Curiosity and Change

It is wonderful to have LCHS back in school this week.  With the arrival of August, the excitement began to build among staff and teachers for students to return.  As the doors opened and students rushed in, it felt right.  Only with a building full of young scholars can the expert educators on the LCHS faculty achieve their true purpose. 

And what is that purpose? In the Lyceum on the first day of school, School Captains Eden Soasey and Spiridon Tullius eloquently charged their fellow students to consider their education as more than the accumulation of knowledge.  They urged students to see it as an opportunity to grow as complete human beings with strong character.  This is a part of what they meant when they established Pro Permanentibus, "For What Lasts," as the official school motto for the year.  It is a fitting motto, raising our sights to the future impact of daily actions. 

As I spoke with students on the first day, I echoed the School Captains’ challenge and said one way to seek “what lasts” is to approach the school year with curiosity and wonder.  This attitude can and should apply not only to the content of the curriculum, but to students’ relationships with their peers.

For the curriculum, this means looking for what is true, good, beautiful, and perfect in each discipline.  An individual student will naturally prefer some subjects over others, but each class and each teacher provides opportunities for academic and personal growth.  There is so much in history, science, literature, and every other academic pursuit to appreciate and enjoy.  To consider just the 9th-grade curriculum,  these students will learn about the rise and fall of great civilizations and read literature charting and reflecting those transformations.  They will learn about biology, economics, mathematics, and a foreign language.  Many will pursue music or the visual arts.  It is a rich and fascinating curriculum and one worthy of students’ investment of time and effort. 

In their interactions with each other, an attitude of wonder and curiosity will help students approach peers from a wide variety of backgrounds, beliefs, parenting styles, political views, and living situations with the same genuine curiosity, kindness, and acceptance. 

We are a relatively small group in the high-school building this year with only about 350 students.  The students fit, barely, on only one side of the bleachers in the Colosseum.  This small size provides an opportunity for the student body to think of each other as one group and one school family.  I urge Liberty students to take the opportunity to welcome new classmates with care and kindness, and to appreciate their returning peers in new ways.  I cannot wait to see how these students reshape and improve the traditions and practices of Liberty Common High School as it assumes its new identity as a high-school-only campus.

The high-school staff looks forward to the coming year with great anticipation.  Much has been done over the summer to prepare the school for the 2025-2026 school year.  Mr. Brian Elshof, the Maintenance Coordinator, and his team have beautified and repaired LCHS.  Teachers have spent countless hours preparing lessons, making detailed course plans, and perfecting the craft of instruction through professional development.  Other staff members have revised documents, learned new procedures, purchased needed supplies, developed and improved plans, and hired team members.  These preparations have set the stage for a successful educational endeavor. 

Thank you for being partners with the school on this part of each student's educational journey.