BCS is fully accredited by the Indiana Department of Education.
Bethany provides an education that prepares graduates for life skills beyond high school. Following graduation 80% go to college, 1% to technical schools, 10% directly into employment, and 10% to a voluntary service program.
All 52 members of Bethany's class of 2006 met the state-mandated ISTEP+ requirements in order to graduate.. In the first round of testing for the class of 2007, 92% of Bethany's students have passed both portions of the test compared to 60% statewide. See Bethany Profile.
About 90% of juniors and seniors take the SAT (compared to approximately 65% statwide and 49% nationally). Despite this high participation rate the class of 2007's overall mean score of 1724 exceeds those of area schools and the national average of 1511 and state average of 1487. See 2007 SAT comparisons.
During the last ten years Bethany has had 16 National Merit finalists while the national average is less than 3 per school.
Click here for Indiana Department of Education info on Bethany.
Course Offerings Booklet, which includes course offerings, graduation requirements and course registration information, may be viewed in Acrobat Reader (download Acrobat Reader)
Core Curriculum for grades 6-8 consists of Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. Grade 6 core courses are taught by one teacher in a self-contained classroom; grade 7 and 8 core courses are taught by teachers specializing in each subject.
Enrichment Curriculum for all three grades consists of Bible, Choir, Phys Ed, Health and the opportunity to select orchestra (including winds and percussion) as an optional enrichment class. Students just beginning an instrument receive small goup instrumental instruction while those with previous experience participate in orchestra. Additional grade-specific enrichment courses are listed below.
Home Economics
Art
Computer
Games
of the World
Local Community
Global
Crafts
Media Awareness
Mind, Body, and Spirit
Woodworking
World
Languages
Both middle school and high school students have access to our new media center and library resources which include periodicals, reference materials, fiction, non-fiction, educational videos, and Internet access. Students can search online for media center resources in the student section.
Student Accounts
All Bethany students have individual, password protected network accounts and their own disk space for storing computer work and projects. All data is backed up nightly. Broadband internet access is available throughout the school with active pornography filters in place.
Computer Labs
BCS has three computer labs: a main teaching lab with 25 workstations, a second lab with 24 workstation, and a multipurpose room that includes 12 workstations. Both high school and middle school classes can use these labs for classes or projects.
Media Center Workstations
The library has 12 student workstations-classes may use these for Internet research or students may use them during study halls. If the library computers are full and there are no classes in the computer labs, the labs may also be used by students during study hall.
Special Services
The special services room has 4 student workstations running for students to use during structured study time. These machines include assistive software for a variety of learning styles.
High School Classrooms
Several classrooms have student workstations for assignments in the room. The Chemistry/Physics lab is equiped with 10 wireless laptops with specialized software and interfaces for student use in laboratory assignments.
Middle School Classrooms
Each middle school classroom has at least 2 student workstations. In addition all middle school students have access to the Media Center and all computer labs.
Multimedia
The school currently has 5 fully functional multimedia carts that can be used in classrooms to project computer, DVD, VHS, or cable TV multimedia content. In addition the computer labs, multi-purpose room, and both middle school and high school geography classrooms have perminantly mounted projectors and screens for media presentation.
Keyboarding
This basic class is required of all students. Keyboarding skills are taught to improve accuracy and speed on computer keyboards.
Computer Applications
Students are taught the use of Microsoft Office to create Power Point presentations, Access databases, Excel spreadsheets, and Word documents.
Advanced Computer Applications
Students learn a variety of applications depending on their interests. Possibilities include computer programming (BASIC, C++, php and SQL database programming); Website design and publishing using Macromedia Dreamweaver and Flash; digital graphic design using Adobe Photoshop; or Geographic Information Systems and Digital Mapping.
Computer Programming
Students learn basic programming skills using Pascal and Robolab.
We offer 3 types of diplomas for Bethany High School graduates. All of them are endorsed by the Indiana Department of Education.
BETHANY DIPLOMA
42 credits required
BETHANY
HONORS DIPLOMA
47 credits required/3.0 GPA or higher/no grade lower than
C
INDIANA
ACADEMIC HONORS DIPLOMA
47 credits in specified areas set by the state/3.0
GPA or higher/no grade lower than C
View detailed graduation requirements in Acrobat Reader (download Acrobat Reader).
Special
requirements for graduation from Bethany include:
For each year of
attendance, passing one semester of Bible class and successful completion of Interterm
Each spring students participate in a one-week non-traditional program called Interterm. Participation is required to graduate, but not included as part of academic credit.
Frosh through juniors select from a wide range of learning experiences including the arts, recreation, cultural studies, and voluntary community services. Seniors take part in Senior Trip.
In the 2008-09 school year, Interterm/senior trip will be April 27 to May 1.
See Spring 2008 photos and student reflections on the Underground Railroad.
See Spring 2007 photos and story on Appalachia group.
See Spring 2006 photos.
See Spring 2005 photos.
See photos of other recent Interterms.
Click on the links below to jump to course photos.
Students critically examined the basic philosophies and approaches to faith that are present in film. Students identified key reflective questions, viewed 6-8 movies, and filmed a scene from one of the movies. After each movie, students wrote an evaluation and discussed key themes over a meal or dessert.
Students learned the art of stained glass construction, creation, and maintenance. Building small projects and a major project, including clocks, wall hangings, ornaments, windows, or a jewelry box.
Stained Glass: Display individual projects and their group project of the school name and logo.
Students served with LaCasa of Goshen, which provide safe, attractive and affordable housing for Elkhart and Goshen residents.
With the help of guest chefs, students prepared foods from three countries: Kenya, Egypt, and Laos. The chefs also shared with students about customs and hospitality related to food and guests. They also explored Italian food at Il Forno restaurant and made foods on their own from India and South America.
Students worked with inner city kids in Gary, Ind., at Urban Faith Works, an after school and summer program aimed at improving their academic and social skills and their understanding of scripture and God's love. Bethany students helped in tutoring and building relationships, as well as helping with small work projects at their facilities.
Students stayed in the beautiful environment of Amigo Centre and participated in activities such as an overnight camping trip, hiking, canoeing, high ropes course, and other camp-type activities. They also gave one day of their time and talents in service back to Amigo.
Students explord the African experience of slavery in the United States and the quest for freedom through the Underground Railroad. Students spent the first three days watching Roots (the miniseries which dramatizes author Alex Haley's family line from his ancestor Kunta Kinte's enslavement to his descendents' liberation), researching the Underground Railroad, preparing a readers' theater, and learning about local underground railroad activity in Elkhart and LaGrange counties. On the fourth day students visited the national Undergound Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati and stayed overnight there. On Friday the group visited two underground railroad historic sites in nearby Ripley, Ohio, and the home of the president of the Underground Railroad (Levi Coffin) in Fountain City, Ind. In the evening the group participated in an intense underground railroad simulation at Connor Prairie that also helped students think about modern day slavery and other forms of injustice in our society. Read student reflections.
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center: Group poses inside an actual slave pen. Below left students act out a readers theater vignette and below right students listen to a Quaker talk about helping freedom seekers at a safe house on the underground railroad simulation.
Students attended major league baseball games in Cincinnati, Chicago, and Cleveland.
Students took a boat trip three miles offshore of North Carolina to the islands of Cape Lookout National Seashore, where they enjoyed 56 miles of remote beaches, the Atlantic Ocean, incredible shells, and wildlife (wild horses). The islands are undeveloped and wild: there are no paved roads, stores, bathhouses, or bridges connected to the mainland. They camped on the beach in tents in the primitive style, hiked, learned to shell, and be amazed by the ocean.
Students explored an old-growth forest and hiked to a waterfall tucked in the hills of Appalachia. They traced the origins of their daily electricity consumption as they toured a strip mine and learned about mountaintop removal practices, which are quickly obliterating the life of the region. They visited remote communities that have been flooded and contaminated due to the extraction of coal and listened to their stories and dreams to preserve their land and culture. They enjoy an evening of live music, rooted in the history of Appalachia. They also spent a day and a half giving back to the Whitesburg community by cleaning up a river and doing a building project. Leaders from Mennonite Central Committee will guided them through the week's activities and daily discussions. They slept in tents at a campground on top of Pine Mountain and spent evenings boating, hiking, and participating in group games.
Students traveled to Philadelphia for meaningful service and a taste of the city's historic and cultural life. They stayed at Crossroads Community Center, an inner-city community center in the low-income North Philly neighborhood, where they served in hands-on projects and worked with kids. They also explored the culinary delights of Philadelphia: dinner in Chinatown, Southern food accompanied by live blues at "Warmdaddy's" restaurant, and an authentic greasy Philly cheesesteak. They saw some of Philadelphia's history via horse-drawn carriage, a comedy at Temple University, and re-enacted Rocky Balboa's famous run up the art museum steps.
Photos from 2007 Interterm and Senior Trip:
Appalachia: Students working on home service project. 
Automechanics: Group with dismantled car. 
Exploring Our National Pastime: At Pittsburgh.
Gidddy Up: Riding Trail in mountains of Tennessee.
Alpine Climbing |
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Students learned to rappel and snowshoe in the mountains of Colorado.. |
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Auto Mechanics |
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Students dismantled three cars, learned how to cook on an engine, visited a car museum in Auburn, put together a model car, and learned what to look for when buying a car and how to take care of a car. |
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Exploring the National Pastime |
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Students attended major league baseball games in St. Louis, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Cleveland, to explore and appreciate America's national past time. |
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Canoe Camping |
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Students canoed the Green River in central Kentucky and camped next to the river in primitive camp sites. |
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Chicago: Arts, Culture, and Service |
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Students explored Chicago, and maybe ethnic districts, watched a couple shows, ate in ethnic restaurants, worked in a daycare center and homeless shelter. |
Dig This! Archaeology in Viriginia |
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Students sent two days at Ferry Farm, the boyhood home of George Washington, in Fredericksburg, Virginia, working with archaeologists on an actual dig and an archictectural archaeology tour of Kenmore Plantation, home of Washington's sister. Students also visited Washington, D.C. and Pope's Creek, site of Washington's birthplace. Students then visited the original Jamestown Fort built in 1607, original glassworks of 1608, and living history sites of the glassworks, Jamestown fort and Powhatan village, and Colonial Williamsburg. Students toured the homes of U.S. Presidents Jefferson, Monroe, and Madison. |
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Film, Philosophy, and Food |
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| Students critically examined the basic philosophies that are present in film as they watched 2-3 films each day from different time periods and styles. | |
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Giddy-Up |
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Students rode some 75 miles through the Big South Fork Back County, the largest "True Wilderness" area east of the Mississippi River. |
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MDS Service Trip to Louisiana |
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Students worked with Mennonite Disaster Service helping repair homes in Louisiana that were damaged from the 2005 Hurricane Rita. |
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Naturalism |
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| Students hiked and camped along the River to Rivertrail in southern Illinois. In addition to hiking and camping, activities included sketching and photography, using field guides, scripture reading, and personal writing and reflection. | |
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Canoe Camping |
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Students canoed about fifty miles on south central Kentucky's Greene River by day and camped next to the river in primitive campsites by night.. |
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Chicago Art and Culture |
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Baseball: Exploring the National Pasttime |
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Film, Philosphy, and Food |
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International Cuisinse |
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Appalachia Habitat for Humanity | |
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Bradford Woods
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| Students were involved in various activities such as caving, canoeing, service projects, leadership workshops, journaling, backpacking, challenge course activities, high elements, and climbing.
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Canoe Camping |
| The group canoed about fifty miles on the Greene River in Kentucky by day and camped next to the river in primitive camp sites by night. (Photos not available). |
Chicago Art and Culture | |
The group explored the artistic and cultural life of Chicago through drama, music, food, visual art, architecture, and more.
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Dig This! Archaeology in Virginia | |
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| The group spent two days at Ferry Farm, the boyhood home of George Washington in Fredericksburg, Va., working with archaeologists on an actual dig. In addition to this hands-on introduction to archaeology, they toured the archaeological site of the original Jamestown Fort built in 1607. They also visited reconstructed living history sites at Jamestown and Colonial Williamsburg: boarding replicas of the ships that brought people to the first permanent English settlement in America at Jamestown, visiting with people portraying Native Americans and colonists, and participating in demonstrations of colonial life. | |
Film, Philosophy, and Food |
| Students viewed and critically examined the basic philosophies that are present in film. (photos not available). |
TOP Kentucky Backpacking Adventure | |
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TOP LaCasa of Goshen | |
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group worked at LaCasa of Goshen, helping rehabilitate homes and general clean
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TOP Lifetime Sports and Recreation | |
| Students were introduced to various recreational activities that can be practiced for a lifetime: golf, swimming, volleyball, Frisbee golf, racquetball, tennis, and others. | |
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Students explored tropical rainforests and coral reefs, observing plant and animal life unique to those ecosystems. The group snorkeled a couple of different coral reefs and a grassy flat by the San Blas Islands in the Caribbean. Students visited with two different indigenous groups in their villages.
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created various stained glass projects including a Christmas ornament and a larger
project such as kaleidoscopes, window hangings, jewelry boxes, and glass mosaics
on patio bricks. Each student learned to cut and grind glass and prepared the
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In odd-numbered years, students who have completed at least two years of Spanish have the opportunity to participate in a school-led summer language trip to Paraguay and Brazil.
The purpose of this trip is for students to cultivate a deeper appreciation of languages and cultures of various peoples in Paraguay and Brazil and to foster better understanding of the worldwide Christian community.
During the trip students visit Paraguay's capital, Asunción, and nearby cities and travel north into the Paraguayan Chaco to visit three of the major Mennonite colonies. In Asunción students live with Christian families and attend afternoon classes at the Alberto Schweitzer School. Students also raise money to assist Sotero Colmán School, which is located in one of the most impoverished neighborhoods in the city. The 2005 group assisted with creating a library and the 2007 group donated money to renovate badly-needed restroom facilities.
For the second week the group travels to Brazil to see the Iguaçu Falls and Brazil's ecological capital, the city of Curitiba. The group stays one night at a beach resort on Ilha do Mel.
For Summer 2007 trip, see photos below and read several students' highlights.
Summer 2007 Group at Nature Preserve
Relating to Children at Sotero Colman
Donation for Sotero Colman: Students raised $4,000 for Sotero Colmán School, which is located in one of the most impoverished neighborhoods in the city.
Riding a zipline at the Nature Preserve
Over two dozen colleges visit our campus each year to recruit students and to provide information regarding their areas of specialty. We advertise and promote college fairs in our area including Goshen High School College Fair and the Christian College Fair sponsored by Bethel College.
Each spring we invite the Elkhart Area Career Center to our campus for a presentation to all sophomores about vocational occupations that includes an invitation to consider attending part-time for study in areas that Bethany does not offer. Typically Bethany has 4-8 students a year participating in that program.
Mentorship is a program designed for 2nd semester seniors to explore specific occupations by career shadowing in their field of interest. They can receive credit for this experience and has helped them learn about what the field of interest entails on a daily basis. Mentorship placements have included optometry, teaching assistant, dietetics, day care, photography for newspaper, and running a golf pro shop.
| 1978 | Watercolor | Terri Anne Stern | Senior |
| 1979 | Copper Tooling | Peggy Schrock | Sophomore |
| 1980 | Eggshell Mosaic | Peggy Schrock | Junior |
| 1981 | Acrylic Painting | Roz Brenneman | Senior |
| 1982 | Sand Painting | Troy Risser | Freshman |
| 1983 | Acrylic Painting | Jerrol Shaum | Junior |
| 1984 | Airbrush | Jerrol Shaum | Senior |
| 1985 | Copper Tooling | Colleen Schleining | Freshman |
| 1986 | Ink Drawing | Sheila McElmurry | Junior |
| 1987 | Acrylic Painting | Dawn Hochstetler | Senior |
| 1988 | Batik | Gretchen Nyce | Junior |
| 1989 | Ink Drawing | Nina Bailey | Freshman |
| 1990 | Linocut | Cheryl Hochstetler | Senior |
| 1991 | Copper Tooling | Darryl Eichorn | Senior |
| 1993 | Ceramic Vase | Tammy Sawatzky | Junior |
| 1994 | Acrylic Painting | Sarah Kingsley | Senior |
| 1995 | Midnight Flight | Crystal Rogers | Senior |
| 1996 | 3-D
Sculpture: Jesus on the Cross |
Ben Hartman | Junior |
| 1997 | Steel Sculpture | Greg Stahly | Senior |
| 1998 | Charcoal Drawings | Rachel Paulovich | Senior |
| 1999 | Painting: Anne Frank | Brenda Harley | Senior |
| 2000 | Photography:
Photos of Hands |
Renee Glick | Senior |
