The Wooster Teacher Learner Blog

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A Sacred Space

What do we consider sacred?

There are holy places like the altar in a place of worship. There are places of memorial like ground zero in downtown Manhattan. There are hallowed places like the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field. But, what about the empowering places like the classroom?

As I begin my third year at Wooster, I was very excited to be given the opportunity to move into the classroom to teach a section of Senior Seminar. I love being the Chaplain at Wooster, working with students to organize and plan chapel every week, but being in the classroom is different. The classroom offers a level of intimacy with the students that the chapel can’t capture.

I was excited to be able to create a deeper relationship with this class. But, mainly, I was excited to learn from these young people who are on the precipice of a major life transition - graduating from High School.

Over the summer I had the privilege of attending the memorial service of my much beloved theology professor. Out of all the beautiful things said, one stuck with me, “He viewed his class as a sacred space.” As I began designing my class and thinking about the journey I wanted all of us to take, these words came back to me.

Stepping into the classroom these words became real.

In my section of Senior Seminar I am asking our seniors to take a deep dive into an understanding of themselves. I am posing simple but not easy questions like who am I, who are we, who or what is God, and how are these questions all interrelated? In order to fully answer these questions we must have the bravery to do some deep introspection and reflection.

I have been humbled to discover that the seniors are taking these questions seriously. Though in class I might be met with quizzical stares, I have discovered that these questions are hitting home. Every week, through written reflections, I have been given the precious gift of students offering deep insights into their own understanding of life and who they are.

To me, that makes the classroom a sacred space and I am grateful for it. And going deeper myself.

~ Rev. Stephen Tickner
Wooster School Chaplain and Senior Seminar Teacher