I recently had the opportunity to help chaperone TSCS’s first 8th grade retreat. It was just a brief overnight getaway, but this day-and-a-half escape from the norm was a perfect way to wrap up their middle school years, and give them the time and space to really contemplate the years ahead. Each student was given a journal and extended blocks of time throughout the day to reflect on who they’d been as small children, who they were now as adolescents, and who they wanted to become. 

The young teens dispersed through the oak grove and across the meadow of the retreat facility for these writing and reflection times, and a beautiful peace and stillness of human bodies and voices allowed us the quiet to notice what was happening inside our own hearts and minds, and in the nature that surrounded us. Mature oaks spread their branches, serving as perches for birds and students alike. Inchworms steadily scooted along the benches around the fire pit, while fearless pipevine swallowtail caterpillars marched across picnic tables and notebooks, and their butterfly brothers flitted between wildflowers peeking out of the grass. 

In slowing down and being still, this retreat gave our students (and their teachers) the gift of time. And I realized that was in keeping with the very essence and structure of The Saint Constantine School. 

Because we serve children from preschool through high school—and even beyond, through The Saint Constantine College—our teachers are privileged to know and walk alongside our students and their families for many years. A handful of these eighth-graders were in the Math Club class I taught when they were first graders, in the early days of the school. I taught nearly all of them in sixth and seventh grade, and some are finishing up my eighth-grade science class now. I’ve seen these children grow, learn, and mature in countless ways over the years we’ve shared.

My son is memorizing Psalm 1 in his second-grade class, and as he practiced at home his little voice reminded me of my middle school students and who I pray they grow to be:

“Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
or sit in the seat of scoffers;
but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law they meditate day and night.
They are like trees planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.”
Psalm 1:1–3 (NRSV)

As teachers and parents, we are not churning out quick-growing cash crops—rather, the children we are charged with nurturing are like slow-growing trees. It takes time to grow branches that stretch high and far and explore new ideas, and before that it takes time to cultivate deep, strong roots, that are securely anchored in their families and church communities, and most importantly, nourished daily by the Living Water. 

Hearts and minds are not shaped in an instant or in a year. They are directed heavenward through patient, consistent encouragement, direction, and inspiration across the years and for a lifetime. At Saint Constantine, we strive to model a mature Christian adulthood with time to play, time to pray, and time to learn (since those aren’t really different things, after all). 

I’m so glad that even though my eighth-graders are moving beyond the classes I teach, they’ll still be nearby in their TSCS Upper School classes, being mentored and guided by the godly instructors and professors who teach there. I pray that they grow into and beyond the future versions of themselves they envisioned while journalling during this past retreat. I pray that they yield their fruit in its season, that their hearts, minds, and souls do not wither, and that in all they do, they prosper.