The 2010-2011 school year began with the Hand of God clearly displayed, to remind us once again of the blessing only He can give to His school.  As we ended the 2009-2010 school year, graduating 22 students – our largest class ever – I knew that financially speaking, we had to replace them in order to make the budget work.  Much praying was done through the summer and once again God proved Himself faithful with enrollment for 2010-2011 larger than the 2009-2010 school year!  We have held fairly steady at 185 students this entire school year.  We have lost some families due to moving this year, but new families have joined us and we are so thankful for the opportunity to educate their children.  As I sang in church yesterday, I thought about the words we were singing – On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.  That is what I believe about Christian education.  It is the only solid foundation to lay academically for children of Christians.  To find Christ in every classroom; in prayer, in morning pledges, on bulletin boards, posters and in textbook reading.  To have teachers who hold huge influence over students begin their day with a time of Bible reading and corporate prayer, asking God to meet the needs of our students in the classroom, hallways and playground.  We are indeed a blessed people.  This year we once again enjoyed programs that were entertaining and offered great opportunities for our students.  The annual school musical, The Music Man, was a hit – and the talent of our students continues to amaze me.  Concerts and programs – whether it was Grandparents Day, Christmas or spring, found large audiences of folks who enjoy listening to students use their God given talents – and give Him the glory!  Guitar class students continued to assist Mrs. Simmons in leading the music worship part of chapel, and the entire senior class led us in a great music worship chapel just last month.  Thank you Mrs. Lane, Mr. Smith, Mrs. Simmons for your dedication to the music side of Fine Arts.   Sports continue to be an important part of the life of our junior/senior high students.  Mrs. Kotewa is working on ideas for additional sports that would involve more students and provide more opportunity for physical activity after school for NLCA students.  This year, Mrs. Tina Proctor began a Run Club that was active in the fall and is once again up and running this spring.  This will culminate with our 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th graders running in a 5K race at Memphis Elementary this spring.  Most of you are not yet aware that we won a $25,000 prize of playground products through mycokerewards.com.  Mrs. Shelly Knowlton signed up the school for this “fundraiser” and ended up helping us receive this awesome prize.  If you are wondering what the plan is – this is it so far: After a meeting with teachers, it was decided that the greatest need is a place for the upper elementary to play.  This usually involves some type of sport – whatever is in season – football, soccer, etc. The teachers also were very interested in creating a fitness area that could be used by gym classes, school families and the community.  Our idea – plan – whatever you choose to call it – is a ¼ mile track – asphalted/8 feet wide – that will have fitness activities placed strategically along the route.  Inside of the track would be a AYSO size soccer field for our students to use, as well as AYSO teams that request a practice field.  Another addition may be a backstop for kickball games.  Mrs. K would like to see a straight portion that would be lined and used for short distance races, as well as Presidential Fitness testing.  As we work on details and get board approval, we will keep the school family in the loop.  Although we have money in our playground fund from the Boxtops for Education program, there will be an element of fundraising in order to complete the project.  There will also be work opportunities for the school family – as there is always work that needs to be done on the school grounds.  Before moving on, one other achievement of the athletic department this year is the opportunity to host the girls’ soccer district games beginning the end of this month.  Mrs. K. will need lots of workers/volunteers. The gate money, which is set by MHSAA at $5/person, goes to benefit our athletic department.  This will be a definite help with their budget.   Mrs. Block and her team of elementary teachers continue to watch over our younger students, offering them a well rounded academic experience with field trips, programs and special days.  I think a favorite of all of them is their Heritage Day.  This year the day centered on the Father of our Country, George Washington.  They already are planning for next year!  Mrs. Mills and the secondary teachers continue preparing students for college.  Our ultimate goal is that all of our graduates would successfully complete college and a have a career that is God directed.  Along the way to accomplishing that, we expect them to complete community service hours which forces them into the community – to touch the lives of others and hopefully, create within them a servant-heart.  We continue to have a 100% graduation rate at NLCA, and our students consistently score well on the MME which includes the ACT.  This year we have a very academic class graduating, with two valedictorians and two salutatorians and a lot of other students close on their heels!  Other areas of accomplishment this year include: the continuing paint project.  Pastor Steve Sovereen has graciously been doing the labor for us at no cost.  The board has determined the phases for completion of the project and as each section is completed, the building will continue to look better.  We also purchased new software – Headmaster - school management software that allows parents to have access to student grades.  We continue on the learning curve, but I think the first year has been successful as we all are learning the ins and outs of how to use the different aspects of the program.  We also began using Sevenstar - an online class program that (as we learn its best uses) will assist us with transfer students/scheduling conflicts.  We learned a lot about this form of class work this year, and have a better idea of how we will use it in the future.  In the area of technology, we were given 30 computers and 19 laptops by Talmer Bank (formerly Citizens First).   We must replace the hard drive in each computer, but when it is completed, we will have greater access to technology in some classrooms.  At this time we are considering the best uses of the computers and how we can most benefit the students.  Again, thank you to Michael Kimmerly who oversees the IT work here at school.  Our website has been updated this year – and managed by Jeremy McClellan (who helps with our drama program).  We also have just added a Facebook site – which will be used more as we figure out the best use of this social media for the school.   One of my favorite events this year was bringing Barbara Newman from the CLC Network to do an in-service with our teachers and a public meeting on the Autism Spectrum.  Those who attended the evening public meeting enjoyed it very much and because of the warm reception of this program, we are looking to do the same thing again next year, but on a different topic.  The annual banquet was the most successful one we have had in years.  Dr. Sam Barfell, although not known to parents, did a wonderful job explaining the cause of Christian education.  We brought in approximately $20,000 from the banquet in fundraising monies.   One of my goals continues to be the creation of an active alumni group for NLCA.  Not only do we love hearing about our alumni – their successes, their prayer needs, their work for Christ – but we would like to see them endow a scholarship which would be given annually at commencement to a graduating senior.   This year a new team was put together – A Vision Team – that has been working on a plan which will eventually become a campaign for funding for various aspects of the school.  Those needs range from building needs, to professional development, to scholarships, to additional technology and so on.  This Vision team has been led by Anthony Jones, and other team members are Drew Mills and Michael Kimmerly (representing the community), Jim Achatz and Saundra Brown (representing alumni), Aaron Smith and Tracie Eveningred (representing faculty) and myself.  We should be making a report to the board in late summer/early fall, and then moving onto the next phase of this work.  I want to thank those involved for the hours sacrificed in order to brainstorm and work through many questions and decisions.  As I look back at the year, there are so many individuals to thank for doing what they did without fanfare or glory.  Lawn care through the summer months, snow removal in the winter.  Carnival planning and working, mom to mom sales, cleaning, helping in classrooms and volunteering to work elementary lunch and recess.  Driving on field trips, helping with class parties, making pies, and the list goes on and on.  I am reminded why we do what we do – all to educate children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord because He has asked us to do it.  In John Piper’s Don’t Waste Your Life, he tells this story: “I am deeply moved by the courage and carnage on Iwo Jima.  As I read the pages of this history, everything in me cries out, ‘O Lord, don’t let me waste my life!’ Let me come to the end – whether soon or late – and be able to say to a family, a church, a city, and the unreached peoples of the earth, ‘For your tomorrow, I gave my today. Not just for your tomorrow on earth, but for the countless tomorrows of your ever-increasing gladness in God.’ The closer I looked at the individual soldiers in this World War II history, the more I felt a passion that my life would count, and that I would be able to die well. As rainy morning wore into afternoon and the fighting bogged down, the Marines continued to take casualties. Often it was the corpsmen [medics] themselves who died as they tried to preserve life.  William Hoopes of Chattanooga was crouching beside a medic named Kelly, who put his head above a protective ridge and placed binoculars to his eyes-just for an instant-to spot a sniper who was peppering his area.  In that instant the sniper shot him through the Adam’s apple.  Hoopes, a pharmacist’s mate himself, struggled frantically to save his friend.  “I took my forceps and reached into his neck to grasp the artery and pinch it off,” Hoopes recalled. “His blood was spurting.  He had no speech but his eyes were on me.  He knew I was trying to save his life. I tried everything in the world. I couldn’t get the artery. I was trying so hard. And all the while he just looked at me. He looked directly into my face. The last thing he did as the blood spurts became less and less was to pat me on the arm as if to say, ‘That’s all right.’ Then he died.”In this heart-breaking moment I want to be Hoopes and I want to be Kelly.  I want to be able to say to suffering and perishing people, “I tried everything in the world. . . . I was trying so hard.” And I want to be able to say to those around me when I die, “It’s all right. To live is Christ, and to die is gain.”   (pp. 125-126, Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper)    

I know it has been awhile since I have written in this blog.  I can’t seem to create a habit for it.  Guess I need to add it to my mental to-do list and then it might get done sooner!  The last couple of months have been busy.  Since mid February, NLCA has hosted a seminar on the Austism Disorder Spectrum, had an Open House, a Speech Meet, two days of Science Fair, made apple pies (fundraiser) and had a wonderful Benefit Banquet. Throw into the mix a few unexpected snow (or power outage) days, and I would argue that if you have been involved, you are ready for a break!  (Oh, I forgot to add District play-offs for guys and gals basketball teams! Congratulations to them for seasons well played!  The district games were exciting to watch!)

I loved our Benefit Banquet this year.  Dr. Sam Barfell, our ACSI Mid-America Director, spoke on “Why Christian Education.”  I loved how he built his case upon Scripture.  If you weren’t there, you missed a blessing!  Continuing in that same line of thought, the teachers are involved in The Truth Project (Focus on the Family has linked with ACSI for this program).  Huddled together (well, sort of) in the staff room yesterday (no power in half of the building equaled no heat!) we were challenged in the area of philosophy, morality and ethics.  WOW!  In the lecture, we were reminded that a formal worldview is a comprehensive set of truth claims, but the deeper question is - “What is my personal worldview?”  What truth claims do I deeply believe are true, causing me to cling to them no matter what comes my way?

Part of the discussion surrounded the fact that this is considered the least intellectual time in the history of the church.  Everyone wants a “feeling,” not a study of content.  We were reminded that Scripture says that when the mind is changed, life changes.  I know I cannot adequately explain the truths that we are learning through this series, but I find myself challenged once again to dig deep in God’s Word and not be content with “feel good” Christianity.  We are called to be transformed (Romans 12:2) - struggling through the cocoon to become the beautiful creation that we can only be in Christ. To end the lecture, George Barna was cited regarding a survey on worldviews - how do people perceive the world around them - through the filter of God’s Word, or through their personal beliefs of right and wrong? A ten question survey showed that of the general public, 4% had a Biblical worldview.  The same survey showed that of those who claimed to be born again, only 9% had a Christian worldview.  What does that mean for Christian education?  I think it once again proves the validity of teaching children and teens every academic subject through the filter of God’s Word.  We teach students to make decisions in alignment with the Word of God.  His Word is TRUTH and all of our life needs to be built upon the foundation of TRUTH that is never failing and always true!

I look forward to continuing the challenge of learning through The Truth Project.  As a faculty, we keep learning to depend upon God - how about you?

Ever have one of those moments when your past revisits you?  I am thrilled to say that I had one recently! One of my students from Trinity Christian School in Rock Hill, SC (long, long time ago!) emailed me - and made my day! Greg Waldrop had no idea that his comments to an old teacher would remind her once again that teachers touch lives in ways they will never know.  I’ve asked Greg’s permission to share some of his email with you.

As for me I have been married for 5 years now. No kids (thank God!) I tell my wife the only child she is going to have is me! I am still self employed (25 years now) I am an elder in my Church and teach the adult Sunday School class. I tell anyone if they want to know what is was like to go to Trinity then they need to attend my Sunday School class. I run my class a lot like Mr. Williams’ Bible class but with a certain nod or flair for history and how that day’s lesson relates to current events or history. I probably never told you but you really did “reach me” when  it comes to history. You were a great teacher and you instilled in me a lifelong appreciation for history and its relevance for today and tomorrow. I so much appreciate what you did for me although I could not tell you what it was exactly that you did to bring history alive for me, but whatever it was, you did it quite well. I am a voracious reader of all things historical and my favorite channel is the History channel on cable or sometimes the biography channel. My wife tells me all the time that I need to be a history teacher or a poly science teacher. Folks in my class at Church often ask me where I get my info from for historical references and I just tell them –“great  teachers”. You and Mr Williams were great teachers and I appreciate what you did for me. Well I guess that’s all for now it’s time for us to close up for the day. Just wanted to drop a note to let you know that Rock Hill hasn’t forgotten you.

Greg has shared some other insights with me regarding being an employer and the value of a good education that I will share at another time.  I didn’t add this blog to pat myself on the back, but rather to remind each of us that we have people in our lives that we need to thank because they have left a lasting impression. I am thinking of some people I need to thank - how about you?

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow, Praise Him all creatures here below, Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts, Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen. 

Singing the Doxology with our faculty last week was a fitting way to express thanks to our Heavenly Father for His countless blessings as we began the new school year. Who but God would bless HIS school with enrollment higher than we ended with in the spring? Who but God would bless us with a wonderful new math teacher - while blessing our former one with his dream job at SC4? We give HIM all of the glory as we start this school year - remembering that we are seeking First Things First (Matthew 6:33).

A few weeks ago, while in San Francisco, my wife Bonnie and I took the opportunity of visiting an island in the middle of San Francisco Bay called Alcatraz. Alcatraz is nicknamed “The Rock” because the island, about a mile off of the shoreline, is a remote, rather barren combination of old buildings, pathways, rocks, plants, and birds. Much of the island is surrounded by steep cliffs dropping down into the icy waters below. The swift current in the bay heads out to the Pacific Ocean, going directly beneath the Golden Gate Bridge.Alcatraz was such a formidable place that escape attempts became legendary. Over the years, 36 prisoners attempted to escape. Of these, 23 were caught, 6 were shot and killed while trying to escape, and 2 drowned. Five are still unaccounted for but presumed drowned.

Interestingly, some children equate school with “prison”—a place with rules and expectations that stifle their freedom to be and to do whatever they want whenever they want.

Alcatraz is definitely such a place. Known at one time as America’s premier maximum-security prison, Alcatraz was where America housed its most notorious prisoners from the mid 1930s to the early 1960s. Among these infamous prisoners were Al Capone, George “Machine Gun” Kelly, and Robert Stroud, also known as the “Birdman of Alcatraz.”

The rules for prisoners at Alcatraz included:

• Privileges: “You are entitled to food, clothing, shelter and medical attention. Anything else that you get is a privilege.”
• Good Conduct: “Good conduct means conducting yourself in a quiet and orderly manner and keeping your cell neat, clean and free from contraband. It means obeying the rules of the institution and displaying a co-operative attitude.”
• Recreation: “You will work eight hours a day, five days a week, with Saturdays, Sundays, and Holidays devoted to recreation. Movies are shown twice each month.”
• Work: “You are required to work at whatever you are told to do.” (Alcatrazhistory.com)

Bonnie and I have raised four children to adulthood, and we can definitely relate to the importance of rules and clear expectations. I have come to the conclusion that one of the more challenging areas our children have faced in Christian schools and colleges is materialism. As a general rule, we have never had too little, but our children perhaps have had too much. I believe that many of the children we serve have a spiritual disease called affluenza. The main symptom of this disease is apathy, and the primary antidote is service.

Parents and educators alike would agree that good conduct and order are essential both at home and at school.

For most parents, the dream of their children keeping a neat and tidy bedroom is a fairy tale! However, parents and educators alike would agree that good conduct and order are essential both at home and at school.

Our children live in an age in which many are “over recreated.” In other words, our families are so busy doing lessons, traveling to sports events, and participating in other “essential” activities to give our children every possible advantage in life, that our overactivity—instead of creating greater advantage—may in fact be pulling at the very fabric of our families. We are told that to win state championships, for example, our children need to practice all summer and forgo family vacations and holidays. Maybe it is not such a bad idea to reserve recreation for weekends and to limit movies and the Internet to two times per month!

It has been said that school is the work of children. Again, not such a bad expectation—that children and students be required to do whatever they are told to do.

Now, I admit that I have stretched a point here and there, and I admit that these things are easier said than done—but perhaps, as parents, we can learn a few lessons from the place called Alcatraz.

Reference

Alcatrazhistory.com. 2002–2005. Rules & Regulations. Carmel, CA: Ocean View Publishing. http://www.alcatrazhistory.com/regpage1.htm.

While watching FOX News over the weekend, I heard a college professor from Florida discuss the lack of critical thinking in the students they are seeing in college classes.  She lamented that students/classrooms are so focused on standardized testing that students are not taught this most basic of skills - how to analyze and think through materials presented to them by their teachers.  However, she applauded private and parochial schools for their students CAN think critically!  She and her colleagues see a definite difference in students based upon their educational background, and what is more, she noted it on national television! Kudos to New Life Christian for expecting its students to “think critically” in order to prepare them for college - and life! 

Commencement always takes me through a range of emotions - and when the roller coaster stops, I am always thankful.  As I approach commencement each year it is bittersweet to say good bye to another group of young adults that I have loved and prayed for during their years at NLCA.  Somehow they push and shove and make room in my heart for themselves, even though I think it must be full and can hold no more!

Watching them walk - well, step together isn’t really normal walking! - down the aisle makes them seem so grown-up, but I have learned that underneath that swagger of a graduate is a kid who is probably a little afraid of what lies ahead.  The future is exciting and one day they will look back and see the path they have walked - and with God’s direction - it will be an adventure of a lifetime.  Nothing thrills me more than to talk with an alumni and hear where their life-adventure is taking them. 

None of us can look back over our lifetime and say that we anticipated life happening exactly as it did.  With Christ in the lead, we have to learn to trust Him when we cannot see around the curves or over the hills.  That’s not always fun, but sometimes I can honestly say it has been a pleasure to allow God to just lead me.  In my humanness I would maybe have done life differently, but in Christ I am happy and content.  That’s my heart’s prayer for the Class of 2010.

Brian Simmons, President of Associaton of Christian Schools International

A Colorado Springs Gazette.com article recently caught my attention. It was about Jane Hilberry, an English professor at Colorado College, who had been invited to speak to middle school children in the Springs. When leaders at the school discovered Hilberry’s Body Painting book, they rescinded her invitation. According to the article, the book “features nudity on its cover and verse about…same-sex attraction” (Rabey 2009). A University of Northern Colorado website states, “Crazy Jane…makes appearances throughout Hilberry’s work, seducing a bear, sleeping in a priest’s bed, and generally transgressing social norms. Ultimately, the poet celebrates unconventional choices—to love both men and women, not to have children, and to abandon the attempt to find God in church” (Colorado Poets Center). Hilberry responded to the rescindment of her invitation by saying that she feels “deeply, deeply, deeply that art has in some ways saved [her] life, and the sad thing is the Colorado Springs School is not giving its kids a chance to have that experience” (Rabey 2009). Now here is my question: Would you rather have Professor Hilberry teach your young child or your college-age child? I believe that the best answer is neither!

You will recall from previous articles I have written that Bonnie and I are committed to “cradle to grave” Christian education for each of our four children. So you can imagine how intrigued I am by conversations I hear from time to time about the importance of Christian education. Some believe that Christian education is important during the primary years but think that secondary Christian education is less important, or vice versa. Others argue that Christian college education is what really matters but believe that K–12 Christian education isn’t really necessary. For the record, I believe that “cradle to grave” Christian education is one of the best means available to me as a father in the achievement of one of my primary goals in life—that each of my four children will grow up to be thoroughly prepared, full-throttle, sold-out followers of Jesus Christ! For the remainder of this article, however, I will focus my thoughts on Christian college education, because soon many newly graduated Christian high school students, along with their parents, will be making college decisions for the fall.

Recently I witnessed a verbal assault on a mother who had the courage to publicly question the quality of the education her child and others would receive at a secular university. I believe that the degree to which an education aligns with truth is the degree to which it is excellent…or not. The sad fact is that one has to search diligently to find anything that even vaguely resembles an excellent, quality education at many of our “finest” secular colleges and universities today. Education that contradicts the foundational truth of the Word of God and scornsHis Son, Jesus Christ—who is Truth personified—is miseducation.

Dinesh D’Souza writes the following in his book What’s So Great About Christianity:

Psychologist Nicholas Humphrey argued in a recent lecture¹ that just as Amnesty International works to liberate political prisoners around the world, secular teachers and professors should work to free children from the damaging influence of their parents’ religious instruction….

Philosopher Richard Rorty argued that secular professors in the universities ought “to arrange things so that students who enter as bigoted, homophobic religious fundamentalists will leave college with views more like our own” [(Boffetti 2004)].…

This is how many secular teachers treat the traditional beliefs of students. The strategy is not to argue with religious views or to prove them wrong. Rather it is to subject them to such scorn that they are pushed outside the bounds of acceptable debate. This strategy is effective because young people who go to good colleges are extremely eager to learn what it means to be an educated Harvard man or Stanford woman….

Children spend the majority of their waking hours in school. Parents invest a good portion of their life savings in college education to entrust their offspring to people who are supposed to educate them. Isn’t it wonderful that educators have figured out a way to make parents the instruments of their own undoing? Isn’t it brilliant that they have persuaded Christian moms and dads to finance the destruction of their own beliefs and values? Who said atheists weren’t clever? (2007, 35–37)

For a real life example of this, you need look no further than this Gazette.com article I’ve cited. ACSI has as members 135 of the finest Christian colleges and universities in the world. As you consider colleges for the fall, I encourage you to visit www.acsi.org (select the Higher Education link under the Schools tab) and to consider a truly excellent Christian college education.

Note

1. Nicholas Humphrey, “What Shall We Tell the Children?” (Amnesty lecture, Oxford, February 21, 1997), http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/humphrey/amnesty.html.

References

Boffetti, Jason. 2004. How Richard Rorty found religion. First Things (May). http://www. firstthings.com/article/2008/09/how-richard-rorty-found-religion–45. Quoted in D’Souza 2007, 35–36.

Colorado Poets Center. Bibliography: Jane Hilberry. University of Northern Colorado. http://www.coloradopoetscenter.org/poets/hilberry_jane/index.html.

D’Souza, Dinesh. 2007. What’s so great about Christianity. Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing.

Rabey, Steve. 2009. School snubs local poet over her ‘body’ of work. Gazette.com, December 4. http://www.gazette.com/entertainment/poet-90315-uninvited-hilberry.html.

November was a busy month for us at NLCA.  Grandparents Day and conferences, varsity teams winning conferences (Soccer and Volleyball) - all fun stuff! But we also had some dark days as we walked with one of our school families, the Castillo’s,  through the loss of father and husband.  In the midst of the sorrow, the junior class worked at a fundraiser for the family held at Tom Manis Restaurant, owned by another school family, the Williams.  What a blessing to see all of Shelby’s classmates waiting tables, washing dishes, cooking, bussing tables, serving drinks and desserts - not for themselves, but for a classmate they dearly love.  It did my heart good to see such servanthood demonstrated by our students.  With donations that night and those brought to NLCA, the family received well over $3,000.

The day of the funeral we hosted the family dinner following the service.  The teachers took their turn at feeding more than 200 people in the school multi-purpose room.  That’s what NLCA is about - living by example so students will learn to love others more than themselves. Our teachers do that everyday - sacrificially teaching because they believe in the Cause of Christian Education. 

What a privilege it is to work at New Life Christian Academy.  What a privilege you have to be a part of the New Life family.  I am thankful for you!

Just two weeks ago the faculty and I attended the Association of Christian Schools International Educators’ Convention in South Bend, Indiana.  What a great trip!  Not only was the fellowship sweet, the seminars and general sessions were empowering for Christian educators.  We heard Dr. Brian Simmons, the new ACSI president, challenge us with “in trying times, refocus on your mission - creating disciples and teaching TRUTH.”  He reminded us that TRUTH will last through eternity - and TRUTH is the core of all that we teach in Christian schools.  We create disciples by teaching/training our students to be thoroughly prepared disciples of Jesus Christ so God can change the world through them!  Another speaker, Dr. Charles Ware, president of Crossroads Bible College in Indianapolis, also spoke on TRUTH and Christian education.  We have the TRUTH and must be faithful to teach it.  We take polls in America and call it “truth,” but  only God authors real TRUTH. Christian educators were challenged to teach TRUTH and do it faithfully day in and day out. 

If Ihad only one phrase to summarize the convention, it would be Teach TRUTH because we - Christian schools - are THE HOPE for the future of America.  We have the opportunity to change the course of our nation if we remain faithful.