Extreme Gets Crum-my Teachers

Meet Bob Crum. He says he has the worst last name in all recorded history... it is a verifiable fact. Look it up. His kids are Garrett (11 years old, lego master and lord of trivial Star Wars knowledge), Maddie (9 years old, drama queen and art prodigy) and Obie (1 year and change... huge and opinionated). PRC has had Crums for about a year and are proud of it. Read on for some Crum Q and A…

Why did you want to be a teaching team?
I want to be a part of the teaching team because I feel like I need to give back to the Church. My wife and I also have a passion for teaching kids in a way that interests them while remaining true to the message of the Gospel. The secret to working with kids is to be "big kids" on your own... Amy and I love staying connected to youth... and being really goofy.

What would you say is your teaching style?
Chaos. In all seriousness, I am loud and energetic. Amy is the person that brings order to my chaos. We make a great team. She ensures that the message is strong and clear as it can get lost in my zeal for energetic relationship. We use a lot of visual examples coupled with games that teach something... AND we do some goofy stuff without any purpose whatsoever.

What is the focus of your teaching? What are the kids learning?
I want kids to learn that the Bible is the REAL word of God and not just some list of rules that is meant to keep us in line because God is a cosmic killjoy. The Gospel is Good News for a reason! We have an eternal hope based on a God that came near to us and wants to be with us FOREVER... I believe that a Sunday meeting without the Salvation message (in some form) is a missed opportunity.

What have you personally learned from your teaching experience?
Every time we teach we learn some new facet of God's character. I often find myself taking away from the preparation time a new sense of purpose or a conviction to change my behavior in some way. I am not ashamed to say that I learn from kids.

Any special units in the future?
Future units for us revolve around the curriculum. We try to make each one memorable so you never know what will happen on Sunday morning. We encourage everyone within earshot to pray for our inspiration as well as the inspiration of all other teachers and helpers- God's strength works more apparently through our weakness.