A Note of Thanks for Our Schools, As Well as a Petition.....

Now that the kids are getting somewhat older and most of Keziah's surgeries behind us, I have been able to be in the school environment a bit more since September. I have had the privilege of supply teaching a number of times, teaching students in Gr. 4, 5 and 6. Every Tuesday afternoon, I am also volunteering in a Gr. 3 and 4 classroom (our school is small, and so we have split grades).

I have found out, after a 5 year break, that the classroom is still where my heart is. Oh, how I love being with the students, teaching, sharing, guiding, learning and everything in between. Being in the classroom gives me such an adrenaline rush - it is hard to explain. I just love it. The best part though? Unlike 5 years ago, I come home to my *own* children rather than an empty house. Best of both worlds!!!

Now that I am in our schools off and on, I have come to recognize again how blessed we are to have our own schools (I always knew our schools were a blessing, but you really don't get it until you are in it). When I say "our own", what I mean is that the children and teachers that are at this school all come from the same spiritual foundations. These foundations are not only taught in church and in home, they are also taught in the school by staff that believe the very same foundations.

I don't know the exact number, but I believe we have something like 14 elementary schools just in southern Ontario.....plus a number in Manitoba, Alberta, British Columbia, The United States and Australia, to name a few. That's not counting all the interdenominational school......just schools that are from our churches.

In these schools, we are so blessed to have such dedicated staff and volunteers that care for our children, spiritually, emotionally and intellectually. The love and care by the teachers that is distributed amongst our children is so evident.

The knowledge that we all, teachers, parents and students, are children of God, all belong to the covenant family, all are sinners in need of a Saviour, which has been given to us many, many years ago is something that should also be visible. It may not be so visible to the eye, but it is visible through 'feeling'. You can feel it through the hum, the cadence, the rhythm that is in the atmosphere.

How important it is then to fight for our private schools.....but it actually doesn't really doesn't stop there. We need to fight not just for our own schools, but also those around us, the public system.....especially here in Ontario. Why?

I just need to say one name: Kathleen Wynne. If you are not familiar with this name, she is our premier of Ontario. And boy, is she ever using her position of authority to drastically change a few things, one of them being a curriculum taught in the schools, namely the Sex Education Curriculum.

To give you an idea of what she is trying to do and then what YOU can do about it, I encourage you to read and watch the following links:

 http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/video/3900111008001

Arpa

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/stop-graphic-revisions-to-ontarios-sex-education-curriculum.html

Sign the petition!!! Please!!

I know what you are thinking - but these changes won't affect us because we won't need to teach this exact curriculum due to our schools being private. Guess what?! It could very well affect us, because who knows how long we will be able to continue to teach our children in freedom! Who knows how long we will be able to keep our private schools! Who knows how far this premier will go as long as she has "power"!

So, please, take the two minutes and sign the petition.

And after that? Continue to pray for our schools; be thankful we still have the freedom to have our own schools and be ready to do what we can to keep it this way.

Oh, and one more thing - go thank a teacher. They are such gifts from the Lord that are placed in our lives to help us carry out the vows we made as parents at our children's baptism. And, if you have a moment, go early the next time to pick up your child and stand in the halls. Notice the pulse in your child's school, the underlying current that flows from one classroom to another. And praise God for this blessing: of our own schools.