Companion Guide for Module 2 Video:
Authorized Keeper and Aspirational Values
Please print this guide BEFORE you watch the next video in this module.
Video: Dr. Lisa Miller in Conversation with Jim McGuire (next page)
Theme: Aspirational Values and the Keeper of the Values
Welcome & Orientation
In this session, Dr. Lisa Miller speaks with Jim McGuire, Associate Head at Louisville Collegiate School, about two interconnected drivers of spiritually supportive schools: Aspirational Values and The Keeper of the Values.
Pause and Reflect:
What core values do you hope your students experience and embody in your school community?
Who or what currently “keeps” those values alive in your classroom or school?
How might your own values align with — or help shape — your school’s shared aspirations?
Pause and Reflect — 0:55 (When Jim describes the school’s vision for holistic health)
Summary:
At Louisville Collegiate School, the North Star is to be “the healthiest place for students to grow up.” That includes physical, emotional, social, and spiritual well-being — alongside academic and intellectual growth.
Pause and Reflect:
How does your school define student “health” (or well-being)?
In what ways is spiritual health present — or missing — in that definition?
What might it look like for your classroom to nurture students’ wholeness across all dimensions of well-being?
Pause and Reflect — 2:20 (After Jim shares his personal story about loss and community)
Summary:
Jim’s story of community support as a teenager during his father’s death reveals how schools can hold students through profound experiences of loss and love. He discovered that school is not only a place of learning, but a place of belonging and being.
Pause and Reflect:
What early experiences shaped your belief in the value of community?
When have you seen your school community show up for someone in need — student or adult?
How do (and how could) relationships in your school communicate belonging and care beyond academics?
Pause and Reflect — 4:27 (During discussion of resistance to spirituality language)
Summary:
Introducing spirituality in non-religious settings can feel challenging. Louisville Collegiate School is a secular school. Jim and Lisa discuss how reframing spirituality as connection to self, others, and something larger helps communities engage without fear or misunderstanding.
Pause and Reflect:
How comfortable are you — personally and professionally — with the word spirituality?
What alternative language might help your community open to these ideas?
How might you model inclusivity and curiosity when talking about spirituality in your context?
Pause and Reflect — 8:00 (When Jim describes bringing aspirational values into daily practice)
Summary:
Aspirational values come alive through consistent attention and participation. Teachers and students co-create them, post them visibly, and return to them throughout the day — making them a lived, breathing part of classroom culture.
Pause and Reflect:
What are the aspirational values of your classroom and school — stated or unstated?
How might you make them visible and practiced daily?
How could you involve students in defining, refining, or recommitting to them?
Pause and Reflect — 11:20 (When Jim discusses extending this work to parents and the wider community)
Summary:
The work of nurturing aspirational values expands beyond school walls. Jim describes how engaging parents in conversation builds unity and helps families bring shared values home.
Pause and Reflect:
How do you, or could you, include families or caregivers in conversations about your school’s values?
What shared practices could connect home and school around students’ holistic growth?
Pause and Reflect — 14:59 (End of the video – Jim’s closing encouragement)
Summary:
Jim reminds educators that this work is messy but vital. We are each called to be an “authorized keeper” of our community’s values — whatever our role. Every person in a school has influence and responsibility in shaping culture.
Pause and Reflect:
What does it mean for you to be a “keeper” of your school’s aspirational values? And how might you invite others to share in this sacred responsibility?
Where might you experience tension or resistance in living those values — personally or institutionally? And how can you stay consistent and courageous when the work feels uncertain?
What first steps could help you bring aspirational values more consciously into your sphere of influence?