From the Pastor
There is a passage in the Psalms describing people who put their trust in God. It says “they go from strength to strength” (Psalm 84:7). What a wonderful way of encapsulating the hopes we all have for the children entrusted to our care. Parents want their children to grow up to be strong, able-bodied, and able-minded human beings, who are constantly discovering new capabilities and using them to make a positive difference in the lives of others. That is what the Glenview New Church School supports.
The theme for the 2008-09 school year is “From Strength to Strength.” The faculty will work in many ways to bring this theme alive throughout the nine-month experience. Friday morning chapels will focus on Biblical examples of strength: physical strength, strength of character, and spiritual strength.
Classroom teachers are adept at personalizing the educational process to each student, working with his or her strengths, and supporting areas of lesser proficiency. The teachers will also reinforce concepts of strength of character—doing the right thing even when it is hard, and putting in effort to learn new skills. Physical strength is not so important, but being a healthy human being who is vibrant and useful, is. We envision the theme coming alive in physical education classes as students discover new capabilities or interests, and also use their abilities to help others. Then there is the concept of health: What leads to a healthy body, mind and spirit? What foods bring health and vitality to the body? What information is good for the mind and spirit, and what should we beware in our world that is inherently unhealthy? We live in an affluent part of a relatively wealthy country. From that financial strength, we can make a positive difference in the lives of those less fortunate. It is useful to awaken in students the belief which says, “From my individual strengths I can strengthen others;” “From our collective strengths we can strengthen more people than we can by ourselves;” “A person of strong character wishes others to have the nourishment of body, mind and spirit that he or she has.”
As a spiritually based school, we seek to foster the recognition that God is the Source of strength—the One who gives us all of our abilities, and leads us “from strength to strength.” It will be a pleasure to work with the school team—parents, teachers, and volunteers alike, to raise the awareness of just how capable the students are and can become.
Warm regards,
