08/10/2026
WE ARE PARTNERS STANDING ON THE SAME SIDE OF OUR CHILDREN
A Prayer for the Taylor County School District and Our Community
Tomorrow begins a new school year in Taylor County.
Buses will begin traveling our roads. Classroom doors will open. Teachers will welcome students. Coaches will prepare teams. Cafeterias will begin serving meals. Custodians will make sure buildings are ready. Nurses and counselors will care for students. School resource deputies will help protect our campuses. Principals and assistant principals will lead their schools, while our superintendent, administrative team, and school board carry the responsibility of leading our district.
And most importantly, thousands of our beautiful young people—our future world changers—will walk through those doors ready to begin another year of learning, growing, discovering, developing, and becoming.
As a pastor, parent, and member of this community, my heart today is simply to pray.
We know there are challenges.
We know there are financial realities facing families and our school district. We know there are decisions and policies about which good people may have different perspectives. There have been frustrations, questions, and concerns as we approach this school year.
Those conversations matter, and they should continue with respect, wisdom, and a willingness to listen to one another.
But our disagreements do not have to become division.
We can agree to disagree and still walk in unity.
Because underneath our different perspectives is something I believe the overwhelming majority of us share:
We love our children.
We want them safe.
We want them learning.
We want them developing.
And we want them prepared for the future God has placed before them.
So before another school year begins, I want to pray for all of us.
A PRAYER FOR TAYLOR COUNTY SCHOOLS
Father,
Thank You for the gift of another school year.
Thank You for every child who will walk through the doors of our schools tomorrow. Thank You for their lives, their personalities, their potential, their dreams, their gifts, and even the gifts they have not discovered yet.
We place our children before You today.
Protect them.
Guide them.
Give them minds ready to learn, hearts willing to grow, and courage to try again when learning becomes difficult.
Help them develop academically, socially, emotionally, and relationally.
Give them healthy friendships.
Teach them to respect one another, encourage one another, and recognize the value in someone who may look, think, learn, or come from circumstances different from their own.
Let our classrooms be places where curiosity is awakened, gifts are discovered, confidence is developed, and children are challenged to become more than they presently believe they can become.
Father, we pray for our teachers.
For the teacher beginning their very first year and for the teacher who has faithfully served children for decades, give them fresh strength.
Give them patience.
Give them creativity.
Give them wisdom to recognize that every child does not learn the same way.
When they are tired, renew them.
When they are frustrated, steady them.
When they wonder whether they are making a difference, remind them that some of the greatest seeds they plant may not produce visible fruit until years from now.
Bless our superintendent and administrative team.
Bless every member of our school board.
Give them wisdom to make difficult decisions, humility to listen, courage to lead, and compassion to remember the families and employees affected by the decisions they make.
Bless our principals and assistant principals.
Give them wisdom to lead people, not merely manage buildings.
Strengthen our counselors, paraprofessionals, administrative assistants, and support personnel who often see needs that others may never notice.
Bless our school nurses as they care for children who become sick, frightened, or injured.
Bless our cafeteria workers who make sure children are fed.
Bless our custodians and maintenance personnel whose work makes learning environments possible.
Bless our bus drivers.
As they travel highways, neighborhoods, country roads, and communities throughout Taylor County, protect them and every child entrusted to their care.
Bless our coaches and athletic staff.
May they understand that while they are developing athletes, they are also helping develop young men and women. Give them wisdom to teach discipline, perseverance, teamwork, humility, accountability, and character that will remain long after the final game has been played.
Bless our sheriff’s deputies, school resource officers, and everyone entrusted with protecting our campuses.
Give them discernment, alertness, wisdom, compassion, and protection.
And Father, bless our parents, grandparents, guardians, and families.
Many are carrying burdens others cannot see.
Some are stretching every dollar.
Some are working multiple jobs.
Some are raising children while caring for aging parents.
Some are sending a child to school for the first time, while others are preparing emotionally for a senior’s final first day of school.
Give our families strength.
And help parents and educators remember that we need one another.
When concerns arise, help us communicate before we condemn.
Help us listen before we assume.
Help us extend grace while still expecting accountability.
Teach us how to disagree without dishonoring one another.
Because our children are watching us.
They are learning from more than what we say.
They are watching how adults handle disagreement. They are watching how we speak about their teachers, their parents, their leaders, and one another.
Let them see something worth imitating.
Let them see adults who can disagree and still respect one another.
Let them see parents supporting teachers and teachers partnering with parents.
Let them see leaders willing to listen.
Let them see a community that refuses to allow differences to become division.
Let them see Taylor County come together around them.
Father, we recognize that our schools are facing real challenges and limited resources. Give those entrusted with those resources wisdom to steward them well.
Where families are struggling, provide.
Where teachers need resources, make a way.
Where children are falling behind, help us recognize it early.
Where students are hurting silently, place someone in their path who notices.
Where relationships have been strained, bring understanding.
Where communication has been inadequate, help us communicate better.
Where mistakes are made, give us humility to acknowledge them and wisdom to correct them.
And through it all, keep bringing our attention back to what matters most:
our children.
These classrooms are preparing more than students to pass tests.
They are preparing people for life.
Some of these children will become teachers.
Some will become nurses and physicians.
Some will become electricians, mechanics, welders, engineers, technicians, and skilled tradespeople.
Some will become entrepreneurs and business owners.
Some will become law enforcement officers and first responders.
Some will become coaches, counselors, pastors, public servants, mothers, fathers, and community leaders.
And some may leave Taylor County to pursue opportunities elsewhere, while others will return and help build the future of the community that helped build them.
Whatever their paths may be, help us prepare them well.
Father, give Taylor County a successful school year—not merely measured by numbers, rankings, trophies, or test scores, but by children who have learned, grown, matured, discovered their gifts, developed meaningful relationships, and become better prepared for the life ahead of them.
We entrust this school year to You.
Protect our children.
Strengthen our educators.
Guide our leaders.
Encourage our families.
Watch over our campuses.
Protect every bus traveling our roads.
And help this community remember that while we may occupy different positions and carry different responsibilities, we are partners standing on the same side of our children.
May God bless every student.
May God bless every family.
May God bless every educator and every person serving the Taylor County School District.
And may God bless Taylor County with greater unity, compassion, wisdom, care, and love for one another.
With love and care,
In the name of Jesus Christ,
Amen.
Pastor Kelvin R. Ellis
Kingdom Culture Church
