I’m a hopeful kind of guy. It generally takes a lot to get me down. I think it’s partly how I was raised and partly my disposition. I like to see the good in situations and in people whenever and wherever I can.

I think you can agree that 2020 wasn’t so great. There was disease, economic destruction, and a fair bit of general conflict and mayhem. The year ended in a state of collective exhaustion and, for many, even despair.

Maybe years from now, it will seem like a really bad dream.

As a result, I’ve found myself clinging more and more to aspects of my life that are stable and solid. My position here at SCS is one of them. Working in the international department, I get to be part of the journey that students from other countries take as they navigate their way through a new culture and become part of a new community. With the added layer of chaos that Covid has brought, it makes me appreciate even more the ways in which our school can be a stable and calming presence for our students.

As a father of two Grade 9 boys at SCS, I’m also grateful for our school’s stabilizing presence in their lives and in the life of my family. They continue to be nourished, challenged, and empowered to think about their place in God’s world; they continue to be educated for wholeness in the servant way of Jesus.

As you journey through this hopefully less tumultuous year, my prayer for you (and all of us) is that we continue to work diligently to build a holistic and grace-filled place of learning for our students. I also pray that we remain grateful for this school and the ways in which it fulfills its mission.

It has been good to turn the calendar page to 2021 and to be hopeful for a year of healing and growth in our world, on many different levels. I choose to cling to this hope and to give thanks for being part of Surrey Christian, as it simultaneously navigates a pandemic and continues its critical mission of educating for wholeness.

Tim Antonides