Jabneh Christian Academy

– Without Wax

 

According to Wikipedia, Pottery is made by forming a clay body into objects of a required shape and heating them to high temperatures in a kiln which removes all the water from the clay, which induces reactions that lead to permanent changes including increasing their strength and hardening and setting their shape. A clay body can be decorated before or after firing. Prior to some shaping processes, clay must be prepared. Kneading helps to ensure an even moisture content throughout the body. Air trapped within the clay body needs to be removed. This is called de-airing and can be accomplished by a machine called a vacuum pug or manually by wedging. Wedging can also help produce an even moisture content. Once a clay body has been kneaded and de-aired or wedged, it is shaped by a variety of techniques. After shaping it is dried and then fired.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pottery

Having read the above information, I certainly see how God has fashioned Jabneh Christian Academy to be the potter’s workshop.   Our registrants come to us from all over- locally and internationally, and require varying degrees of care and processing.  As we register each clay body, each parent’s expectation is to have the most beautiful pottery at the end of the process.  This is also our desire.  For clay to become pottery, it must undergo the required steps of processing.

“ Pottery is made by forming a clay body into objects of a required shape and heating them to high temperatures in a kiln which removes all the water from the clay, which induces reactions that lead to permanent changes including increasing their strength and hardening and setting their shape.”   This is exactly what happens when an individual is enrolled at Jabneh Christian Academy.    To obtain the required shape the clay must be  heated at high temperatures using the most suitable tool to remove all the distractions; false expectations; false sense of self; pessimism; resistance to a structured learning culture; unhealthy eating habits; communication skills; indiscipline and poor manners which greatly impacts the quality of the pottery.

It becomes challenging to achieve the objectives when stakeholders – parents in this case, is only concerned about the ultimate placement of an icon in at the secondary level.  For us here at Jabneh, integrity means more that exam results.  Every child is a unique individual created purposefully by God to function in meaningful ways in the earth regardless of how the child was conceived.  Along the way an individual may pick up contaminants which will destroy their destiny if not properly dealt with.

  The education system like the world of pottery, has its share of unethical craftsmen.

  Proverbs 11:3 (ESV) The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.

 

During biblical times, people relied heavily on clay products to carry out their daily activities.  It’s a no brainer to think that such products were in high demand. The Kiln was not yet invented, therefore, it took time to for a potter to shape and fire the clay using handmade kiln.  The heat received from the wood-fire furnace was uneven resulting in cracks showing up during the cooling process.  A true, ethical craftsman would shatter this piece with it blemish and start over again.  The unscrupulous and unethical craftsmen would use wax to fill in the cracks then paint over the vessel.  This vessel looks beautiful just like any other.  It survives a few uses but will give way when something hot is placed in it.  The wax would melt and expose the cracks.  This is what happens when we see cracks in our children but are too embarrassed, too selfish, too busy, too misguided, too gullible, too covetous, too interested in grade A talents rather than grade A character, too caught up with traditional schools rather than the type of person you are engineering, etc.  to stop and where necessary to start over.  I want every parent to come to terms with the truth that your child is a special person.

Garnished and decorated broken pottery/ vessels may survive the first term of high school, but find it difficult to wade the waters thereafter.  We blame the new teachers and the new school, and just about all we can find to blame when the issues surface. Let us get a hold of ourselves.

In pottery making, heating … “removes all the water from the clay, which induces reactions that lead to permanent changes including increasing their strength and hardening and setting their shape.”   This can be quite a challenging time for parents, students and even administration.  All must know the end.  All must want the end result.  It is often sad to see the tremendous progress icons are making as they undergo the processing to be that excellent pottery and the parents demands that they be removed from the fire or though they have cracks, they would prefer that they be painted and placed among those who are ready for rigorous use.  This manifests itself in many ways- the most drastic is to remove the icons  from the institution/the kiln for reasons parents often can’t communicate.  If all you are interested in parents is the school your children will be placed at regardless of their moral and spiritual strength, you need some amount of help and to be honest with you, Jabneh will not suit you well.  If you have already enrolled your child into this institution and know deep down that you are not interested in our method and process and firm beliefs, come in and see us.  Your full corporation is pivot to your child’s success.  Our rules and guidelines help to build our kiln.  You and your icons are expected to yield steadfastly to every one of our rules and guidelines.

We believe that prior the shaping the clay has to be prepared.  We ask each parent to be active in this process.  Read the hand book with your icon; teach your icon the R.E.A.C.H. policy; read then their school contract; teach your child the value of prayer, teach them to pray; include the Bible as one of the important reading texts; have frequent talks about the reason they are enrolled at Jabneh Christian Academy; get them the required tools; teach then to care for their tools etc.

 

Please understand that our commitment to you is that we will not use wax.  We are prepared to break the container and start over.  We will seek to improve all the areas revealed to us that are in need of care.  Our integrity means more to us than our than 100% enrolment.

To us wax represents:

• The use of past papers to prepare our icons,
• Teaching them that excellence is the same as high scores in academic regardless of any scores in character,
• Ignoring behavioural challenges,
• Enabling unwanted behaviours,
• Highlighting student because of who the parents are,
• Promoting students to grade levels they are not ready for,
• Producing report cards that does not provide a true description of students performance to maintain our numbers ,
• Allowing our icons to destroy themselves with the foods they choose to eat that we believe weakens the accomplishment of our goals.