And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. — Luke 2:33

At the start of my teaching career, before a phone line was in every classroom, several of us would congregate in a meeting room to use the school phones to call home about students with excessive missing assignments and disruptive behavior. Often, I would ask my colleagues what interactions they had previously with a student’s parents or guardians, as well as seek solace from each other having to tell other adults how their offspring were not meeting expectations. Mrs. Kalina, a long-time vocal music teacher, would always be the last teacher in the room, because she always made one more phone call. She would scan her class roster, select a student, and phone home to tell the adult what positive accomplishment or behavior she witnessed. Like a basketball player always ending a practice with a swish, she wanted to end her day with a positive. As I adopted her method, I soon realized that all of these calls were very short because the parent or guardian either was amazed beyond words that their child was recognized for something good, or would say “Thanks, I’ve never had a call like this from school, so are you sure it was my kid?”

O God, you see your children growing up in an unsteady and confusing world. Help them to understand failure, not as a measure of their worth, but as a chance for a new start. Give them strength and keep alive their joy in your creation, and provide adults the patience, grace and wisdom to support youth as they grow. *

*based on “Prayer for Young Persons,” The Book of Common Prayer, page 829.

Image Credit: Alexas Fotos. https://pixabay.com/users/alexas_fotos-686414/