How is your summer going? Leisurely?
Thanks to the ILS PTL and board, I was privileged to attend this year’s Consortium for Classical Lutheran Education conference in Dallas, where the singing was loud as the ‘ya’lls’ were resplendent. Aside from wonderful Matins and Divine Service, there was very little leisure. There was, however, good work to be done, tenets of classical Lutheran education to be remembered and challenging ideas to be discussed.
I love taking walks. With Ben in the stroller, we’ll walk to the library in Shirlington where we’ll spend anywhere from ten minutes to an hour (all depending on Ben’s mood). This usually is a daily occurrence. I find much peace and delight in my strolls, and it’s also during these strolls when I do a lot of my praying. At the library, most often I’ll read the newspaper, but occasionally I’ll pull a book off the shelf and read snippets of it. Especially when reading the newspaper, it can really put my own personal life into perspective.
Teachers educate the student’s mind and cultivate the affections of his heart. This toil aims at orienting the student’s heart to the true and good and helping clear away the mind’s inevitable cobwebs. The teacher should model this reorientation and clearing away in her own life through the habit of leisure.
I awoke three minutes to the hour on Thursday morning, June 11th. My radio alarm clock was playing the local classical station. They had just enough time for one piece before the hourly news. The host announced: “Up next, Felix Mendelssohn’s Auf Flügeln des Gesanges, or “On Wings of Song,” in an arrangement for cello and piano."
Before I entered the realm of Classical Education, the word “leisure” conjured thoughts of beaches, television, sleeping in, beverages poolside, and the complete annihilation of productivity. For teachers, summer vacation especially lends itself to these restful activities, accompanied by the temptation to overindulge.
Many of our current ILS families will remember 2014 graduate, Emmanuel Tamrat, who is our featured profile this week. Emmanuel has just finished up a wonderful freshman year at St. Anselm's Abbey School in Washington, D.C. Just a year out of ILS, Emmanuel shares his memories of ILS and how his time here helped to ready him for his high school experience. Enjoy other recent Alumni Profiles here and here.
Our mission at Immanuel Lutheran School is to nurture minds, hearts, and bodies of students. Our annual Field Day events are a perfect example of the third part of this trio, as students have been working in their P.E. classes throughout the year to prepare for the fun competitions during Field Day.
For older ILS blog posts, please visit this link to access these posts on the Immanuel Lutheran Church website.
