Athletic Artists and Artistic Athletes

My role as yearbook teacher has given me a unique take on my school.  I am in and out of classes from Transitional Kindergarten through AP Biology.  I go to at least one or two games of every athletic team we have.  I have at least some communication with every teacher who works here, and I attend most events.  One of the most interesting things that I get to observe in this role is the variety of artistic opportunities we have.

My school offers visual art, dance, theater, band, strings, and chorus.  As other schools have cut some of their arts programs for budget purposes, we are trying to grow ours.  Our school's vision statement is, "Students at GRACE Christian School will be grounded in God's Word and challenged to achieve academic excellence as they prepare to use their gifts and abilities effectively to follow God's plan for their lives."  We don't believe that God made people the same, and we want our kids to seek out whatever gifts God has given them to use for His glory.

I teach both science and yearbook, and people always respond to that as though it is strange.  Apparently, I am supposed to be one dimensional.  Our AP Biology teacher also holds a history teaching degree, and he loves them both.  One of our earth science teachers also teaches history, and the other one also teaches Bible.  At one point, our math teacher took up Irish dance.  She eventually gave up math to teach dance full time, but our students were able to see that a person is not one thing.  We want our kids to have a well rounded view of the world and themselves.


As the person who photographs everything, I have had the opportunity to witness this in action.  Some of the leaders on our girls basketball team have also been the most devoted members of our chorus.  This violinist, who is one of the founding members of our strings group, is the same guy protecting our goal on the soccer field.  He understands that he can do both of those things well and not have sacrifice one for the other.  Much of the visual art that decorates our school halls and wins awards at competitions was made by runners and soccer players and volleyball girls.  We also have artists who excel academically or in more than one artistic endeavor.  My yearbook editor just completed her role as Badger in Wind in the Willows, excels in multiple AP classes, and is one of our most accomplished visual artists.  When a student graduates from GRACE, we hope that they have explored all kinds of activities and found Christ in all of them.  They are all reflections of God's creation, and we don't want them to limit themselves to one thing.

I understand the difficulties faced by schools who are wrestling with budget problems.  Financially, it is easy to say that the athletic programs bring in money and should be kept while the artistic programs do not.  I get that, but our students aren't numbers on a spreadsheet.  The contribution they will make to the world can't be measured that way.  The impact that the arts have on a student's brain will change them in ways that cannot be quantified.  I am proud that I have a school that knows this is important and funds our arts programs.  We even hold a pep rally for them.   Don't get me wrong; we still struggle with the balance between athletics and arts, just like other schools.  I think our struggle is often for a different reason, however.  We struggle with the fact that a student can't be in two places at once.  They can't be at cheer practice and play rehearsal at the same time.  While I know that is frustrating to both the coach and the director, I'll take that struggle any day over the struggle of cutting back.

Love reading.  Love computers.  Love music.  Love tennis.  Love fashion.  Love knitting.  Love math.  Love painting.  Love science.  Love Latin.  Love writing.  Love God and learn about him through all of these things because these are all reflections of His nature.