New Year's Resolutions

By Dan Beerens

Originally posted on Nurturing Faith ~ the blog of Christian Schools International

The best time of the year for resolutions is January 1. True? Not really in education! Many of you are wrapping up the school year and some of you are already “childless” and roaming around in a mostly empty building. While you wrap up the year, many of you are already in planning mode for next year. Given our agricultural/cultural schedule of summer months without students, let me encourage you to take some time to reflect and resolve.

• What went well and not so well this year that I hope to change in the fall?
• What did I want to work on but could not take the time for or get to in the crush of the year?
• What could I do proactively so that I will feel calmer when I get into the busyness of the fall schedule?
• How will I strengthen the weakest aspects of my work? For teachers it may be finding better learning activities for a less than stellar unit, for principals it may be putting together a classroom visitation schedule that is more realistic and committing to it.
• How will I pursue professional passions that allow me to bring unique benefits to my school or system?
• How will I recharge my spiritual tank? Will I take more time to refresh my interior life?
• Maybe summer is a good time for you to take a minute and reassess what you are doing in terms of your chosen work. Do you still feel called? Are you still passionate about what you are doing? Are you still eager to learn more about your discipline and life?

Is it a perfect time to catch up on reading the Nurturing Faith blogs you have missed this year? (Actually principals tell me they read the blog more in the summer than the school year!)

Have a great summer! I will see some of you at the CSI convention and others at your school for staff development. Nurturing Faith will take a summer hiatus now and begin again in the fall.

Click here to see the original post and to search the blog archives for some good summer reading!

Let Us Consider . . .

Dr. Timothy Sierer, MACSA President
Headmaster, The Christian Academy (Brookhaven, PA)

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” Hebrews 10:24 

Clearly, we live in a society where the concept of encouraging one another and building each other up is foreign. To many the order of the day is not how I can build up others but rather how do I elevate myself above those around me. That attitude so prevalent in today’s culture is in direct disobedience to our theme verse found in Hebrews. Serving as an encourager to others is a trait that not only goes against the thinking of our present day culture but the very fabric of our sinful nature.

In each of our schools, we attempt to instruct our students in the daily application of this verse in their lives. We believe that our students can have a huge impact on their surroundings for the cause of Christ if they allow this verse to shape their interactions with others. Sadly, we are sending the Class of 2010 into a culture where the foremost concern is for self even at the expense of others. It is our desire that as these graduates leave our secure surroundings, they will become a beacon to an unsaved world through the demonstration of Christ’s love in their daily lives. 

As the Class of 2010 prepares to graduate, those who profess the name of Jesus can step out confidently into the next phase of their lives. They can step out knowing they have been equipped academically, but more importantly, they have been equipped with the tools to stand boldly for the cause of Christ. Provided they have fully yielded themselves to His will, they can also boldly step out knowing that He will direct their footsteps in the future.

As another school year draws to a close, let us all purpose in our hearts to: 1) Praise God for the gifts and abilities He has bestowed on our students and 2) Pray that He will use the lives of these ‘new’ alumni not only to touch those around them but also to bring glory to Him. Thank you for your commitment to pray for our new graduates as they leave our schools and embark on the next stage of life’s journey. 

On a personal note as my term as President comes to an end, I want to thank you for the privilege of serving in this capacity for the past three years. It has been a pleasure to serve MACSA in this way and to hear of how God is continuing to use our organization to reach future generations for Him. As Mrs. Williams takes over the leadership role I know you will provide her with the same level of support and encouragement you have given me. May God richly bless each of you with a restful summer as we look forward to serving our students in the 2010-2011 school year.

Ending Well?

Originally posted on Nurturing Faith (Christian Schools International)

It’s nearing the end of the school year and time for the annual award distributions. We hand out certificates, trophies, and compile lists of achievements in almost any and every category. Whether in the early grades or at graduation, we seek to point out accomplishments of students. I am guessing that if we could sit down and talk for a few minutes, dear reader, that we would share some mixed feelings about this end of year ritual.

This is an area of our school life that poses potentially large risks to our mission. It is an area that goes largely unexamined and one where we quickly adopt the practices of other schools. It is what we get excited about that speaks the loudest message to our students. I am concerned that sometimes what we do in awards assemblies may actually contradict the kinds of thoughtful work that we have done throughout many previous months and years.

I don’t have the answer to this, but am providing some questions below that might be useful in generating conversations within faculties.

Click here to read the list of questions and to leave a comment.  Please feel free to leave a comment on this blog, too.

Listen Slowly

Chuck Swindoll, chancellor of Dallas Theological Seminary, tells of a time when he had allowed the ‘busyness’ and demands of his life to interfere with his relationships with his wife and children.  All of their interaction was rushed, to the point where he was treating them rudely.  After yet another rushed meal one night, his young daughter blurted out that she had something important to tell him and she’d do it really fast.   Ashamed at her unintentional rebuke, Swindoll assured her that she didn’t have to rush - she could talk to him slowly.  ‘Then listen slowly,’ she replied.

As you approach the ‘busyness’ of the end of the year . . .

• Administrators . . . are you listening slowly to your teachers?
• Teachers . . . are you listening slowly to your students and parents? 
• All of us . . . are we listening slowly to God?

If not, try the following:

• practice being a good listener
• learn to hear the voice of God
• listen with your heart as well as your ears
• give God your full attention when you pray
• realize that your students feel valued when you  listen to them
• recognize the way God listens to you
• understand that hearing God requires obeying him as well

Lead On, O King Eternal

Nancy R. DeHaan
MACSA Executive Director

Friday night was high school graduation at the Christian school where I serve. All in all – the graduation was pretty traditional and fairly typical.

• Processional
• Opening Hymn
• Student Speeches
• Student Awards
• Graduation Speaker
• Granting of Diplomas
• Moving of the Tassel
• Closing Prayer
• Recessional

Our graduating class was 27 students – leaving us and embarking on a new chapter in their lives. Of those 27 young men and women, 13 had been at the school since Kindergarten with another 2 joining them in First Grade! That’s over HALF of the class! The graduation speaker (a pastor dad of one of the graduates) commended this group of parents for the sacrificial commitment they made in order to provide a Christian education for their children.

At our school, the processional, opening hymn and recessional are the same each year – a tradition. Pomp and Circumstance for the processional, O Worship the King for the opening hymn and Lead On, O King Eternal for the recessional. (I heard whispers in the Teachers’ Room that perhaps THIS year, we should break with tradition and play the Hallelujah Chorus as the recessional! Just kidding!)

I have attended many graduations at the school – and each year, something different solidifies for me why those of us who minister in Christian schools are SO committed to Christian education. The “moment” might be a tidbit from one of the student speeches, a truth from the graduation speaker, or a heartfelt “Amen” as the class is prayed over by one of our faculty members. This year, it was the recessional.

At the end of the ceremony, the students move their tassels and are officially graduated! They are no longer students – they are now alumni. We - Moms and Dad, teachers, staff members, everyone in the audience - have invested much time and prayer into the lives of these young men and women. Now, tassels moved, they leave the stage, leave the gym, leave our school - and we pray that the spiritual and academic lessons we have taught and modeled will “stick” and we pray with all our hearts that they will continue to follow God and trust Him “in all their ways.” It is our prayer that our newest graduates will say with boldness:

Lead on, O King eternal,
The day of march has come;
Henceforth in fields of conquest
Thy tents shall be our home.
Through days of preparation
Thy grace has made us strong;
And now, O King eternal,
We lift our battle song.

Lead on, O King eternal,
Till sin’s fierce war shall cease,
And holiness shall whisper
The sweet amen of peace.
For not with swords’ loud clashing,
Nor roll of stirring drums;
With deeds of love and mercy
The heavenly kingdom comes.

Lead on, O King eternal,
We follow, not with fears,
For gladness breaks like morning
Where’er Thy face appears.
Thy cross is lifted over us,
We journey in its light;
The crown awaits the conquest;
Lead on, O God of might.

Hang in There!

Dr. Tim Sierer
MACSA President
Headmaster, The Christian Academy

“Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
The Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
And His understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
And increases the power of the weak.” Isaiah 40:28-29

Growing ‘tired or weary’ as we draw close to the end of another school year is not uncommon nor an indicator that we are somehow sub-par or sub-standard. It is simply an unpleasant fact and part of the teaching profession. Come mid-May we are physically, and in some cases emotionally, spent from a year of investing ourselves into the lives of our students. Frankly, I would be more concerned if you as a classroom teacher had reached this point in the year and were not feeling that way. I would then ask, “What have you been doing?”

As we drag ourselves out of bed each morning to face another day, we can do so knowing that our strength comes not from ourselves but from the very Creator of the universe. We can face the day knowing that He will provide the strength, energy and wisdom to deal with whatever lies before us. Because of Him, we are able to finish this year strong knowing that He has enabled us for each task that we encounter. What better way to end a school year than to know that we are spent, physically and emotionally, because of investing ourselves into the lives of our students.

HANG IN THERE - the blood, sweat and tears of today will result in great joy when we see what God has done with those seeds planted into your students during this year!

An end of the year check-up – looking back, looking forward

As originally posted on Nuturing Faith blog (May 19, 2009)
Click here to view the original post.

For most of us it’s time to put things back in the cupboards and close the book on this school year. As a school leader, it is good to reflect back on the school year, and worthwhile to ask yourself some reflective questions:

1. Did I move my school closer to meeting our mission this year? What evidence do I have? How do I know?
   
2. How did I as a leader improve the school this year? Did my words and actions encourage faith and motivation to learn in my staff and students?
   
3. Did I settle for only visible improvements of bricks and bucks or did I also improve the less visible aspects such as the quality of instruction, the distinctiveness of the curriculum, the quality of instruction, and the bondedness of the staff and parent community?
   
4. Was my focus on how successful my school was or how much students and staff understood how to be bringers of shalom?
   
5. What must I commit to in the next school year?
   

Recently McKinsey & Company put out an interesting report “How the World’s Best-Performing School Systems Come Out on Top.” In the report they make this summative statement: “The available evidence suggests that the main driver of the variation in student learning at school is the quality of the teachers.” They go on to say that high-performing schools consistently do three things well:

• Hire the right teachers – “The quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers.”
• Develop teachers into effective instructors.
• Put in place systems and targeted support to make sure that each child benefits from excellent instruction.

According to their synthesis of research, each principal’s time in effective schools is focused on instructional leadership. In our schools spiritual leadership is even more important. What implications does this have as you make plans to foster spiritual and instructional leadership growth in your school next year?

PLAN to Finish Strong!

Nancy R. DeHaan
Executive Director, MACSA

About twenty years ago, my family and I were preparing for a 700 mile “cross country” move – from Michigan to New Jersey. We had about a month to pack and get ready for “moving day.”

I remember those first few days and weeks of packing. The boxes were chosen with care – not too big (they would be too heavy) but not too small (who wants to haul bunches of little boxes). Packing tape, rolls of bubble wrap and color coded “room labels” were ready and waiting! Each box was packed with care, carefully taped and accurately labeled – not just with the color coded room label, but with an “inventory list” taped to the outside of the box! We were organized – and we were moving right along! We didn’t ask for much help – we knew how we wanted it done, so “Thanks, but no thanks” was often the response!

And then . . . the days were passing faster than we were packing! We had deadlines to meet and the moving day was not very flexible. So . . . the unthinkable happened, we began just putting “stuff” in boxes (and size, any shape – if it was cardboard, it was being used) and labeling them as “Miscellaneous – Kitchen” or “Miscellaneous – Kid Stuff”. Color coded? Who needs color coded labels anyway!

Well – we got the packing (and moving) done – but I still think there might be a few missing boxes!

Interesting story, but . . . what’s the point?

Do you remember those first few days and weeks of teaching? The lesson were chosen with care – not too long (the kids had been out of school all summer and needed to be eased back in) but not too short (you still had to fill a FULL day of school). The supplies were ready: workbooks were new, no dog-eared pages in the textbooks and the lunchboxes didn’t have the “lived in” look (or smell). Your lesson plan book was up-to-date with the specifics of each lesson carefully written in the appropriate square, including the appropriate page numbers and supplemental activities!

And now . . . the days are passing faster and the kids are already “shutting down”. There is still SO much to cover and the last day of school is not very flexible (you can stop praying for a snow day this time of year!) By now – your lesson plan book (if you can find it) is full of arrows, sticky notes and an occasional coherent activity –and you LOVE filling in those squares with the words FIELD TRIP, SPECIAL ASSEMBLY or EDUCATIONAL VIDEO!

Are you about ready to do the “unthinkable” in your classroom? Are you doing “stuff” for the sake of the stuff - just to “finish” the book? Are you letting “group projects” replace your teaching (you HAVE to have time to grade those book reports, right)?

Don’t let the end of the school year just “happen.” Be proactive in your planning – yes, PLANNING. The end of the school year will still be hectic and the kids will still be spending more time talking/thinking about summer vacation than the lesson at hand - unless your “lesson at hand” is about summer and summer vacation – planning a road trip (geography, math, English). With creative planning – you can finish strong and you won’t spend the summer wondering if there were any “missing boxes” from this school year!

Broken Crayons and Dried Up Markers (and a few chewed pencils, too)

Nancy R. DeHaan
MACSA Executive Director (and recovering preschool teacher)

I love school supplies! I can live without dozens of pairs of shoes (with or without matching handbags), I can wear the winter coat for “one more year”, but I can’t start the school year with last year’s supplies! I LOVE to shop for markers, pens, pencils and new pads of paper! Somehow, I feel better starting the school year new and fresh – with none of last year’s wear and tear on my supplies!

This time of year I can tell – without even looking at the calendar – that the school year is almost over. I can see and hear it in the excited voices of the students and teachers – and in the “what am I going to do all summer” faces of the parents! But . . . it’s not the calendar; it’s not the students, teachers or parents. I can tell it’s almost the end of the school year by looking in the students’ pencil boxes – and in my center desk drawer!

The school supplies that were purchased during the summer started the year all lined up and ready to work in pencil boxes and desk drawers – like an army of soldiers ready to do battle! And now . . . many battles have been fought (some won, some lost) – and it’s hard to find a crayon that isn’t broken and/or missing its paper! And markers with caps – the caps were long gone by Christmas! The nub of a pencil hiding in the corner of the drawer can still do the job, but it is showing the toll that the school year has taken. The pencils, markers and crayons all have the marks of a school year almost over – they look well used, worn and weary!

Teacher - are you feeling used up, worn and weary? Do you feel a little broken, dried up and chewed? Even the best of school years can take its toll – draining us of our energy and creativity.

The solution – visit your local discount store or office supply store and buy a new box of crayons, a few new markers and a package of new pencils! Line your new “recruits” up in your desk drawer and prepare to finish the school year strong! Suggest that your classroom parents do the same – and pick a day in the next week and designate it as the “Beginning of the End" Day and recapture some of the excitement and enthusiasm that marked the beginning of the school year.

And next year . . . buy extra supplies in August – and hide them (remember where, so you can find them in May) and bring out the “new” things when you are feeling as weary as your school supplies look - but try to wait until after Christmas!

Please forward this to a friend or colleague who could use some encouragement today - better yet, stop by the classroom with a brand new marker!

God Be With You

God Be with You till We Meet Again
Text: Jeremiah E. Rankin, 1828-1904
Music: William G. Tomer, 1833-1896
Tune: GOD BE WITH YOU, Meter: 98.89 with Refrain (MH--no refrain)

Click here to listen.

God be with you till we meet again;
by his counsels guide, uphold you,
with his sheep securely fold you;
God be with you till we meet again.

Refrain:
Till we meet, till we meet,
till we meet at Jesus' feet;
till we meet, till we meet,
God be with you till we meet again.

God be with you till we meet again;
neath his wings securely hide you,
daily manna still provide you;
God be with you till we meet again.

God be with you till we meet again;
when life's perils thick confound you,
put his arms unfailing round you;
God be with you till we meet again.

God be with you till we meet again;
keep love's banner floating o'er you,
smite death's threatening wave before you;
God be with you till we meet again.

A Word of Thanks

From Nurturing Faith
Dan Beerens, author and editor
Vice President of Learning Services for Christian Schools International

A word of thanks to those of you who . . .

. . . kept in focus the big picture of nurturing faith in students, despite all the distractions and obstacles during this school year;

. . . kept your cool when working with a student for the umpteenth time on a repeated issue—thanks for remembering that God continues to forgive each of us for repeated sins;

There's more!
Click here to jump to the Nurturing Faith blog to read the rest of the Thank You!

Apathyitis - Don't Get Bitten by the Bug

The school year is winding down to a close. It has been a long year and everyone is looking forward to the activities and events that mark the end of a good school year! But . . . BEWARE . . . lurking in the background is a disease waiting to wreck havoc with your best laid plans! Most commonly seen in students ages 17-18, symptoms include a desire to cut class, poorly done assignments and repeated uttering of “I can’t wait til June!”

It’s contagious, but rarely fatal. It’s apathyitis (kin to the more commonly known “senioritis” bug) . . . and beware, it might even “attack” YOU!

But . . . before apathyitis can be adequately diagnosed and cured in the students . . . the faculty and staff must do a self examination! And a true self examination will probably find that we all have at least a mild case of the disease! There is, however, good news for the infected . . . there is a cure and it comes straight from the pages of Scripture!

REMEMBER
Remember your call – It comes directly from God.
God himself has called you and has placed you in your current ministry.

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10

. . . and He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Ephesians 4: 11+

RECOMMIT
Renew your commitment – Find that “Beginning of the Year” enthusiasm
Remember how you felt at the beginning of the year – it was a year filled with promise and with excitement. Dig deep – recapture that “First Day” enthusiasm.

Walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work . . . strengthened with all might . . .for all patience and longsuffering, with JOY! Colossians 1:10

RENEW
Renew your strength – The God who called you will sustain you!
Let us not grow weary . . . Let us not lose heart . . . but when we do, remember, He gives power to the weak . . . He increases strength. Exchange your weariness for God’s strength.

Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles, theyshall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

RUN
Run with endurance the race set before you!
What will hinder you from finishing strong? What will ensnare you and rob you of your joy? Lay those things aside and FINISH STRONG! We expect nothing less from our students – let’s show them nothing less!

We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus . . . Hebrews 12:1-2

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving!

Colossians 3