As my oldest daughter entered the SBCA Early Learning Program this year, it has been an unexpected but absolute joy to experience our school through new eyes: no longer just as a teacher, but now as a teacher and parent. As someone who has been immersed in Catholic classical education for many years, I wasn’t expecting this new perspective to impact my own spiritual and intellectual life as much as it has. But as I’ve experienced our school through the fresh eyes of my daughter, it has become abundantly clear to me that the education she’s receiving isn’t only for her, it’s for me, too.
A few weeks into the start of the school year, she started requesting “Immaculate Mary” as her new bedtime lullaby after singing it with her class in the chapel. And so instead of our old go-to lullabies like Disney songs and nursery rhymes, our new evening routine began to include us quietly singing Our Lady’s praises together as she drifted off to sleep. And while, of course, there’s nothing wrong with singing “Five Green and Speckled Frogs,” or “How Far I’ll Go,” how much more meaningful is it for the last words that she hears at night to be about Mary’s everlasting reign in Heaven? And how much more beautiful is it for me, as her mother, to call on my own Mother’s intercession and protection over my little girl? To make matters even better, my 1.5-year-old, who shares a room with her older sister, has started requesting “Mary” as her bedtime song, too! This sweet and beautiful bedtime routine, which stemmed from her Early Learning class’s time spent singing in the chapel, has become a precious gift I absolutely cherish with my family.
Little moments like this have speckled the past few months since my daughter started school. She comes home sharing something she learned or referencing something from class that has clearly impacted her, and it also takes root in my own heart, giving me something beautiful and meaningful to ponder. As I think back to the many years I’ve been at SBCA, I realize that this has been happening long before I became a parent. As a teacher, too, I’ve been incredibly blessed by the Catholic classical education that isn’t for me, but has certainly deeply touched my own heart and soul. Discussing Aslan’s life giving sacrifice in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe with my students, or hearing the middle school choir sing Advent hymns at Mass, or reading an excellently written essay response on a test comparing Noah’s Ark to the Church, these moments have formed my own intellectual and spiritual life tremendously.
Catholic classical education forms far more than just the students. Of course, the freedom and flourishing of our students is at the heart of everything we do as educators, but along the way, the teachers and parents who are involved in this noble educational pursuit find their own souls a bit freer and closer to the Truth, too. And for that, I am incredibly grateful.
AUTHOR: Gabrielle Morris, Grade 4 Teacher
