Isabelle Fortaleza-Tan, Newspaper Editor-in-chief

Every September, Frontline usually organizes a Spiritual Emphasis Week— a week where students participate in bonding activities like water fights and music video-making contests and observe chapels with an overarching theme. However, this year, on September 17th, Frontline and Praise Team held a Spiritual Emphasis Day.

Spiritual Emphasis Day consisted of indoor and outdoor games, homeroom reflective discussions, worship performances by Praise Team, and a message about God’s healing delivered by elementary school principal Mr. Broom. Throughout the day, lunch and snacks were generously provided for by the PTA.

Frontline was responsible for coming up with the activities and deciding on the overall theme. Whereas Praise Team was responsible for the worship and for assisting Frontline in managing the indoor and outdoor activities.

Upon the departure of former Frontline leader Mr. Baek, secondary music teacher Mrs. Lee has taken Frontline under her wing. In regard to leading both Frontline and Praise team this year, Mrs. Lee says, “I love it. I love spending time with students and student leaders who need help; who are not just here to lead the community, but are here to be helped as well.”

A common misconception about Spiritual Emphasis Day is that it happened in place of Spiritual Emphasis Week this year— however, this is not the case. 

Mrs. Lee says, “We used to have Spiritual Emphasis Week in September, where we would emphasize our beliefs as a Christian school. However, since we’re going to be having Spiritual Emphasis Week in March, we really wanted something to happen in September that would remind everyone of the values of our school”

While lasting only a couple of hours, Spiritual Emphasis Day aimed to have the same effects as Spiritual Emphasis Week. Daniel Jeon, one of the two Frontline student leaders, says, “Like with Spiritual Emphasis Week, Spiritual Emphasis Day was supposed to be a day when students could both spiritually grow and have fun. However, it also aimed to bring the school community together.”

He continues, “Spiritual Emphasis Day was a way for people from different grades and homerooms to intermingle and get to know each other, who otherwise wouldn’t get the chance. As it took place in September, Spiritual Emphasis Day intended to tighten our community bond and be a strong start to the school year.”

Despite its altered format, Spiritual Emphasis Day still seemed to be a great opportunity for students to have fun, unwind, and bond with each other.