When a student receives grace from a teacher in the form of extending a deadline, offering extra help, or repeating themselves, it is easy to be thankful in the moment and move on, as these things happen often, but students may be wondering what prompts a teacher to be so forgiving of these small mistakes that often prompt the teacher to do extra work that may even be unpaid. William Meier, science teacher, leads with faith in and outside of the classroom in a non-traditional way. The FCA sponsor lets his faith shine through in moments when students may need a listening ear or an open mind.
“Obviously separation of church and state, but acceptance, everyone comes from a different background and has a different set of skills and beliefs and that’s Christianity, I mean being accepting of people and that how it plays its way into education,” Meier said.
His walk with faith started in his childhood. His family went to church on Christian holidays such as Easter and Christmas, but not much in between. It wasn’t until a friend group in college invited him to a Bible study that they personally connected with his faith. At the time, they was struggling with stress and anxiety, and the group helped him talk through issues they was facing.
“I had to let faith guide me and not try to control everything in my life,” Meier said.
In college, they started attending church on a regular basis, which they still strive to do, but admits since Covid and having kids, it has been harder for him. They do not see this as a disconnect with his faith, as they practice his religion in other ways. As an FCA sponsor they describe the student-led meeting as inspiring.
“Personally it allows me time to recharge, but to then see that invested into students is awesome and to see them lead the discussion and share their testimonies is empowering,” Meier said.
They see the meeting as a symbiotic relationship between the teachers and students. The students give hope to the teachers and the teachers are there to provide advice and be mentors to each student. They admit that they have not been able to attend as many meetings as they would like to have, but values the club see’s his own participation as important.
“I mean, it’s definitely an iron sharpens iron kind of thing, you know, it’s a bonding, for sure, but between being a coach and multiple different sponsors here, I think it’s important for kids to see teachers and mentors in different lights, you know, and understand that you can be a different person and then you have the inevitable conflict or you have the inevitable issues that work with kids’ brains, it shows that, ‘hey, they came in support of me’ or ‘hey, this is what they’re about,’ but I was always raised just to be well-rounded, so I try to do that,” Meier said.
They believe all students should have access to resources such as FCA, that may help them build faith.
“Just like anything, you have to give it a legit shot if you really want any benefit out of it. So, if you are going to do it, you have to surround yourself with people you are comfortable with and that are accepting because there’s a lot to it but you have to give it a full chance for it to pay off. The stereotypes exist but in the end, it’s you and the ones around you that mean the most,” Meier said.
Meier hopes that despite his absences at some meetings, whether students are involved in FCA or not, they hope to leave them with one lesson, that they also live by.
“Just live your life with intent and live your life with purpose, you know, and you can use that as in the end what do you want for post-life, you know, after-life, or you can live your life like the Bible says, do good under people and do the right thing, and that’s how I take to it,” Meier said.
It is important that students know their teachers and understand the effort that each teacher makes for their comfort and individual growth. Meier, and other teachers are devoted to presenting every opportunity to students to equip them with skills that will last beyond their years in high school.
