Rooted in Christ: Year One of a new three-year cycle based on John 15

Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, Elk Island Catholic Schools is embarking on a new three-year cycle of division themes that are based on the Bible passage “I am the vine; you are the branches… bear much fruit, and become my disciples” (John 15:5, 8).

For this new school year, the theme based on that passage is Rooted in Christ. It serves as a reminder to each of us to rely on Christ as our foundation from which we grow and live in the world. 

Last spring, Student and Staff Formation Director Jody Seymour worked with Faith and Wellness Consultant Andrea Haston and a group of school chaplains to brainstorm and develop suggestions for this year’s faith theme. The administrative teams from our schools also reviewed those suggestions and offered insights and ideas of their own. 

The division rotates between themes of Mission, Community, and Evangelization over a three-year period, with each of these themes utilizing their own scripture. However, in their conversations with school chaplains and admin, Seymour and Haston heard a clear desire for a more unifying connection from one year’s theme to the next – so the idea of using the same scripture for each theme over a three-year period was born.

“There were a number of incredible ideas for themes for our new three-year cycle, and the idea of our faith growing and blossoming over time is such a beautiful symbol,” Seymour said. “Ultimately, it is scripture that binds us to Christ, and so we decided to keep the same scripture for the next three years. I am excited to see how our schools will use their own creative ways to express and demonstrate this for students and staff.” 

The themes for each of the next three school years are:

• 2024-2025: Rooted in Christ
• 2025-2026: Growing Together in Christ’s Love
• 2026-2027: Christ the Vine, We the Branches: Sharing His Message

“After three years our EICS staff, students, and families will have multiple opportunities to nurture their own relationship with Christ. That is the roots,” Seymour explained. “Over a three-year period, we will see that relationship blossom into service for others and the creation of disciples in our schools.”

With the theme selected, a callout was made to staff and students before the end of the last school year to submit for consideration artwork that they felt best represented each year’s theme.

“We were blessed to receive so many shining examples of our three themes, and the choice to select just one for each year was incredibly challenging,” Seymour recalled. “God has truly blessed many across our division with the gift of creating art, and I remain grateful to everyone who took the time to share their gift.” 

The selected artwork for Rooted in Christ, which depicts an image of playing children connected to Jesus by roots, was designed by Elizabeth, a Grade 9 student at Archbishop Jordan Catholic High School.

“I wanted to highlight roots spread out deeply into the ground. Then I built on that by adding people on the roots, all of them connected to the roots in some way, an interconnected community united in Christ, yet not yet sprouted,” Elizabeth said. “In the place of a plant, I put the figures of children, and above them Jesus, as everyone is rooted in Him.”

She added: “My interpretation of the scripture passage was that Jesus is at the centre, being the vine, and us being connected to him, have to grow and bear fruit in our actions, to not only grow ourselves but our community.”

Elizabeth also created the design that was selected for last year’s division theme. 

“After creating the art that was chosen to represent last year’s theme (Go Light Our World), Elizabeth has designed yet another stunning illustration for our division,” Seymour said. “I don’t know if she intends to pursue graphic design as a career, but she certainly has a knack for it.”

Elizabeth said it was a challenge for her to find the time to work on her designs, “but once I got into the feel of things, and had a clear view of what I wanted to accomplish, things flowed much more smoothly…. When I found out my artwork had gotten selected again, I was overjoyed, I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that my artwork would be used for the next three years! I didn't fully process how long that would be while making the posters, but when I found out I had been selected, it was beginning to sink in.”

Holy Spirit Catholic School music teacher Nellie Kimball-Blanchard wrote the theme song for Rooted in Christ, working with students to finalize the song. She began the three-week process of writing the song, called “Kingdom of God”, on June 1, and presented it to her students for their input before summer break.

“As soon as I have a few lyrics and a melody chosen, I always present it to my students to see if they like it and if it sounds good in their voices,” Kimball-Blanchard explained. “Their feedback is always important and at the forefront of my composing process. What I begin with as a melody and lyrics certainly evolves over time and finally I settle on how I want the verses and chorus of the song to sound and how they complement one another.”

When writing the song, she kept in mind that Rooted in Christ is the first year of a three-year cycle: “I absolutely love that we have a three-year theme that is based on John 15, and that the theme grows and builds from a rooted relationship with Christ to branching out and sharing our faith through service to others. So, as I was thinking and writing, I kept close the ideas of Mission and Community, as well as Evangelization. As we grow in our lives, we too grow in our faith.”

The song made its debut along with Elizabeth’s art during the Staff Opening Day on Wednesday, Aug. 28. 

“Each year Nellie pours her heart and soul into each lyric and note for our theme song, and this year is no different,” Seymour said. “It was a powerful moment watching her play it live and hearing our staff sing it.”