After 20 years of having a child in North Carolina Public Schools I am finished!!!! My youngest, Kevin, graduated from high school on June 13th. What a great day for him--and me!!!
I have lots of friends who do not choose to send their children to public schools. I am grateful that our country affords us such a choice. As a single mom for 8 of those 20 years public schools was my only option. But looking back I still think it was the right choice for my 3 sons.
The oldest has finished his degree at a state university, and entered college prepared and confident with his public school diploma. He learned the basics of music--his passion-- in middle school and had roles in multiple dramas in high school exploring his love of the arts.
My second son graduates in AUGUST from a different state university. He was a part of the Junior ROTC in high school, which led him to choose a college with ROTC. He learned wonderful leadership skills from admirable military veterans and was positively impacted by them. He will be commissioned into the Air Force as soon as he graduates. He took art in school and found a hidden talent with pen and ink that I hope he will yet find time to explore.
Kevin followed the sports options in school. He sweated in August on a football field and ran the bleachers when he thought he could not. He did it to be on the team. He did it out of respect for the coach. He played basketball for the love of the game and learned from coaches to manage anger with opponents and with himself. He learned that being part of a team means you sometimes sit on the bench!
Public schools allowed them these opportunities.
But more than that all three boys learned that people are vastly different. They learned to work with other children and teens with whom they did not agree. They learned to make new friends and let go of some friends. They learned that every teacher did not find them to be awesome (that's what I had always told them they were!), but that they could still learn from and respect that teacher. They learned that to live in communities you sometimes limit your own freedoms. They learned there are consequences for bucking the system--and times when that is still the right choice!
They learned to converse with people who had totally different family backgrounds and beliefs than our family. They studied evolution and realized that some people actually believe that stuff. They were around students who chose alcohol and sex as entertainment, but they chose not to follow that path. They observed habits and lifestyles that were self destructive and learned to call it what it was.
They learned that home is still the place you will always be welcomed and loved, no matter what kind of day you have had. They also learned the value of a Christian's understanding and compassion when they realized they had a Christian teacher, or school staff person, coach, or a friend. The light of Christ shines brightly in our Christian teachers and in Christian students who meet at the pole, or after school.
Thank you, Chrisitan teachers and students. You make a difference in the mission field that is American public schools! Keep shining!!
Now....four more years with a state university......God, be with us!
