The 2021-2022 school year has been filled with many changes, especially with the new new school being built. Alongside all those unknowns, the fun and exciting changes that have been happening in seminary this year have been generally overlooked.
This year in seminary, Timpview got lucky enough to get Sister Chipman as our new principal. Prior to coming to timpview, she was at UVU LDS Institute, and since arriving here she has helped push the program in the right direction. Seminary is an Institute program for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
At the start of this year, Timpview seminary introduced “Bring a friend, pick a teacher.” In hopes of bringing more people towards seminary, all while helping kids be in their most comfortable or preferred environment, which includes the correct teacher surrounded by friends. Thunderbolt news was lucky enough to conduct an interview with Sister Chipman herself and asked her what the pros and cons have been of this new addition. She responded with, “A huge pro has been the fun energy that is in each class, I love that aspect of it. Plus we have been able to maintain high numbers of attendance as well. A con is the fact that some teachers get disrespected just because their students are not paying attention to the lesson they worked hard to prepare. But in my opinion the good outweighs the bad, and overall it has been a positive turn out.” This change has been effective concerning attendance, and Timpview seminary is looking forward to continuing the change in this coming school year.
Another new addition to the seminary program that just began this second semester is Senior only classes. It is an idea that Sister Chipman came up with, to have one class each period taught by a different teacher, where all the students in the class are all seniors. Sister Chipman explained that her inspiration behind these senior only classes is simply to bless the kids as much as possible. She says, “Our main purpose is to help kids come to know Jesus Christ. That’s really it. But we also want them to feel like they belong and feel safe at a quicker pace. As well as connect to their teachers quickly. We are just focused on student needs more than ever… And that’s what these senior classes do, they help students that are all in the same stage of life talk and build off of each other. Our hope is students feel like the class is more personal to their needs and life. You mature a lot between 14-18 and the experiences you gain help connect in ways you couldn’t before.” Feedback from seniors has been overwhelmingly positive. Seniors, take advantage of this!
Sister Chipman is planning to start “Freshman only classes” this fall. She thinks it will really help Freshmen get into the swing of things and give them a solid foundation on how to study the scriptures as well as help them understand the point and benefits of seminary.