I began at TCS as a third grade teacher in 2001. My classroom was in building 3 and I loved everything about teaching from creating bulletin boards, to assigning homework, to praying for and mentoring students. Teaching has always been my passion. It wasn’t until I started graduate school in the summer of 2002 in Clarks Summit, PA that I even knew or heard of what the living curriculum meant. I was given textbooks and knew it was my job and my duty to pour all of that knowledge into my students.
What I learned during grad school was that my teaching was so much more than lining up the kids and teaching them reading and math. It was about sharing who I was with my students. It was about building positive relationships with my students. It was about pointing my students to Jesus in all things.
During my 3 years in grad school I rededicated my life to the Lord. I realized that even though I knew who Jesus was, walking the walk and talking the talk, I wasn’t really living up to everything God had called me to be. As God changed me and my heart…I became a better teacher, a better example and I became a living curriculum for my students to see each day.
Our students are very smart. They know when we are having a bad day. They know when we are truly happy or discouraged. They watch everything we say and do. The Christian school teacher has such a high calling because we really are living out our faith in front of our students every day. We are showing them what it means to follow Christ by our words and our actions. We don’t have all the answers. We aren’t perfect. The living curriculum is showing our kids grace. It’s praying with them when they are struggling. It’s pointing them to Jesus in the good times and the hard times. Our teaching comes alive when we share the truth about God because He is the truth and the life. We teach our students every subject through a biblical lens. God is always at the center, and Jesus is always the right answer.
This means that we are teaching our students much more than the texts we are given. We are seeking God in all things, and we are pausing at times when the Holy Spirit tells us to pause. Sometimes God will tell us to pray for a particular student or to give them further encouragement. God will use our ministry for His glory.
It is amazing to be part of our students’ lives. We are part of their God story. We are to shine for Christ so that our students are constantly seeking Jesus in all things and they know that we are walking in the Spirit and obeying the same God we talk about each day.