Friday
night Roland and I went to see The Real Story of Little Red Riding Hood
as presented by the students of St. Paul’s Lutheran School. This post isn’t
about the show, although I do have to say that my favorite character was the
stage manager. (Yes, he was a character, similar to—but very different from—the
stage manager in Our Town.)
My
children attended St. Paul’s through 8th Grade, and one of the
things I appreciated about it was the variety of extra-curricular activities. We
all have talents, but nobody is good at everything, or even at most things. My
children take after their mother and are not good at sports. St. Paul’s had
basketball and volleyball and soccer teams, so (along with Little League) my
children had the opportunity to try out different sports and discover that wasn’t
their strength. Caroline did find a place for herself on her high school cross-country
team, where she ran in the middle of the pack. Fortunately, she enjoyed it for
the running and the camaraderie, not because she expected to be the next Mary
Decker.
Then
there were the musical opportunities. Caroline sang in the choir and the school
musicals, and John played percussion in the band. He gave up band after 8th
grade even though he was decent at it, but Caroline still sings in her church
choir and with a select choral group.
They
are both successful in their chosen careers—Caroline as a 1st Grade
teacher and John as a computer programmer. And because they learned their
limitations, they didn’t dream of being professional athletes or pursing professions
they weren’t suited for.
That’s
the advantage of attending a school that provides a variety of extra-curricular
activates to let children discover what they are good at (and what they enjoy).
Unfortunately, it doesn’t work if their parents tell them they can be whatever
they want to be.
That’s
the subject of next week’s blog post.
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