Andrea Johnson/MDN Teacher Tami Todd poses with students at the new SonShine Elementary. TOP LEFT: Four elementary students have been programming a robot as part of lessons.

Four elementary students at the new SonShine Elementary have had some enviable field trip experiences this fall.

Last month they, along with students from other Seventh Day Adventist schools in the region, attended outdoor school in the Black Hills.

Last week they took a field trip to the pumpkin patch at Berry Acres and on another day went to the Norsk Hostfest.

Teacher Tami Todd said the small size of the school, which is very much like the old one room schools attended by older generations in North Dakota, means she is able to give each student more individualized attention.

Todd began teaching in Seventh Day Adventist schools in 1988 and came to North Dakota to help launch the new SonShine Elementary in the Seventh Day Adventist Church, located at 10 17th Avenue Southwest in Minot.

The schools are accredited and follow a “Bible-based curriculum.”

Todd said students are Christians, but do not need to be Adventists to attend the school.

The four students in the school also use Chromebooks and do some science, technology, education, and mathematics activities such as programming robots.

Todd said there would be room for about 15 students in the school this year and the school is still enrolling students.

Todd said she was told there used to be another Seventh Day Adventist school in Minot back in the 1980s, but that school closed. It has been re-launched under a new name this year.

At some point in the future, it might be necessary to find another space in the community for the school. Right now the school is using one classroom set up in the Seventh Day Adventist Church. The current students in the school, two sets of sisters, are in grades 2, 3, and 5 this year. The girls said they previously were either homeschooled or attended another Christian school.

Todd said tuition for the private Christian school is comparable to other private schools in the area.

“We’re just getting off the ground,” said Todd.

For more information, call 839-6478.