As we briefly share with you our experiences as alumni from 1991 and ’92, and now as parents of three children who have been at MEI since Kindergarten and are currently in grades 5, 7 and 9, we want to highlight the role MEI played in our past and present, particularly as it pertains to God using it to build us into people who are braver, who want to be engaged global citizens, and who are willing to go where God asks us to go.
Both of us remember our high school years at MEI fondly. We gained valuable friendships, several of which are a significant part of our lives today. We both enjoyed academic life and were well-prepared for our university years at UFV, TWU and UBC. In addition to the academics, we had an opportunity to try our hands at various artistic and athletic pursuits.
The Brandsma family hiked the 120 km journey to and from Everest Base Camp over spring break.
“God uses MEI to build us into people who are braver, who want to be engaged global citizens, and who are willing to go where God asks us to go.”
When it came time to send our children to school, MEI was an option primarily because it offered full-day kindergarten when most public schools didn’t’. To be honest, we were wanting to send our children through the public system for Kindergarten because we believed in the importance of our children being exposed AND engaging in secular society from an early age, to own their own walk of faith over time. While we began at MEI Elementary under practical pretenses, however, what we quickly came to realize was the immense value of a school that exposed our children to regular Bible teaching, chapels, fundraisers for children in Haiti, exceptional music and PE programs, and a multi-ethnic, intergenerational education. While we supplemented their Christian education with involvement in community sports, we both engaged and continue to engage them in actively reflecting on what it means to be a Christian in a secular context. After that first year at MEI, we never looked back.
Since that time nine years ago, MEI has remained a fundamental part of our family life. Our 3 children (Malaya, Sam, and Ben) have had the privilege of being mentored by teachers, coached by parents and other volunteers, and taught to be people who are about more than themselves. While a good standard of education has been central, our very different children have participated in the Leadership, Athletic and Band programs at the various schools outside of school hours, and these involvements have enriched them with more than just skills, but with friendships, broader perspectives, and discipline they wouldn’t otherwise have had.
Has MEI made a positive contribution to this community, to the students that attend here, and to the world? Our answer would be a strong ‘yes’. Do we feel that MEI has had an important role of being a light in our ever-changing culture? Does MEI have a role in shaping both the current generation as well as future generations to be salt and light in this world? Absolutely.
We believe that it takes a community to raise a child. That the influence of others, such as coaches, teachers, pastors, other parents is also critical. Therefore, we see MEI as both a school and a community, playing a vital role in the growth and development of our children. It is a partnership; a partnership that we value and appreciate. As we read biographies of men and women who have lived admirable lives- the likes of Mother Theresa, William Wilberforce, Martin Luther King Jr etc. – we discover that brave men and women are not completed in white-washed walls of academia, but rather, their shaping academic theories are tested in the crucibles of service, discipline, and adversity….. in the challenges of real life! Intelligence PLUS Character. We are MORE than grateful for the instruction our family has received at MEI, but we are even more grateful for the myriad of opportunities this school community has afforded each of us to be people who are becoming both “hearers” and “doers” of the Word.
Submitted by MEI Alumni Mark (1991) & Tammy (Tweedle) Brandsma (1992)
