It has been a delight to watch the growth of Storyboards over the last couple years. As teachers grow in their skillset of designing Storyboards that illustrate the learning journey into Deep Hope, both students and teachers deepen their conviction around this practice.

While most Storyboards share classroom stories, a significant area of growth this year is the use of Storyboards by school leaders. School leaders are recognizing that Storyboards effectively communicate the school’s journey to both teachers and parents. I am excited to share these examples of Storyboards designed by four TfT school leaders.

Pam Smith – Dean of Student Life, Intermountain Christian School

Pam Smith’s Deep Hope centers around the fruit of the spirit:

My deep hope is that our ICS community would exude the fruit of the Spirit, Galatian5:22-23a, which says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” My prayer is for our entire school community to be known for authentically living the fruit of the Spirit, demonstrating the heart of God’s love and grace with action.

Throughout the year, Pam would collect photos and gather writings as artifacts. It was simple...grew beyond her white board...and gave students and staff a spot to look and see how Pam’s Deep Hope was living in the Intermountain Christian School community. It was on the wall of her office that faced the door, so it was easily visible for people and drew them in to take a deeper look.

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Jerilyn Manzella – Assistant Principal, Annunciation Catholic School

As Jerilyn Manzella and her Annunciation Catholic School colleagues journey in their first year of TfT implementation, she shares these reflections:

As a school leader, you're expected to have all the answers. Your staff and students turn to you for advice on how to implement new strategies in their classroom or be a thought partner when something new is shared at a PD. What happens, though, when the concepts shared at the Friday PD are new to you, too?

As we've embarked on becoming a TfT school, I don't have all the answers. Creating Storyboards for our Deep Hopes has been the biggest challenge for our staff so far because it is a different concept than what we are accustomed to, and I could only answer some of their questions. Rather than try to be an expert, I owned that I was learning alongside them. If I ask them to create a Storyboard in their classroom as they journey through their Deep Hope, I better make one, too.

So I pulled out the scissors, turned on the laminator, climbed the ladder, and dove into the work. It's not perfect. It's not always pretty, but it's good work. It's important work, and we're on this journey together.

My Deep Hope for the Annunciation Crew is that we learn to love and believe in ourselves in the same way we love and believe in our children, and I need to be reminded of that myself, too. 

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Jennifer Lewis – Director of Instruction and Curriculum, Western Michigan Christian School

Jennifer Lewis’ Deep Hope is for each of you to realize you are a unique character in God's story and to live and learn as you embark on your part of God's restoration project. 

‍She wants all Western Michigan Christian’s community members, students, staff, and parents, to realize they are each unique beings created by God.

WMC’s mission statement is to educate with excellence, integrate faith with knowledge, and equip our students to work and serve Christ in our communities. These three portions of the mission statement then became the staff learning targets for the year and organize the Storyboard. 

Various teachers and classes will contribute the artifacts that fill the Storyboard throughout the year. Some artifacts are already forming the Storyboard and many are yet to come this year.

Finally, Jen hopes to use the Storyboard to lead a celebration for our students, staff, and community at the end of the year. 

“I hope to encourage our whole community in a celebration of what we all accomplish together as we realize our individual and collective value in the eyes of the Lord and then live and learn as we embark on our part of God's restoration project.”

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Craig Juffer - Director of Learning, Pella Christian Schools

Regular rhythms within a school help to build reflective practices and ongoing growth. This is true for students but also for adults.

At Pella Christian School the professional learning calendar incorporates a variety of activities intended to build the capacity of teachers to grow in the craft of Christian teaching. These practices begin with purposefully setting time aside for doing collaborative work together. The logistics portion of this includes scheduling weekly early out time, dedicating a couple days during the year to engaging all teaching staff and establishing specialized training days specifically for new teachers in the school. We use a Storyboard posted in a public space near our workroom, to document our work throughout these various activities. While it resets annually, the board displays some summarized work from previous years, as well as, the ongoing work of the current year. Together the artifacts point to our ongoing pursuit to go DEEPER into our craft.

Craig Juffer’s Deep Hope is that people will be more fully formed to embody God’s collective and individual call for their lives.

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