Editor’s Note: This week we welcome Rev. Laura Edgar as our guest. Laura helps us think about back-to-school season for youth and college students. She serves as Support Minister for Three Minute Ministry Mentor. Additionally, she is Coordinator of Chapel and Prayers for BSK Theological Seminary and Editor for d365, the online daily devotional of Passport, Inc. She is a graduate of BSK Theological Seminary.
Back to School for Youth and College Students
Back-to-school season is upon us! Students of all ages approach this season with a whole range of emotions and perspectives. For some, it’s exciting to start a new year, reunite with friends, and anticipate all that lies ahead. For others, it can feel scary or heavy to return to school. Maybe last year was tough. Maybe the summer didn’t go as planned. Maybe they’re starting somewhere new, and meeting people and finding their place feels daunting. There are countless reasons students may feel excited or overwhelmed, hopeful or discouraged, inspired or anxious. As a former youth and college minister, I encourage you to make space for students and all the emotions they bring to this season.
How Can You Create Spaces of Welcome and Community for Students to Start the Year?
Be ready to listen, adapt, and pay attention to the needs of students and families. For youth, consider a back-to-school retreat or gathering. We had a tradition of a one-day retreat the weekend after school started. Students gathered mid-morning (because no one wants to get up early on the weekend once school is back in session!), and spent the day together playing games, sharing devotion and discussion times, and eating together.
Later, we added a community service project to the day’s activities. This helped students work together and shift perspective. While going back to school is important and is often the biggest thing on students’ minds, serving others in the community helped our students step back and see the needs of others. There is so much pressure to have the coolest clothes, shoes, etc. and to make the perfect back-to-school impression. Serving the community helped my students put aside that pressure and expanded their view of the world.
In any back-to-school event or activity, the priority is getting the group together, building relationships, welcoming new students, and setting the tone for the year. That can be as big as a having a theme for the year and planning elaborate activities around it or as simple as sharing some meals, conversations, and fun. Remember, it’s important to help new students learn the traditions of the group so they feel welcome and safe in a new environment.
Building Community with College Students
For college students, building community is crucial. Of course, there are a ton of ways to do this! For example, we had a welcome lunch after church on the first Sunday of the semester. It was just for students, church staff, and College Committee members. The main goal was for students to get to know each other. If they found people they wanted to connect with, if they got the sense that “these are my people,” they would want to get involved.
We had a Lake Day early in the semester where students could have fun playing at the lake all day. We did a night scavenger hunt on campus and ended back at church with an ice cream sundae bar. Of course, it doesn’t matter so much what the event is, as long as it provides space for relationships to form, students to build community with each other, to talk, laugh, and feel safe and welcome.
Resources for Students and Families
Back-to-school is a good time to provide resources for students and families. My students love the online daily devotions Passport, Inc. offers at www.d365.org. Each devotion includes a “Question to Ponder” that individuals may use for reflection or families for discussion. Passport has several helpful options for families, including liturgy for blessing of the backpacks.
If your church isn’t up for doing a blessing of the backpacks with the whole congregation, then consider doing a service during your normal youth or college group time. Invite students to bring their backpacks, and have students help lead the service. They might lead a responsive reading. You might have an older student share a story from their experience of starting a new school year – advice they would offer or encouragement for younger students. Students might share a time of praying for each other aloud or silently. The possibilities are endless!
With both youth and college students, offering a mental health check-in is helpful. I provided a form where they could check where they were on a spectrum of mental health, from “Great” to “I’m in a dark place.” Some of my students eagerly anticipated the time in our gathering when they could fill out the form. Following up with them always opened the door for deeper conversation and helped them feel seen and validated.
Setting the Tone
The new school year can be an exciting time full of possibilities. So use this time to set the tone for the year, helping students know that there is space for all of who they are. Follow up when students visit for the first time so they know they are seen, welcomed, and valued. Be ready to listen, adapt, and care for the needs of students and families as you navigate a new year together.
