2nd Inning
My doctoral dissertation advisor, Dr. Michael Kurimay at Marquette University, told me at the beginning of my dissertation that the hardest words to write of one’s dissertation are the very first words. I suppose the same can be said of a blog. Once you start writing, thoughts should flow – or so I hope. At least for me, it’s a little bit of a struggle to get those first words typed. But here we go…
Before the 2008-2009 school year started, the Faith Lutheran administrators had our annual retreat at the Casablanca hotel in Mesquite in early August. As the newbie principal, I asked my fellow leaders what made Faith Lutheran special. Here is a summary of their insights:
* There is a true Christian culture on campus.
* Faith has experienced an incredible amount of growth and success in a short period of time.
* Great students.
* Faculty and staff have a servant attitude and love kids.
* Athletic opportunities for middle school students.
* Number of students and parents baptized.
* Committed feeder schools.
* We do things the right way.
Now that we’re into the second quarter, I see the wisdom and accuracy of these opinions from my colleagues. While I have not yet experienced baptisms (these happen in a January chapel), I have seen firsthand all of the above.
I am very impressed with the student body. Their behavior, treatment of one another, attitude, gifts, and abilities are truly amazing. Typically, great kids come from great families. We are blessed to have a wonderful partnership with the supportive parents and guardians of our students.
When I met with each member of the high school faculty at the beginning of this school year, I heard two themes continue to emerge from those chats: 1) we have great kids here, and 2) it is a blessing to work here. Again, after ten weeks of my first school year at Faith, I completely concur!
Faith has been uniquely blessed by God with a caring and committed faculty and staff, supportive families and constituents, excellent feeder schools, phenomenal growth, diverse opportunities for student involvement after school, great vision and execution of mission from the board and Mr. Dunning, and awesome students. To God alone be the glory! I am supremely confident that as we continue to “lift high the cross,” we can become one of the world’s premiere Christian schools.
For those of you familiar with the “Faith Family,” what do you think makes Faith special? Comment away!
Posted: November 5th, 2008 under Uncategorized.
Comments: 1
Comments
Comment from Terry Maalen
Time: November 18, 2008, 12:15 am
Dear Dr. Buuck,
This being the eve of the open house, I thought I would comment on what makes Faith so special.
It’s not the obvious, because the obvious is right in front of us… Our beautiful new Chapel of the Performing Arts….Our outstanding administration that communicates and rejoices in our children (yes, rejoices!) There are so many visible reasons to know that Faith is unique. It is the subtle ones though, the unspoken reasons that make us, as parents, rejoice.
Everyday I pick up my daughter after school, and the first thing I hear is, “I had a great day!” Very rarely do I hear otherwise. Then, as our routine goes, we go through each class and what she learned that day. I don’t ask her,”How was Geography?” I ask her “What did you learn in Geography?” By doing this, she is repeating and remembering what she learned that day. I am also finding out, who played a joke on the teacher… What teacher played a joke on them, and what the buzz might have been for that day. This simple, daily act was suggested to me by one of our Faith teachers a couple years ago. She said, “Don’t ask how was math? Ask, what did you do in math?” …and by this simple phrase change, my daughters knowledge base in each class improved and she retained so much more.
This may sound small, but my point is, that it is the simple small gestures… the “Sure I’ll help you after school if you’re not getting it”,….the “C’mon, you can run that mile, I know its in you.” The, “Why don’t you try going to this leadership conference, don’t be afraid you can do it!” The kids feel how much the teachers, are rooting for them and wanting them to succeed. They also feel every single day, that on this campus, we are here for the Glory of God. That all of us are here to serve our Lord and to do it with joy, laughter, and music in our hearts. That through the good and bad times, He is with us and always will be.
Thanks for letting me sound off a bit- it’s just I remember three years ago sitting in that gym, with the application in hand wondering if I was doing the right thing for my daughter. It was more than the right thing. We are blessed and honored to be a part of Faith.
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