see you at the pole

Alright, alright, ALRIGHT! You caught me. I admit it. Right now I am, in fact, journaling/blogging from school...gasp! I know, I know, I KNOW! You caught me. I admit it. I am, in fact, a horrible example. :) If it makes any difference though it's before school and technically I'm not on my website, but in fact, I'm writing what appears to be an email at this moment. I did want so badly to wait until after school to get this down, but that's when I have a team teaching meeting with Sarah and Emily then I'll just barely have time for dinner before curriculum night--also know as parent-teacher conferences....sooooo I'm writing now. :)

This morning was tough. I was exhausted from yesterday (being that I worked at school all day, did school stuff all afternoon, and then had to go into work all night) and I felt like staying in bed. However, I did somehow manage to find the strength to get up, get ready, get in my car, and get to school. Driving here was a challenge being that is was so foggy outside. It seemed as though I had transported to the cloud city on the plant of Bespin in Stars Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. (yes, I love all the Star Wars movies. Don't judge me because they are AMAZING.) After parking I walked through the fog and happened upon a group of no more than 30 standing around the flagpole.

You see, today is "See you at the Pole" which is a Nationally recognized event where students across the United States gather at 7a.m. at their school's flagpole and pray. Growing up I attended a private school and went every year. My brother was typically involved in the prayer and the majority of my school attended. I mean there were at over 100 people there every year. This might not seem like a large number, but when your school only has about 35 staff members and approximately 200 students 50% is a good turn out for an event that early in the morning. Now, here I am at a school with over 100 on staff and just over 1,600 students there were only 30 people here? It just blows my mind!

"See you at the Pole" always made me feel so special. It was like I was apart of something so much bigger than VCA (Valley Christian Academy) because 1,000s of other schools, private and public, took part in this event. I have nostalgic memories about singing and praying then having a nice breakfast with all my fellow Christian classmates and teachers to kick off another Wednesday. I even recall it being extra special one year because it fell on the same day as my sweet sixteen. Now, 5 years out of high school I find myself teaching at one of the biggest and nicest schools in the state, and it is filled with some good people. Some of them religious too I am sure; however, there is still something missing for me.

I want to be a Ms. Griffin, who used to pray with me if I was going through a rough week. A Mrs. Fox, who always had a smile on my face at school or when I would run into her at church later the same day. Maybe a Mr. Turner, who was cheery, had bible verses on his walls, and used to always say "every day is a good day, some days just happen to be great days!" There are so many others I could mention, but basically I just want to say as many wonderful things as this school offers there is just something these students are missing that I was so blessed to have and that is a Christian centered education. Other resources might have been lacking due to funding or class size, but I wouldn't trade my high school experience for any of them.

Even now, when I witness every day what public school is like. I'm not saying one is better than the other. I'm not saying that if you don't send your kids to a private school you don't really love Jesus. I'm not saying that if you do send your kids to private school they will not only get a diploma but also a ticket to Heaven. I just know that my faith is a huge part of who I am and that part was developed extensively because of my school. Note: my parents are the number one reason I turned out this way, and the fact that they chose to send me to VCA was such a supplemental blessing for me.

Private v. Public school? Not a debate I want to get into right now, but one thing I will say: What you do at home matters far more than the school building you drive to each morning...that is all. :)