Editor’s note: Jessica Koch is the Lead Elementary Teacher, and she teaches 4th grade.
Early in August, we sat in our yearly staff retreat talking about this idea of journeying together through the school year. As we reflected on that day, we looked at a picture of a well-worn pair of moccasins. While at one point these moccasins had been new, at the point the picture had been taken, they were barely holding together. The journey they had been on was evident in the frays, holes, and ruggedness and yet the heart of their journey left a lasting impression on me as an educator.
Each school year, teachers are entrusted with a hefty mission to accomplish. In August, we are handed a new list of names that will soon enter our classrooms and we will begin prepping and preparing our own hearts and classrooms as we look ahead to the next ten months. If we are honest, this journey isn’t for the faint of heart; it requires grit, a heart that beats for the students and families we will interact with, as well as a vision for the year before us as we rely on the Lord to lead and guide us. Our own pair of figurative moccasins will be worn daily as we endure and embrace this journey and may at times show outward evidence of it to those around us.
Knowing this, I always start the first day of school the same way. I start by telling my students that we are a team and a family, and I remind them of it often. I share these words each year with intentionality; hoping to set the tone for what is to come. There’s no doubt that as we journey together, we will experience valleys and peaks and all that’s in between.
I love the beautiful picture that Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 12:12 as he explains the importance of each member of the family of believers and how they should live:
“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.”
As a teacher, I do my best to lead students to acknowledge that all members of our class are important and treasured. Each person is uniquely gifted, created on purpose and with a purpose by God, and that means what we each bring to the classroom matters. It is a privilege to be able to watch students embrace celebrating each other’s growth, learning to listen well to one another, coming alongside and praying for one another, and so much more as we journey as a class family.
So, as we are well into another school year with much more to come, my moccasins are securely on, fastened, and ready for all that the rest of this school year. I couldn’t be more excited for today, tomorrow, and beyond. I pray as we each look back over the year when it’s complete, we will see the evidence of God’s faithfulness in every aspect of the journey.
