Horizon Christian Stories

At Horizon Christian School the core values of our HAWKS7 are essential to how we educate, inspire, and challenge our students.  These include Jesus, People, Authenticity, Balance, Generosity, Serving, and Home. Continue reading to see how one of our new teachers, Mrs. Tressa Foster, used a Valentine’s Day card experience to both teach and demonstrate to her 2nd graders the joy of serving, caring for, being generous, and loving on people. We so appreciate her heart in leading this project and the response of these young Hawks in her class.

HCS: Mrs. Foster, you are new to Horizon Christian this year so please tell us a little about yourself.
Mrs. Foster: My husband and I moved to Oregon a few years ago from Illinois. We have two daughters. Our youngest is in 5th grade at Horizon Christian and our oldest is in 9th grade at Sherwood High School. Some of my hobbies include spending time in nature, painting, and reading. After spending many years in early childhood education with toddlers and preschoolers, I decided to return to school to earn my bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from George Fox University. This is my first year teaching at HCS, and I chose to become part of this school because I wanted to teach the whole child--emotionally, academically, and spiritually--in an environment that is led by Christian beliefs and values.

HCS: Describe the challenge that Principal Judi Smith created around Valentine's Day.
Mrs. Foster: The service project challenge was to show goodness and serve others by crafting sweet homemade Valentines for seniors in assisted living and healthcare workers. The class that created the most Valentines would receive a class party. The Valentines created by the 2nd grade classes would be distributed to the seniors at the Marquis in Wilsonville.

HCS: Tell us how you discussed the challenge with your class and inspired them to participate.
Mrs. Foster: I introduced the service project to the students with the book Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch, which tells the story of an older gentleman who lives a joyless, uninteresting life all alone. He is surprised by an anonymous Valentine that arrives at his door that reads, “Somebody loves you.” Just the thought of someone taking an interest in him and showing kindness and love completely changes the way he lives his life and treats others. I used this story to inspire the students to think about how the person who receives their Valentine will feel when they open it. Will they feel cared about and loved? That would be our intention when crafting these homemade Valentines for the seniors living at Marquis.

HCS: How did you use this opportunity to help your students embrace the values of our HAWKS7?
Mrs. Foster: Following our Fruit of the Spirit theme for January, which was Kindness, I wanted to demonstrate that kindness is meant to be shown to others throughout the entire year. By setting this example, students would be able to understand the ripple effect of showing love and kindness to people they do not even know and the lasting impact you can have. Through storytelling and sharing my own experiences, I helped my students visualize the reward they would receive in their hearts when sharing love with others.

HCS: Mrs. Smith said that for your class, it did not matter to them if they won the prize as much as it stirred up lots of emotion and passion within the class and students. Could you describe this a little more?
Mrs. Foster: I was intentional about replacing the competitive part of the project with a focus on the service part. We are doing this for others, not ourselves. I wanted to teach my students that celebrating a win would be fun, but the feeling of making someone else happy stays with you much longer than that. I had them imagine someone like Mr. Hatch opening a Valentine they made with their own artistic talents and kind words and knowing that they made a positive difference in that person’s day. As students brought in their bags of homemade Valentines, we took time to show them to the class to value their time and efforts. I noticed many of them wrote the words “Somebody Loves You” on their cards instead of simply “Happy Valentine’s Day.” It was clear these kind-hearted children wanted to send a message of compassion to others, which filled my heart!

HCS: You must be very proud of your students as it sounds like they really embraced the project and learned so much! So, the big question is, did your class win???
Mrs. Foster: Yes, we won 1st place! Our plans are to celebrate by having a movie party with popcorn and hot chocolate.

HCS: Is there anything else you would like to share?
Mrs. Foster: I feel so blessed to be the teacher of this amazing group of children. They are kind, thoughtful, and filled with so much joy to share. God guides us in the direction where we are meant to be, and I love being a part of the Horizon Christian School community.

Congratulations Mrs. Foster and your wonderful 2nd grade class!! Thank you for the heart behind how you teach and inspire your students and the warm message you imprinted on their hearts through a simple card project. We can all relate to the story of “Mr. Hatch” and how serving, loving, and helping others can be so mutually impactful for all parties.