I’ve been at Front Range for 13 years, and during that time I have seen many students, parents, and staff who have been positively impacted by God’s activity in this place. One story emerges from my memory, perhaps because it had a powerful impact on a relationship between a dad and his son, which has always been deeply important to me.
It was 8th grade Bible (prior to my role in the principal’s office, I spent many years teaching Junior High), and students had written a reflection about a sin or idol that they were struggling with. This was all in connection to reading Kings/Chronicles together in class. As I read one student’s reflection, I could not help but be convinced and convicted that the student’s parents needed to know what he was struggling with. It was not that his struggle was especially egregious or dangerous or harmful to others — it was just that I kept thinking: “if I was his dad, I would want to know that he was dealing with this.” I held the student after class one day and asked him if his dad already knew that he was struggling in the way he had written in the reflection.
He wept.
He was so terrified of letting his parents see his failure. (I have felt this so often over my time teaching, and it is both bizarre and also very real to me. Students will easily let teachers and friends see what they are struggling with, but they are terrified at letting the people whose opinion matters the most to them — parents — see what is really going on inside them). I remember convincing this student that he would only be met with love from his parents, and he agreed we could tell them together.
After the conversation, the parents were grateful (they had been unaware their son was struggling in the way he shared), the student was met by love and acceptance (just as foretold), and I was reaffirmed that my class was actually doing some good in the world (sometimes teaching can be disorienting). But the real impact of this whole event was much deeper than any of us realized at the time.
The student is long graduated and gone from FRCS, but I taught him in 8th, 11th, and 12th grade. I remain connected to his family still now, and this single assignment from 8th grade fundamentally changed the relationship between father and son. In Junior High, they established trust and vulnerability with each other. In particular, the dad used this opportunity to drive out fear. Their relationship has not been the same since, and when they tell their own stories about their relationship — this assignment and conversation is a positive piece of it.
This is only one of many such stories, some born out of my time in the classroom and many born out of my time as a Principal. I deeply believe in partnering with the home, and often that means getting kids talking with parents about what is really going on with them. I also deeply believe that teenagers care immensely about what their parents think of them.
Perhaps that can be the reminder or the challenge to any parents reading this — take a moment to remind your kids what you think about them. Maybe they need the reminder.
