A Day of Blessing

September 11, 2023 Becca Feldhacker

In the months preparing for For Dane with local church leaders, we shared an opportunity for teachers nearing burnout or just in need of a boost. Semester Reset is a program that was piloted last year through the Foundry Spiritual Center and consisted of retreats and coaching in hopes of encouraging, listening to, and helping teachers who could use a self-care reset.

And while we were inviting those on our planning call to share Semester Reset with their congregation’s teachers or consider financially sponsoring a teacher, the wheels were turning for John Schmitz at Blessed Sacrament Parish.

John was able to connect the Blessed Sacrament School staff with the Foundry Spiritual Center, which resulted in a retreat for the entire school staff. Semester Reset is open to teachers of any background but has roots in Christianity. For this opportunity at Blessed Sacrament, the Foundry Spiritual Center was able to center the conversations on Jesus.

Centered on the school’s theme for the year, “Remain in Christ,” they took the morning of the retreat to reflect on the 7 “I AM” statements of Jesus found in John’s Gospel. Christina Roberts, the facilitator, had images to accompany the scriptures laid out on a table for those who connect more with visuals than with words.

This visual reflection was new for many of the teachers, and they even asked Christina to share the images so that they might use them in the classroom as a creative way to engage students throughout this year.

Christina shared in the Foundry Spiritual Center Newsletter what she found to be the most moving part of the day:

At the end of the retreat, I invited the teachers to post the rosters of the children on the wall by category: Early Education, Primary, Intermediate & Middle School. The walls were full of the names of children who would soon attend these various classes. Next, I invited the teachers to take sticky notes and write out a prayer or hope for their students this upcoming school year and post it next to the list of names. We sat and looked at the wall full of names and colorful notes. I then invited the staff to go back to the wall and pick 2-3 sticky notes that they did not write. We stood in a circle as designated readers called out the names of each student on their sheet. After reading over 400 names aloud, we then went around, and each person prayed out the written prayer on their sticky note. When the last sticky note was read, there was a palpable sense of the Holy Spirit in that room. The prayers were beautiful, heartfelt, and shared. Immediately, one of the teachers asked if they could have a copy of the prayers to share with the parents. Plans were made to include these prayers in upcoming newsletters throughout the year as a reminder of the importance of each individual child representing Blessed Sacrament School. Children who are known by God and seen by their teachers.

Thanks be to God, who is uniting the Church in Madison and is working in and through rejuvenated teachers who pour into the future of this city.

If you’d like to learn more about Semester Reset, contact the Foundry Spiritual Center or visit https://foundrysc.com/practices/semester-reset-church-partnership