Middle and Upper School Chapel Focuses on Intentional Prayer for the Start of the Year
August 24, 2026
As the school year begins, Middle and Upper School students took time to pause, reflect, and consider the hopes and intentions they carry into the year ahead. Through ESD’s annual Sticky Prayers tradition, students brought those thoughts into chapel and placed them at the altar as an act of prayer.
During chapel this week, Stemmons Family Senior Chaplain Father Nate Bostian reminded students that prayer can take many forms. It can be spoken or sung, written in a journal or expressed through poetry, offered silently or shared as a spontaneous conversation with God. Prayer can also emerge in moments of pain, grief, joy, or gratitude.
“Prayer is anything that focuses God’s presence and peace within us,” Father Nate shared.
He encouraged students to think about prayer not simply as words, but as any word or action directed toward God. For some, that may mean asking for guidance or strength. For others, it may mean giving thanks, seeking healing, or holding hope for the year ahead.
Sticky Prayers offers students a tangible way to put those intentions into practice. Each student received a sticky note and was invited to consider a prayer, wish, or hope for the school year, including ways they hope to grow and areas where they may need help along the way.
Once they finished writing, students moved row by row to the altar, where they placed their notes among the prayers of their classmates. The quiet act created a shared collection of individual hopes, bringing the intentions of the Middle and Upper School communities together in one place.
The prayers were prayed over during the first Eucharist of the school year, connecting this annual tradition to one of the community’s first opportunities to gather in worship.
Through Sticky Prayers, Middle and Upper School students begin the year with intention, offering their hopes and prayers to God and to one another as they look toward the year ahead.
