Discover Real Life
Posted on Feb 09 2007 | Tagged as: justice, learning
Last week I was involved in nearly seventy new student interviews in three days, connecting with each new family for about seven minutes. It is a challenge to find out very much about a person in that amount of time so I did not mince words. I asked each student to tell me their greatest passion or uniqueness. This is always fascinating and revealing! My feeling after meeting these students is joy and a sense of privilege. We will be blessed to have these young people in our community. I was blown away by the depth of many of the students. One young lady shared about the adversity that had impacted her family over the past few years and how that experience has clearly shaped the direction of her life. Another student shared about his passion for Christ and a clear calling to vocational Christian ministry. These are eighth graders! Other students went into depth about their love of art, athletics, music, or science. With nearly every student I could see them come alive as they described those things that get them up in the morning. As we offer our gift in this way we bring glory to God with our life and our talents. I believe Westside is unique in its desire to help students DISCOVER their calling in the place “where (their) deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” (Theologian Frederick Buechner’s now famous quote.)
Just a few days ago a group of Westside students, staff, and friends encountered the devastating impact of hurricane Katrina. They also crawled into the small grass hut of a Sudanese refugee family living in the uncertainty of an ongoing war in Northern Uganda. They met a young Ugandan boy who was forced to kill his father by the “Lords Resistance Army.” They encountered families that live and work in the city dumps of Mexico City. They met children lying on urine stained linens, chained to their cribs in smelly, dirty, and dilapidated Romanian orphanages. This group of Westsiders has been exposed to the real world through an intentional experiential exhibit called “REAL LIFE” at the Northwest Medical Team headquarters. Through this exhibit these students learned experientially about geography, politics, economics, art, music, statistics, leadership, and the power of a well illustrated story. They also encountered a God who is present in the lives of each of these real people and real situations. Now these students and staff are praying that God will transform their hearts and minds and show them how they are to engage the real world.
This educational experience is an illustration of one of the pillars of the school’s vision.
Vision Pillar III - DISCOVER – Experientially presenting the reality of God’s kingdom and heart.
At the core of this part of our vision is a movement toward intentional learning experiences and collaborative relationships that enrich and deepen student learning. Through experiences we believe we can more fully engage and impact all three educational domains (what we think, how we feel, and what we do). We see this part of our vision supplementing and supporting our daily classroom activities, allowing us to fulfill our mission (to educate and develop the whole person). We believe God uses experiences to powerfully inspire and motivate the discovery of passion and purpose.
Every few weeks I make it a practice to walk through one of our art classes to be inspired by the amazing artistic talent of our students. During one of these visits I struck up a conversation with the beloved Donna Symer. I asked her, “How can art be used as a gift to show love to others?” She said, “Every Friday I select one student and have them sit in the middle of the class. The other students and I circle around and sketch a portrait of the student.” She paused and her eyes welled up. “Before I lift my pencil I pray that God will help me capture the most beautiful quality of the child.” At the end of the period, Donna gives the portrait to the student. What a gift! Donna is modeling to her students that a passion for art can be used to express the heart of God.
