Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Dropout (05/12/11)
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TITLE: Alternative School | Previous Challenge Entry
By Edmond Ng
05/15/11 -
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- He energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts. (Isaiah 40:29 MSG)
“I felt trapped inside,” Smith said, adding, “I was pretty much in bed just sleeping all day long, just basically crying.”
Now a sophomore at Austin Can! Academy, a charter high school which focuses on dropouts and those at high risk for dropping out, Smith, 17, says the flexible schedule allows her to take fewer class hours so she can attend psychotherapy sessions.
Sadly, however, because of the way the state calculates high school completion and dropout rates, charter schools like the Austin Can! Academy could face closure. Supporters say such schools are unintentionally penalized for serving a challenging student population. A bill in the State Legislature aims to fix the formula for assessing completion and dropout rates, but some academics question whether that will just make it easier for school districts to jettison their problem children.
“I have no idea where I would be without this school,” Smith said. “It’s been a very big help to me.”
Smith wakes up at 4:45 every morning to take the train from her Georgetown home to classes at Austin Can! Academy, which she said was the only school that would enroll her.
Like the story of Kimberly Smith, the Bible also mentioned about a people who were moral dropouts or misguided God-dropouts. Moral dropouts won’t listen to their elders, but welcoming correction is a mark of good sense. The lives of God-loyal people flourish, but a misspent life is soon bankrupt (Proverbs 15:5-6). Misguided God-dropouts staggers under their guilt baggage, for they have walked out on God and turned their backs on Him (Isaiah 1:4).
As children of God, we ought not to become moral dropouts or misguided God-dropouts. We may fail or face setbacks at times, but we must never walk out on God or turn our backs on Him. We should instead accept what comes our way and be ready to take on a different role to serve God according to His will. We need not always be the one at the top of everything we do, because even in the body of Christ, each part plays its own role and is as important as the other (1 Corinthians 12:12-27).
Why should we complain or whine thinking that God has lost track of us or do not care what happens to us? Do we not know anything? Have we not been listening? (Isaiah 40:27-28). God is not a man that He should penalize dropouts. Neither does He have to write a bill to fix the formula for assessing us. God is not like school districts that are ready to jettison 'problem children' like us who constantly fail to live up to His standard.
Let us therefore welcome correction, for this makes good sense. Let us not misspend our lives that we may flourish. Our God does not come and go. He lasts. He energizes those who get tired, and gives fresh strength to dropouts. If we wait upon God, we shall receive fresh strength. We shall spread our wings and soar like eagles, run and not get tired, walk and not lag behind (Isaiah 40:29-31).
Thank You dear Lord for accepting us the way we are, even though imperfect. We know that even if we are a ‘problem children,’ You will never abandon us. Help us Lord to accept what comes our way, that we may be ready to take on a different role to fulfill Your will. Without You Lord, we have no idea where we would be today. You O Lord are a big help to us and You alone knows what’s best for us.
NOTE: All Scriptural references in this article are from The Message (MSG) Bible
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
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Well pictured comparison, well done.
Thanks!