Prayers as new school year begins

During worship on Sunday, August 26, we will bless students and teachers as they begin a new school year.  Meanwhile, here is a prayer for individual use: 

Dear God,

The beginning of a new school year should be a time of excitement and promise:  new clothes, new books, new school supplies, a fresh start, the joy of learning and the pleasure of mastering new challenges.  Through baptism, your Spirit gives each of us an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and to persevere, a spirit to know and to love you, and the gift of joy and wonder in all your works.  With your help, may the promise of this new and exciting start come to fruition in the lives of those who teach and those who learn.  Bless, guide, and protect all teachers and students as this new school year begins.  We pray these things in the Name of your Son Jesus, who was himself a teacher.  Amen.