Editor’s note: Jessica Koch is the Elementary Lead Teacher, and she teaches 4th grade
As I sit down to write this post, I realize that I have been at Front Range for a long time now. I am now in my tenth year of teaching here, and I’ve had the privilege of experiencing so much in that time. Every time I talk about this place to others, I tell them how special it is. It is a place where we find community and pursue Jesus alongside one another. It is what makes working here so different from other places.
As I considered what to share in this post for A word from… the Lord directed me to look toward my own children. Experiencing school through their eyes is both unique and special. Each night, we tend to sit at the dinner table and reflect on our day. As we do, we talk about the good moments and the challenging ones from our school days and everything we experienced in between. Being a teacher where my children go to school creates a special shared experience that I consider a joy.
As I thought more about this and how my children experience school, I recognized how many wonderful moments happen in the day-to-day grind within our walls for all children and teachers. Maybe it is a reading class where students finally see the connections that are being made, or Bible class where students have an “aha” moment while studying God’s Word. It could be on the playground, where a new friendship forms and a student feels seen and known for the first time, or when a student finally understands a math concept they have struggled with. These moments may seem small to the average person, but they are impactful for our students.
I was recently brought back to one of these important moments through my son’s eyes. This happened during his recent junior high retreat. The teachers led students through identity-work activities as one of their built-in session times. The idea was that each student had to counter the lies they tend to believe about themselves with God’s truth about who He says they are. To do this, they took a plate and wrote all of the lies they were partnering with on one side.
Lies like…
”I’m not smart enough.”
“I can’t be forgiven.”
“I’m an outcast.”
On the other side of the plate, they intentionally countered those lies by diving into truths from Scripture. They compared the lies they had written with what God says is true about them and how He sees them.
Truths like…
“I have the mind of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 2:16
“God always forgives those who confess, repent, and ask for forgiveness.” 1 John 1:9
“I have been adopted and welcomed into God’s family.” Hebrews 4:15
This could be seen as just a regularly planned moment during the school day at a Christian school. As teachers, we do our best to lead our students in truth every day anyway. This particular moment, though, was so impactful for my son, and it is one we will both look back on because of its lasting impact.
I do not take the importance of what we get to do here for granted. While academics will always be important to us as an institution, I deeply appreciate and value the intentional ways our team creates spaces for students to experience and encounter God in their daily lives.
That day forever changed my son and his understanding of who he is in God’s eyes. I commend the teachers who saw the need and built a place and time for students to grow in truth. How precious it is to know our school is a place where discipleship happens, and faith matters in every moment.
