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This past summer while I was out on a backpacking trip, I spent time envisioning what I wanted for the 23-24 school year. I thought about this year’s seniors. And although I teach most of them, I made a commitment on the trail to spend thirty minutes to an hour with each of them this semester in what I simply call a 1:1.
They’re not meetings but hopefully conversations – about life. What I learn, I hold in confidence. I encourage them to ask me questions, and they do – sometimes really tough ones. Our time ends in prayer for the things shared.
These types of opportunities are what I love most about VCHS. Because of our size, strong relationships between faculty and students can be formed. And for me, someone who loves to learn and who loves people, I want to be a student of my students – to know them as people, each uniquely created in the image of God.
Let me put it another way. With our Portrait of a Graduate, we say, ‘Our graduates seek to know themselves and others through the lens of God’s unconditional love.’ We can’t expect our graduates to do this if we are, or I am, not doing the same.
Seeking to know them – really know them – is my motivation and the heart of what makes VCHS the school that it is. Our teachers are exceptional at this. And to be honest, more than I expected, I find these 1:1s deeply inspiring – VCHS is making a difference and our students will make the world a better place.
Let’s Go Saints!
Steve O'Neil
Head of School
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