Our Grade 6 classes went away to Camp Kawkawa a few weeks ago for our annual retreat. The theme of the three-day camping trip was “Building Community”, and during scheduled devotion time, the students reflected on what the Bible tells us about community. They read in Acts 2 on the fellowship of believers and in Romans 12 on humble service. As well, they looked at what Philippians 2 teaches about humility, and in Ephesians 4 about unity and keeping the bond of peace. Finally, Hebrews 10 was sourced on how to build community in a Godly fashion.

In his book “Building Community in Schools”, Thomas Sergiovanni writes that in building community, there are two motivational rules: The first rule is that what is rewarded gets done, and the second rule is what we value and believe to be good gets done. The first rule is an example of an extrinsic tie to a community where we remain tied to others and to the work as long as we continue to receive and value the rewards that someone else gives us. The second rule is an example of a moral tie to a community where we accept the morals, values and obligations we feel towards others and toward the work of the community. At LCS we are intentional at encouraging students to want to do things for the moral ties we experience through shared values and belief, and not to do things just for extrinsic rewards. We work hard to instill in our students that a servant heart is the foundation for building community.

Having our parents help in the building of community is important. We need a strong parent community that supports our school, our teachers, and our administration. Together we can provide a positive environment for students to learn in.