A Year of Caring and Sharing

For the 2008-2009 school year, the students, parents and faculty of Good Shepherd Episcopal School are celebrating "A Year of Caring and Sharing" and would like to invite you to celebrate with us! This "celebration" marks the first year that our School has adopted a community –wide theme which will be woven through children's chapel services and classroom curriculum.

In connection with the "Caring and Sharing" theme, our children will be learning about what it means to be gracious givers and receivers, with emphasis on the many shapes and sizes that giving can take. Our children will also be taught the importance of sharing not only within our Good Shepherd community, but also with, as Mr. Rogers would say, "my neighbor."

The "Caring and Sharing" theme is not limited to student curriculum. Recognizing that a child's most influential teachers are the people they love the most, our Parent Education and Outreach initiatives will also be linked to this theme. This fall, our Parents Education and Outreach initiatives focused on one book and two special events. The first event was our Parent Book Club which read Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. This book describes the unbelievable true story of the friendship of a wealthy art dealer and a homeless man and the gifts that they and many others received as a result of their uncommon bond. The book discussion was led by the lively and inspired Reverend Canon Rhoda Montgomery of Christ Church Cathedral in Houston.

The week following the Book Club, the School hosted authors Ron Hall and Denver Moore in the Good Shepherd Community and invited the community at large. The event was truly moving for all who attended. As part of the our school's outreach, this unique event was a benefit for the Austin Children's Shelter (ACS). ACS touches the lives of hundreds of children in great need each year.  For more information about ACS, please visit www.austinchildrenshelter.org.

Our outreach mission continues with a food drive for Caritas and book and toys drives for the children of the Austin Children's Shelter.

Our caring and sharing continues...