Seminary
I participated in Seminary during one class period each day 9th-12th grades. Seminary buildings are erected just outside of middle and high school properties in Utah so that students can walk to Seminary during the school day. Each school year’s curriculum is based on one of the four books of scripture: The Old Testament (which no one likes), The New Testament, The Book of Mormon (everyone’s “favorite”), and The Doctrine and Covenants.
After attending seminary for four years I not only graduated from Seminary, but spoke at the graduation ceremony.
From churchofjesuschrist.org:
To qualify for seminary graduation, a student must complete eight semesters of seminary and receive an ecclesiastical endorsement.
To complete a course of study, students must attend at least 75 percent of class sessions, read in the book of scripture for the course of study at least 75 percent of semester calendar days, and complete the course learning assessment with at least 75 percent.
The Seminary president asked me to create a painting to display in the Seminary building when I was a senior. I painted a high school student wearing a letterman jacket with “CK” for “Covenant Keepers” on the sleeve of his jacket as Daniel from the Bible Story “Daniel and the Lion’s Den.” I was fully aware of the cheesiness of the painting and hated it, but knew it’s what they wanted. I also basically directly copied a painting by Clark Kelley Price. Not my most creative moment, but they loved it. Good times.
Some of the scripture study tools I had in Seminary.
End-of-year notes from Seminary peers