The Starting Point Matters

We celebrated with a theme break this afternoon that focused again on the Truth that all people are valuable because all people are made in God's image. Today, we focused on cultural and ethnic diversity. K-5 teachers kicked off the afternoon with a performance of Dr. Seuss' The Sneetches to illustrate that while surface comparisons are silly, they can be very hurtful. The 3rd graders then worked in their classroom to create an All About Me Collage. I asked them to include their hobbies, interests, roles, favorites, learning preferences, and ethnic backgrounds. After our collages were completed, I asked them to point to the top 3 most important things about each of them. Many pointed to the label "Christian" or "3rd grader" or "daughter". We talked about how it's important we realize that while our cultural heritage is an important piece of our identity, it is not our only identity. We wouldn't want to be described only as a "Dutch-German-Irish" American without all the other pieces that make up who we are. In the same way, we should honor the complex identities of others by being wary of surface assumptions and stereotypes. We ended our day with the video version of You Are Special by Max Lucado, which reminded us that we are all special because we are made by God, and He doesn't make mistakes.