Sunday, August 20, 2017

The Last Day Of Summer



Tomorrow starts our second week of the 2017-2018 school year. Last week, our faculty and staff and administration did what we always do before the opening bell of the opening day- we prayed! The following is from eleven years ago tomorrow, August 10, 2006.

It starts again in twenty-four hours. After seventy-five days since we last held classes, Westbury Christian opens its doors tomorrow for the first day of the school year. Remember when school started in September? Those days are long gone, at least in the states where I have taught. One positive is that we are allowed more in-school vacations, such as an entire week off for Thanksgiving and three for Christmas. Eight days of in service are in the book. The classrooms are freshly painted, some sporting a new tile floor as well. New faculty members have been indoctrinated to the school culture, and believe me, each school is unique in its traditions and approaches. The bulletin boards are up and the textbooks are in neat stacks. The only ingredient missing will be added in the morning- the kids. Without children, there are no schools. The education of any culture's children must be of paramount importance and so we prepare. The best preparation for our year at WCS did not take place in curriculum meetings or sessions on discipline issues. The optimum groundwork for the 2006-2007 school year was laid this afternoon when our lower school faculty and staff went into each classroom where the little ones will be taught this year...and prayed. I believe that some factors in education can be overemphasized. Funding is one. Throwing all the money in the world into an institution of learning will not make it a good school. But, prayer can NEVER be overrated. I know tuition and contributions pay the bills, particularly at Christian schools which receive no public funding. But, you cannot place a dollar value on prayer for the next generation and those who teach them. I don't need to look at a financial statement for our school on this final day of vacation- we're starting the year in the black.

Applicable quote of the day:
"A child educated only at school is an uneducated child."
George Santayana


God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
http://www.stevehawley.blogspot.com/

E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com

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