I am impressed that at Freeman Academy, students learn the importance of serving others and building community as part of their daily education. It isn’t uncommon for any school to sponsor a canned food drive or to sell t-shirts or wear ribbons in honor of a sick classmate or family member. But to intentionally incorporate these values daily and weekly into education is uncommon.

There were three–and only three–rules in Jared Goede’s classroom the first year of FA’s elementary program. These three rules were sufficient in framing Mr. Goede’s expectations for all student behavior and set a fabulous tone in a setting that integrated four grades. So what were they? No gum? Nope. Don’t talk when the teacher is talking? Nope. No hitting? No taking from another student? Nope and nope. They were 1) Everyone is safe, 2) Everyone learns and 3) Everyone builds community.

Mr. Goede left FA at the end of last school year, but his philosophy seems to be more or less shared by faculty members across the grade levels. In fact, I would not be surprised if my boys heard about “community” and the ways that everyone functions in a healthy community every single day in one way or another. And one way that community is built is by serving each other.

These values are part of the fabric at FA, and backed up by our biblical understanding. That is, students aren’t taught do these things because they are right or moral or because Christians are obligated to do them, or because they get us to heaven. Rather, we do these things out of an understanding that Jesus Christ is a worthy model for our life together, and out of a desire to serve Him. In that context, service and community matter not just socially, but spiritually. And when we practice them not out of obligation, but because they are part of our being (individually and collectively), our lives and our actions bear witness to Him.

I am grateful to send my kids each day to a place that reinforces the values we try to teach at home, and to teachers who have the freedom to articulate that in the classroom setting.