Year-Round School?

A few weeks ago Bob Edwards suggested that I write a post on some of the ins and outs of year-round school. I am not an expert on school and the pros and cons of having the students go year-round with more breaks rather than have a long summer break. But I am a blogger, and I can give my opinion on anything. Right? I have had a bit of experience in education, twenty four years as a student, and thirty three as a teacher and coach, so my opinion is not totally uninformed.

There are a number of arguments in favor of year-round school. These include having shorter breaks throughout the year that are supposed to help retention of information, keeping kids off the streets during the long hot summers, and providing a place for working parents to put their children. Given the current cultural situation in the country, those could be compelling reasons. School districts around the country have instituted year-round school, in the elementary schools at least, and the results seem to be positive. When the students get to the upper grades though, there are a number of factors that I believe will hinder a broader use of a longer school year.

In a lot of areas of the country, particularly those whose economy runs on tourism, the businesses depend on a supply of teenagers who are on summer break to fill their openings. Some states have pushed back the start of the school year in order to allow those students to work the entire tourist season. The economic benefits of a long summer break would be awfully hard for those areas to give up. When I was coaching, one of the big benefits of a summer break was the opportunity to go to summer camps at colleges. These colleges were also on their summer break, so they could concentrate on the camps, which are a great recruiting tool as well as allowing the teams to work on their skills. A shorter summer break might not affect that so much, but longer breaks during the school year would make scheduling athletic seasons very interesting. In some areas of the country, sports such as football or basketball are nearly a religion, and one tinkers with that at great risk.   

It seems that a large part of American culture is built around  a school year that begins in mid to late August or September and runs until the end of May or middle of June. I think it can work in the lower grades, and possibly in the upper grades as well, but I'm not sure the majority of the people in the country are ready for the adjustments it would cause.

Just my thoughts. What do you think?

A Christmas Program

Last month, I went with Jan to a Christmas program at the school where she teaches. As I sat watching the program, I started thinking that I was at a Christmas program that neither of our children were in, that I didn't know any of the students, and that the only reason I was there because some of Jan's students were participating. And, I was enjoying it. As I wondered why, I realized it was because it was a program that was full of the innocence of children, the joy of simple participation, and unconditional love. Later, I thought how that simple school Christmas program was a good picture of what the church is (or should be).

The participants in the program were not professional musicians or actors. While the performance was very good, there were notes that were missed and lines that were flubbed. It was what was there that is most important. There was innocence, an innocence that allowed each child to simply go through their part in the program and not worry about any missteps. There was also a joy in simply doing something in front of their families and friends. They were simply doing something and having fun doing it. None of the children ran crying from the stage because they had missed a cue or hit the wrong note. There was no embarrassment. This was because the children knew that they were loved by their parents and teachers, and that this love did not depend on performance. The audience applauded each part of the program, and showed sincere appreciation for the efforts of the participants.

This is how the church should be. Each of us has a part to play in the "program" that is the church. We are all called to be ministers of the grace of God. Whether that part is "big" or "small," we all have something to do in the body. We are called to be as children in our trust of the Father. It is an innocent trust that knows that, no matter what, our Abba has everything under control and loves us. Knowing this allows us to do what we do with joy, because we know that the end result doesn't depend on us and our performance doesn't determine our acceptance. We can miss cues, flub lines, and hit the wrong notes and our Father loves us the same.

That unconditional love of God calls us to love each other in the same way. Some of us struggle with a critical way of looking at the world. That is wrong. Just as no one criticized the children for not being perfect, so we should not criticize our brothers and sisters who may not do things as well as we do, or who may not be as far along in certain parts of their journey. We must remember that each one of us is solely responsible to God, and how he has called us may not be the same as how he has called another. We are also called to lay down our lives for our brothers. That will help free them to serve with joy and an innocent trust in the God who is sovereign and who can take our poorest efforts and use them for his glory and the advancement of his kingdom.

Let us be as children as we do what God has called us to do. Let us rest in the Father as we work, trusting him completely. Let us take joy in our calling, and let others know the source of that joy. Let us love one another as Christ has loved us and allow each other the freedom to play out our calling, even when it doesn't look all that pretty.

It's Too Hard

This was first posted on June 1, 2009.

This week is exam week. As teachers have reviewed and tried to make sure that the students are prepared, some of the students make it clear that they have no intention of studying for an exam that could mean passing or failing the subject. Many of these decide not to study for the same reason they don't do homework throughout the year - "It's too hard." They take the "easy" way out, even though that way leads to summer school or a repeat of the grade the following year. Some of this attitude can be attributed to the age and immaturity of the students.

I wonder if this same attitude is infecting many in the church in America. We find it easier to let preachers feed us, rather than searching the Scriptures for ourselves. We sit back and let the preacher entertain us, even if it may end up being harmful to our spiritual growth. There are many who find it easy to show up to a church gathering on Sunday morning, go through the customary shallow greetings, sing a few songs without bothering to consider what they are singing, listen to a lecture for a (hopefully short) while, then go home to their comfortable lives without having any more meaningful contact with others until the next Sunday. In some churches, this pattern is repeated once or twice more through the week. Anything else beyond that, except for maybe morning "quiet time," just becomes too much. After all, we live such busy lives.

The result of this continual routine is a church that has no power, a church that focuses on other things than the Gospel. We have seen this in recent years with the religious right's attempt to legislate moral behavior, and with the religious left's attempt to legislate compassion for others. It is easy, it seems to me, to rally behind a cause, to attend rallies and write letters. It is easy to boycott advertisers and companies, to vote for the "correct" candidate. At the end of a day of doing all of these, we can still go home and live life as we are used to living it. In fact, I believe that many of the causes are more about protecting our pursuit of the American Dream than they are about what God wants.

Jesus calls those who follow him to lose everything, even our own life for his sake. I think this goes beyond merely being willing to lose our lives for the Gospel. What I believe Jesus is saying is following him means giving it all up to him and allowing him to give us what he wants us to have as a trust for his Kingdom and glory. We are called to love God with every bit of us, and to love all others as ourselves. That is not an easy thing to do, and sometimes the immediate gratification is not there. Just like students who can't see past the moment, many Christians can't see past themselves. We have become comfortable in our Christianity that is simply an addition to the American Dream. Christians in other countries can't even imagine having what we have, individually or in our churches. Yet we worry more about the possibility of losing tax exemption than the poor or hurting in our own neighborhood.

Following the King of kings is not an easy path. There will be hills, and curves that we can't see around. There will be times when Jesus will ask us to do something that is hard, or maybe even impossible. We are called to love like Jesus loved, to serve the unlovable, to give ourselves to those who are broken and messed up. We will be rejected, both by those outside the church and by some inside. Read the Gospels. Look what happened to the disciples and many of the early Christians. Many times it was too hard...for them. Not for their Savior. And, they turned the world upside down.

God help us all to give ourselves up for the King and his Kingdom.

World Vision Wednesday

Many times, public school teachers have to spend their own money on supplies and instructional materials. In the 2009-2010 school year, teachers spent more than $1.33 billion dollars out of there own pockets. World Vision has teacher resource centers across the United States that help teachers lower their costs as they provide supplies for students who can't afford them. To find out more check out this link.