Thanks and Encouragements

I wanted to close the year with some words of thanks and also some personal words of encouragement to you, Regents parents.

First, gratitude.

I am so thankful for the opportunity to serve at Regents Academy with such delightful parents, faculty, board, and students. You’re the best in East Texas, hands down! The Lord has blessed our school greatly, and I am just glad to be a part of it. This school year has had its share of challenges and a few disappointments along the way. But it is good to sit back and reflect on the great number of success stories, new blessings, and areas of growth our school has experienced. New students have found a home. Returning students have made strides. The culture of our school has steadily grown. Almost all of our teaching staff is returning (and the few who are stepping away are doing so because of life changes). We finished the year with our highest enrollment ever, completed our accreditation, and have a budget that is in the black because of generous donors. Most of all, the Lord Jesus Christ is present in our school and is sharing his grace and favors with us all. That is truly the greatest blessing there can be. So thank you, parents – and thank you, Lord!

And then a few personal words of encouragement.

I reminded our students on the last day of school that being a student living in God’s world means that education, learning, and growing don’t just happen 175 days out of the year from 8 till 3. Instead, since “wisdom is the principal thing” (Prov. 4:7), seeking a heart of wisdom, which is the true goal of education, should last all year long. The father in Proverbs exhorted his son, “let your hear retain my words” (4:4), and that is what our children should do – not just have brains that remember facts, names, places and events, but have hearts that retain the lessons of their teachers about what is true, good, and beautiful. So parents, teach your children biblical wisdom – that is the principal thing.

Let the reading continue. I just can’t say enough about how important it is to read books – all year long. If you want your children to be all that God has made them to be, encourage in them a love for good books. Talk about books. Let your children see you reading good books. Let this summer be a summer of reading. See us here at the school, and we can recommend good books for you if that will be a help.

This may sound like an odd encouragement for you, but here it is. Please come to graduation. Do you want to see what it looks like to finish this marathon that we call a Regents education? Come to graduation and see our seniors who have finished the race of high school and are preparing for the next stage of their journey. It really is an inspiring and uplifting experience, and I would love to see you there (no matter what age your children are). I want all our parents to catch the vision for classical Christian education, and there really is no better place to do this than at our graduation ceremony.

Finally, take a break this summer. Our children work hard all year long at school. Thankfully, school is not year-round! So allow your children truly to take a break this summer. Now, let me add that this does not mean not doing any mental work whatsoever. In fact, reading, practicing math, and doing activities that exercise the brain can be fun when they are done in a way that is different from what the students do all year long. For example, each summer my wife finds practice books that our children can work at their own pace and that keep their skills sharp over the summer. The pressure of deadlines is off, it doesn’t feel heavy, and there is a true break – but there is not a complete brain-jelly let down. But please hear what I’m saying – let’s take a break this summer to enjoy our families and have fun till August. We all know what happens on August 19, right?