Mrs. Lucia Singleton returns after 2-year hiatus from teaching

photo by Ben Soucy Mrs. Lucia Singleton loves being around the students at TKA, and was a student when the school first opened. She had to step away from teaching for a season so that God could work to balance her life, but now she has returned to teach health.

Mrs. Lucia Singleton returns to The King’s Academy as the new health teacher after a 2-year hiatus. Teaching has been a passion of Mrs. Singleton’s for over 2 decades, but in order to balance personal and professional life, she stepped away from teaching for two years. Mrs. Singleton opens up about some of the struggles of teaching and why she stepped away for a season.

“I was very overwhelmed, teaching multiple classes and also homeschooling three kids that were now in school, and also having a baby,” Mrs. Singleton said. “I felt like I wasn't really doing anything well. I was balancing too many things, and if I said my family was the most important thing, that wasn't what was actually happening. I was very anxious all the time.”

Due to her longtime connection to the school, leaving TKA was not an easy thing for Mrs. Singleton. She first came as a student when the school opened in 1999 and returned to it in 2014 to as an educator. Teaching was very close to her heart, but she had to let it go temporarily to create time to build a balanced life.

“I had been thinking and praying about quitting for years, but I really liked my job,” Mrs. Singleton said. “I love getting to be with the students, and I loved that they would come talk to me and so it was really hard to have to lay that down, but I felt like that was really what God was calling me to do in that season.” 

Mrs. Singleton shares the balance of being a wife and mother at home, while also being responsible for the education of children who are not one's own, can be a challenge and is why Mrs. Singleton made the tough decision to step away for a time.

“It was good to work on just balancing everything and setting aside responsibilities, simplifying my life and getting rid of things that were just unnecessary,” Mrs. Singleton said. “I started focusing on serving my family, making sure that I was reading my Bible and exercising, which allowed me to have better discipline.”

After spending time recuperating, Mrs. Singleton returns, taking on a single class to avoid burnout. She started teaching health class in order to slowly reacclimate to teaching.

“My husband encouraged me to start slow and not take on too much because I had never taught just one class,” Mrs. Singleton said. “It’s wonderful at Kings, but also most of your work is outside the classroom.”

Mrs. Singleton enjoys tackling the awkward topics because the classroom should be a safe place where students can learn about their bodies from a Biblical perspective. After teaching anatomy, health class adds a more personal aspect to teaching about the human body, which challenges and blesses her. 

“You get to talk about emotions and relationships and how God is our Creator, and that He has good plans for His people, but all through the lens of ‘you should take care of yourself,’” Mrs. Singleton said.

After a season of rest, Mrs. Singleton has a better understanding of God’s purpose in her life and what her limits are.

“I think I have recognized that I am finite, and the Lord has been teaching me [that] my boundaries are in pleasant places, and I don't need to push out of them,” Mrs. Singleton said.