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Nestled on a hill overlooking south Anchorage, Alaska, Anchor Lutheran School has educated young children since the school's founding in 1979.
Currently teaching students in kindergarten through eighth grade, Anchor Lutheran is also home to a vibrant preschool program dedicated to taking care of and ministering to children before they ever step foot in a kindergarten classroom.
"100 percent of what we do here is ministry", said Grace Morrill, Preschool, Before and After School Care director. "We want all the kids that come to our program to know that they're loved by God and we want to show our love for God through working with them on projects and through playing with them."
Though many might assume most or even all kids who attend a Christian school grow up hearing the Gospel of Christ, Anchor Lutheran may be the first and only place they hear the Good News. "You have a lot of kids who come from differend backgrounds," Morrill explained. "Not all of them are from Christian homes." "I think 80 percent are unchurched kids from the last time we did a survey. We want it to be an outreach no matter what we do, whether it's snack time or nap time. We are called to love as Jesus loves, and we want to show that to the kids." Morrill said the preschool has been in operation for more than 20 years. Beginning with two rooms, the program has expanded to four rooms in the past few years due to increased demand and the desire to keep children's group sizes small.
Every week is built around a theme with subjects such as multiculturalism, shapes, Dr. Seuss and farm animals. Every weekday starts at 9 a.m. with circle time where the children are introduced to the week's theme through a book, something to put their hands on or a game. After snack time and a project or activity, the children go outside for playtime or to the gymnasium if the weather is rainy or too cold. After lunch, children huddle up for Jesus Time Circle where they hear a Bible story and sing worship songs. The children nap until 3 p.m., when some of them are picked up by their parents. The remaining children participate in various activities.
Morrill quoted Proverbs 22:6 as the foundation for the Preschool program's guiding philosophy: Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. "Having that solid foundation when you're young, it's so easy to learn and trust it when you're a child," Morrill said. "You do remember those things as you get older and a lot of kids don't have that foundation. To have that as their starting point in learning is very important."
The director said Anchor Lutheran takes a holistic approach with their preschool children. "We like to say we're faith based, child centered, so everything is centered around the child and we want to give them a well-rounded experience whether it's walk in a line, be quiet, sit down and listen, to being able to use a pencil, paint and get dirty in the mud-lots of gross and fine motor skills." Morrill said.
The director said maintaining a vibrant Preschool program in Alaska can be challenging because long, cold winters can limit what children can do outside and because the cost of supplies and services in the remote state can be very expensive. Still, Morrill said preschoolers thrive through a well-planned curriculum which also includes interaction with older school-aged children. "Over the past two years, we have tried to integrate them as much as possible," she said of the older children. It's still a work in progress. Some of the things we do to help bring them together is they do Reading Buddies once a week which is when the sixth graders will come and read to the preschool kids." Morrill said Chapel Buddies mirrors the reading program, because preschoolers attend Chapel with their Reading Buddy. The Reading Buddies and Chapel Buddies programs are part of a larger effort to prepare preschool children for their academic career. "We work closely with our kindergarten classes," Morrill said. "Our kindergarten teacher lets us know what certain things they're looking for when kids are going into kindergarten, and one of the biggest things is social skills, and we definitely do a lot of that with 20 kids in the classroom. Morrill said she finds leading the program fulfilling because of the daily response from the children and their parents.
"The most rewarding part of the work is the love you get back from the kids and the families, because there's so much time you invest in them and you can never get paid enough for what you do," she said. "It's not about that when you're here, but seeing the difference that you can make in a child's life, especially if it's a child you know is struggling or a family is struggling with something, and you're able to pray for and with them and just love them. That's really the biggest thing that they need."
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LCMS National Children's Ministry Conference