Be on guard; stand firm in the faith; be men [women] of courage; be

strong. Do everything in love. (1 Corinthians 16:13, 14).

Courage in the Lions Den
Sharla warily entered the low-income inner-city school in an impoverished
section of the district where she was substitute teaching. The school desperately
needed repairs both inside and out. This elementary school definitely had
experienced more prosperous times. The community and the school building were
showing their age and lack of community pride and investment.
Sharla had been asked to take a long term substitute teaching position in a
class with two emotionally disturbed students. After committing to the job, Sharla
was informed of the severity of these students disabilities. They were notorious for running off-campus, fighting each
other, hitting the staff, and even urinating in the corners of the classroom. The two students in her class seemed to
command and rule the entire school with their destructive behaviors. The police were sometimes called to intervene.
One of the students had injured the previous teacher, putting him on disability leave. Sharla believed and knew that
nothing was impossible with God; she began to pray, interceding for the students and asking the Lord for strategies to
reach and teach them.
When Sharla first entered the classroom, there was little decoration. It was a bleak brown box that had little
joy and certainly elicited and reflected no desire or enthusiasm for learning. Sharla examined the grade book that had
been left behind and noted the two students low grades - scores for some subjects were in the single digits. Prior to her
taking over the class, she discovered the students routinely did worksheets the entire day and little else. They were
disconnected from the subject matter, themselves, their peers, staff members, and one another. The classroom
paraprofessional assigned to assist Sharla in working with these students lived in fear of their actions, as they often
turned violent. Upon entering and setting up the classroom, Sharla was reminded by the paraprofessional that she
should not leave anything out in the classroom that could be used as a weapon- such as a paperweight. Sharla refused
to take the items off her desk; she would not give in to fear.
When Sharla learned of these students and the extent of their problems, she knew she was going to be in a
spiritual battle and needed weapons. She asked the principal if she could handle the class her way, which included
using the Bible as literature and as a source for teaching character education. In desperation to get any staff member to
stay and teach these two students, the principal responded that this would be fine.
Everyday, Sharla wrote a sentence from the Bible on the chalkboard which illustrated a key character concept
or life lesson she wanted them to learn. While the students worked on their age-appropriate academic lessons, Sharla
often played inspiring background music selections which included faith based songs. The music seemed to sooth their
ravaged spirits and the Bible passages seemed to cleanse their minds and offer them direction and hope. Within two
weeks of Sharla taking over the class, there were no more fights, no more police, and no more escapes. Both students
grades shot up. That spring, for the first-time since entering elementary school, both students passed all the state-
mandated tests with mastery scores above 95 percent.
The children did not just change simply in their academic performance; their attitudes and hearts changed as
well. As they journaled, they wrote of their troubled home lives and of spending nights alone roaming the streets. The
courage it took for these students to break out of their past and troubled home environments in order to begin to
academically excel and experience hope was inspiring to Sharla, the principal, and her co-workers. These troubled
young men began to see the life that they had been living was not the best God had for them. They began to see there
was hope through education combined with good choices based upon character and faith.
In order to ever learn to love, these students had to be unconditionally loved themselves. Sharla was the
instrument God used to do that. The foundation of Sharlas approach to dealing with these students was to lovingly set
limits and boundaries, maintain high expectations for academics and behavior, and provide an environment that
regularly fed their hearts as well as their minds. They needed someone with courage who would encourage and help
them, not judge and condemn them. Sharla was that person. Are you being that person for your students this year?
Prayer: Lord, reach out through us to change the hearts, minds, attitudes, and behaviors of all those we serve.
Application: Which student are you serving this year who seems to be the most behaviorally and academically
challenged? Are you regularly interceding in prayer for this student and asking God for strategies to intervene?
Sharing: Share the name of this student with other teachers and pray in agreement together for him or her.
.

CLASSROOM LIGHTHOUSE SERIES: TEACHER! TAKE COURAGE! (For inquiries contact ceaihouston@sbcglobal.net.) WEEK 26