World Religions

The World Religions team consists of two eighth graders and two seventh graders. Kaitlyn, being both an older student and the team’s captain, was at first worried that the website would not meet the deadlines due to the team’s lack of experience in web design and the hard work that was yet to be done. She had chosen two co-captains to assist her based on their skills; Michael, for his software and computer skills and ability to solve technical problems, and Beth for her research skills and determination to create an excellent site. Courtney, one of the eighth graders, acted as the captain for photography. Courtney was a valuable asset to the team with her keen eye for color and bright and unique writing abilities. Both seventh graders worked hard to prove that they were up to the job.

When Kaitlyn became overloaded with research for her assigned religion and the home page for the site, Beth stepped up to help her teammates in their time of need. Beth however, did have her share of her own problems. She had great difficulties in learning the web design software. Michael was forever patient with the endless questions he was asked.

At the beginning of the year, when the work began, personalities clashed among all team members. Michael said that one of his greatest challenges was, “…I was the only boy. We had to learn to decide as a team, not by majority. In the end I think it helped.” Courtney said about this topic, “We were all different, opinion wise, and it was hard at first to get along and work well together. But eventually, things played out to an acceptable degree and we worked together using one another’s strengths.”

Each student had an incomplete and biased opinion on each religion. Kaitlyn said about religions at the beginning of the year, “I did not believe that any religion was true except Christianity. Our World Religion’s site truly did ‘Open the Doors of Understanding’ for me and my team members.” Every member of our team now has more knowledge about a religion different from their own. Beth said about this topic, “I respected the religions which is more than many people can say, but I did not respect them as much as I do now. Being a believer in a religion is a great step of faith, and faith is what makes a great person.”