I believe there\u2019s never been a more difficult time to be a teen. Societal polarization. A technological revolution. Covid. Anxiety and depression in record numbers. New addictive substances in slick packaging targeting teens.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a high school experience so different from generations past, that the adults in teens\u2019 lives cannot fully relate.<\/p>\n
For these reasons, I believe\u00a0there\u2019s never been a more important time for an Anabaptist education.<\/p>\n
In our relatively small school, we are able to celebrate each student\u2019s inherent worth, and teach them about lives of purpose and meaning (Jeremiah 29:11). We use restorative practices and challenge students to realize that life is not just about \u201cme,\u201d but about serving others.<\/p>\n
Students will tell you that one of my favorite phrases is: \u201cI am somebody.\u201d I want students to remember \u201cI am somebody\u201d when they think,\u201dSomebody should do something about that.\u201d\u00a0More importantly, I want them to remember \u201cI am somebody\u201d if they fall into feelings of worthlessness.<\/p>\n
I make it a point to greet each high school student by name as they come into school each day. It\u2019s\u00a0one way I help to foster a culture of belonging and remind each student that they are \u201csomebody.\u201d<\/p>\n
I am grateful to be part of the work at EMS to feed \u201cthe good\u201d that is in each of our students. I wish every parent, community member, and alumnus could\u00a0follow me throughout a day and feel the hope I have, despite the complexities these students face.<\/p>\n
And maybe you would come away from that experience saying, like I do, \u201cSomebody should tell society about the hope that is found in our younger generation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I believe there\u2019s never been a more difficult time to be a teen. Societal polarization. A technological revolution. Covid. Anxiety and depression in record numbers. New addictive substances in slick packaging targeting teens. It\u2019s a high school experience so different from generations past, that the adults in teens\u2019 lives cannot fully relate. For these reasons,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":743,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"issuem_issue":[34],"issuem_issue_categories":[],"issuem_issue_tags":[],"class_list":["post-742","article","type-article","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","issuem_issue-winter-2023"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=742"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":744,"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/742\/revisions\/744"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue?post=742"},{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue_categories?post=742"},{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue_tags?post=742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}