From the Head of School: Blooming where we’ve Been Planted

The beginning of a new school year is filled with the hustle and bustle of getting things ready and the fresh energy of something new. The beauty is being able to take everything you learned last year and refine it, change it, or keep doing what worked. All of this brings about an energy that is both exciting and sometimes stressful. It comes with pressure to get everything done well and right, and to avoid repeating past mistakes. I believe this pressure becomes normal for some of us. Our nervous system and muscles remember it, and it becomes almost like a tradition. One reason I love chapel at Rise Academy so much is that it gives me a chance to think and pause. In those moments, I often remember that everything doesn't have to feel so pressured.

Over the course of September, our chapel themes have focused on two things that have stuck with me: presence over pressure and holiness over hurry. I have found myself thinking about these two things daily as I consider what it means to slow down. In one chapel service, I had the opportunity to reflect, alongside our staff and all of our students, on a question that I think so many of us should answer as we think about our task lists and our hopes: "Who am I becoming when I spend most of my time and energy on ‍ ?"

So I sat there wondering: Who am I becoming, and what am I modeling, when most of my time and energy is focused on the pressure to do everything perfectly, or the pressure to prove my worth or my work to others? Mrs. Barber said in chapel that Jesus calls us to be important, not urgent, and I have reminded myself of this every time my task list grows and the pressure to be perfect creeps in. This month, I have encouraged myself that presence and slowing down matter more than rushing to prove a point. Sometimes we rush and miss why God has us doing what we're doing, in the moment He's asked us to do it. We move quickly because we think quickness equals efficiency, and we think efficiency proves our worth to others. But in reality, rushing means we will lack excellence and miss the moments that make our being worthwhile.

In chapel, we learned that trees have to grow both up and down, and the part you can't see, the roots, will determine whether fruit can be produced at the top. We learned that nothing God produces is rushed, and that choosing to do what honors God over what gets you ahead will always put you where you need to be.

As someone who has always equated my worth with the work I can produce and the service I can give to others, the messages I received in chapel this month have changed how I think about productivity and excellence. This message isn't just something shared in chapel. It is a belief and a practice at Rise Academy: each week, we intentionally spend time as a full staff and student body doing the inner work on ourselves and growing in our faith.

We left chapel with a reading titled "Integrity" by Tammara Cappellano that says:

I believe in honor, I believe in love,
Isn't that what makes us special in the eyes of God above?
I hope I live the words I say, showing I speak right from my heart.
That is how I live my life, and how I will depart.

It's my prayer for myself and for all of us that we choose love, presence, and character over the need to move quickly and prove ourselves through our work, so that we can truly begin to bloom where we have been planted.