By Heather Jensen Weekend Anchor/Reporter
News 3 On Your Side
The bible has made its way into the classroom.News 3 On Your Side
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Stumble It!Muscogee County is one of the first school districts in Georgia to adopt and implement a "Bible as Literature" course.
From board games to television shows, even prophet puppets, the course is designed to show biblical influence on history, society, and culture.
“I like it,” says Clinton Robertson, a junior at Northside High School. “It’s not like we're studying the bible. We’re making it fun like studying it as literature or a book.”
The bible is one of the required textbooks for the course. But there is also supplemental text. And because the course is an elective, any student can choose to take the course regardless of bible knowledge.
“I knew a good bit, but not too much about the Old Testament stories,” says senior Lauren Ninke.
Northside High School teacher Lisa Brinker is one of several teachers in the district trained to teach the course. She understands this class requires a different approach as an academic, not a devotional, course.
“There are factual quizzes and that kind of stuff,” she says. “The projects count a lot.”
Brinker's students seem to enjoy the course, and its extended benefits.
“It’s really helping me in my A.P. (Advanced Placement) classes because a lot of the stories are extremely biblical illusion-based,” Ninke says.
“I pay attention to art and I notice a lot of art has biblical influence on it,” Robertson adds.
So far, having the bible in the classroom has been successful as an educational tool, at least for one Muscogee County classroom.
“You don't have to believe to know that it's an influence,” Brinker says.
Note:
Not every Muscogee County school has a bible class. About four schools did not have enough enrollments to hold the class this semester. However, Cassandra Reynolds with the district's secondary education department says the course will continue to be offered at all schools, and will be held if there are enough students for a class.
