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Building Christ-centered community in every classroom
We are all part of communities, whether it is our town, our church, or our job just to name a few.
For the students at Eastern Christian, their classroom is an important community that they are a part of each and every day. It is a place where they can build relationships, work together, and share their faith with their classmates in a Christ-centered community.
We want every student to see that their learning is part of God’s bigger story and that they have a role to play in His world. One way we help students make that connection is through Teaching for Transformation (TfT), a framework that integrates faith and learning. This framework uses a series of throughlines, or Christ-centered characteristics that help students understand who God is calling them to be and how they can live out their faith in everyday life.
Building Community in the Classroom
As our students focus on the throughline of Community Builders, they are discovering that we are called to be a community rooted in grace and purpose, where everyone has a place to belong. The Community Builder throughline is important because students should view their classrooms as a safe space, a place where they feel welcomed, loved, and heard, and this all starts when they walk through the door each morning. An example of this is how all of the classes at the elementary school campus begin their day with a morning meeting. This is a time when students and teachers gather together to answer a daily question, or do a team-building activity, read a daily devotional, and share prayer requests. This is a time focused on building a class community by listening, sharing, and working together.
My deep hope for my students is that they find God in all they see, say, and do. I want students to look for God every day in things we are learning, what they see in creation, and also in how they act and speak to others. This is a very important part of community building. By making sure others can find God in our words and actions, we build a community where every student wants to belong.
Taking Community Beyond the Classroom
Focusing on this throughline I wanted to find a way to show my students how to be community builders outside of our classroom as well. An opportunity presented itself that allowed me to bring my class to Christian Health in Wyckoff, New Jersey to spend time with some of the residents. During that visit my students partnered up and played board games with some of the men and women that live there. What an amazing experience this was, to see two different generations spending time together, laughing, playing games and enjoying each other’s company. It was also exciting to see my second graders explaining how to play some of the games we brought with us.
When we returned to school I asked my class what they thought about their visit to Christian Health. The responses included: “It was so much fun!” “It was great to play with an older generation and know that God made all of us in His image.” “We brought joy to each other’s day.” And my favorite: “When can we go back?”. Two completely different communities were brought together on the day of our visit, and that is one of the things that being community builders is all about. I am also really excited to continue these community-building visits this year with Windmere, a Christian Health community in North Haledon.
God wants us to build community. He calls us to love one another, serve others, and worship together. Isn’t it great that at Eastern Christian we get to do all of that in all of our classrooms?
Building Community Across EC
Eastern Christian is blessed to have three beautiful campuses, so how are we community builders as an entire school across all three campuses? Throughout our school year we have events like HomEComing, school picnics, Robot Fight Night, worship nights, community nights for our high school sports teams and lots more. These are opportunities for not only our students to come together, but their families as well. EC is more than just our classroom communities; we are a school community filled with families that are rooted in Christ, with the purpose of cultivating connection and belonging.
How Will You Build Community?
How can you and your family cultivate a feeling of community? Building community can come in the small moments and the big – and simply by remembering to love, serve, and worship together.
