I serve on the Board of Trustees for Pacifica Christian High School - a new high school in Santa Monica CA, two years old with a current enrollment of 87 students. PCH is a long-standing dream for many of us who serve on its board, as staff, and as teachers. Our longing and our mission is:
1. To teach students to know, understand, and think critically about the world around them;
2. To express their thinking effectively through the written and spoken word;
3. To stimulate real joy and interest in learning;
4. To encourage students to live lives of faith and service to the glory of God; and
5. To create a school culture that fosters friendship and unity.
The payoff for the many years of hard work and planning to establish this dream are the stories of individual students experiencing in their own way our mission. Here is just one of those stories that fills me with satisfaction and joy for what God is doing through the commitment and dedication of all those involved.
I have to admit, I never wanted to come to Pacifica. In fact, it was just the opposite – I did not want to come to Pacifica. I didn't want to come anywhere. You see, I had been at my old school, First Lutheran, Venice, for 9 years and was very attached there. There were 13 8th graders in my graduation class, and we were like siblings. I had grown up at First Lutheran (it’s my church too). I was the student representative for 2 years, I loved the staff and all the students there – it was my second home. I can remember the day I made the decision to come to Pacifica. I was sitting at our kitchen table going over this list I had made of pros and cons at PCH and one other school I’d applied to. I counted and re-counted the list, and racked my brain for anything I could add. The pros of PCH far outweighed the cons (I think there was 1 con), and my decision was pretty obvious. But the moment I told my mom "I guess I’ll go to PCH," my stomach started hurting so bad I thought I was going to throw up, and my head started spinning. We had a confirmation dinner that night, and I recall shaking through the whole thing; I could barely talk to anyone. I’m not sure quite what it was – maybe the depression of deciding to leave my "home"; maybe the insecurity of a new place with new people – but every time someone mentioned high school, I would clam up. "It’ll be the best thing that happens to you!" people would say. "Oh, I loved high school!" That wasn’t what I wanted to hear. I didn’t want to like high school. I was so afraid I would forget my friends and the life I had at First Lutheran that I dreaded high school. But it came anyway. And I did love it. The first few days were filled with so much adventure, from trying to open my locker (unsuccessfully), to unexpectedly changing my schedule on the first day. There were all these new faces to get to know, these new textbooks to annotate, these new hallways and stairwells to figure out. Everything was so new and fresh, and every day brought something totally different. But I did still miss my old friends. And it wasn’t all fun and games… About the middle of the second week I had a meltdown. I remember lying on the floor in our living room with my mom hovering above. "I just want my life back!" I said. Waking up at 6:15 every day had made me weary. And I wasn’t used to learning so much in one day. When I was leaving my old school, I wanted so badly not to like high school. But in the second week, I knew that wasn’t the answer. And I knew I couldn’t go through the next four years hating it. It was up to me to let high school be a good experience. So first I started branching out a little. It wasn’t too hard, as the people at Pacifica are unconditionally kind, and the support of the teachers is unbelievable. Gradually, I made new friends – ones I think I’ll hang on to for years to come. I can’t believe how much I’ve grown in the past month. I’m so happy now… I just can’t stop smiling. It used to be the most I would say about my day was "it was good," but now I can’t wait to tell my parents everything that happened. (I know, it scares me sometimes.) It’s really hard to admit this, but something powerful happened on the retreat we took this year. I had had an awesome day filled with Pacifica Olympics, playing Frisbee with my new friends, diving head-first through a slip-and-slide made of food, and even catching a frog. After dinner and an awesome talk from our guest speaker, we sat around in the cabins in groups of about a dozen and talked about the retreat, about God, and about PCH. One of our teachers was our group leader. After some incredibly wise words from Asiah and Chelsea, one of the girls patted my teacher on the knee, and we all realized she was crying. "I’m sorry, I just love you guys so much." She said. Then we all got choked up. One of the other girls in the cabin started crying and telling us a story about her life and how Pacifica had impacted it. Now, mind you, I’m not a person who cries often, at all. Even through all of my 9 years at First Lutheran, I don’t think anyone there has seen me cry. (Except maybe falling off the monkey bars in kindergarten or something but, you know…) I never really let myself. Even at our graduation ceremony, I couldn’t cry. But as I sat there, protected in the shade of the bottom bunk, with a dozen other girls around me, as we said the closing prayer, I cried. (Not a lot – just like, a tear.) I cried because I was so happy. I cried because I love PCH and the people there so much. I feel funny saying this, but I really do love school. Last year I woke up at 7:15, and had to push myself out of bed, get dressed practically unconsciously, and I my brain was dead the whole way to school. This year I wake up an hour earlier, but I bounce out of bed, I get dressed really fast, and I’m so hyper on the way to school. I can’t wait to get there. (Freaky, isn’t it?) And when I get there it’s a blast. Before this year, I could think of maybe one or two dozen times in my entire life when I’ve laughed so hard I’ve cried. You know – when something’s so funny you think you’re going to explode laughing and you can’t say a word ‘cause you’re laughing too hard and it doesn’t even matter that your face is contorted because it’s so funny. But at PCH, I laugh that hard nearly every day. And I learn so much too. In the beginning it was overwhelming, and I thought my brain was going to overload from all the information. But the teachers are so thorough and passionate about teaching, and they explain everything in the most fun and interesting ways. I can name practically everything I’ve learned in every class so far (which is pretty crazy), and I’ll probably remember it all too. (At least until finals, I hope.) So it’s not that bad after all. (And I do still see my friends from First Lutheran.) I’ve come a long way from the girl who would run the other way at the words high school. I’ve been so blessed to go to school at Pacifica, and to get to know all the students and teachers here. And I know God has a plan for me not only here but for the whole rest of my life.
Vincent of Saragosa
I have had the honor of spending some time with the students and staff of PCH. INCREDIBLE! I've been a teacher for seventeen years and worked with kids for twenty - I believe PCH may be the most powerful ministry I've ever experienced. I was deeply moved by the love and commitment I witnessed.
It is this passage from Vincent's post that sums it up for me...
"...one of the girls patted my teacher on the knee, and we all realized she was crying. "I’m sorry, I just love you guys so much." She said. Then we all got choked up. One of the other girls in the cabin started crying and telling us a story..."
We all have a story, and we all long for that story to contain certain key elements - PCH is providing at least three of the most important pieces for kids...
Someplace to belong.
Something to believe.
Someone to become.
May God Bless PCH. And may other schools follow this lead.
Didymus
Posted by: Didymus | October 24, 2006 at 09:40 AM