To serve God is Tom Huntress' whole purpose in life. He came to that realization as a teen. "I can go back to my youth and tell exactly when, and who it was, who directed me into wanting to work for God," Tom reflects with fondness.

Tom's mother was a first generation Adventist, and she gave him a lot of encouragement. She provided an opportunity for Tom to go to an Adventist school when he was in eighth grade. That had a profound influence. His youth leaders, and what he describes as a really neat pastor, made a relationship with Jesus and the vocation of working for God sound appealing. They portrayed the life of service to God as anything but boring. Tom saw it as a life of adventure filled with new challenges around every corner.

"I think if I had not had those influences, my life would have been very different. I would say that is probably the most important or pivotal experience."

But the course of Tom's life did not go the direction he thought it would. "I remember [at an Adventist school one year] we all sat in a circle [and] told the teacher what our dreams were. And I tell you my dream was not to be a teacher. I was going to be a doctor."

Tom registered as a business major in college. While there, he had opportunities to serve as a substitute teacher and work at an academy one year as a task force worker. With those experiences, he pursued education as a secondary interest. But then, he got a job offer that put him in the classroom in the middle of the year.

"That sealed the deal for me," he recalls. "I got to work with middle school students who, despite everyone's belief, are the greatest kids in the world.

"There is one word that can help you be equipped to deal with almost anything the day's going to bring, and that's 'respect.' Often, we see the middle school kids as a challenge. We build our defenses and we're ready ... we're going to go to war. We'll carry our battle standards, and we forget that all good relationships start with that respect.

"It doesn't matter what a kid brings into my classroom, respect is a need that they have. You approach that need [and] a lot of things will fall into place. They could be having a troubled home life, they could be fighting with Mom and Dad. But if you approach [them] with respect, then you can start to see the strain melt. If you show respect, nine times out of ten you're going to have success, and you're going to meet their needs."

Tom's teaching career took a significant turn while student teaching at a public school, "I remember ... the teacher I was with was well known and well respected, and she pulled me aside after the first couple of days and said, 'You're doing things wrong. I notice that in the morning, you walk around the desks and talk to the kids. Don't do that. That's not what we do here. You get up. You do your lesson, and you have to be aloof. Don't make connections.'

"I didn't take her advice. I can't do that. I want to make connections. I want to affect these lives. If not, why would I want to do this for 17 years?"

Tom's teaching goes way beyond the subject—way beyond the classroom. He's teaching the whole child in the context of society and church. The bell rings, and school's over, but Tom's job isn't over.

Service outside the classroom is a main objective for Tom. "You would think that middle school kids would shy away from responsibilities at the church. My biggest problem is getting them to share responsibilities, because they all want to do it; they all want to lead in the service.

"Service for God—that's why we're here. What separates us from public school? Our school motto, our mission statement, is 'Preparing Leaders,' and that's exactly what we do. That is a personal mission for me. If I can get them in church, if I can get them at this age involved in children's ministry, leading song service, giving a sermon, they're going to stay with the church. They're going to continue that desire for service to God. We often just shy away from that: 'Oh, no, they're kids, they won't want to do it.' We'll let our adults take over. Man, no! I'd love to see it if we got more kids as junior officers, because they add an incredible element. Anything I can do to get them working for the church, I think they make that connection and stay in the church longer. Now they see a reason for it. It's not just entertainment where they're going to hear a sermon; they're part of it."

It's that kind of commitment that provides opportunities to influence students to be better persons—persons who have skills to serve God, to have discernment, to know what's right and wrong. "People in the real world want somebody more than just a person who knows their math. They want a person who has integrity, who has values, who knows how to react in social situations, who's not going to complain but can bring out the positive in a team. Even non-Christian entities are looking for that."

Part of Tom's teaching style is debriefing over actions and events. He believes that making mistakes and making bad decisions is all a part of learning. Learning this way gives opportunity to develop critical thinking rather than being mere reflectors of others' ideas. Kids take more responsibility.

"Today we had a spat, and kids got angry at each other. We had to sit down and [I asked them], 'Okay, did you get what you wanted? Is that really how you want to be remembered? If you had a chance to do that a different way, how would you do it? How would you really want to be recognized for handling this problem?'"

Tom knows his modeling is working when a parent comments, "You know, something weird happened last night. My daughter didn't fight with me when I asked her to study. What's going on?"

"The kids don't see it happening," Tom observes, "but Mom and Dad, they start to catch on after awhile."

When asked how he came to be this way, Tom was quick to reply, "God. He changed me. That's the only reasonable [explanation]—His inner working. I can't do this on my own. I didn't learn this approach. People I grew up with had the approach of disrespect and demanding [attitudes]. That wasn't working, so I think God led me to a different way. I think He gave me discernment.

"My prayer every morning when we get together at the beginning of the day is, 'Help something to happen today, Lord, that will affect us and bring us a better understanding of you—a better relationship.'"

Gary Burns is the communication director of the Lake Union Conference.

Tom Huntress teaches grades six to eight at Door Prairie Adventist School in La Porte, Indiana.

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