Please allow me to be clear– I am no green thumb gardener. However, recently I had the opportunity to develop my horticulture cultivation skills when the HOA president in my neighborhood noted that the bushes alongside my home were in a significant state of distress. That is a fancy way of saying my bushes were almost dead.
I did not realize that because I often leave early and come home after dark, but nevertheless, those dying bushes were my responsibility. On a drip system for the last four years, they stopped receiving water when a power outage (or power surge) three weeks prior had blown the fuse powering my sprinklers. Now, I suddenly had the task of cultivating these poor bushes back to life.
Either because of a great desire for beautiful landscaping, or because I didn’t want to fund the replacement of new bushes out of my own pocket, I suddenly became incredibly interested in watering protocols. I launched a dedicated schedule of watering each neglected flower, bush, and tree twice a day, standing with my watering hose in the pre-dawn hours and well after dusk. Daily I examined the foliage, leaf by leaf, looking for signs of life and restoration.
Over the course of three weeks, the transformation was astounding. What was wilted and dry became lush and verdant. What was bowed low to the ground became stretched to the sun. As I was giving attention to these plants, I began cultivating what I really wanted.
You see, through neglect and ignorance, I had regrettably cultivated death. Through intentional care and sustenance, I had joyfully cultivated life. The same is true for our children, for our students. In our homes and in our school, we are always, always cultivating, whether we intend to or not.
What we let in through our streaming devices, through our child’s social media access, through the books we read (or don’t), we are cultivating something. At Libertas Academy, we are rigorously dedicated to cultivating what is True, Good, and Beautiful. Through the careful attention to virtue training, to the reading of the Great Books, through discipleship discussions, and most importantly through a dedicated commitment to the Word of God, we are cultivating all that is good in our students.
I invite you to join us at home in this cultivation effort. You’ve deliberately chosen to send your child to Libertas because you want Truth, Goodness, and Beauty cultivated within them. Do the same at home, and with your church, and your child is certain to flourish in ways that are astounding.
Holly Kalton
Head of School, Libertas Academy