A Blessing for the New School Year
A Blessing for the New School Year (a collage of lines written by 7th grade students)
May you wake up to your alarm clock on time
And may your laptop be charged and ready to go.
May you be organized and prepared for class.
May all your school days be productive.
May your mask be comfy.
May your friends wash their hands properly.
May you remember your locker combination
And may your wifi not crash.
May you be able to have sports this fall term,
And may the sun come out and scare away
All the clouds on a rainy day.
May you understand your true potential
And never underestimate yourself.
May you find lifelong friends here
And hold onto these memories for the rest of your life.
May you learn to appreciate and respect the campus.
May the virus never touch school grounds.
May your friends and family be safe
May your elders stay safe.
May you comfort the sick.
May you find peace in the situation.
May you stay safe during this strange time
And may God watch over you at all times.
The poem above was written by my 7th Grade English class at St. Louis Priory School. The process was to read a series of Irish blessings to give kids an understanding of the form. Each student then wrote a poem for homework and I then took my favorite lines from 21 blessing poems and arranged them to create a new poem.
I have done this activity before but never at a time of a pandemic. Our school is open in person, with students and teachers wearing masks at almost all times, and the rooms are reconfigured in all kinds of strange and creative ways to allow for socially distant teaching.
As well as being an interesting way to mark the start of a new school year, it also gives some insights into the concerns of 12 and 13-year-old boys who are beginning life at a new school.
Thank you, Tim, for sharing this. What an incredible piece of art to help us see life through the eyes of your students right now. They are blessed to have you as their teacher. - Rev. Travis
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