Mormon private elementary and secondary schools.

[_zeezrom]

Quas,

Seminary is still held on (adjacent to) campus during school hours. My seminary was one of the largest in the state with about 7 full-time teachers and a principal. I skipped seminary one time in 4 years and happened to get hurt on a trampoline that one time. Many kids slept during that hour. Looking back, I see it as a complete and utter waste of time.

[_cinepro]

In the last 10 or 20 years, there have been several private schools that offer an LDS-based curriculum. Most that I've heard of have failed.

This one is still going:

http://www.american-heritage.org/

Don't miss their science curriculum:

http://www.american-heritage.org/pdf/Cu ... iculum.pdf

This one didn't make it.

[_Quasimodo]

Quas,

Seminary is still held on (adjacent to) campus during school hours. My seminary was one of the largest in the state with about 7 full-time teachers and a principal. I skipped seminary one time in 4 years and happened to get hurt on a trampoline that one time. Many kids slept during that hour. Looking back, I see it as a complete and utter waste of time.

Thanks Z!

I'm actually a little surprised that seminary is still allowed for public schools in Utah. I thought that maybe someone would have made a legal complaint by now and it would have been stopped.

Did your trampoline accident seem like a "faith promoting injury" at the time?

Did you get a report card from seminary that was sent to your folks? You can see how clueless I am when it comes to some of these Mormon things.

[_Quasimodo]

Quasi, this is exactly the point. LDS do not believe in separation of church and state. Therefore, they try to do everything in their power to influence/control the public schools. They ought to give up on it, since it creates a hostile situation, and establish their own schools.

Hey MCB!

Reading some of the above posts, I guess that the cost of private schools puts the Church off a bit. Especially since seminaries attached to the public schools are still going strong (thanks, Z) and there are much more important business ventures that need funding.

As for Church and State. I think the LDS would be happier if things had never changed from the early Brigham days when the Church WAS the State. I used to hear Mormon friends voice as much when I lived in Utah.

[_MCB]

Especially since seminaries attached to the public schools are still going strong (thanks, Z) and there are much more important business ventures that need funding.

Grins. Still hanging on to some aspects of blending church and state.

Cinepro, the one that is successful probably gets most of its success from their home-schooling curriculum.

[_zeezrom]

Did your trampoline accident seem like a "faith promoting injury" at the time?

Funny you should ask! I happened to be class president at the time (president of my little class as opposed to the student pres of the entire seminary). It was time for the class presidency to stand up in front of the class and bear(funny word alert!) testimony. I will remember this day for a long time... It was about 20 years ago... wow. I stood up and said, "Well, I learned that I shouldn't skip seminary because I went to my friends house and jumped on the trampoline and hurt my neck. I'm sort of glad I did it because a girl I really like was there but at the same time, I regret it because I'm in a ton of pain right now." My teacher was looking at me funny - like why are you telling us this? What are you getting at here? "Anyway, I think God was trying to tell me how important it is to stay in seminary class." I was thinking I would get some laughs but everyone just stared at me with no expressions on their faces. I realized that very few people (myself included) like to think in seminary. I was removed from the presidency the following semester.

Did you get a report card from seminary that was sent to your folks? You can see how clueless I am when it comes to some of these Mormon things.

We did get graded but we didn't need to show the grade to our parents. The only thing that mattered was seminary graduation, which was dependent on a sort of C- and above policy of some sort. Needless to say, I graduated and was recognized for it at church one Sunday, much to the delight of my parents.

One more story! Usually the seminary presidency consisted of a Principal (adult faculty), President (student), and VP (student). This is different than the individual class presidencies, which I was a part of. The Pres and VP are sort of known as the stalwart of the whole school - the two kids with the strongest testimonies and most spiritual (LOL). Those words are SO funny now, LOL. I laugh now when someone says, "Ooooh, Brother _____ is soooooooo spiritual!" WTH? Anyway, it turns out these two stalwarts got into a relationship and ended up petting, necking, or worse - Mormon laying or something. Everyone was so amazed that such strong people would fall "so far". We chalked it up to "Satan works the hardest on those that threaten him the most!"

ahhh, those were the days....

[_harmony]

Reading some of the above posts, I guess that the cost of private schools puts the Church off a bit. Especially since seminaries attached to the public schools are still going strong (thanks, Z) and there are much more important business ventures that need funding.

Release time seminary is alive and well in my state (I don't live in Utah). State law supports this, since schools cannot tell parents that their high school children have to be in school. Any child can be signed out by their parent for any part of the school day; the student has to make up the credits, though, or they don't graduate. BYU has an entire high school curriculum designed for this purpose (at the cost of $90 per course, if I remember right). Any child over 16 can drop out of school and not be charged with truancy. Any child in high school who wants release time for any reason has to be accommodated by the school district, or the district can be fined, lose their accreditation, or lose their public funding.

The church knows these laws and pushes this through for any high school with a minimum of LDS students (I forget what that minimum is, but I think it was 50).

I do not support private LDS schools; I do not support tithing supported LDS schools, and I do not support the BYU system, at all. I especially do not support home schooling, vouchers, or charter schools. You want to put your children in private school, fine.. you pay for them and your property taxes still pay for public schools. The elitism and foolishness fostered by any exclusive education system grates against my tolerance for stupidity. The BYU Attitude is alive and well, unfortunately and is a total waste of my tithing dollar.

[_MCB]

Thanks, Harmony. I was just trying to get a response like that. Part of my ambivalence about getting involved in the counter-Mormon movement.

[_Quasimodo]

Funny you should ask! I happened to be class president at the time (president of my little class as opposed to the student pres of the entire seminary). It was time for the class presidency to stand up in front of the class and bear(funny word alert!) testimony. I will remember this day for a long time... It was about 20 years ago... wow. I stood up and said, "Well, I learned that I shouldn't skip seminary because I went to my friends house and jumped on the trampoline and hurt my neck. I'm sort of glad I did it because a girl I really like was there but at the same time, I regret it because I'm in a ton of pain right now." My teacher was looking at me funny - like why are you telling us this? What are you getting at here? "Anyway, I think God was trying to tell me how important it is to stay in seminary class." I was thinking I would get some laughs but everyone just stared at me with no expressions on their faces. I realized that very few people (myself included) like to think in seminary. I was removed from the presidency the following semester.

Maybe they were stunned that you would honestly admit to playing hooky. :)

One more story! Usually the seminary presidency consisted of a Principal (adult faculty), President (student), and VP (student). This is different than the individual class presidencies, which I was a part of. The Pres and VP are sort of known as the stalwart of the whole school - the two kids with the strongest testimonies and most spiritual (LOL). Those words are SO funny now, LOL. I laugh now when someone says, "Ooooh, Brother _____ is soooooooo spiritual!" WTH? Anyway, it turns out these two stalwarts got into a relationship and ended up petting, necking, or worse - Mormon laying or something. Everyone was so amazed that such strong people would fall "so far". We chalked it up to "Satan works the hardest on those that threaten him the most!"

ahhh, those were the days....

How did you all find out that these two were intimate? Did they eventually confess, or were they caught in the back stairway (I'm alluding to a sordid personal story).

[_harmony]

Thanks, Harmony. I was just trying to get a response like that. Part of my ambivalence about getting involved in the counter-Mormon movement.

Like Pavlov's dog... I growl when homeschooling is mentioned as a plausible alternative to the public school system.