The Stool of Education

by Dick Buckingham
Administrator

Educating a child is much like a three-legged stool, with each leg being critical to the success of the student.  The first leg is the child themselves.  The student must have a desire to learn and a willingness to put in adequate effort in study, memorization and practice to accomplish an adequate level of learning.  There is at least an equal amount of responsibility that the child bears for their success as a student.  The old adage, “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink,” is certainly true in this matter. 

The second leg is that of the teacher.  It is important, almost essential, that there be someone to lead and direct an education.  Without it, the student would wander into whatever he or she felt important and would likely miss what truly is important.  Teachers are critically necessary to make sure the things that align with truth are studied and that a broad area of knowledge is pursued.  The concept of one who has the knowledge gained by years of preparation, study and experience overseeing the education of a youngster is very ancient and across all cultures.  It is the natural tendency of every parent to try to impart a measure of knowledge about life in general to their child.  We all prefer to learn something we don’t know from someone who does.  If someone has more experience than we in a certain area, we look to them as somewhat of a teacher to assist us in our growth. 

The often overlooked leg of the stool is the parent of the child.  This person is critical to the child’s education as one who helps the student understand their responsibility and assists the teacher in making the applications of knowledge that was learned.   Parents aren’t expected to teach the details, but to be able to support what the teacher has given and encourage the responsible response of the student.

These three legs are necessarily tied together and the “stool” of the child’s education will topple if they are not.  Sometimes, we see an adversarial relationship develop between the child’s teacher and parent.  This only has dire consequences for the student and their progress.  Invariably, this child is struggling, perhaps even failing, mostly because the bond between the teacher and the parent is broken.  Often, the child is not held responsible for their part in the education and all three legs fail at once.

So how do we keep these legs tied together to work for the success of the child?  What can a parent do to support the teacher and school in its effort to educate their child?  Below I have compiled a list of things that I have seen over the years that great parents have done to support the school.  The result has been successful students.  This list is not meant to be exhaustive or complete.  There may be many other things good parents do.  Please feel free to respond to this blog with other ideas or success stories.

1.    Remember teachers are adult professional educators who have worked hard to be prepared to effectively teach students.  They have the same goal and desire that you do with your child: success.

2.     Show respect.  While we may not always agree about everything there is no reason to show disrespect toward an individual that is laboring to help your child.  There is too much of a mentality in our society that it is right and appropriate for a parent to defend his or her child against any one no matter if the child is right or wrong.  We need to remember we are on the same side and working toward the same goal.

3. Don’t assume you have the whole or correct story from your child.  As with all fallen humans, we tend to “modify” the truth that we might look more favorable in its light.  This seems to be certainly true in the case of students.  Particularly when a negative report is given by our student about their teacher, we must avoid the temptation to assume it is fully and completely true.  Wait until you hear the other side of the story before you make conclusions and respond.

4.     Realize that teachers are a wealth of information about parenting.  Not only have many of them experienced parenting first hand, but they have also had close contact with a number of other parents through the school and can share good ideas, and warn of bad ones.  I have had many parents seek me out for advice about things other than academics.

5.     Remember teachers are imperfect and do make mistakes.  Even with the best intentions, teachers will err like the rest of us.  Just as we desire grace in matters such as these, so does your child’s teacher.  Offer grace generously as did our Lord to all of us who are saved.

6.      Life has become very hectic for parents.  Please consider putting down the remote, leaving the clubs in the garage on a Saturday morning and getting rid of other distractions in your life so that you can parent your child.  The one thing they need from you most is your time.  As the father of three grown men, I can attest to how quickly these years pass by when they are young and most in need of my attention.  There will be time later for those other things if they really are important.

7.      Life has also become hectic for students.  They want to be involved in many activities outside of their academics and often they get overwhelmed.  While there are many wonderful things students can participate in, they need help in prioritizing what is truly important and what they need to spend their time doing.  For some students, school may be all they are able to handle.  A parent should not feel like they are withholding some important experience from their child if they are unable to handle karate, soccer, and basketball, piano and dance lessons on top of school work.  Put the extra stuff in its proper place.

8.      Simplify your child’s life.  Many times our students are running constantly from one thing to another.  Or they feel it is necessary to give large portions of time to socializing on their phones or computers.  Look for ways to make life simpler for you and your child.

9.     Don’t stress over grades.  I am fully aware of how our society likes to measure everything on a 100 point scale.  But grades are at best a snapshot of how a child is doing on a few things and doesn’t really reflect how a child is doing over all.  For an in-depth evaluation, talk to your child’s teacher.  They can give you a clearer idea if your child is working hard, showing respect, paying attention, and doing everything they can do to succeed.  Sometimes this will also be reflected in their grades, but not always
.

Make that stool as strong as it can be for the educational success of your children!

Time

by Meridith Borta
Elementary Principal

Isn't time a funny thing?

There are always 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, and 24 hours in a day. It doesn't matter what you do, that will always be the case. And yet, have you ever looked at the clock and been amazed at how quickly time has flown by? Is it just me or does it always seem to fly fastest when you just need a little more of it?

And then at other times, you look at the clock and it seems like time is literally crawling along. Is it coincidence that this happens when you cannot wait to get out of something or are excited to go somewhere?

In the hustle and bustle of life, it seems like time is something always just out of our grasp. Especially with the holidays approaching at an alarming rate, we begin to realize that no matter how fast we go or how much we try to hurry to cram everything in, we can always use more.

We all know this feeling, right? And we are all familiar with little quips like “If you’re not 5 minutes early, you’re late” and “Time waits for no man”. As I was writing this entry, I thought I’d research some quotes about time. I can’t say I was surprised that my simple search turned up 1164 quotes. Below were some of my favorites:

 “How did it get so late so soon?”
― Dr. Seuss

 “Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.”
― William Penn

“You will never find time for anything. If you want time, you must make it.”
― Charles Buxton

“Time is an equal opportunity employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes every day. Rich people can't buy more hours. Scientists can't invent new minutes. And you can't save time to spend it on another day. Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you've wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow.”
― Denis Waitley

As I read those quotes, I was struck by two things in my life regarding time.

1) How often I tell my children, “Hurry up! We’re late!” I've even begun to realize that I say it sometimes when we aren't even running late. There is always a sense of go, go, go! Is it okay to just slow down a little bit? It is possible to leave the house calmly without forcing the last person to leap into the moving vehicle as it screeches out of the driveway? I say YES!

2) How often we say, “I didn't have time.” Of course, as a teacher I have heard this excuse many times (usually pertaining to homework, studying, or some project that was assigned 6 weeks prior to the due date), but I know I am guilty of claiming the same when a deadline has come and gone. Chances are there really WAS time, but we simply didn't chose to MAKE the time necessary to do that certain something. We are faced with numerous opportunities each day to choose how to use our time. Do we always make the best choices?  

Psalm 39:4-5 tells us, "Show me, O LORD, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man's life is but a breath".

My point is this. Denis Waitley may have stated in his quote above that each of us still has an entire tomorrow, but how important it is to remember that tomorrow is not guaranteed. We all know that time is precious and that we will never get it back, but do we really treat the time that God has given us like we believe this? As we head into this busy holiday season, let’s value the time that we have and use our time in a way that will glorify the Lord.

Ephesians 5:15-16a, “Be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity.”

Trusting God

by Jennie Smith
Assistant Secondary Principal

It exploded!  At 10:00 pm, last Tuesday, my Facebook news feed exploded!  I have never seen anything like it!  It was rapid fire.  I watched as second by second a new post popped up.  My friends were reacting to the results of the election.  Some were rejoicing.  Some were angry.  Some were peaceful.  But my favorite post was this Scripture from Isaiah 14:24-27:

 "The Lord Almighty has sworn 'Surely as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand...'  This is the plan determined for the whole world; this is the hand stretched out over all nations.  For the Lord Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him?  His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?"

It reminded me that in any uncertain time - financial challenges, family hardships, illnesses, marriage unrest, hurricanes, political strife - God is still on the throne.  He is sovereign.  He is aware.  He is the author, creator, and He is at work.

While I was in college, my grandma and I together studied the book Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts by Jerry Bridges.  It has long impacted my life and my walk with God.  It helped me to see the real character of God, taught me why He is worthy of my trust, and encouraged me to live a life fully confident in the Sovereign God.  Let me share my three favorite ideas from the book with you...

First, trusting God becomes easy when you know how much He loves you.  "Psalm 145 speaks of His 'abundant goodness,' of His being 'rich in love' and 'good to all,' of having 'compassion on all he has made,' and of being 'loving toward all he has made' (verses 7-9, 17)" (Bridges, 136).  When you know that someone loves you and has nothing but the best in mind for you, it is easy to trust them.

My grandma's favorite visual image of Isaiah 40

My grandma 's favorite image of God's love for us comes from Isaiah 40:10-11.  "See the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and his arm rules for him...He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young."  What a tender image of how much the Lord truly loves us!

Secondly, I will never forget that both the good and the difficult circumstances in my life occur for two reasons:  for my good and His glory.  Jerry Bridges writes "These two objectives are never antithetical; they are always in harmony with each other.  God never pursues His glory at the expense of the good of His people, nor does He ever seek our good at the expense of His glory" (p. 25-26).  What confidence I can have!  No matter the situation "we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose"  (Romans 8:28).

The third idea that has stuck with me for years is that worship is the most appropriate response to both joyful occasions and adversity.  Bridges points out that as soon as Job received the news of his tremendous losses "He fell to the ground in worship..." (Job 1:20).   This act of worship and thankfulness is an outward demonstration of our inward trust in God.  Later, the song "I Will Praise You in the Storm" by Casting Crowns dramatically emphasized this idea in my heart.  "I will lift my hands/for you are who you are/no matter where I am."

This book is not only an excellent read, it makes a wonderful study book.  There is also a discussion guide that can be purchased that encourages a group or an individual to wrestle with the Scriptures in the book, and also asks the hard questions and challenges one to really lean on the Author and Perfecter of our faith.(As a P.S., there is a fantastic chapter that is titled "God's Rule Over the Nations."  A great encouragement if there is uncertainty about our great nation).

We can have complete, total dependence and trust in the One who loves us unconditionally, knows what is best for us, and in his sovereignty has the power to bring it about  (Bridges, p. 18 ).  Let's explode the news feed on Facebook with that joyous confidence!

Bridges, Jerry.  Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts.  Colorado Spring, Colorado:  Navpress, 1988.

A Judgment Call

by Dick Buckingham

Administrator

In our society, we are called upon to make value judgments all the time.  Which laundry soap produces the best smelling clothes, which  fast food restaurant has the best fries, which auto insurance is the best and most reliable, and on and on.  It is a part of life and we all do it based upon a broad variety of factors, some of them having to do with personal tastes and opinions.  Many times, we do it simply because we have accepted the hype provided in the commercial or advertisement.  Most of these kinds of judgments come with little consequence other than we have to live with our decision and may actually miss out on the best item because we never tried it.  No biggie.

However, there are judgments that we make at times, quickly, without any real fact checking or understanding of circumstances that have grave consequences.  These judgments involve other people.  We have been reading through Job in our faculty devotions and I am reminded once again of the judgment passed on Job by his friends Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar and Elihu.  Each in their turn attempts to convince Job of the serious sin that must have been committed to result in his incredible measure of suffering and loss.  Much of what these four expound on is good Biblical truth about the calamity that is in store for the wicked.  The problem was, they made the assumption that because Job had experienced calamity, it was certainly the result of his wicked behavior, in spite of there being no evidence.  In other words, they were quick to pass judgment on another using scripture and truth without fully investigating the circumstances surrounding Job’s situation.

How quick we are to pass judgment on others.  I find myself squirming as I even say that because I know this is one of my own besetting sins.  But I know I am not alone in this practice.  It is easy to pass judgment on those outside of Christ.  We know that there is no good in them without the redemption and sanctification that can only come from Christ.  Yet we use the same casual approach upon those in the family of God to criticize and critique anything and everything they do.  Some of you are probably saying right now, “Yeah, I have been treated like that by others in the church!  Finally someone sees it as I see it!”  We probably have all been victims of this kind of judgment at one time or another or on many occasions.  But I also feel that we need to acknowledge that we are the perpetrators of this spiritual crime.

Job’s friends were not commended by God for their judgment of him.  Though the words they spoke were in general true words, God was not pleased with how they had applied them in judgment of another.  Job 42:7-9

Can you think of someone right now that you are judging in this fashion?  Have you really taken the time to examine all of their circumstances?  Do you fully know their heart and their motive?  Are you rushing to judgment because it is easier to do and makes you feel somewhat justified because you see what you perceive to be the error of another?

Remember what Jesus said,

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your won eye?  You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”  Matthew 7:3-5

We all need (especially me) to be clothed with humility toward one another.  “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another…”  I Peter 5:5