Congratulations, Tyler!

Yesterday Tyler graduated from Black Forest Academy. He was part of the largest graduating class ever!





Waiting for the grad march to begin.......








Tim had the privilege of giving tributes to and shaking the hands of 78 seniors. This took quite a long time - over an hour - but we think it is really important to honor each of these very special people! When it was Tyler's turn, Tim had to pause for awhile because it was - well - a very tender and rather emotional moment. That's when I lost it (and so did others in the audience!). We love you, Tyler Joshua Shuman! We are so proud of you!







Officially graduated! Reason to celebrate!


The aftermath


A collage of photos from the receiving line and grad reception






Tyler's friend since grade 1

Endless signing of yearbooks - a very big deal at BFA!

Tim with colleagues and former colleagues


Tyler's first grade teacher, Mrs. Schmidt



A large part of our graduating class are Asians. They wanted Tim to join them in this picture!



Tyler with his mortarboard tassle.

We are thankful that Luke could be here in Germany to help celebrate his favorite brother's special day!

Awards night at BFA

Awards night at BFA takes place the evening before graduation. This happened two nights ago and included some great musical performances from our students. A number of students were also acknowledged for outstanding achievement.



Cameron - Outstanding Female Athlete

Kingsley - Outstanding Male Athlete


The Master's Commendation Award was give to Glenn and Shelia, residence life supervisors. They are leaving BFA and will be sorely missed.

The Longevity Award is given each year to any student who has attended BFA for all twelve years or most of grades 1 - 12. This year four students received this award.
Phil has been here for all 12 years!

Tim asked Tyler, Yoel, Lindsey, and Phil if they had any memories they wanted to share from Grade 1. Here, Lindsey is ratting on Tyler and telling a story of when Tyler kissed her during recess in 1st Grade!

Longevity Award to Tyler (11 years at BFA), Yoel (10 years at BFA), Phil (12 years at BFA) and Lindsey (11.5 years at BFA)

Remembering the 1996 Opening Ceremony

See you in August!

Our school year is over! It has been incredibly busy with a lot happening this past week.
I took my small group out for ice cream after their last exam. I already look forward to seeing them in August!

Lizzy and Katey.......Katey is part of my small group but was in the States this past year on home assignment with her parents. She was able to come back to BFA for graduation week. It was great to see her again!

Technical Drawing Class - Part II

Classes are finished for the school year and we are into final exams. Tim's technical drawing class has been very busy finishing the construction of their house models. Here is the class along with a sampling of their "dream homes"! Double click on photo to see it enlarged.








The next three pictures show Tyler's masterpiece - I think that it looks a little aeronautical in design!





Check out the pole for the spiral staircase. It's a chopstick! This house was constructed by one of the Asian students in Tim's class.


Above: Model with roof
Below: Model without roof