Gary Schrock (’83) | #youareims

What Gary Schrock (’83) loved the most about IMS were the friendships that he formed, the blending of faith and school, and the family atmosphere. In his words, “IMS and faith simply did life together. In the large moments of student life, God was seen….in the small daily moments of life between friends, or student and teacher, during class or after school, God was woven into our lives as a student.  

This experience led Gary to describe IMS in one word as FAMILY. He said it is natural that students develop friendships with other students, but the friendships he developed with faculty and staff were something I was not expecting, but those relationships became an instrumental part of his IMS experience. He went on to talk about how developing these types of relationships at IMS prepared him to make, maintain, and value all the relationships in his life.

Some of Gary’s favorite memories were the many times that IMS provided opportunities for students to gather together. He went on to talk more about the opportunity he had to explore things like basketball, track, choir, drama, student government. Gary said, “These opportunities may have not happened at a larger school. They began to stretch me as a person and gave way to explore talents and gifts that may otherwise not been discovered.”

Lastly Gary wanted to tell families considering IMS for themselves, “IMS will help lay a solid foundation for your student, challenging them to look at the world through the lens of Jesus Christ and help them discover an identity within them they may not be aware of.”