So the question most often asked this time of year to anyone associated with formal schooling is “How is the school year going?” Certainly, I’ve been asked variations of that question many times over the last two weeks.
Perhaps this year, the questions may be even more specific, such as “How is the new lunch schedule working out?” (In case you’re interested, it seems to me that everyone is getting fed and no students or teachers have a split-period 2nd lunch, both of which seem to be positives in my book!) Another specific question might center on the nuances of the new schedule, in terms of length of class periods, meeting alternating days, and figuring out whether each passing period between class is a “long” one or “short” one.
But when I stop to think about the question “How is the school year going?”, I find similarities with a comparable question I have often received at the beginning of a season while coaching soccer or basketball, something to the effect of “How is the team going to be this year, Coach?”
Often, at the parent meeting at the start of a sports season, I would relay the best answer I’ve ever heard to that question. A wise coach once said, “I don’t know. We’ll find out in twenty years.” His philosophy (and one that I have adopted as well) was that the true measure of the team and the development of the character of the young athletes was not going to be found in wins and losses of the current season, but would be shown in the life lessons that the young men would take with them well into adulthood.
Isn’t this what we are after at Concordia Lutheran High School as well? Sure, we are pursuing Christ-centered educational excellence on a daily basis and like to see the fruits of that labor in the present, whether that is a great score on a biology quiz or a superb performance with that instrumental solo. But we also seek to develop lifelong learners who will make an impact on this world for their Savior, not only in 2017, but also for years to come.
In some ways, then, the true test of “How’s the school year going?” can be answered best by waiting for the Lord to reveal through the course of time how He is going to work in the lives of those who walk the halls of Concordia in the present. May His grace enable us to continue to train warriors for Christ as we also seek to serve in a world so desperately in need of hope.
~ Eric Kaschinske,
Mathematics Teacher and Department Chair