What the Public School System is teaching me: Part 4 - Engagement
I've been sharing with you my journey as a mother of kids in the public school system. Before I go on to share with you the fourth part of the series ... let's remind ourselves of this. We can choose to see our kids' education as a right (which I agree it is) but we can also choose to see it as a blessing. You can CHOOSE BOTH.
A lot has been happening lately in the schools: we have an ongoing teachers' dispute and we have unhappy parents protesting against the new health education curriculum, amongst other things.
But as I immerse myself as much as possible to be part of my kids' education career, I wonder how many of us are aware there are many other concerns that should raise our brows or at least cause us to pause and think and pray and reflect and ask for discernment. The list can be long but if we don't change the way we understand our roles as parents of children in public schools (and any school for that matter), all these issues stand to be in danger of just being parents' short term 'fads'
I cannot just sit and expect to be a SPECTATOR of how smart my kids will turn out to be because I MADE (notice: past tense verb) the great choice of choosing this or that school.
The Choices I make (notice: present tense) are DAILY, WEEKLY
No, I'm not nosy. I don't have a ton of time to kill. I don't just like to find out everyone's dirty secrets
I have come to realize there is no other way to fulfill my calling to be a godly parent but to be ENGAGED (see my post on Part 3 - your voice matters). And that engagement has a beginning and end...but it starts the day my kids started going to school and ends when they graduate. In other words...it is a LONG TERM ENGAGEMENT!
I can't speak up here and there. I can't just choose to be ENGAGED only when things get too closed to home.
I cannot just pray and hope everything is going well at school and if it isn't the school will call me
BE ENGAGED. Don't be scared. Your motive is your child. You are his/her voice.
And an added bonus: when we take the courage to engage in a long term commitment with the school, God will do things inside you.
But being engaged for the long haul is Hard. It's tiring. And seems almost too proactive. But, didn't Jesus call us all to be LIGHT of the world? The "world" is right there at the Public School. How engaged are we there?
Or, do we ENGAGE only when there is trouble?
How can I be engaged? The options are endless. They really are! And may I suggest that engagement may not look the same every year? We need to prayerfully ask for direction every step of the way (isn't that applicable to everything else in life, though?)
1) Offer to volunteer:
- show up to school council meetings ---- it's not about you - so don't think about what you can 'contribute'! Just show up
- to distribute pizza on pizza days
- to help at any or all school events!!!!
- to help teachers in the classroom
- to help librarians
- to be lunch monitors
- to volunteer if there is a club where you can see yourself helping out
- there are so many opportunities - and if you don't know what, just talk to a teacher or the principal! they will tell you!
- to help in classes, especially kindergarten classes
2) Pray for the school:
Gather all the Christians you know. Engage in active prayer. Commit to do so monthly or bi-monthly...but for the long run.
But just engaging in prayer meetings isn't enough - if we don't engage at the place we are praying for, how could we ever know what to pray for or what to be thankful for when God actually answers prayers!?
3) Stick around at drop off or pick up:
Get out of the car if you can spare 5 minutes. Talk with the parents. Talk with the teachers monitoring the kids in the morning. Get to know them. Let them get to know you.
4) Take a day or 1/2 day off from work so that you can go to that field trip with your kids' class
We are all busy - but it's a choice
5) Don't wait until there is trouble. Meet with the teachers and/or Principal. Don't meet only when there is trouble.
6) Be nice
Teachers are humans too. ENGAGEMENT doesn't mean to just volunteer. Take the time to write a special note to encourage teachers when you see something worth mentioning. Be bold. I once wrote a note to a teacher - and in it I mentioned to him I pray for him and his family and thanked God for him. To this day he jokingly tells me he still has the card and has shown it to family members. It might not be true for all teachers, but I would venture to guess an honest and positive note is worth more to a teacher than a Timmies Gift Card you send to them in June.
7) Focus on a few families
Get to know them. After all, you are BOUND to find your kids' friends are actually your neighbours! Live life together. Talk to each other. Share coffee with each other. Share the sales you found in the neighbourhood. Tell each other a good kids' camp you found in the summer. Give suggestions to each other.
7) Be open
Be open to just see opportunities to ENGAGE as the Lord shows you ways. You might be surprised.
Whether you have 1 hour a year or 1 hour a day to INVEST in ENGAGEMENT, the amount doesn't matter. The journey needs to start with a change of how we see life. Let that translate into how you perceive education. And let God change you inside out and teach you and show you. From there, COMMIT yourself to learning to be Engaged by BEING engaged. One hour at a time. Step by step.
Don't fool yourself by saying you will find time some day.
Don't kid yourself by saying you need to understand more before you engage.
Those things will never happen.
Engage, because that is the only way to Live Life WITH our children. But beyond that...Engage, because that is one of the best ways you will find where God will humble you and use you to fulfill your calling in this world. John 13:35 says "Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples" .... Don't pick and choose who to love. Love the school your kids are spending MOST Of their awake time. Be part of it. Find out what they are doing. Engage and participate in what excites them. Help where they need help. Celebrate together. Break out of our comfort shells.
How you are Engaged doesn't have to look the same..but can you imagine if ALL the Christian parents in our schools embraced this ENGAGEMENT CALL and begin to LOVE the schools actively?
I don't have answers for any of the education issues in the news these days, but no matter what happens, I am convinced we are called to be a LOVING LIGHT. People talk about ENGAGEMENT all the time. It's one of those "buzz" words amongst educators these days. What if we showed the world what that Engagement can look like if it is driven by someone bigger than us?
Life Long Engagement doesn't mean volunteering 10 hours a week. You can be engaged in the long haul and barely volunteer 5 hrs in a year...or less. Don't quantify engagement. Don't let numbers dictate your choice.
It's not about how many hours we can "afford". We can't afford not to.
I promise you - commitment to engagement will change you. I don't know how exactly. But if you do it because you care about your kids, and because you know God loves EVERYONE in that school...there is no way you won't change.
A lot has been happening lately in the schools: we have an ongoing teachers' dispute and we have unhappy parents protesting against the new health education curriculum, amongst other things.
But as I immerse myself as much as possible to be part of my kids' education career, I wonder how many of us are aware there are many other concerns that should raise our brows or at least cause us to pause and think and pray and reflect and ask for discernment. The list can be long but if we don't change the way we understand our roles as parents of children in public schools (and any school for that matter), all these issues stand to be in danger of just being parents' short term 'fads'
Being involved in the Public School system has forced me to be ENGAGED. I cannot turn on my CONSUMER mentality (aka I paid you so give me a good product) and "Expect" a bunch of results while I sit comfortably in the privacy of my nice home.
The Choices I make (notice: present tense) are DAILY, WEEKLY
No, I'm not nosy. I don't have a ton of time to kill. I don't just like to find out everyone's dirty secrets
I have come to realize there is no other way to fulfill my calling to be a godly parent but to be ENGAGED (see my post on Part 3 - your voice matters). And that engagement has a beginning and end...but it starts the day my kids started going to school and ends when they graduate. In other words...it is a LONG TERM ENGAGEMENT!
I can't speak up here and there. I can't just choose to be ENGAGED only when things get too closed to home.
I cannot just pray and hope everything is going well at school and if it isn't the school will call me
BE ENGAGED. Don't be scared. Your motive is your child. You are his/her voice.
And an added bonus: when we take the courage to engage in a long term commitment with the school, God will do things inside you.
He will open a new world for you to see.
He will humble you to be slow to complain and talk and quick to listen....at first.
He will cause you to REFLECT and DIGEST all those engagement activities
And He will move you to RESPOND in a way worthy of His calling.
But being engaged for the long haul is Hard. It's tiring. And seems almost too proactive. But, didn't Jesus call us all to be LIGHT of the world? The "world" is right there at the Public School. How engaged are we there?
Or, do we ENGAGE only when there is trouble?
How can I be engaged? The options are endless. They really are! And may I suggest that engagement may not look the same every year? We need to prayerfully ask for direction every step of the way (isn't that applicable to everything else in life, though?)
1) Offer to volunteer:
- show up to school council meetings ---- it's not about you - so don't think about what you can 'contribute'! Just show up
- to distribute pizza on pizza days
- to help at any or all school events!!!!
- to help teachers in the classroom
- to help librarians
- to be lunch monitors
- to volunteer if there is a club where you can see yourself helping out
- there are so many opportunities - and if you don't know what, just talk to a teacher or the principal! they will tell you!
- to help in classes, especially kindergarten classes
2) Pray for the school:
Gather all the Christians you know. Engage in active prayer. Commit to do so monthly or bi-monthly...but for the long run.
But just engaging in prayer meetings isn't enough - if we don't engage at the place we are praying for, how could we ever know what to pray for or what to be thankful for when God actually answers prayers!?
3) Stick around at drop off or pick up:
Get out of the car if you can spare 5 minutes. Talk with the parents. Talk with the teachers monitoring the kids in the morning. Get to know them. Let them get to know you.
4) Take a day or 1/2 day off from work so that you can go to that field trip with your kids' class
We are all busy - but it's a choice
5) Don't wait until there is trouble. Meet with the teachers and/or Principal. Don't meet only when there is trouble.
6) Be nice
Teachers are humans too. ENGAGEMENT doesn't mean to just volunteer. Take the time to write a special note to encourage teachers when you see something worth mentioning. Be bold. I once wrote a note to a teacher - and in it I mentioned to him I pray for him and his family and thanked God for him. To this day he jokingly tells me he still has the card and has shown it to family members. It might not be true for all teachers, but I would venture to guess an honest and positive note is worth more to a teacher than a Timmies Gift Card you send to them in June.
7) Focus on a few families
Get to know them. After all, you are BOUND to find your kids' friends are actually your neighbours! Live life together. Talk to each other. Share coffee with each other. Share the sales you found in the neighbourhood. Tell each other a good kids' camp you found in the summer. Give suggestions to each other.
7) Be open
Be open to just see opportunities to ENGAGE as the Lord shows you ways. You might be surprised.
Whether you have 1 hour a year or 1 hour a day to INVEST in ENGAGEMENT, the amount doesn't matter. The journey needs to start with a change of how we see life. Let that translate into how you perceive education. And let God change you inside out and teach you and show you. From there, COMMIT yourself to learning to be Engaged by BEING engaged. One hour at a time. Step by step.
Don't fool yourself by saying you will find time some day.
Don't kid yourself by saying you need to understand more before you engage.
Those things will never happen.
Engage, because that is the only way to Live Life WITH our children. But beyond that...Engage, because that is one of the best ways you will find where God will humble you and use you to fulfill your calling in this world. John 13:35 says "Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples" .... Don't pick and choose who to love. Love the school your kids are spending MOST Of their awake time. Be part of it. Find out what they are doing. Engage and participate in what excites them. Help where they need help. Celebrate together. Break out of our comfort shells.
How you are Engaged doesn't have to look the same..but can you imagine if ALL the Christian parents in our schools embraced this ENGAGEMENT CALL and begin to LOVE the schools actively?
I don't have answers for any of the education issues in the news these days, but no matter what happens, I am convinced we are called to be a LOVING LIGHT. People talk about ENGAGEMENT all the time. It's one of those "buzz" words amongst educators these days. What if we showed the world what that Engagement can look like if it is driven by someone bigger than us?
Life Long Engagement doesn't mean volunteering 10 hours a week. You can be engaged in the long haul and barely volunteer 5 hrs in a year...or less. Don't quantify engagement. Don't let numbers dictate your choice.
It's not about how many hours we can "afford". We can't afford not to.
I promise you - commitment to engagement will change you. I don't know how exactly. But if you do it because you care about your kids, and because you know God loves EVERYONE in that school...there is no way you won't change.
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