SEASONS | RESOURCES
Back to School
Car lines return, lunchboxes reappear, and weekly schedules reset. Even for those without children, the back-to-school season brings us into a collective rhythm.
“Where would any of us be without teachers? Without people who have passion for their art or their science or their craft and love it right in front of us? What would any of us do without teachers passing on to us what they know is essential about life?”
ABOUT THE SEASON
Autumn arrives not all at once, but in small moments: earlier sunsets, the scent of sharpened pencils, a shift in the sidewalk rhythm. The backpacks return, and so do the bells and bus stops. Schedules tighten, and with them, the temptation to drift into hurry. But this season is sacred.
The Spirit of God moves through lunchbox notes and hallway hellos, through parent-teacher conferences and after-dinner walks.
This is a time to refocus our attention - to the names we learn, the neighbors we pass, the invitations we receive and offer. As the pace of life returns to weekly schedules, we remember: formation is not reserved for sanctuaries. It happens in crosswalks, carpools, classrooms, and across dinner tables.
Rhythms
RESOURCES FOR BACK TO SCHOOL
As routines reset we’ve gathered a set of simple practices to help you stay rooted. Whether your days are full of meetings and school drop-offs, or quiet walks through the changing trees of your neighborhood, these rhythms are created to anchor your faith in place.
Prayer for Neighborhood Schools
Father in Heaven,
We pray for our neighborhood schools
And the spectrum of students
Who enter schools each day.
We pray for safety for those
Who are waking themselves up and walking home alone.
We pray for provision for those
Who make their own lunches
And those who have no lunch to make.
We pray for rest for those
Who spend hours riding on a bus.
We pray for peace for those
Who begin or end their day in a car
With an anxious or angry parent.
May each crosswalk and school zone
Be a place of prayer for children
And holy practice in patience.
We pray for those
Who are new to the class,
Looking for a single friend to sit by at lunch.
We pray for those
Who are new to the city,
Missing familiar people and places.
We pray for those
Who are new to the country,
Learning not only the lesson,
But also the language.
May we not only be aware of the problems and pain,
But also the beautiful potential and possibility.
May we see our neighborhood schools
And the spectrum of students
Who enter school each day
As You do.
This we pray in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit.
Amen.
Prayers
Practice | Pancake Breakfast
“There is hardship in everything except eating pancakes.”
Hundreds of pancakes are served at the Gilley house every other Tuesday morning before students leave for Arapahoe High School. It began for Sean and Jill Gilley with a simple question, “What if?” What if there could be a place for their high school sons to invite their classmates to begin the day talking about things that matter in a space where everyone belongs? What if there could be a place for students to connect across the dividing lines of affluence, participation in athletics, or achievement in academics? This simple question led to a creative solution. Host an open house and provide a pancake breakfast, invite a trusted voice to talk about Jesus, and then pray for students to send them out to school.
Jill had established connections with the mothers in the neighborhood from her family living in Cherry Knolls for 10 years. When she extended the invitation to moms to participate, there was immediate buy-in. It was an easy ask to help provide breakfast for their kids every other week. “You have to ask for help,” Jill shared. A SignUpGenius was created for the food which included dozens of pancakes and a lot of toppings! Whipped cream, bacon, sausage, fruit, chocolate milk, and hot cocoa quickly became staples and a celebrated part of the bi-weekly rhythm. “I would have dreams of running out of bacon on Monday nights,” laughed Jill. It never occurred. There’s always enough.
Sean and Jill’s two sons (Sophomores and Juniors when Pancake Breakfast began) created a GroupMe and invited students. The invitation quickly spread and grew from a few dozen to over 60 students. Kids shared the invite with their mothers and asked them to volunteer. The invite was simple and clear. Pancake Breakfast was a place to share a meal and talk about what mattered most.
Pancake Breakfast ends with a 5-minute talk from a teacher, coach, parent, or local pastor sharing about their love of Jesus and His love for the students. It’s the moment they guard most. Jill shared that the house is completely silent, with people of varying faith backgrounds and church affiliations sitting in the room. The final moment is a prayer of blessing and protection over a houseful of high school students who just ate hundreds of pancakes at a common table.
Pancake Breakfast will be hosted at Sean and Jill’s home for only half of this school year as their youngest son is now a Senior. The second half the school year Pancake Breakfast will move to a home with a Junior and Freshman. The practice will continue to create a place for students and parents to belong and begin a Tuesday knowing they are seen, known, and loved. And, how great it is to begin a day with pancakes.
Jill’s pancake recommendations: Kodiak pancakes are protein-packed, Costco pancake mix is the most economical for making hundreds of pancakes, vanilla extract is the “secret sauce,” and she is amazed at the idea of “pan sheet pancakes.”
Practices
Place | Classroom
“Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world.”
The classroom is a sacred place. More than just a place where students learn, it is where children form core memories that will remain with them throughout their lives. It is where teens wrestle with the values that will shape their character. It is where students struggle, overcome, and succeed. The classroom is place of encouragement and challenge, both a cradle and crucible for the important, weighty work of “growing up.”
Classrooms are grounding. They provide a foundation on which to build. After mastering the basics, the building blocks become tools for logical and creative discourse: Socratic circles, team debates, advanced algebra, and lab experiments. Buoyed by schedules and rhythms, classrooms establish order for the learning process and the days of the week. There is time for reading aloud, for pondering in silence, for discussing in groups, and for the serious work of play. Bells announce recess, lunch, or change of subject. They announce the end of the day until — Ding! — the next school day begins.
The classroom is a place of becoming. Walking down the hallways of a school, there are doorways into unique classrooms, each one an incubator of formation. Some are for half-day kindergarten. Others are for middle schoolers navigating mountains of awkwardness, drama, and change. Still others are for high school seniors before sending them out into the world. Classrooms are where students spend most of their waking hours. They are places of profound development over the course of days, weeks, months, and years.
Classrooms spark curiosity and inspire bravery. Ever entering new subjects of study, the classroom is the laboratory for trying new things. Introverts find their voices. Chatterboxes express themselves. Shy wallflowers begin to bloom. Hands are raised and questions are asked. In classrooms, students find the courage to say, “I don’t know.” They embark on journeys of discovery, knowing not to what heights or depths they may lead.
Classrooms are where friendships are formed. With fellow students and teachers alike, they are places ripe for relationship. Little girls with matching jackets become fast friends. Middle school boys bond over favorite video games. High school students explore romantic interests. For some, classrooms are where relationships are broken. Cliques form. Frustrations boil over and fights break out. But there is good amidst the hard. Loyalty despite betrayal. Some friends remain, others move on. Teachers become guides and mentors—inspiring what is possible.
Classrooms foster resilience. Some classroom challenges, like teasing and bullying, are uninvited and unwelcomed. But, the oppressed are not alone. Among the insensitive and insecure bullies, classrooms are home to courageous advocates and unsung heroes. As often as unfair hurts are felt, there are moments of restoration and redemption. Just as students learn how to read and write, it is in classrooms they learn to listen, apologize, and forgive.
The classroom is a place of wonderful mystery. It is a place of beauty and inspiration, a place of inevitable and imminent change. The classroom is a sacred place.
Jessica J. Schroeder (PhD, theology) is a writer, entrepreneur, and “practical theologian.” She lives in Littleton and publishes the podcast Eating for Eden and food blog Eden + Me.
Places
Reading about Place
RESOURCES FOR INTEGRATING FAITH IN PLACE
Reading we have found to help excavate, equip, encourage, and establish faith rooted in place.
SPIRITUALITY | STORY | PRACTICES
THEOLOGY | GEOGRAPHY | PRACTICES
NEIGHBOR | GEOGRAPHY | PRACTICES
PRACTICES | STORY | NEIGHBORHOOD
PRACTICES | STORY | NEIGHBOR
PRACTICES | NEIGHBOR | STORY
More rhythms to root your faith in place.
