Leadership and Character

Leadership and Character

This is an interesting time of year for a school. We are both planning for next year, as well as anticipating the end of the current year. While both seem far away, the office needs to work on both of these well in advance.

As I meet with families who are contemplating sending their children to Covenant, I often ask the question "If you think down the road 10 years to the point where your child will be graduating from elementary school, what are your hopes and dreams for them? What would you want to see in them and from the school that they attend?"  I love hearing the responses to this question as it probes deep into the reasons why we do what we do, and what is of deep importance to a parent as they think of their children.  Often  topics of character, relation to God and community, leadership, and competence all surface.

As I'm having these conversations, we are getting ready to send our grade 7 and 8 classes off to Pioneer camp for their annual leadership retreat. On this trip, they get to dig deeper into what it means to live together, to cooperate and work together, to who they are as an individual, and who God has made them to be. In a lot of ways, this trip and the rest of the year as we approach graduation probe into the very question I ask of parents when they first come to 'check us out'.

As I look at the beginning of an educational journey and at the end of one at the same time, it's a humbling, yet awesome overview of how God is at work at CCS in the lives of the students here.  He has crafted each of them unique and with specific gifts to contribute to His kingdom, and we get to be agents in uncovering and developing those.

Please pray a blessing on both of these groups - the parents and students visiting for the first time, and the parents and students of grade 7 and 8 students - that they may be keenly aware of God's care and craftsmanship in each of His children.

Thank you to our volunteers

Through the course of a school year, I get the wonderful opportunity to connect with volunteers of all kinds.  Some are current parents of students, some have children who attended Covenant, some just like us and want to give of their time.  It's an amazing and humbling experience that has changed my perspective on volunteering for a school.

In my own kids' last school, we were required to volunteer a minimum amount, and I have to admit feeling a little sense of negativity about the prospect.  We were busy, and had lots of other things to do.  We were heavily involved in our church, we had activities that our kids were in.... time was not freely available.....  but we proceeded to give of our time.

After sitting on the living room floor cutting items out for classroom projects, supervising playground activities, pulling on a pair of work boots and laying sod, helping with their building renovation, stepping in to the classroom to provide help, assisting with the annual fundraiser, we realized an amazing thing:  WE LOVED BEING INVOLVED IN OUR KIDS' EDUCATION.  It wasn't always glamorous, or even always noticed by others, but we gained a sense of what was happening at the school, we were connecting with others who wanted to help, and we were becoming a part of a supportive community.

As I ask volunteers why they do it, I rarely get the same answer.... "Because it's the right thing to do."  "Because I love working with these kids!"  "Because.... well, why wouldn't I?"  "Because I want to give back."  "Because I know you need this, and I love being needed."  "Because I get to work with great people."  "Because it's a lot of fun!"  "Because I know I am involved in what my kids are learning.... you can't get that in so many other places!"  "Because it's kingdom work."     These are just a few of the many reasons that people volunteer here.

Rest assured that we LOVE our volunteers and could not operate effectively without them, regardless of why they do what they do.  Rest assured also, that we always have a need for more.  

How can you become a part of Covenant's story?  Can you find a way to give of your time and talent to bless this community? You may even come out feeling great about it too!

The year of the/our Lord

Here we are - AD 2016.  Our Gregorian calendar is based on counting the years from Christ's birth, and hence the 'AD', which stands for anno Domini, Latin for 'the year of the Lord', or often translated as 'the year of our Lord'.

I had to read those two phrases over a number of times before I caught the difference, but it reminded me of a very fundamental understanding of a Christian worldview:  Christ is THE lord of all, then He can be MY lord of all.  We believe that Christ was and is God and was there with God before creation.  Regardless of whether we accept him as our Lord of all, he does not cease to be the Lord of all.  This is a comforting reality:  Christ does not rely on us for His sovereignty. He is Lord of this year, 2016.  We can accept Him as our Lord of 2016.  

As we look ahead to this year, we will seek ways to continue to proclaim that Christ is Lord of all.  In a world that continues to desperately need to hear the message of grace and forgiveness, of promise and redemption, of peace and hope, this is good news, indeed!!

Happy 2016 to everyone in and around Covenant and NACE.  Plug in to His power, and live as Children of light this year!!!

Hope, Love, Joy, and Peace

Many of you have been working your way through the four weeks of Advent by lighting candles in an Advent wreath.  The candles:  Hope, Love, Joy, Peace all speak into the experience of Christmas and the cosmic implications that Christ's birth has had on the story of God's restoration plan for creation.

These candle themes have such far-reaching effects if we take seriously the depth and breadth of Christ's reign and the impact of His coming.  As we move through advent, I've caught myself often considering each of these themes in the lives of the students at Covenant as they move through their educational journey.

If we are a school that is redeemed by the coming of Christ and operates from this assumption, it would hold that our students would experience this daily and weekly as well.  Following are just a few (of hundreds!!!) ways in which I've experienced the advent themes recently.... perhaps you can think of your own experiences as well!!

Hope:  a student, after diligent and hard work hopes that they understand enough to begin the next task, and that their work will come together as they have imagined.  a teacher sits in anticipation as a student struggles to read aloud a passage they have worked so hard to master.

Love:  a older student stops their game to attend to another who has fallen... dusts them off and sends them on to play.  a teacher exercises persistence and patience with a student who is angry and frustrated and wants to give up.

Joy:  a group of students chooses an optional recess inside to prepare for an upcoming activity they are excited to get started on.  a teacher, after much preparation, launches into a cross-grade activity to introduce students to something outside of their normal experience to product creative and high quality work.

Peace:  two students find a way to work together to solve a problem rather than fighting.  a teacher enjoys a moment of calm in their classroom following the restoration of a broken friendship.

A principal continues to marvel at how celebrating Christ's birth continues to seem new and marvelous each year again, and how so often hope, love, joy, peace work and weave their way through this place.  

We must be plugged in... "... for apart from me, you can do nothing..." John 15:5

Advent Season

And we wait.  I was sharing with some students this morning that by this time last year, we had had three snow storms already.  Winter seems to be taking its time to arrive, and there are mixed emotions about this.  We are certainly enjoying the warm temperatures outside, but there is a longing for what is coming.  We have seen evidence of the seasons changing over, but winter just doesn't seem to arrive.  

That sense of anticipation and waiting is an important concept to teach to our children in the Advent season.  Much of our culture convinces us that waiting is not worth it.  Not having something NOW is unfortunate, and that we deserve immediate gratification.  The chosen nation of Israel waited so long for their Messiah.  In faith, they remained.. and often they got it wrong.  Scripture makes a point, it seems, at the fact that the Messiah's coming did not depend on whether Israel got it right, but that they were continually called back to faithfulness to God.  They were being prepared for the coming of a King.

In this season of 'already - not yet', in which we know Christ has come and paid our debt of sin, and that He will return to bring heaven to earth, we also wait.  We too, often get it wrong in our waiting, but are continually called back to faithfulness to God as we wait...

We wait for winter and the fun and excitement the snow will bring.  We wait for Christmas and the celebration we will enjoy.  We wait for justice and peace in a world struck with conflict.  We wait for Christ's return and the redemption of the world.  In our advent this season, and in the longing for Christ's return, we too are being prepared for the coming of the King!!  

Together, with David (Psalm 72:8)  we cry "May he rule from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth."  and with John from Revelation: "Come, Lord Jesus!"  Rev 22:20  Until then, we wait and strive to live as children of light.

Report Card and Interview Week.

It's time. Report card and Parent Teacher conference week. As the comics and cartoons show, these words can strike fear and trembling in to all involved - parents, students, and teachers alike.  On one hand, this is a good thing - it's an indication that we are all emotionally involved in the success of our students. On the other hand, this fear can cause us to do things that run counter to the central goal:  the growth and development of our students.

The main goal of report cards (and all of the assessment and evaluation that led up to them) and parent teacher conferences is to enhance the learning and growth of the student. Period.  

I've shared here before some of the recent research on growth mindset, largely spurred on by Carol Dweck. http://mindsetonline.com/whatisit/about/ Her main hypothesis, if we could boil it all down to one statement would be, the human brain can grow and learn. The opposite, a fixed mindset, assumes that we are stuck with our current skills and talents, and these are predictors of how we will do in life.  I find the growth mindset to be a wonderful embodiment of taking seriously the potential God created when he formed the world and its first human inhabitants, and of the vision he had then as he walked with them in the garden, giving them work to do to discover, grow, develop, and have dominion.

In the parable of the talents, (Matthew 25:14-30) the master gives each of his servants a sizable amount of money to work with.  As the story progresses, we see that the expectation is that each is expected to work with what they have been given, according to their ability. Each is expected to grow.  

This report card is an early communication of how each of the students is doing in the work of meeting the expectations of their grade level. The feedback gives information as to what strengths are being exercised, and areas for growth.  Each unique student (with all kinds of minds!) shines, and each also has areas in which they can continue to 'grow' their talents...

I want to encourage you to do two things:  1) Praise your child for their effort where they are doing well, and 2) identify some growth goals with your child for discussion at the parent-teacher interviews. Where are there opportunities to develop and grow? What do they find difficult, and how might their strengths help them to move forward in those areas?

So, is the fear and anxiety necessary? In short, no. Is growth expected and is it important? Absolutely. It's not about where we are right now, it's about where we are progressing... Now that's something to get excited about!  I'm looking forward to seeing you on Wednesday or Thursday!!

The stones may rest

"The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The skies display his craftsmanship.
Day after day they continue to speak;
night after night they make him known.
They speak without a sound or word;
their voice is never heard.
Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,
and their words to all the world."
Psalm 19: 1-4

This autumn season has given many of us the occasion to walk around in this part of the world where we are blessed to experience the deciduous 'burst of colour'.  I found myself recalling the verses above as my family walked through the forest canopy along the Niagara Escarpment this weekend. Reds, greens, yellows, oranges.  The skies were 'speaking' loud and clear, although without a sound or a word.  We certainly see these words in our end of the world.

As creatures, created by God to give Him glory, we have been blessed with an actual voice - words and sounds to speak and make Him known.  On Fridays, we experience that together singing together as a school community.  Each of you find your voice on Sundays in your worship communities.  On some level, we can't help but express this voice.  

Jesus goes so far to say that this voice will never be silenced.  As He entered Jerusalem, the crowds were shouting "Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the LORD!  Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven!" (Luke 19: 38)  When told by the religious leaders to make them stop, Jesus replies that if they did, even the stones on the road would burst forth....

This Thursday and Friday mark our annual provincial Christian School educators' convention.  Each year, we gather as a crowd of 800+ educators and begin together in corporate worship.  That short time of praise has become a highlight for me - so many voices together (LOUDLY) proclaiming the Glory of God.

At Covenant, in our region, in our province...  the stones may rest for now.  We will continue to take our cue from the skies and nature all around, giving voice throughout the earth!