By Julie Coleman, Annapolis Area Christian School
Students must understand that our hope in the eternal should shape our actions here on the earth. In my own childhood, a short verse decorated the wall of my family’s dining room: “Only one life ’twill soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last.” Our job as Christian educators is to encourage students to catch this vision of being people who are spending their lives on what will count for the kingdom of God. They must learn to live with a burning desire to keep a focus on what matters from an eternal perspective. In order to live from a Christian worldview, students must learn to look beyond the face value of any task before them.
Teachers at Annapolis Area Christian School (AACS) strive to fulfill the school’s mission statement, which explains that “Annapolis Area Christian School, in partnership with Christian parents, engages students in a rigorous program of learning from a biblical worldview to serve Jesus Christ faithfully in the world.” These teachers help their students see the world in which they live through a scriptural perspective. God is recognized as Creator and Redeemer. The Bible is understood to be the living, powerful Word of God. Yet teaching children to live their lives from a biblical worldview goes beyond merely getting them to recognize these truths.
Students must learn to approach each task or occupation with the mind-set of Colossians 3:17 (NIV): “Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” This goal can be achieved from a very young age: giving excellent effort on each task, with the purpose of pleasing God. In order to teach this principle effectively, we must lead by example. Excellence must be an assumed part of our daily routine. We should be both knowledgeable about our subject matter and professional in our manner, and we should model Jesus Christ in our attitudes and actions. Students will remember who we were long after they forget the content that we taught.
Joanne Wenger, director of the award-winning AACS marching band, has long encouraged her band members to think from an eternal perspective. The cry for excellence in all they do on the field of competition is echoed in our school cry: “All for Him!” As the band marches with precision, as student musicians play with excellence, the hard-working auxiliary team hoists a huge banner as a backdrop to the show they are performing: the Greek letters alpha and omega shining in gold on a white standard. The banner proclaims our message clearly to our typically public school audience—we’re marching to the glory of God.
This focus echoes throughout our fine arts division. Cindy Bauchspies, madrigal singers director, sees to it that her vocalist students take very seriously their task of performing music to the glory of God. A 16-member a cappella choir, this group has toured Europe several times. When they toured France and Switzerland as the featured choir in a church music festival, their agnostic tour guide was overwhelmed at the commitment she saw in the students to not only their music but also their Lord. The attitudes and actions that the teens displayed as they toured spoke loudly to her of a faith that was alive and well.
In the elementary school, we teach the children to begin to look past their own classroom walls to the world around them, which is in need of a Savior. Several times a year, teachers launch mission projects to give students an opportunity to experience the joy of ministering to others. For example, we participate in Operation Christmas Child, a ministry of Billy Graham Ministries, which sends thousands of shoe boxes to needy children all over the world. Faithful students fill boxes with purchased articles such as toothbrushes, socks, and small toys to be given to children who have little or nothing more than the clothes on their backs. Our emphasis in these projects is to challenge children to think about what they as individuals can do to serve the Lord by helping others. Students come to understand that whenever they do something to meet the needs of those in the world around them, they are doing it for Christ (Matthew 25:40).
Loris Nebbia, AACS’s high school AP English teacher, shapes the curriculum she teaches to accomplish the school’s purpose. With a goal of remaining sensitive to the work the Lord is doing in the lives of her students, she begins each class with prayer, demonstrating to her students our dependency on the Lord. Students learn to examine literature through the microscope of the Scriptures, analyzing the problems they read about and measuring what they read against what they know as truth. When students consider the life struggles portrayed in the text, they are encountering a real training ground for the times after graduation when they will face difficult issues.
In the middle school, Mary Beth Feldman uses geography to expose the students to spiritual needs around the world. Each student constructs a poster to display researched information about a country. Besides the obvious information every teacher would expect, Ms. Feldman requires information about the country’s spiritual state and physical needs. Students also research a missions organization that is active in that country and its efforts to meet the needs of that population.
Students come to understand that whenever they do something to meet the needs of those in the world around them, they are doing it for Christ (Matthew 25:40).
Participation on athletic teams offers an excellent vehicle for training not only in physical stamina but in spiritual stamina as well. Alumni Paul Knight and Eric Nebbia coach basketball for the junior varsity squad. Three times a week practice begins in a classroom, where the team and coaches study character traits such as determination and loyalty. They read Scripture and discuss one trait per session. The coaches then carefully watch to see positive examples of players demonstrating those character traits, and highlight those moments to the rest of the team. Their winning record is a by-product of the team’s focus—striving for excellence in living for the Lord.
In all our efforts at AACS, it is our desire that when our students leave the fold, they will have a sense of determination that no matter where the Lord leads them, they will have a purpose and a standard to guide them in their lives. We see the entire process of education as a means that God uses not only to bring the students to Himself through personal faith in Christ but also to develop a Christian mind in them. Each new school year is another opportunity to find ways of helping our students understand and personalize these truths. This process cumulates in our end goal—that all our students will fulfill God’s will for their life personally and vocationally. As we work to fulfill our school mission, we have confidence that the Lord will take these efforts and use them in our students’ lives to grow them into godly, mature people who will make a difference in this world.
Teachers and Their Role in the School Mission 8.3