (but who is counting???)
What traditions or ideas do you have for end of the year and Seminary graduation?
Although the focus is always Jesus Christ and His teachings, I feel it is important to end on a note that reminds the students of what we learned all year as well as congratulate them for all their hard work.
The reality is, my students are in class at 6am every school day, which means most of them are out the door long before most of their peers are even awake. This is, indeed, something to celebrate.
Early morning Seminary students make a huge sacrifice to attend Seminary and I know they are blessed for this effort. It is a large piece of their armor of God and I know Seminary protects them spiritually and physically.
With this in mind, I will share a few of my plans for winding up the year.
I am combining a tradition from our former area, Wellington Ward, and adding a few new ideas.

Stake Level:

• Last weekend, we had a Seminary Scripture Bowl, Fireside, Dinner, and Dance. It sounds like a lot was packed in to one night and it was, but it was a wonderful way to bring all the Seminary students together to celebrate a great year.
• This Sunday, our Stake is hosting a formal Seminary Graduation. The Seniors will receive their diplomas and one Senior from each Ward will speak.

On a Ward level:
1) Graduation Breakfast:

• Students, 8th graders, Parents and Leaders are invited. 
• In addition to tables for the invited guests, 
• 4 tables will be set up and decorated specifically for students.
• Simple graduation decorations will be used, with a little more detail given to the Seniors' table. I have some cute little graduation hats for the Seniors to wear.
• Students will sit by class (Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior)
• As we finish eating, students will have the opportunity to express their feelings about the Seminary year, the scriptures, etc.
• I am preparing a slide show that will run while we are eating. It contains all the photos from our year together.
• At the end of breakfast, everyone will be advanced (graduated) to the next level. 8th graders are invited to sit at the Freshman table, Freshmen will move to the Sophomore table, etc. SENIORS are walked out the door and handed their set of scriptures, journals, and any other class supplies that are theirs. (Thank you to my boys' Seminary teacher, Kate Estey, for this idea-it was a fun tradition for many years in Wellington Seminary)

2) Seminary Sacrament Meeting:

• I have arranged with both Bishops in our building (my students come from the 2 wards that meet in our building) to have a Seminary Sacrament Meeting. My students will attend both wards on that day.
• Our class is  scheduled to sing "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" (we are practicing it in English and Spanish
• The Seniors (5 of them) are invited to speak. Their assigned topics are taken from Seminary Scripture Mastery scriptures
• All students will be recognized for their efforts in attendance and reading. Scriptorian and Master Scriptorian awards will be presented. ( I found plaques for Scriptorian and Master Scriptorian Awards-not as fancy as the ones I have been looking for, but these are nice)
• This will provide an opportunity for parents and ward members to hear and see the blessings of Seminary.
• On this day, I will also hold a brief Seminary Pre-registration meeting for parents. I will give an overview of what the Seminary year will be like and ask them to make sure their student has a set of scriptures to use for Seminary class next year. Since I did not start the year with this class, I never had the opportunity to set a few basics in motion, such as each student needs a set of their own scriptures (I know...basic, but it was hard to come in and set that in motion mid-year)

Please share any other ideas you have for end of year, graduation, summer preparation, etc. 

I am going to miss these kids and the beautiful spirit I have with me as I am immersed in the scriptures.

The 4:35am alarm...not so much.

Happy Teaching!