Forming Teachable Hearts
In early November, the girls volleyball team traveled to Cape Girardeau to compete in the state championship tournament. The semi-final was held on a Thursday afternoon just as school let out for the day. When the final bell rang, many students hurried to the Grand Entry and the Hub to watch the game on the TV, and several teachers stayed hours after school to cheer on the team. When the girls won their final set to send them to the finals, the school erupted in cheers as students began clapping and teachers high-fived each other. This relationship between teachers and students is something we take pride in.
In moments like the girls volleyball final, when teachers and students traveled to Cape Girardeau to watch the team compete, that relationship is more than just a marketing phrase. Westminster is a thriving community that relies on the connection between students and teachers.
There is a genuine connection amongst our community. It is what sets our school apart from others and continuously brings excellent teachers back year after year. At Westminster, this connected community thrives because of God’s faithfulness.
“The opportunity to be immersed in a gospel-centered educational mission is both life-giving and life-changing,” says Matt Seilback, Bible teacher.
In the past year, Mr. Seilback has found joy in seeing God’s work flourishing at Westminster and its community. “As I’ve observed the seniors, members of Student Council, and participants in school clubs this year, I’ve seen students delighting and investing in this community. In various personal conversations and classroom discussions, I’ve also seen them seeking to better align themselves with God’s mission for their lives.”
Whatever the class, the club, or the sport, everything points back to God and the gospel. Emily Dierking, who has been teaching art at Westminster for 14 years, believes that “God’s beauty is everywhere. He loves us so much and shows that to us every day in the sunset, the leaves changing, the colors of the flowers, and so many other ways. I want [my students] to have the confidence and capacity to add to that beauty.” As our students study chemistry, philosophy, literature, and mathematics, they learn to look for the grace of God and how they can be part of God’s restoration work. The same is true for the language-department.
Gina Meeks, Spanish teacher, says that she prepares and equips her students by “acknowledging the reality of similarities and differences in the way He created us, regardless of race, language, culture; thinking how we are so different in some ways and yet, loved equally by the same God.”
Mrs. Meeks’ desire for her students is for them to have “teachable hearts and learn from those that are not the same as us.”
Our faculty desires to see our students learn about God so they can be a light in the world wherever God leads them. That is certainly the vision of Westminster—to provide an academically rigorous education centered on God’s word to form the next generation of Christian leaders.
This article was originally published in our alumni magazine, Chimes. Read more from the Winter 2022 issue.
