06 May

Commentary: Honor Our Teachers

By Diane Harris… Back in 1944, political and educational leaders began discussions for a day to honor teachers.  In 1953, Eleanor Roosevelt persuaded the 81st Congress to proclaim a National Teacher Day.  It has since grown to encompass a week of honoring teachers who have committed to touching the lives of children all over this country.

We are blessed in Rocky Mountain Conference to have incredible teachers who have stepped up to the challenges of teaching in this year of the pandemic.  They spent last summer preparing their classrooms to be COVID ready to receive their students for the 2020-2021 school year.  Each school had to follow the guidelines of their counties.

They were creative and came up with plastic separations to allow students to study safely together and still see the teacher and feel part of the classroom, and devised ways to social distance, keep masks on or off depending if they were inside or out.

Procedures were developed to put into place for temperature taking, in-person learning, virtual school and a mixture of both.  They also made extensive plans to sanitize and keep their rooms and students safe.  Most importantly, RMC teachers reached out to each child daily whether in person or Zoom to make sure that they knew they were loved and cared for and connected to their community.

So, now as we come to the end of our school year, and this Teacher Appreciation week, we want to honor the teachers of Rocky Mountain Conference, who without hesitation or complaint, took such diligent care of our kids through this school year.  Because of their commitment, preparation and creativity, our students are thriving and continuing to see examples of Jesus every day.

“A good teacher is like a candle – it consumes itself to light the way for others.” ~Mustafa Kemal Ataturk~

“Teachers have three loves:  love of learning, love of learners and the love of bringing the first two together.” ~Unknown~

–Diane Harris is RMC director of education; photo by Vista Ridge Academy Facebook

24 Mar

ADVENTIST EDUCATION: PAYING IT FORWARD

By Diane Harris – Denver, Colorado … Through every age, God “has always had a people” to be His hands to serve the world. They cover every ministry that serves others.

One of those ministries involves our education system. We have all heard of the accomplishments of Adventist education—the higher test scores, higher percentage of graduates going to college, higher retention in the church, a stronger culture of kindness and service.

What we don’t often hear about are the donors who recognize the financial investments of putting a child through Adventist education. They are the ones who may have long since finished putting their own children through our system yet continue to give because they value the benefits of Adventist education and want to continue to make a difference in the lives of others.

The Rocky Mountain Conference has been blessed with many individuals who recognize the importance of Adventist education and the financial requirements to keep students in school, especially through the COVID pandemic when many families have been financially hit hard. They may have to choose between an Adventist education and many other things, even food.

During this time, God “has a people” to be His hands to serve the world—people who pay it forward with no desire for acknowledgement.

Thanks to these donors, who give unselfishly, many students have been blessed by their financial support. There are families who were going to have to tell their children they would need to leave the school because there was no money to keep them there. And there were students who were able to graduate because someone paid the remaining balance of a school bill. There has been story after story of lives impacted by people who gave, not because they had to, or because they wanted recognition, but because they believe in our Adventist education system.

I was one of those students whose life benefited because someone had the commitment and passion to make sure Adventist education was available to all. Coming from a single parent home, I was the recipient of many scholarships and generosity of individuals from elementary school through academy and finally through Southwestern Adventist University.

God “has always had a people” to be His hands to the world. We are blessed to have so many of them right here in our territory.

–Diane Harris is RMC education superintendent; photo by Intermountain Adventist Academy Facebook page

This article was originally published on Outlook Magazine’s website.