Christ the King Sunday

Warning: some of inner geekness may shine through this post.

My first year back in public school (after 5 years of being homeschooled) was Seventh grade. Seriously, I can't think of a more difficult time for anyone in school than "middle school" or what we called "junior high". Imagine what it must have been like for someone as "other" as me--a Christian Scientist who had never been to the doctor and a "Homeschooler" (a word most people hadn't heard of yet in the 1980's). Actually, don't imagine it. The memory is unpleasant.

I will tell you, however, there was one part about seventh grade that has forever made my temporary return to traditional schooling worth it. Mrs. Schroeder. Ellie Schroeder was the gifted and talented teacher for English, Reading and History. I had her for three periods in a row and oh how I loved those classes. We read Shakespeare. We wrote daily responses to quotes such as "I think therefore I am" on the board. We learned History alongside the literature of the period and through first hand sources. We had not a single textbook in her classes. What on earth could my parents have been so worried about? School, it would seem, was my own personal slice of heaven.

*study of middle ages up through renaissance
* Earning Royalty status
* Demedicci family
* Rome, Italy
*Renaissance feast