9/1/23 - Friday Forget-Me-Nots by Jim Silcott

Dear Our Lady of Peace Family,

Our 25 kindergarten students are finishing up their sixth day of school this week. Among them is my grandson, Charlie, which makes him a second-generation Silcott attending Our Lady of Peace as his dad, Braden did before him. If you are ever feeling down or fed up with the world of adults, stop into a kindergarten class and breathe in the air of wonder, honesty, and unabashed love that wafts through the room like the sweet fragrance of spring. You will leave with hope for the future and feel a few years younger yourself.

Our kindergarten students will graduate from eighth grade in 2032. Their high school diplomas will be conferred upon them in 2036. Let us pray that their journey to their high school graduation day will be fruitful and that they will feel the presence of God with them every day.

I was watching a video on success with the eighth graders last week. The speaker’s exhortation to the group of young people with whom he was speaking is that effort is one of the most important traits that a student can have to succeed in school and in life. He used the example of children such as our kindergarten students learning to tie their shoes. Most of us adults can’t remember what a struggle and then ultimate triumph it was when we finally mastered that small but important task. I doubt that any of us succeeded on the first, second or even twelfth try. How about that first time our bodies and minds figured out the beauty of balance when we confidently started peddling our two-wheel bicycle without aid or assistance, and, more importantly, learned to stop without crashing!

With assistance from wonderful parents and patient teachers the skill of reading and writing is a joy to behold in these young people. One day they are just looking at pictures in the book. Slowly they learn to decode the printed symbols on the page into letters and sounds and combination of sounds.

The challenge for parents and teachers is to urge our children on the importance of effort and lifelong learning. The beauty of being a parent or teacher is seeing that progress over the days and months and years. On a daily basis we might see the growth. We are too busy doing all the other daily tasks and obligations in life to reflect. We also suffer through those days where nothing seems to be going right. But like climbing a steep trail where you are focused on your feet as you slowly climb, when you do finally get to a clearing and can see how far you have come, you look back in joy to see your great accomplishment. The blessing of working in a school that educates students for nine years is that you can see students really growing as they go from simple addition to algebraic equations. From coloring outside the lines, to making beautiful artwork. From reading picture books to complex fiction and non-fiction. It is a pleasure to behold.



In a Catholic school we can openly educate and celebrate the existence and importance of God in our lives. Our educational program is infused with learning and living the Gospel message, experiencing and benefitting from sacraments and prayer and Christian community. My own prayer for this kindergarten class is that they will grow in love for God and grow as people through the intercession of His Son, Jesus Christ. In 2036, when they move the tassels on their high school graduation mortar boards, may God be in their hearts and may praises for God be on their lips.

Jim Silcott