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SONshine Street
SONshine Street is an interactive and full immersion learning experience for the youth of our congregation.
CLASSES MEET EVERY SUNDAY @ 9:30 A.M. & WEDNESDAY @ 6:30 P.M.
Here are a few highlights of what our classes look like on the Street!!!
- Three class groups (4-5 year olds-Kindergarten; 1st-3rd Grade; 4th-5th Grade)
- All of our rooms are being used in a three week rotation.
- Students will rotate through all six rooms on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights.
There are six very different education "stations" that the children will be learning in (currently we are only using four classrooms - however - doing some of the activities lined out for six stations) - they are: The Mustard Seed Café, The Museum of Biblical History, The Majesty Theater, Noah's ARKade, Creation Station, and the Bethlehem Good News Tech Center. Teachers and students utliizes the most current technology and education resources available in each of the rooms to accomplish the goal of educating our youth with sound and thorough Biblical teaching.
Classes are for all children age 4 years old thru the 5th grade on "the Street". The children will be in a rotating interactive class that will take them to each room on "the Street" over a three-week period. During this three-week period, the kids will learn the lesson in a variety of ways. Room assignments for each age group will be posted on the TVs at the end of the hallway, and hall monitors will be in place to assist you in finding your child's class. Classes will be held on SONshine Street on Sunday mornings at 9:30 a.m. and Wednesday evenings at 6:30 p.m.
SONshine Street on Facebook (Private Group Page)
The Rooms of SONSHINE Street:
The Mustard Seed Cafe:
Can you even imagine walking down a street and there NOT being a place to eat? That isn't the case on SONshine Street. The Mustard Seed Café is a place where our kids can have a fun, interactive and tasty way to learn the lesson of the day. This resource room is set up for how we do our snacks for vacation Bible school. The snacks are a way for the children to be engaged with each of the snacks they create reinforcing the lesson they are studying.
The Café includes a small kitchen with a refrigerator, convention oven, hot plate, and microwave. Instead of smaller tables and chairs, the center part of the room has a large island surrounded by stools. This island will serve not only as a workstation for the lesson, but as a place for the children to enjoy their snacks together.
The Museum of Biblical History:
Do you enjoy history? What about Biblical history? Well - in the Biblical Museum you will enter into a room that is specifically designed to help you do that. You will get to see items that will take you back to the first century and think that you are in the land where many Biblical characters walked and talked. The room has a working fiery furnace, Bible characters from the past, and a life-sized Ark of the Covenant.
You don't want to miss a chance to learn more and take a step back into history.
The Majesty Theater:
Inside the theater there is tiered theater seating for 20, a large 70" smart television, sound/video equipment, a portable puppet stage, curtains and everything you would expect in a theater.
Noah's ARKade:
A fun room that you will get to come and play games in that go along with the lesson for the day. The room is an open space where teachers guide students through the lesson and then present the fun interactive game for the day.
Creation Station:
This room is set up to look like a craft room. It has several stations that are setup where students sit and make fun and entertaining crafts that go along with the daily lesson. Each station is organized and supplied with all that a student will need to make their time in this room fun and exciting.
The Bethlehem Good Newsroom:
This room is set up to look like a media area at an event. The desk and chairs are tiered and each child can come in and have a seat having the latest technology at their fingertips to study that week's lesson. The room has been equipped with iPads loaded with apps (Kahoots, Quizlet, EdPuzzle, and more) that the children will utlize during the Bible class hour to answer questions about the lesson.
We are very proud of our SONshine Street education program at the Franklin Church of Christ. We would love for you to bring your children to this wonderful experience!!
Neighbors of Franklin Article - October 2021 Issue
https://www.facebook.com/neighborsoffranklin/posts/389853616029687
Newspaper Article from Franklin Favorite - "Walking On SONshine Street"
(Original article appeared in the Franklin Favorite on September 7, 2017)
(Article revised by Steven Kirby - September 1, 2021)
Inside the Franklin Church of Christ is a magical hallway custom designed for Bible school students.
On Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings, students go to one of the four classrooms on the right side of the hallway where they work through a Bible lesson in a themed classroom.
The Bethlehem Good Newsroom is a mock news and information center where kids use tablets, computer notebooks, and other technology as the lesson application. Down the hallway is the Majesty Theater where you get a nostalgic atmosphere of venerable movie house. The movie house chairs are from a old theater that was renovated in Delaware. The red curtained space is easily used as a playhouse for skits, puppet shows and cinema viewing. The room has costumes for students and scripts for theatrical lessons. The vast Biblical Museum room is a place where students have the opportunity to "learn by history." Also, in the Museum the children may also make a craft or participate in a game that goes along with the Bible lesson. Finally, the hallway concludes with The Mustard Seed Cafe, a brightly lit kitchen area where students have the opportunity to create a snack to go with the lesson. The “street” also has two other classrooms – the Creation Station and Noah's Arkade – that are currently not in use.
A big screen television is at the end of the hall so parents and students can identify by age group which classroom they need to attend. Students are not required to attend regularly because each class and activities are new to all of the kids. On the left side of the hall are interactive Bible lessons such as Jonah's Fish Market, the Fountain of Life Soda Fountain and the Fruit of the Spirit Fruit Stand specifically designed like something out of Disney World. The hallway displays are used sometimes for interactive classes with smaller children who attend the 2-3 year old class or with children during the week that attend the church’s Mother’s Day Out program.
SONshine Street came as a vision in early 2017, and then in March of that year, the idea was presented as a proposal to the congregation, and with the church's approval an education committee was formed, and traveled to a leadership conference in Alabama. A woman in the state of Alabama wrote the Bible School curriculum that the committee wished to adopt for SONshine Street. The three-year curriculum, which shares a similar structure to public schools, runs in two-week cycles. One of the benefits for the teachers is that they only have to sign-up to teach for two weeks and the lesson is the same. During each class the students participate in leading prayers, singing a song, memorizing a Bible verse, listening to the lesson, going over some questions pertaining to the lesson, and then they do the assigned activities. Activities include: making something fun to eat in the Café, doing a craft or a game in the Museum, watching a video/performing a skit in the Theater, and playing a game of Kahoots against other classmates in the Newsroom.
The original budget for the project was estimated at $42,000, and the congregation gave a generous amount allowing the team to surpass the estimate. The special collection was taken on Sunday, April 30, 2017, and the very next day a group of volunteers began tearing down walls to begin the remodeling process. The hallway officially opened for students and teachers on Sunday, August 6, 2017. The congregation celebrated with an unveiling and ribbon cutting.
SONshine Street is a great experience for all children ages 4 years old through 5th Grade. Changes have been made over the years to enhance the experience. The “street” was closed down due to COVID concern for a period of time, but now it is up and going again!!
Why don’t you come and join us for a “Walk Down” SONshine Street!!!
Franklin Church of Christ is located at 700 S. Main St. in Franklin.
For more information about SONshine Street, call 270-586-4315 or visit our church website at www.franklinkycoc.org