Ten Ways to Love the Public School

There are many ways to extend care, compassion, grace, and proclaim gospel hope to the members of your community. Here are ten ways to love the public school to the glory of God.

1. Prayer walk your neighborhood.  As you walk around the block, ask God to strengthen the believing children in your neighborhood. Pray for the neighborhood children you see at the bus stop by name. Pray that the parents would love their children well after a long day at work and school.  Ask God to give you opportunities to share the gospel as you are on your walk.
2. Make your home available for before/after school care.  Hop on your neighborhood Facebook page or Nextdoor app and just let your neighbors know you're home is available for children before they get on the bus and that they can hang out at your house after school.
3. Bring class treats for a neighborhood kid or a child from church.  There are few things more exciting than having someone you know bring in treats for class snack.  There is a sense of belonging when a child knows they are provided for by a loving and caring adult that is not their parents.
4. Think of the bus drivers. You see the big yellow buses throughout your neighborhood.  You know where the bus stops are. Give thought to the bus drivers by writing them a handwritten note of encouragement and gospel hope packed with some kind of treat or or goodie. I promise it will blow their mind.
5. Donate Christ-centered books to the public school library.  You will be surprised what school public libraries will accept. There is a great need for new and age appropriate material. If you need some recommendations, I would be thrilled to point you in the right direction depending on the age you need. 
6. Attend sporting and creative arts events. Take your family to a Friday night football game or a Saturday morning tennis match. Your children will love watching a track meet or cheering for a basketball team, laughing at a drama or being wowed at an art show. This is a great way to start and maintain relationships you make in the community for the purpose of sharing the gospel.
7. Show up with breakfast for your local public school's office staff. When I was a teacher, there were few things that better set the tone of my day than when we were provided breakfast by members in the community.  Write a note. Sign it from your self, or if possible, sign from your church to let that school know that there are people from said church that are willing to champion the efforts of caring for the school-aged children.
8. Assemble teacher packs.  These don't have to be much, but let me tell you, teachers spend hundreds of dollars of their own money to make sure students have the supplies they need and to make learning more effective.  Grab some pens, paper clips, sticky notes, tape, and K-cup.  Tie it in a baggie with some ribbon and deliver these to your local school.  Add a note for follow up and get ready to start making gospel investments.
9. Send a letter to the superintendent or principal.  The saying is "Bad press is good press." Well, superintendents get ripped into every single day by disgruntled parents and upset community members.  Why not break the cycle and send him or her an encouraging note? You don't have to agree with them or their policies to encourage him to work diligently and to remind him of the children he is impacting. Let her know there is one Christian in the community that isn't blasting her on social media; because I can assure you there are plenty of Christians throwing stones at her without thought, grace, compassion, or humility.
10. Talk to the public school teachers at your church. Ask them how they can be served best. Ask them how they need support in the classroom. Ask them how you can relieve any of their burdens.  It might be a late night to help grade papers, or purchasing a bookshelf for a class set of Bunnicula or Where the Red Fern Grows. It could be picking up their own children from school or being asked to faithfully pray for boldness in the classroom.  I promise you your believing public school teacher friends wish you could see what they see: for better and for worse.  They wish you would take time to really understand how much they love their mission field, what these little image-bearers mean to them, and how they really do get opportunities to share the gospel within the four walls of their classroom.

I hope these ten ways serve as a good start for homeschooling families to pour out a fragrant offering of love, support, compassion, grace to the public schools. This list is by no means exhaustive. I am sure I could make this list 25 things very easily.  That's another list for another day.  

"And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." 

Colossians 3:17

Next article posted will be: Ten Ways to Love the Homeschooler. I hope you continue to follow along.