Over All Vision

This is really simple. Our hope for junior high students is two-fold:

• That students would encounter the love of God
• That students would discover what it means to be a follower of Christ. 

We understand and believe that this happens in the context of community. We are not meant to be on this journey alone.

Distinctives

True to Upper Room style, we are exited to dream new dreams for our students and families. We have a bit of an outside-the-box approach in regard to both leadership and weekly experiences.

Distinctive One: Mentors

During Junior High we pair 3-4 students with one adult mentor, while High School is built on a one-to-one mentoring model.  Mentors will serve as a guide leading our students through different experiences (we call them Environments) throughout the year.  Mentors will invest their time participating in shared experiences, actively listening, building trust, establishing a relationship, and sharing the love of Jesus.

Distinctive Two: Four Environments

This is our attempt to follow the example of Jesus - the example he set as he led and mentored his disciples. Jesus was incredibly intentional about the places he took them. We are left with this image of Jesus and his disciples traveling together - encountering life and learning about God along the way. For our students our year together will resemble a journey through four different environments. We are going to intentionally venture into different spaces and places with students as they learn what it means to be a follower of Jesus. (With their mentors guiding them along the way.) Our school year (from September - May) is divided into four environments that stem from the four goals established by the Upper Room Community.

The Four Environments:

• Foster: In this environment, we will foster a sense of community as we build relationships with one another
• Build: In this environment will we work to build missional bridges and challenge students to serve our community with both hands and hearts
• Catalyze: In this environment we will help students discover their next steps toward Jesus in their spiritual journeys
• Intensify: In this environment we will create intentional experiences (much like field trips) to experientially engage with real and relevant issues students face in their everyday lives

Distinctive Three: Family Connectedness

We view parents as the primary faith teachers, mentors, and role models for their own kids. At the same time we know that the journey of faith takes place within the context of community. We want to do all that we can to encourage and support students and families on this journey. We see a huge value in this. With that thought in mind, we offer family nights throughout the year - creating a space for families to connect to one another and to God.  We also offer a parenting small group that meets monthly during our Wednesday night program.