By Julie Dockery
May 2024
The month of May is an academic roller coaster. Final Exams, End-Of-Year parties, Graduation Ceremonies are but a few of the numerous events that dot the calendar. As someone who loves both a to-do list and a large gathering, I enjoy the hustle and bustle. That said, the energy can turn frenetic. In the midst of all that's going on, it's important to remember the essentials. For that reason, I wanted to reflect on four areas of focus for North Star students. These four areas help shape what we do at North Star – from curricular choices, to teacher hiring, to community events and everything in between.
1. Jesus
As our students proclaim at the closing of each day, "He is before all things, and in Him, all things hold together." If we miss everything else, we can't miss that.
Every Monday morning, at North Star, a small group of faithful moms gathers to pray for the school. They recently shared with me their extensive prayer list, and I was blown away by the specificity of the petitions they bring before the Lord each week. 'Open __(child's name)_ eyes and turn him/her from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that he/she may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Jesus.' (Acts 26:18) They say those words over every student – by name. These moms embody what our school is all about. Above anything else, our deepest desire for every North Star student is that they would understand that their sin separates them from living in right relationship with God, and that their belief in Christ's death on their behalf, will restore that relationship with a holy God – granting them forgiveness of sins and ultimately eternal life. Following the Apostle John, our hope is that they would "believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing [they] may have life in his name." (John 20:31)
2. God's Word and God's World
At the opening of every day at North Star, our students recite our creed which contains these words: "God is the source and purpose of all learning. His fingerprints of goodness, truth, and beauty are on all that we learn and encounter. His world is one of design, order, and purpose. All learning starts from Him, points to Him, leads to Him and reflects Him."
God has given us the incredible gift of time – the opportunity to fill our minds with the knowledge of His creation and our hearts with the treasures of His Word. It is our hope to bend our students' hearts around rightly ordered affections in order to be people who reflect God's glory. We want students to know Christ through Scripture. Each year, we pick a book of the Bible for the students to slowly and intentionally work through. More than mere data dumping, we want students to taste and see the beauty of the Lord through their engagement with Scripture. Eugene Peterson uses John's metaphor in Revelation 10:9 "I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll; and he said to me, 'Take it, and eat;'" as a way of helping us understand 'Holy Scriptures and how the holy community has learned to eat them, receive them in a way that forms us into Christians, men and women created and saved and blessed by God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.'
Deep knowledge of God's world combined with rich experiences in His Word will shape our students toward their God-given purpose.
3. The Beauty of Community
During my day at North Star, it is not uncommon for me to see a 9th grade student stop to help a kindergartener tie their shoe, or watch an intergenerational game of, 'What Time is it Mr. Fox?,' at recess. These 9th graders take after their teachers, who invest relationally in their lives. A virtuous cycle of conversation and care ensues. Each student here is valued for who they are as an individual, and also pushed to see themselves in light of a broader community. That last part can be difficult. Living in community is challenging. I have had numerous conversations with students this year about what it looks like to, 'consider others better than yourself,' (Phil. 2:3) or to 'only speak what is helpful for building others up,' (Eph. 4:29) We want our students to know what it means to be loved in a community, and we want them to know it's messy – it means hard conversations and forgiveness and reconciliation, just what Jesus has shown to us.
4. How to be Sturdy
At a recent faculty meeting, our 1st and 2nd grade teacher Linda Wolfe shared about an event in her class. She administered an assignment involving students solving a phonics riddle. One by one, each student came up to her desk to check their paper, and one by one, they were asked to reevaluate their incorrect answers back at their desks. They struggled – and struggled and struggled. Some of them gave up, believing that there wasn't a right answer. It was an impossible task. How could they do it? Mrs. Wolfe patiently let them sit in the struggle. And then one student figured it out, which sparked some encouragement for the others to keep trying! Finally, one by one, they each figured out the 'unsolvable,' problem. At the end of the day, these 1st and 2nd graders all agreed that it was much better not to have received the answer from the teacher. The joy, in the end, was much greater working to get the answer on their own. At North Star, we call that relentless drive to overcome obstacles tenacity. We want our students to be sturdy, in order to develop the kind of character that will not be 'swayed by every wind of doctrine,' (Eph. 4:14) and the kind of character that is able to 'stand firm.' (Eph. 6:11)
By focusing on these four essential areas, our prayer is that North Star students will be shaped for a life that extends far beyond the walls of our school. The following story demonstrates that some things are indeed sinking in.
Our 7th/8th grade Latin teacher Kristy Adjei came into the office earlier this week to tell me that in class she had miscommunicated about an assignment with one of her students. She was visibly hard on herself in front of the class. She told him that she felt like a failure. He told her in response, "we are unconditionally loved not based on how we perform, but because of who God is." Those words are taken from the North Star Creed. This 8th grade boy was quoting back to his teacher the prayer we pray for each of our students, that they would know God and His unconditional love for them.
©Julie Dockery | This article was first published in North Star May Newsletter Edition, May 2024.