More and more educators are seeing the importance of addressing not only the intellectual and physical needs of students but also their emotional, social, and health needs.
See You At The Pole
From SYATP.com:
See You at the Pole™ is a global movement of prayer which is student-initiated, student-organized, and student-led. It revolves around students praying together on the fourth Wednesday in September, usually before school and usually at the school's flag pole. It involves student in elementary schools, middle/junior high schools, high schools, and colleges/universities across the globe. Adults often pray in support of the students on campus by gathering nearby, at their places of work or worship, or at city halls.
For more information, visit SYATP.com
Bring Your Bible to School Day
Students can bring their Bibles to school on any day, but, on Bring Your Bible to School Day – usually celebrated in early October – a national event occurs. Hundreds of thousands of students around the country celebrate religious freedom by bringing their Bibles to school where they talk about it with friends and share God’s hope. Go to bringyourbible.org for more information.
Seven Religious Liberties
Here are seven freedoms outlined by the U.S. Department of Education and quoted in Free to Speak: What the U.S. Department of Education says about public school students' religious liberties.
1. You can pray, read your Bible or other religious material, and talk about your faith at school.
2. You can organize prayer groups and religious clubs, and you can announce your meetings.
3. You can express your faith in your class work and homework.
4. Your teachers can organize prayer groups with other teachers.
5. You may be able to go off campus to have religious studies during school hours.
6. You can express your faith at a school event.
7. You can express your faith at your graduation ceremony.
Download a one-page flyer of these liberties to post on a bulletin board in the teachers' lounge.
To read what you can do to promote greater religious freedom at your schools, click here.
To go to the original U.S. Department of Education Guidelines: click here.
Family Devotions / Sunday School Easter Lesson Plan
Looking for a way to impact your church and your schools? We've created an Easter Devotional that can be used as a Sunday School Lesson or a Family Devotional. It also provides how you can share the story of Easter with your school!
Introduction
Read aloud: Did you know that Jesus loves it when children praise him? Today we are going to read a story in the Bible about when children were saying good things about Jesus. Some adults tried to stop them, but Jesus didn’t. In fact, Jesus said this is the kind of thing that he likes to hear.
Question: Easter is coming soon; what do we celebrate at Easter? [Solicit answers]
Read aloud: Well, let’s read the story of when Jesus was coming to Jerusalem just before he was going to die on the cross and rise from the dead.
To continue reading, Click here to download a free Family Devotions handout that will help teach your child about the death and resurrection of Jesus and how this major historical event has influenced literature, art, and music as well as social movements from the abolition of slavery to the civil rights action of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.