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BY: SETH BUCKWALTER ‘97, LM Middle School Principal & High School Science Teacher
In my AP Biology class this year, I heard a student say, “I just don’t get it. How does this work?” This question is music to a teacher’s ears. My response? “That’s a great question. That’s what you need to figure out.”
I personally didn’t know the answer. This student, Jarod, wanted to explain the mechanisms that caused his group’s plants to grow towards light. Jarod wanted to know something that went beyond the scope of the curriculum. “How is it possible that a hormone that is produced across the top of the plant has a different effect on one side of the plant than the other?” The answers that he found had to do with photoreceptors, transport proteins, and plants’ ability to tell the difference between types of light. Jarod’s curiosity and the explanation of phototropism ultimately made me say, “WOW, God’s creation is absolutely amazing!!!”
Middle School Project Showcase Night After our Middle School Project Showcase Night this spring a parent said, “What a great evening!”
His eyes were energized! We had just completed an evening where middle school students were able to showcase the airplanes they had designed in Mr. Todd Bowman’s Engineering & Design class. The students explained the design process – the thinking, planning, and collaboration that was required to create and recreate their airplanes so they could accomplish the task of flying their plane as far as possible. After seeing the plane their child had created and the process that led to it, this parent was both excited and refreshed.
One of our core values at LM is to nurture curiosity and creativity. These attributes are planted in each of our students by their Creator. To nurture these traits, we simply need to care for them and encourage them to grow. Why would God instill curiosity and creativity within us? I believe one reason for this is to draw us, and those around us, closer to God and to glorify Him.
Curiosity: As we nurture curiosity, students become familiar with observing, asking questions, and digging deeper to find truth. God is truth and the source of truth. Truth is revealed generally as we observe creation, and truth is revealed in a special way in God’s word. Before being saved by faith in Jesus, our hearts are hardened. We can be curious and discover truth, but it does not lead us to knowing or glorifying God. When, by God’s grace, we are redeemed, our hearts are made new and truth leads us to know and glorify God.
Creativity: The first description of God in the Bible is as a creator. Shortly after that we are told that God created humankind in His own image. Part of God’s image is creativity. When we create things, it reflects the image of God the creator in us. Again, for those whose hearts are made new, seeing creativity leads to glorifying God. In the case of the parent mentioned earlier, they were energized by seeing the creative image of God in their child.
At LM, we are nurturing curiosity and creativity while inviting God to awaken the hearts of our students, so they are equipped to know and glorify God all their lives. As our students leave LM, we pray that they will continue to grow these traits, that God will be glorified, and that “together we will change the world”.
