The attached photograph shows my AP Art and Design student Bernie Chesebrough’s final pieces from her AP portfolio. Four ceramic vessels sit side by side, each representing a year of high school—freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior year. The vessels symbolize a student being shaped over time: every class, every conversation, every performance, every athletic event, every success, every disappointment, every friendship, and every challenge contributing to who she is becoming.
As I looked at her work, I couldn't help but think of our school theme verse from this past year:
“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” Colossians 2:6–7
What a fitting visual reminder that growth rarely happens all at once. It is a process of being built up, strengthened, refined, and established over time.
One of the greatest privileges of teaching art is that I get to introduce students to things that might completely expand their world. A process they have never tried. An artist they have never heard of. A medium they never imagined they would love. An idea that sparks curiosity and excitement. I get to sit one-on-one with students and discuss their ideas. I get to listen to their questions, challenge their thinking, encourage their creativity, and help them develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
Teaching carries an enormous responsibility. The words we speak to students matter. The way we encourage, correct, challenge, and guide them leaves an impact. Working with teenagers reminds me daily of my own need to remain rooted in Christ and to approach this calling with humility and gratitude.
When I think about where these students began at the start of the school year and where they are now, I am genuinely in awe. I have watched them grow as artists, thinkers, leaders, and young adults. Scripture reminds us in 2 Corinthians 4:7:
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.”
We are all vessels being formed. Some days we stand strong and steady. Other days we feel a little wobbly on the wheel. Yet through every stage of shaping, God is at work.
What a privilege it is to witness that process. What a privilege it is to play a small part in it.
And what a reason to abound in thanksgiving.