Kelsey Carani is finishing up her second year teaching second grade. Carani did a novice teacher stint at Timothy Christian with current fourth-grade teacher Erin Brighty and then returned to do her student-teaching — again in Brighty’s class.

“It’s a testimony of faith how God led me to Timothy Christian — it’s pretty awesome,” she says. “God made it clear and led me here. God’s plans are greater in that way.”

And Carani couldn’t be happier with how things have panned out.

“When I student-taught here, I fell in love with Timothy,” she says. “I felt passionate about being part of an authentic, Christ-centered community. When I was student-teaching at Timothy, it became clear where God was leading me. I love how Timothy meets each student where they are, and I appreciate the community and how supportive everybody is of each other. I also love being able to talk to the students about Jesus and how he loves us, and integrating that into every part of the lessons and the day.”

Carani notes she has two main passions that shine through in her classroom on a daily basis, starting with words of Psalm 139:14, which reads, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

“I want the students in my classroom to know that we are wonderfully made by God and that we are loved by God,” Carani explains. “We talk about how we can treat ourselves and others like we are wonderfully created by God.”

“I want to connect the Fruit of the Spirit to their whole lives.”

Carani’s second key passion revolves around a behavior management plan of sorts.

“We focus on the Fruit of the Spirit,” she says. “It’s a way to develop positive reinforcement and affirmation.”

To that point, Carani’s class has a Fruit of the Spirit color chain. When a student is seen doing something positive related to the Fruit of the Spirit, a colored chain is added. When the chain reaches the floor, the class receives a reward.

“It helps the students develop as lovers and disciples of Christ,” says Carani, an avid reader and lover of dogs to the extent her classroom has a “dog picture of the day” that is shown.

“They develop mature thinking around this,” Carani continues.  “An example would be loving a classmate at recess or seeing a student do a random act of love and kindness. Another example would be patiently waiting your turn when you want something that you can’t have right away. This can extend beyond the classroom. For instance, being patient while mom is busy and on the phone. That’s engaging in the Fruit of the Spirit outside the classroom. I want to connect the Fruit of the Spirit to their whole lives.”

Being able to instill those important Christ-centered lessons has been particularly rewarding for Carani.

“I love how my students are passionate about learning and growing,” she says. “Their childlike faith brings so much joy to my day. I am driven to show them the Fruit of the Spirit and I am driven to show them we are all wonderfully made by God. I love seeing their sweet spirit live in all aspects of the classroom with that childlike faith, but also through their deep reflections. I appreciate the joy and energy these young students bring to the classroom.”