An Educational Journey

Thoughts from a Head of School

Why Alumni Are Important in Education: It’s Not the Reason You Think

March 15, 2023 /

In most of our experiences, the word “alumni” was only mentioned in the context of hosting, attending, or, most commonly, skipping a class reunion. If you work in private or independent school world or in higher education, the word “alumni” is also regularly paired with the word “giving,” as institutions think through their development strategies. So as a person who attended public schools K-12, except for high school classmates posting a reunion plan on Facebook, I don’t hear from my schools. It is only my college alma mater that reaches out to me. I greatly valued the education I received from my elementary, middle, and high schools, but my connection to them only exists in my memories. But as I consider schools and the process of education as a whole, I think most institutions underestimate the power and importance of their alumni. As a school committed to helping students discover and cultivate their unique gifts and talents to prepare them for a holy vocation in the world, I believe there is value in continuing and cultivating the relationship after graduation.

The Power of Alumni for Teachers

I often talk about how an important attribute to develop as a teacher is a sense of delayed gratification. Teaching can be a grind. Being in a room with a unique blend of individuals which changes for Lower School teachers year after year and for Upper School teachers not only bell after bell but year after year is a challenge. Depending on the age of the student one teaches, the problems span a wide spectrum of behaviors and attitudes. Sometimes we forget that we didn’t start out as the people we are right now but that we are all in a process of becoming. And as life long learners and educational professionals, we are hopefully continuing to become the more beautifully developed individuals we will be in a year or a decade from now. But sometimes our former students reside in our heads as they used to be. When educators have the opportunity to see their students years and even decades later, they are able to see the fruit from the seeds they planted years ago. The struggle of teaching and learning that sometimes frustrates an educator seems worth the extra effort when they see who their students have become. When the hyperactive immature student who was always on the brink of turning your classroom into the island in Lord of the Flies returns as a mature adult making an impact in the world, not only do you feel proud of them and see that there was a pay off to all the effort. It also creates a bit more patience for the current student who might not be quite as compliant as you would like. And if you teach long enough, you may have the benefit of calling alumni who as adults become advisors and even friends. It’s hard to imagine that the freshman sitting in your class might one day be someone you call for legal advice or insight on changing technology or whose novel you might read for entertainment. But that is the power of alumni for teachers.

The Power of Alumni for Students

For our current students, the world of school is often a confusing place. We are not always the best at helping them see how what we are doing connects to the “real world.” I used to feel offended when a student asked at the end of what I considered a brilliant class, “How are we ever going to use this?” I came to realize that the question was actually of ultimate importance and I needed to do a better job of helping students see why learning in my class was meaningful. I am not suggesting that there is a simple 1 to 1 pragmatic link of each and every lesson to something you will directly “use” later in life. But the relevant educator should always understand the links and connections between what we are teaching and the growth of the student into a person who can flourish in the actual world in which they will live. When our students see alumni who have been in the exact same seats where they are now, living out a dynamic vocation that links their unique gifts and talents with their unique calling, they are inspired by what could be for them in their own life.

We have so many alumni doing incredible things and their stories and experiences open the world to our students. Skylar Beavers and Jordynn Jenkin’s created the charity “Make a Kid Merry” as college students. Margaret Rogerson is a New York Times best selling author and Nathaniel Sizemore is a lawyer, entrepreneur, and now writes political thrillers.  Salen Churi taught in the University of Chicago Law School, practiced law, and then co-founded Trust Ventures which helps innovative start ups change the world. Dr. David Snyder is the Executive Director of Sustainable Medical Missions, training and supporting indigenous healthcare and faith leaders in underdeveloped countries to treat Neglected Tropical Diseases. Joni Brandyberry is the co-founder and director of programming for Cincinnati Urban Promise, bringing the love and light of Christ to Cincinnati youth. This is just the tip of the iceberg of our incredible alumni doing incredible things. They have the power to inspire our current students and give them the opportunity to dream of what the future might look like for them as they consider their calling.

The Power of Alumni for Culture and Legacy

One of the most rewarding and powerful experiences I’ve had in education is when our alumni come back to CHCA as teachers, coaches, and staff members. When you are able to see the incredible people that they have become and hear their desire to return so that they can invest in the next generation of students, to help create the type of learning environment and experience that they had, you are both moved and thankful to be part of this learning community. Alumni who seek to return have a vested interest in our mission and vision. They believe in the process and the people here. And they desire to help build the legacy of the school we are becoming. Engaging and learning from a colleague who was once your student is a rewarding moment. And because I’m also a CHCA parent, seeing my own children learn, grow, and be mentored by CHCA alumni is an example of education coming full circle. We currently have seven alumni as classroom teachers and a number of assistant coaches as well. These alumni are building into our culture now and will shape the culture of the future.

Another way our alumni build into our culture and legacy is when they become CHCA parents and their own children now occupy our classrooms and hallways. The conversations I have with them about their new experiences always bring together two things: the many new and innovative parts of our school that are very different from their time here and the parts of our culture that remain the same—the sense of community and the Christ-centeredness we continue to talk about and experience in this special place. And they are always excited to see the faces of teachers still here from their own time at CHCA.  

We love our alumni. They are a powerfully important part of our school community. And the lasting relationship between alumni and the school, and alumni and the people that work here is evidence of the learning community and the faith community we have created together.   We desire for this place to always feel like home to our alumni. So whether it is for specific big events and special occasions, as members of our faculty and staff, as parents bringing your own children to CHCA, or on a random Tuesday, totally unannounced just to say “hi,” we love to have our alumni engaged. Our school is better for it.

What is Intersession and Why Do We Do It?

January 10, 2023 /

A hallmark of our Upper School program is Intersession, two weeks out of the academic year when our students and teachers depart from the classroom and engage in experiential learning in a hands-on way. When I connect with alumni, one of the first things they almost always mention is a special memory from a JTerm or May Term experience. Each year 9th to 12th grade students choose from one of 20-25 different course options based on their specific interests. Creating these courses takes an extraordinary amount of planning, preparation, and skillful execution on top of all the other things teachers and staff members need to do throughout the year. So why do we do we do this year after year? As a learning institution, we desire to create life-long learners which means that it is imperative that our students come to see that learning is not confined to a building, a desk, a laptop, or a textbook. As a learning institution that is Christian, we also desire that our students understand that learning can be an act of worship. So Intersession gives our students unique learning experiences to engage God’s world in authentic ways.  

Broadly speaking Intersession courses tend to fit into three different categories.  Each year some courses offer extensions of our regular academic subject areas and course material. Students can study a concept more in-depth or pursue other tangents not explored during regular class time due to time constraints. If you have visited our McSwain Collaboration Center at the MSL High School Building or simply driven by it, you may have been drawn to the stunning stained-glass windows. CHCA did not commission an artist to create and set those pieces. A group of interested students spent two weeks with visual fine arts teacher Tim Hilderbrand as he taught them every aspect of stained-glass art from the inspiration phase all the way to installation. Throughout those two weeks, Mr. Hilderbrand taught the students how a creator, taking great care, could collect broken pieces of glass, glass meant to be discarded, and use them as a part of something beautiful, even something that could lead people to Christ. Talk to any of the students who have been a part of this course, and there is no doubt that they have learned skills, grown in the areas of collaboration and leadership, experienced the satisfaction of creating art, and witnessed how something seemingly secular can point to Christ.

Another selection of Intersession courses focus primarily on service learning. Utilizing what they have learned in the classroom, students meet and serve others in a Christ-centered way. Students come to see that they have a great opportunity at CHCA to learn and that they can choose to use their acquired knowledge and developed skills to serve others. Probably the most well-known service-learning Intersession course is Serve Cincinnati Schools.   Our students are eager to help encourage and advance students in schools across the city and a number of alumni credit this Intersession course for why they later became teachers. In a new course first introduced last year, students worked with the Wheels Ministry, which repairs donated cars to give to those in need and services cars for those unable to pay for auto maintenance. Students learned various automotive skills and then went to work repairing cars. This course was a powerful blessing to all involved. Students were impacted when they could donate a car that they had repaired. And the adults affiliated with the ministry were changed by the experience as well. They were a bit reluctant and skeptical when CHCA initially reached out to them with the idea for an Intersession course because they had not worked with teenagers. Our students represented themselves, the school, and their faith in ways that changed the perspectives of those who serve there regularly.  And this is not unique. I continually hear from ministries, travel organizations, schools, and even hotels how outstanding our students engage when they are outside the building.

Finally, some Intersession courses provide an opportunity for educational travel and cultural immersion. As God calls our students to be a light to the world, an Intersession course can offer students a chance to begin to understand different peoples and cultures in God’s world. A trip to the Holy Land can provide  a great extension of concepts learned in Christian Studies classes. But spending time with a Jewish citizen of Jerusalem and a Palestinian farmer outside of Bethlehem provides an understanding of modern life in Israel that cannot be fully captured reading news feeds. A book or course on Kenya can provide factual information and compelling anecdotes. But dancing around a fire with Samburu tribesmen, eating goat roasted over a fire with the Maasai people, visiting with a pastor in the slums of Nairobi bring learning alive in a different way.  In John 17, Jesus’ prayer calls for us to love one another and be one, so that all people will know that God sent Jesus into the world. As our students interact and listen to people in other cultures from around the world, they are answering this calling to unite, to extend grace, and to demonstrate God’s love.   

As I write this, our students are serving in schools, learning the history and cultures of our city, studying sports and history through film, fixing cars, serving in a second-hand store ministry, and building a house. Others are encountering food and art in NYC, learning outdoor and survival skills on a Florida island, exploring the sights and serving others in Texas, Arizona, Puerto Rico, and St. Croix, visiting theme parks in Florida, and learning the history, culture, and natural beauty of Hawaii. Our students are gaining knowledge, accumulating experiences, building powerful community with their classmates and teachers, and serving others as they demonstrate the light of Christ in the world.  The message of the Gospel is that all the world is God’s, and we are called to go and to engage His world. As a school, we strive to inspire students to be lifelong learners. And as a Christian school, we strive to inspire students to continue learning by engaging in God’s world and follow that Divine call. Intersession creates those opportunities for our students to begin the journey to follow the call.

Why We Read

December 3, 2022 /

From the time I was a child, I loved books. In fact, as a young boy, I wanted to grow up to write books—after I played shortstop for the Milwaukee Brewers, of course. I remember at about age 7 writing a small treatise on perch fishing, stapling together the handful of pages that comprised the tome, with my own artwork for illustrations. And along with all of the exciting boyhood outdoor activities and adventures that filled my summers, my siblings and I always participated in the library’s summer reading program. This was a requirement of my mother who insisted our brains needed to remain active during the summer, keeping us ready for the new school year that September would bring. Our library would have a summer reading theme, with appropriate decorations, and a “track” that went around the walls of the children’s section to measure the number of books each child read over the summer. What began as a chore turned into a fierce competition between my sister and me, with each one taking home an armful of books in order to out read the other. We would outdistance the rest of the neighborhood but keeping up with my sister was a Herculean feat. To move your paper representative down the track, you had to give a short synopsis of each book to the librarian. I will never forget being scolded by her about my book choices. As an early teen, I was reporting on a number of children’s picture books in an attempt to compete with my sister. But in the end, maybe for all the wrong reasons, I became an avid reader.

Books provided their own adventure as I explored new places, people, and time periods. If I couldn’t actually be in the North Woods, Jack London took me there in Call of the Wild and White Fang. I might have heard about the Great Depression in school, but it was John Steinbeck who made it a reality in The Grapes of Wrath. And I might have read a biography of Hank Aaron because I was a Milwaukee sports fan, but I took away from that book more than great baseball anecdotes.  I was unaware of the issues Henry Aaron faced as a man of color playing in my city in the 50’s and 60’s. Reading didn’t just entertain me; it expanded my world.

a library wall full of books

Books have continued to be an important part of my life. And as a person who has always been immersed in education, as either a student or an educator, I continue to read and challenge others to do the same. The professional challenge of teachers is figuring out how to get your students to read the material. I didn’t have a Summer Reading Track in my classroom but often resorted to the dreaded pop reading quiz to keep students “on track” to limited effect. And that problem is not limited to the classroom. We live in a culture where book reading is in decline and interestingly the greatest drop is in college educated people.

Chart, line chart Description automatically generated

Change in Average Number of Books Read, by Subgroup, 2002-2016 versus 2021

2002-20162021Change
U.S. adults15.212.6-2.6
Gender
Men10.89.5-1.3
Women19.315.7-3.6
Age
18-34 years13.813.0-0.8
35-54 years14.212.5-1.7
55+ years16.712.0-4.7
College graduate
Yes21.114.6-6.5
No12.611.5-1.1
GALLUP

While there is no clear data at this point to explain why we are reading less, I have some anecdotal evidence that allows me to guess.

  1. Broad Culture Shifts: As our culture moves from what philosophers and sociologists call modernity to post-modernity, one of the major changes is the shift in emphasis of word to image. Where modern culture focused on books and printed words, post modern culture has elevated image and video. Film and visual representations have a powerful place and impact in our culture.
  2. Technology: With new technology came new ways to absorb books—eReaders, various apps, and audible books. But with that technology came a whole host of other sources of visual stimulation, entertainment, and information. YouTube, social media, Netflix, etc. absorb so much of our time that was previously devoted to reading.
  3. Busyness: Our hyper-busy, over scheduled, caffeinated lives do not leave us with much time and energy at the end of the day. The mental energy it takes to absorb a book requires a different level of input than the passive reception of other forms of media. The lives we live are not all that conducive to a life of reading, nor to the life of the mind.

This trend causes me concern on numerous levels. As a Christian, I am part of a community of faith that refers to itself as “people of the Book” (along with our fellow monotheists—Jews and Muslims). If we as Christians center our lives on One that the Gospel of John calls the Word, and whose story we know primarily from the Book, what happens when we live in a culture that reads less? Should I assume that Christians make an exception when it comes to the Bible? I don’t think that’s likely the case.

As an educator, I know that a full education comes from hearing a multitude of voices—those who are experts and specialists, those who lived long ago, those who think very differently from me, and those I might never have opportunity to connect with personally because of time and space. But I can gain their insights and perspectives through their written words. Alan Jacobs’ book Breaking Bread with the Dead paints an image of reading old books as sitting down to a meal with authors from the past to engage with them and their ideas. As teachers and educators, if we want our students to be life-long learners, we need to set an example for them to read widely and with depth.

As a member of a learning community and faith community, one of my greatest concerns is the general break down of dialogue and communication in society, which ends up being reflected in a school community as well. It used to be part of common vernacular to talk metaphorically about the dialogue/debate of ideas in the public square. But we’ve lost the public square to social media echo chambers where we have our own ideas and tribal “truths” reconfirmed. If you haven’t seen the documentary The Social Dilemma, it vividly portrays the role social media is playing in our polarized and divisive society, where we are moved by short posts and 140-character tweets and vitriolic sound bites. For a healthy community that values learning and faith, we need to slow down and take time with complex ideas and thoughts. We need to listen to those we agree with as well as those with whom we disagree. We need to balance perspectives and experiences. We need space and time to think, engage, and grow. I believe reading and especially reading in a community provides that opportunity. It is a model that is ancient but just as powerful today. To read and discuss shared texts together is a way for us to learn and grow, and to develop as an engaged community. Next semester we are going to form CHCA Book Groups, where we will read some common books together and then hear the authors talk about their work with us.

I’m no longer in a Library Summer Reading Program but books are still a regular part of my life. And I must confess that I still can’t compete with my sister. But I try to keep motivated to read consistently and widely.  I have certain authors that function like surrogate teachers and for a season, I will read as much of their works as I can. Currently, the late Eugene Peterson and Calvin University philosophy professor James K.A. Smith fit that role. I read in ways that help me grow professionally as a leader and an educator.  I try to stay connected to my scholarly life in Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near Eastern World. I try to read at least one biography from a figure in American history to deepen my understanding of our national past. And I continue to love fiction. My stack of books to read grows faster than I can keep up. But summers allow me time to try and catch up! I’m often asked what I’ve been reading. Below is a bibliography of most of my reading (and some rereading) over last school year to the present.

Shalom Auslander, Hope: A Tragedy

——, Foreskin’s Lament.

Christopher N. Beard, Remarkable: The Diversely United, Blood-Bought Church of Jesus Christ.

Brene Brown, Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.

Monte Burke, Lords of the Fly: Madness, Obsession, and the Hunt for the World Record Tarpon.

Louise Boyd Cadwell, Bringing Reggio-Emilia Home: An Innovative Approach to Early Childhood Education.

Elias Chacour, Blood Brothers.

Ron Chernow, Washington: A Life.

James Clear, Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones.

Joshua Cohen, The Netanyahus.

Winn Collier, A Burning in My Bones: The Authorized Biography of Eugene H. Peterson.

John Mark Comer, Live No Lies: Recognize and Resist the Three Enemies That Sabotage Your Peace.

—–, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World.

Rod Dreher, The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation.

Doris Kearns Goodwin, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.

Malcolm Gladwell, The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second  World War.

Adam Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know.

Melvin J. Gravely, II, Dear White Friend: The Realities of Race, the Power of Relationships, and Our Path to Equity.

Yaa Gyasi, Homegoing.

—–, Transcendent Kingdom.

Irwyn L. Ince Jr., The Beautiful Community: Unity, Diversity, and the Church at Its Best.

James Kerr, Legacy: What the All Blacks Can Teach Us About the Business of Life.

Rashid Khalidi, The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017.

Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants.

Patrick Lencioni, Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable.

D. Michael Lindsay, Hinge Moments: Making the Most of Life’s Transitions.

Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, Jim Huling, Scott Thele, Beverly Walker, The 4 Disciplines of Execution:  Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals.

Greg McKeown, Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most.

Rebecca McLaughlin, Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion.

William Mott, The Board Game: A Story of Hope and Inspiration for CEOs and Governing Boards.

Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Sympathizer.

Tommy Orange, There, There.

Amos Oz, A Tale of Love and Darkness.

—–, Judas.

—–, Scenes from Village Life

Eugene H. Peterson, Practice Resurrection: A Conversation on Growing Up in Christ.

­­­—–, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology.

Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., Engaging God’s World: A Christian Vision of Faith, Learning, and Living.

Rainer Maria Rilke and Anita Barrows, Book of Hours: Love Poems to God.

Simon Sinek, The Infinite Game.

—–, Leaders Eat Last.

James K.A. Smith, How To Inhabit Time: Understanding the Past, Facing the Future, Living Faithfully  Now.

—–, You Are What You Love.

Patrick D. Smith, A Land Remembered.

Preston Sprinkle, Embodied: Transgender Identities, the Church, and What the Bible Has to Say.

J.R.R. Tolkien, Leaf by Niggle.

Tara Westover, Educated: A Memoir.

Liz Wiseman, Impact Players: How to Take the Lead, Play Bigger, and Multiply Your Impact.

—–, Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter.

Malcom X and Alex Haley, The Autobiography of Malcom X.

Philip Yancey, Where the Light Fell: A Memoir.

Mark A. Yarhouse, Understanding Gender Dysphoria.

Why Parents in Christian Education?

November 15, 2022 /

When I was a kid, a parent’s role in school could be summed up by saying parents signed the report card you brought home each quarter, and maybe Mom would send in pink and red cupcakes for the Valentine’s Day party. Fast forward just one generation, and the role might look vastly different. A couple of years ago, an alumna shared a story from her Honors Calculus II class in college. In the large lecture hall, she observed one of her classmates bring her mom. This classmate had no special needs and yet Mom showed up for every lecture, nudging her daughter when a note should be taken and whispering to her when a question should be answered. Of all the roles in education, the role of the parent probably has the broadest spectrum, with varying perspectives on degree of involvement. While my wife and I both have teacher and administrative roles in education, we are the parents of three boys and have had to navigate the parent role as well. As a school, we often talk about the partnership between school and parent. I’d like to explore this relationship.

As we contemplate this topic of Why Parents in the context of education, we first need to revisit the earlier post of Why Christian Education and remember the overall purpose.  As I stated previously,

“[o]ur work in Christian education is to create engaged people who understand the world and their place in it; and it does that in order for them to find their unique purpose. I deeply believe that each student has a divine calling and their distinct assemblage of gifts, talents, personality traits, prepare them for a holy vocation in the world. We were created to do work in the world that creates shalom­—a wholeness that both restores the brokenness of the world marred by sin and gives our lives meaning, purpose, and fulfillment.”

If you are a parent and read the statement “each student has a divine calling,” substituting your child’s name for “each student,” you will realize that a parent’s role must be more than signing a quarterly report card and sending in cupcakes. And if you consider the concept that God has created each child with distinct gifts, talents, and traits and we are called to develop that child into an engaged person, prepared for their individual calling, you realize that a parent’s role is not to come do school for their child (or behind the scenes at home). If the purpose of Christian education is to develop well-rounded, critical-thinking, ethical, engaged people who understand the world and their place in it, the role of the parent is to foster this as well.

Certain disciplines are intended to be introduced and cultivated by parents, while the Christian school can offer secondary support in these efforts. The spiritual disciplines of prayer, reading, service, study of Scripture, worship, and meaningful fellowship are examples of habits initiated and driven by the family. Additionally, parents take the lead with character development, such as humility, perseverance, respect, responsibility, work ethic, grit, morality, as well as the Fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control). While parents and the family build the foundation for these traits and habits throughout a child’s growth and maturation, the school acts by supporting, reinforcing, and building on this pivotal groundwork.

As the parents honor their calling to develop their child, they rely on the expertise of the school to provide an opportunity for the child to master academic concepts, build critical-thinking skills, refine communications skills, and understand how to collaborate and interact with others as they grow to be Christ’s ambassadors in the world. The school creates a course of study from the earliest preschool years to senior year to build in age-appropriate ways the knowledge and skills in students to live engaged lives of significance beyond these walls. It is the parents’ role to support and encourage the school in this work. For example, if the teacher has assigned 30 minutes of reading each night, math problems to reinforce concepts, or a special history project, the parent can support the teacher’s efforts by maintaining a positive, encouraging attitude; providing a productive time and space for this work; and using discernment as to when and to what degree the parent offers advice, aid, or critique. Meet the Teacher Nights and parent-teacher conferences are great opportunities for parents to glean insight from the teacher on expectations of the student and productive roles for the parent.  Sometimes, the level of involvement needed is specified by the teacher and thus is easy to determine. Sometimes, that level takes more discernment on the part of the parent. Before getting involved in a specific situation, a parent should ask, “does my specific involvement here advance the goal of developing my child as an independent, engaged individual who understands the world and is honing his or her distinct gifts to be used for an ultimate purpose?” 

Growth in any area of life takes a degree of difficulty, challenge, stretching, and even failure. All of us as adults look back on our lives and readily acknowledge how struggles and failures were the monumental turning points that helped us become who we are today. But as a parent, too often my love and compassion for my children cause me to want to save them from hard things and struggle. This urge is actually counterproductive to my calling as a parent. We expect coaches to use practice time to push players, stretch them, and build their endurance and tenacity so that they are prepared to thrive in the game ahead. As educators, we also need to create a healthy level of struggle for students as well so that when they face new challenges, unforeseen obstacles and problems in real life that are “not like the ones on the test,” they can apply what they’ve learned to transfer knowledge and skills to new situations.  How as parents can we best support our students when school gets hard or when the workload gets heavy? And difficulty in school does not just mean the amount of work. The rigor and challenge of critical thinking is the hardest work of all.

On a final note, the Christian school community may offer parents an additional opportunity – that is an opportunity to exercise some of those same disciplines that they are instilling in their children. Often this community provides parent prayer groups, parent Bible studies, parent fellowship events, and parent service opportunities. Participation serves multiple purposes. One, these habits foster spiritual growth in the parents just as they would in any individual which not only draws us closer to Christ but gives us a better framework and lens from which to parent. Two, routine active engagement in these disciplines gives credibility to the parents as they seek to encourage their children to develop these disciplines themselves. Finally, and this cannot be emphasized enough, no one has the potential amount of access and influence on children as their parents. The research is clear on this. Scripture calls us to guard what we hear, what we see, and what is in our hearts. As parents, our children are often our captive audience, and we have a unique opportunity to daily ensure that our children are hearing words and seeing actions that demonstrate the Fruit of the Spirit in us.  As a person who has had the great honor of teaching Bible, theology, and faith development to young adults for over a quarter of a century now, I cannot overstate the correlation between a young person’s attitude toward faith and their perception of authentic faith in their parents. We have been given an incredible position and opportunity to shape our children’s openness to the work of God in their lives. Faith development in young people is not necessarily a straight line or an easy processes. They will likely have periods of doubt and distance, their paths may take detours and hit dead ends. It’s not a fixed procedure like a simple math equation. But seeing an authentic, even if imperfect faith life in parents creates an openness that carries forward beyond their time in our Christian academy. Your example matters!

So why parents? We desire to foster the best possible partnership between parents and the school because both are essential in the development of young people. As we often find in life, the answer sounds easy, but the execution is challenging.  Both parents and educators desire students who are flourishing. Let us continue to work arduously within our specific callings to advance this holy effort.

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Why Theological Integration

October 25, 2022 /

Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy is intentional about being academically excellent as well as Christ centered in all we do.  In order to do this thoroughly, we challenge our students to think about all disciplines and subjects through the lens of a thoughtful Christian worldview.  To achieve this, our students must have a general understanding of the Bible, Church history, theology, and Christian spirituality.  They must also be forced to consider connections between these fields of knowledge and their other academic disciplines—because in a secular age, that type of thinking does not come naturally.  The key to this endeavor is properly training our faculty in what we refer to as Theological Integration. 

Theological Integration is the process by which our teachers guide students to consider how thinking in a “Christ-centered” way should affect all areas of study and learning. Most Christian schools refer to this process as “Biblical integration” and the term was coined by Frank E. Gaebelein, the founding Headmaster of The Stony Brook School, in the first half of the 20th century. His work is foundational for the Christian school movement in America. But as we began training teachers toward an integration of faith and learning, we decided that a new term would be more accurate and useful in our multidenominational independent school context. Let me explain.  

To begin, it must be emphasized that as an institution, we hold to a high view of Scripture.  The first article in our Statement of Faith reads, “We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.”  Therefore, the Bible shapes the way we think about theology and all of life.  For this reason, we work diligently and humbly to exegete the Bible to understand key principles inherent in its teachings (“biblical principles”).  The difficulty in this process though is that mining key principles from a complex book that was written millennia ago in a multitude of cultures and numerous languages is no easy, straightforward task.  Furthermore, our school is made up of over 160 different churches, and while there are many “biblical principles” that we all agree on, others are rooted in denominational understandings and sectarian theological readings.  This is why we are careful to use the language of “Theological Integration” rather than the older term, “Biblical Integration” for how we attempt to enrich our curriculum theologically.  In a multidenominational school, certain sectarian or denominational interpretations should not be given priority by teachers based on their personal interpretations or given preference in their curricula. Therefore as a school, we focus on five key theological “Big Ideas” that historical orthodox Christians have believed from the Early Church until the present. For our theological “Big Ideas” we’ve used the language from Cornelius Plantinga’s Engaging God’s World: A Christian Vision of Faith, Learning, and Living, our theological primer for faculty.  These “big ideas” are 1) all humans have a longing and hope for something greater, 2) God is Creator, 3) because of the Fall, all creation is marred by sin, 4) Jesus redeems creation through His life, death, and resurrection, which leads to the process of God making all things new, and 5) we can be a part of God’s restoration through our vocation.

As our teachers engage students in their classes, no matter the grade level or subject area, the expectation is for them to find connections where their curriculum intersects with these five theological big ideas.  The way teachers can naturally connect their material with our big ideas is by using “theological essential questions.” For those not familiar with the vernacular of the curriculum design model Understanding by Design, essential questions are open-ended, thought-provoking questions that gets to the heart of a discipline; they do not have simple objective answers and can continually be reconsidered throughout the life of a learner at different developmental levels; they require students to reflect on their knowledge and synthesize it with other areas of knowledge and learning.  And when we ask theological essential questions, students are forced to think deeply about how 1) human hope and longing, 2) God as creator, 3) the Fall, 4) Christ’s redemption, and 5) the ability for us to engage in God’s work of bringing shalom to the world are brought to bear on all subject matter. Through this process of theological integration, we seek to make all of our students, from PK-2 to graduating seniors, continually contemplate how we engage God’s world and explore the mystery of how Christ is in all, through all, and holds all things together. Of course the sophistication of how a kindergartener and a high school student processes these ideas is different for obvious reasons. But we believe that this methodology fosters an environment where our students grow intellectually and in spiritual development in a way that fosters faith without indoctrination.  We often say that we want our students to leave our institution not simply knowing Bible facts or theological postulates but “owning” their own faith. 

As a school we have embarked on a course of professional development with our faculty for the next two years to go even deeper in theological integration through intentional faculty/staff learning communities. We are excited to see the effect on the entire school community through this journey together.

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Why Christian Education

October 18, 2022 /

I was a kid who liked school. As a young boy and even into my teen years, I understood that was not a thing you said out loud. But I liked to learn, was curious about lots of things, and I knew how to play the game of school. Ironically, back then I never would have imagined that I would spend my life continually studying in graduate school and later working in a school. School was an obstacle course to successfully navigate and complete. It was not a place to live your “real” life. And while I grew up in a devoutly Christian home and would always identify as a Christian, all of my education was in the public school system. I received an excellent education in the Milwaukee Public School system with the many passionate, dedicated teachers that helped develop me into a life-long learner. My life of faith grew and developed at church, and my mind developed in school. It seemed to be an effective system, and one I regularly touted. I did not experience a distinctly Christian education until post-secondary school when I attended Wheaton College. Now I am in my 27th year serving in a PK-12 Christian school where all my children have attended. Why Christian education?

Before describing the purpose of a distinctly Christian education, we should consider the purpose of education in the first place. We often think of education as filling heads with facts and ideas, a kind of knowledge collection. We measure success by grades and test scores, college acceptances, and ultimately the boon that comes from a “successful” career. But true education should do more than help us win at Trivia Night. A wholistic education should create an experience that forms us into fully developed human beings, who are well-rounded, critical-thinking, ethical, engaged people who understand the world and our place in it. That type of education cannot be measured on a standardized test. As we all know, outside of school there are rarely written tests of any kind, but there are problems to solve, people to communicate and collaborate with, and meaningful lives to live. Do our educational systems – public, private, or specifically Christian – prepare our students for human flourishing? We will look more at human flourishing and education in a later post.

As we then consider a distinctly Christian education, we build upon two principles.

1) All truth is God’s truth.  As far back as St. Augustine, in his work On Christian Doctrine, he states, “Nay, but let every good and true Christian understand that wherever truth may be found, it belongs to his Master” (II.18). If God is Creator and the creation reflects the One who created it, we should pursue a deep understanding of all things. For all the world is God’s and through our studies and investigations, we come to know reality and the One behind it.

2) Christ is central to all.  Most Christian schools talk about “Christ centeredness.” What this means is that we desire to ground our education in the person of Christ and understand that our place in the world is connected to our place in the greater story of Scripture. The Apostle Paul writes to the Colossian church that through Christ all things were made, in Him all things hold together, and it was through Him that God reconciled Himself to the world (1:15-20). In a Christian education, as we consider how our students are being formed as thinkers and flourishing people, Christ is both the unifying principle and the model of human engagement.

As a teacher, I always challenge myself to consider the final question in the end, So what?  Many times, I would finish a lesson and a brave student would ask that two-word question: So what?! What is the overall purpose of knowing; what’s the reason; what’s the use?  After early years of frustration, I realized it was the most meaningful question of all. So what is the end result of our work in Christian education? Our work in Christian education is to create engaged people who understand the world and their place in it; and it does that in order for them to find their unique purpose. I deeply believe that each student has a divine calling and their distinct assemblage of gifts, talents, personality traits, prepare them for a holy vocation in the world. We were created to do work in the world that creates shalom­—a wholeness that both restores the brokenness of the world marred by sin and gives our lives meaning, purpose, and fulfillment.

How do we educate in a way that inculcates these principles into our educational processes? In the next post, I will share our model of Theological Integration.

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