Editor’s note: Amy Sutherland is the Fine Arts Director at FRCS, returning to the role after several years of focusing on teaching and her family. She also teaches music at the elementary campus.
I can’t remember a time when music wasn’t a part of my life in some way. I started lessons at 4, began teaching music at 16 and haven’t stopped. Growing up, I never planned on being a classroom teacher. Instead I wanted to be in ministry. However, as my life has unfolded, God showed me how being a teacher is a ministry in the everyday life of students, and one that carries a unique role and opportunity.
As we kick off the new year, our arts department reflected on the “why” of what we do, and I want to share several tangible reasons we are passionate about the arts as educators, mentors, and artists.
First, we have the opportunity to inspire students to use the gifts and talents God has given them to glorify Him and bless others. Some students know their gifts and need encouragement to use them and pursue artistic excellence. Others do not, and the teacher’s role is to help draw them out. One of the greatest joys as a teacher is watching students discover passion or gifts they didn’t even know they had!
We facilitate growth in confidence and building skills that will help students in their future. We want our program at FRCS to inspire students to express themselves creatively, while developing artistic skills and interpersonal abilities as they discover who God has made them to be.
Second, we have the privilege of cultivating the virtue of creativity as we shepherd students in the journey of artistic discovery and expression. It is a great joy and honor to walk with students as they develop and share their gifts in the visual arts, musically, or on stage. Our goals are to guide students in understanding their uniqueness in God’s creation and that artistic creativity can be a legitimate and truthful form of worship in any of its expressions. We are made to worship!
Third, we strive to help students belong and find community within an area they are passionate about. The arts bring people together—they learn to work alongside each other as a team. Perhaps the most important part is that we can foster an environment that allows kids to play, laugh, and find enjoyment from the opportunity to express themselves creatively. We also strongly believe that we ought to cultivate students who act justly, love one another, show mercy, and humbly walk before God (Micah 6:8) in the pursuit of artistic excellence in every discipline. We love to play our role in the well-rounded education of FRCS that equips students to become innovative leaders and impact the world for Christ.
“And 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.” ~ Colossians 3:17
