Nick Kronemeyer

Context Unit Plan

Grand Rapids Christian High School

There is a wide variety of learners at Grand Rapids Christian. This is a very helpful for me,
because I get to experience some things I have not seen yet during my other aiding experiences or at
my old high school. In my PE/Health classroom there are an average of about 25 students per class. I
participate in 5 different classes throughout the week, with the smallest being 18 and the largest being
just under 30. I really enjoy this class size because with this number of students, it seems like its just
enough to keep the days fresh with different student interaction, but it is not to much where you can no
longer handle the size of the class. Mr. G's classes are 9-12, so I get to experience every grade level. Of
the 5 classes I participate in, 3 of them are freshman classes so that is where I have been learning the
most. At Grand Rapids Christian they do not divide their PE and Health classes by gender. Every class
is Co-ed, including things like the Tae-kwon Do class I am a part of. English is easily the most common
language in the school, however it is a very diverse school so we have students in class that are just
learning English or still working on speaking english fluently. The students in my class, are mostly
coming from well of, high middle class families. Grand Rapids Christian charges a tuition fee, and my
teacher talks about it often how most students in the school come from a okay family situation.
Students have chapel every Tuesday and we meet as a small group for 20 minutes after chapel. The
small groups are a random combination of students anywhere from 9-12 grade who were assigned to
Mr. G. Students seem to really enjoy chapel, and participate in the small groups much more then I

would have expected. One unique thing that I noticed in our freshman classes was the nutrition project
that was due last week. Only two people out of the three freshman classes did not hand their project in
on time. That was pretty remarkable to me, as I figured being a pretty big project for a gym class, kids
would have had a different mindset. My unit will be taught to every grade level and every class I teach.
Grand Rapids Christian is a high school, with only one campus that has students from 9th
through 12th grade. It is a private Christian school and according to the schools website (2011) was
named an Exemplary Secondary School by the United States Department of Education. It is widely
recognized for its excellent academics, quality fine arts programs, outstanding athletics and culture of
faith. According to IES.com, there are 947 kids in the school. The mission statement of the school
states the school prepares students to be effective servants of Christ in contemporary society. The
students attend chapel that includes the entire school every Tuesday. Chapel usually consists of a guest
speaker, or just singing praises and typically lasts around 40 minutes each time. I had a conversation
with the principal and he told me that one thing he undeniably believes in is the fact that chapel has an
impact on the students. He said I want chapel to be something that they look forward to going to,
something that they will take a important lesson from every time and apply it to their life. The male
principal was enjoying his second year at Grand Hill Christian; he had just come from Byron Center, a
public high school. He informed me that the biggest difference with the change in schooling systems
was the staff. He felt the staff was more led by christianity at Grand Hill Christian and that the teachers
had more freedom to teach in their own unique way because there was not state guidelines that was
hovering over their shoulders as teachers. He believed that because of this teachers enjoyed teaching
more because they could do it their own way and have fun with it without feeling pressure.
The surrounding neighborhood of the school is very interesting. Mr.G had told me that half of
the students that attended the High School historically do not live within 8 miles of the school. His
explanation for this was that kids from all over west Michigan come to get a christian education from
GRCH because it is nationally recognized for being a great Christian education. If parents valued a

christian education there was no place better, so parents were willing to sacrifice. As a result of this
many of the students in the school were not living in the neighborhood that the school fell in. However,
the neighborhood according to National Center for Educational Statistics (2013), was predominately
white at 72 percent. Followed by: African Americans at 14 percent and Asians at 8 percent. Also
according to the National Center for Education Statistics (2013), the average household income of the
neighborhood was just over 20,000. This is evidence that not many kids live in the neighborhood that
attend the school because there is a tuition fee at the school of 7,000 dollars a year. Some students are
helped financially through scholarships, but there is also a share of students who receive no help. There
is school bussing and city bussing which is one resource many students use. Students also can get
dropped off by their parents in the morning or walk to school if they do live in the neighborhood.