Love in LoCo

For weeks now, while local stores have been shifting their inventory from summer to fall clothing and décor, commercials on TV and online ads have also been eager to share the deals they offer on various back to school items.   Perhaps you have also seen friends from southern states posting pictures of their kids proudly holding chalkboards and letterboards displaying, “First day of ___ Grade.”   This week Loudoun County students will join their ranks for the 2018-2019 school year.   As a student and then as a teacher, a new school year was always equal parts stressful and exciting.   New clothes and school supplies can do a lot to somewhat ease the tension of busy school and sports schedules and getting back into the routine of picking out outfits and making lunches before you finally crash each evening.   I loved having a new beginning each year as a teacher.   It gave me an opportunity to get reorganized, try new ideas, and hopefully, come back in ...

          A few weeks ago I mentioned that our Loudoun FCA staff is now in ministry planning mode for the upcoming school year.   This includes goal setting as well as event planning – huddle leader trainings, our upcoming Golf Tournament (September 25), See You at the Pole (September 26) and Fieldsof Faith (October 10).   In addition to all of this, I’ve taken on the task of developing some lessons for our huddles to use to kick off the school year.   This not only takes some of the pressure off of our leaders to come up with huddle plans while they’re still adjusting to being back in school, but it also ensures that our students are on the same page when it comes to things like gospel clarity.               One of the “lessons” I’ve been working on today has to do with identity.   This is such a crucial issue for middle and high school students, as they all try to figure out...

Recently I was having a discussion with some of the college girls in my summer small group about how Loudoun County Public Schools – and life in general – have changed since I was in high school.   I told them about how the grading scale was stricter when I was in school – shifting from a 6 – 7 point scale after my freshman year (meaning an A was a 93 or 94 and above) to the ten point scale they have now.   I explained that we never had opportunities to retake quizzes or tests and that we used to have midterm and final exams.   I shared with them how there was no such thing as Dual Enrollment classes and how many fewer options we had of AP courses. And with all of these changes, you would think that students now would feel less pressure than my peers and I felt in the early 2000s.   But really, I think it’s just the opposite.   In my years teaching math and now as an FCA Area Representative, it seems that just about every time I talk to students, they’re ove...