Telling Stories, Seeking Justice

This week is an exciting one for our grade five class.  They have been studying the book "A Long Walk to Water", a true story based on Salva, a child who walked to Ethiopia, then Kenya, lived in refugee camps to escape the civil war and being forced into child soldiering; and on Nya, who lived 23 years later in the new region of South Sudan, walking all day to get a jug of water for her family. The two stories merge when Salva, a grown man, dedicates his life's work to drilling wells for the poor communities of his country and helps to dig a well in Nya's village.

Inspired by the story of Salva and Nya, they have set a goal of raising $400 within our own community for the effort to bring clean water to places that need it desperately.  The organization they have chosen to work with is Water for South Sudan (www.waterforsouthsudan.org).  As a class, they will host a bake sale on Wednesday, selling baked goods (so easily at our finger-tips) for $2 (extra donations accepted).  

Today, I was privileged to hear two of the grade 5 students read a speech they had prepared to educate and inspire others to participate in this bake sale.  It was evident that the story had been the vehicle through which they sensed a need for justice and access to basic human needs before anything else could happen (education, health care resources).

Times like these remind me of the richness of Christian Education.  An intermingling of literature, language arts (discussing, analyzing, writing, speaking), media arts (advertising, spreading the word, preparing print media, accessing online media) with themes that make our faithful response real and tangible; this marries excellent education with application, real issues, and real work for real people.

This class is truly plugging in and taking the opportunity to shine as children of light!!  May God be glorified in their work, and the people who benefit receive the clean water they so desperately need to thrive.

Growing connections professionally

Last Friday, our teachers were away in Hamilton for a day of professional development.  Together with educators from Drayton, Guelph, Kitchener, Dundas, Hamilton, Cambridge, St. Catharines, Dunnville, and Stoney Creek, we delved into four different educational topics.  The day was set up so that theory and stories were presented followed by teachers re-grouping and sharing what they were doing, challenges, and opportunities they had to grow.  "Theory really met practice" in this day of learning and sharing.

'Culture and Character' focused in on how we are building schools where Christ is centre, and how to develop a community of learning where each builds one another up.  'Beautiful Student Work' allowed us to explore how to raise standards for our students and give them opportunity to work toward better products that wouldn't be necessarily only for a teacher to mark and hand back.  'Mastery of Skills and Knowledge' gave us space to investigate the requisite 'things' that kids need to know as they move forward through school in each subject.  Finally, 'Deep Connection and the Holy Spirit' allowed us to share stories and experiences about how God is working in our classrooms, schools, and region.

As an increasing need in a quickly changing world, our teachers need to become more connected as colleagues to one another, and to support not only their own students and classrooms, but to rely on and support one another to further the project of Christian Education.

As you can see, that is being well met in our professional development. We are thankful for a community of passionate Christian Educators. To God be the glory!!

February: Relationships and Family

Relationships and Family

I turned the calendar to February this morning. Valentines day, Family Day, our seminar on Restorative practices.... it seems a theme is emerging.

Our social nature defines so much of who we are. We were created to be in relationship certainly with one another (it was not good for us to be alone), and with God as well. So much of our daily experience is shaped and formed by our interaction with others.  It follows, of course, that those interactions will inevitably be 'very good' and 'very broken' as we believe that God created a world He delighted in, and that sin permeates all parts of that creation as well.

February, in some ways, is a time when we call attention to the potential of the relationships we have with one another and the ways in which we can honour God through them. The very presence of a system of education in which we learn together in community is a humbling opportunity to model and form good relationships.   Bruce Schenk, director of IIRP Canada writes:

"We are called to a ministry of reconciliation. As Christian people, this is our call in all areas of our lives, starting with reconciliation to God through Christ's death on the cross (2 Cor. 5:18). Throughout scripture, the emphasis on the central role of forgiveness and reconciliation in our faith is akin to the core values and purpose of restorative practice. When hurtful behavior occurs, the restorative mantra of talking about what has happened, looking at who has been affected or harmed and how, and what is needed to make things right, is similar in the Christian context to acknowledging our sin, confession, honest contemplation and reflection on the impact of our actions, reconciliation, and healing."  (Full article here.) Relationships feed us and address a central part of who God has created us to be, but they also take work.

Consider joining us for a focus on relationships in parenting this February. Anne Martin of Shalem Mental Health Network will lead us on February 22nd to present "WITH, not AGAINST:  dealing with relationship strain or conflict in parenting."  Perhaps by attending, this is a gift you can give to your family as we seek to work for God's kingdom in all of our relationships.

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