Most days, my Kindergarten students enjoy some outdoor free play following our P.E. class activities and exercises. A few weeks ago, this free play was taking place near Bragdon Wood, our mini forest on campus. My students had spread out across the area, which also happens to be near our sheep pen. Some climbed trees while other explored the fields in imaginative play. A few students visited our sheep, Lara and Luna, and I followed along.

Luna, our white sheep, came up and allowed us to rub her wool. Lara, being more spirited, began jumping and butting the pen with her head. Observing this, one of my students (who had been playing nearby with classmates) came softly to the pen. From a respectful distance, he watched Lara and began to quietly sing: "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want..."

I later learned that this young student had learned Psalm 23 as a song from his mother, who had taught it to him once as they visited the sheep pen together. How wonderful this bond is between parent and child, as they spend time with the sheep on our campus' spacious lawn, singing the ancient words of the psalmist and experiencing our Lord's presence and comfort together.

How wonderful, too, is the tender care demonstrated by a student to a frightened animal in this spontaneous moment of song. I am grateful that The Saint Constantine School cultivates both strong athletes and gentle lovers of sheep.