Christian Brothers Academy

In reading Bill Davis’ book, In All Things Christ Preeminent, it is evident that receiving an education at Covenant College will be a unique spiritual and intellectual experience. With Christ present in all areas of the school, the structure of the college and what it as an institution aspires to accomplish varies greatly from that of the high school I attended. Based on the Christ-like goals, student body, and instruction of Covenant College depicted in In All Things Christ Preeminent, receiving an education from Covenant seems vastly different from my secular experience at LaFayette High School.

God calls us to serve and to do everything with love (1 Peter 4:10, 1 Corinthians 16:14). As a Student Affairs (SA) professional, my main goal is to help students discover their calling and equip them to better serve the world while integrating their faith. Smith (2004), states why it is important to serve as a mentor during a critical adult faith development stage. In The Council for the Advancement of Standards and Higher Education (CAS), CAS has incorporated faith, spirituality and religion into the standards and competencies that they advocate for individuals working as educators in the student affairs field ( Smith, 2004). In the CAS masters-level graduate program for student affairs standards (2004) the authors spoke to the essential need to incorporate spirituality.

Purpose: The purpose of the following document is to highlight to the Board of Heritage Christian Academy the current state of, the challenges faced by, the vision for, and the future potential of the band program.

The students at Summit Charter Collegiate Academy, also known as SCCA, are bright young students with potential to make their future an outstanding work of art. They are students who are serious about their education and will do anything to get to the highest pinnacle in life. But besides being determined and solemn scholars, they are still only teenagers in high school who just want to have fun. The culture at SCCA lacks fun, excitement, and freedom, and the main reason for that is because of the Burton School District that runs the facility. There needs to be some changes in the Burton School District and in the culture of SCCA.

Holmes rightly mentions that, often in the past, anti-intellectualism or “cultural escapism” has erupted within the Church; however, the beauty of a Christian college is that it recognizes (and emphasizes) that all truth is God’s truth, and that “in God’s creation every area of life and learning is related to the wisdom and power of God” (Holmes, 1987). Another benefit of the integration of faith and learning is that, when the ultimate goal is to give glory to God, all aspects of examining and exploring His world become exciting and satisfying. Students are in an atmosphere where even the faculty delights in pursuing an education; learning is, according to Holmes, “an act of love, of worship, of stewardship, [and] a wholehearted response to God” (Holmes, 1987). The integration of faith and learning is vital, unique, and exceptionally executed by Christian colleges.

The ethos of Southwestern Christian University is a wonderful blend of academia and solid Christian influence. Southwestern Christian University (hereafter referred to as SCU) unapologetically advances its "vision for a Christian liberal arts education pursued from the perspective of the Biblical Christian worldview" (Wenyika). In a world "swamped" with education that has been secularized to the point of "Godlessness", SCU stands as a beam of light shining through the darkness to educate and encourage students to be excellent both in Godly character and in daily living. As an online student of SCU, I am honored to be a "torchbearer" among those like myself who have chosen to make Jesus the "Lord" over both, life and education.

Ridgeview Christian School is a non-profit, private, Christian school located in Stuarts Draft, Virginia. They are a ministry of Ridgeview Baptist Church and was established in 1976. I am very familiar with this school as my daughter has been a student there for four years and my husband is an alumnus. The reason I chose this was because I am knowledgeable in their history, values and even flaws that they have.

My Christian liberal arts education is a major factor in establishing my current vocation. As a junior at Wheaton College, my current vocation is to be a student. I feel called to give my best effort at everything I do, and every assignment I work on. In reading C.S. Lewis’s essay on “Learning During War Time”, I was encouraged by his explanation of how the pursuit of knowledge, and my vocation of being a student, are worthwhile and valuable, no matter the circumstances surrounding us (Lewis, p.43-45). Going to a Christian liberal arts school definitely influences my current vocation. By learning about many subjects by taking a well-rounded course schedule of classes, I can learn to appreciate a variety of subjects and understand more about

One of the key core values of the Christian Liberal Arts Curriculum is faith. It is incorporated into every aspect of the experience, yet it is not forced upon me. I am allowed to believe and explore the different religious denominations without getting the cold shoulder. I am

In life, we all play different roles. I am a daughter, niece, friend, student, employee and artist. The definition of a social group is two or more people who interact on a regular basis in routine ways and who share a common sense of membership and identity. A social group example would be classmates in one section of a class and an example of an aggregate would be New Yorkers riding the subway together. An aggregate is not a group but a collection of people who briefly share the same physical space but do not see themselves as belonging together. Over the summer, I auditioned to be part of a theatre company and was asked to join. The name of the company is called Complete Theatre Company and they do shows and have acting classes three days a week. I was recently part of their improvisation show “Call My Dog’’. The people in the class range from ages eighteen to seventy five, normally in the Friday class, they are about 15 people that come, but it depends on the day. It differs week to week. A normal acting class is formatted by doing physical and vocal warm ups, having a keynote speaker where we talk about different aspects about the business of acting and then Annie goes around the room and asks us if we have a scene or a monologue to work on and if we do, we work on them and the class gives positive feedback. We are a primary group because we are small in number, we interact personally (we know about each other’s personal life) and we show genuine interest and support

I deeply value the spirit of collaboration that exists at Columbia, allowing some of the best young minds in the country work together to learn, research, and change the world. The Common Core curriculum is a major part of what makes Columbia such a closely-knit community. Because the entirety of the diverse student population takes a set of the same courses, they all have shared experiences to connect over. The Common Core promotes deep intellectual discussions which bring out the unique perspective of every student, allowing them to learn from each other. The advising system at Columbia also contributes to this culture of collaboration. One’s fellow students can also be his or her mentors or advisers, supporting him or her and helping him and her learn, grow, and find new opportunities. The small class sizes contribute to this culture as well, by helping students to form closer relationships both among themselves and with their professors.

Tuckman proposes that groups develop via five stages; forming, storming, norming, performing and finally adjourning (Archee, Gurney, & Mohan, 2013a). The first stage, known as forming, involves clarifying the task and purpose of the group, and identifying boundaries of both the task and interpersonal behaviour (Archee et al., 2013a). For the presentation task we were randomly allocated into groups. This worried me greatly as I have struggled in the past with group members who do not contribute equally or see the task as important as other group members. To avoid this problem, the group collectively determined and agreed upon a number of ground rules. For example, we decided that all group members were expected to contribute equally to the presentation, all group members were expected to attend and contribute at all group meetings, and all group members would adhere to agreed upon deadlines. Having failed to do this in previous group assignments, this clarification stage

Instead of placing one’s self-worth in things of the world, a person can find their value in God alone. For example, ballet often causes an individual to be overly focused on how they look and achieving the perfect dancer’s body to satisfy themselves, their teachers, or their audience. Because of this, many dancers have poor self-image which can lead to eating disorders or other unhealthy lifestyles. However, if Christianity is the focus of the dance studio, much less emphasis is placed on being perfect, and the focus is mainly enjoying dance and using the gift God has given. Furthermore, dancers no longer have to seek approval from the world and others which encourages them to become all God has created them to be. God tells us that we should find our identity and value in Him alone. When an individual values themselves, they also begin to value others and view them differently. In the novel Quo Vadis, Vinicius was infatuated with Lygia’s looks and viewed her as an object that he needed to possess. When God captured his heart, Vinicius’ affection for Lygia was no longer based on her outward appearance. He saw her as a person that he should honor, love, and respect. (Gutenberg.org) When one values others, they consider them and have the attitude of “do to others what you would have them do to you” rather than just considering themselves. (Matthew 7:12) Finally, accepting Christianity changes one’s view of God. C.S. Lewis, a renowned Christian apologist, struggled with his view of God throughout his early life. When he was young, Lewis became angry at God for events in his life that he saw as unfair and cruel. Later on, Lewis realized that God is just and loving and always has a plan and purpose. (cbn.com) After learning who God truly is, Lewis accepted Him as his savior, and his life was forever changed. Instead of being

This text has shown me that my beliefs impact the way I see the world, the people in it, and that my thoughts and actions are inevitably affected by them. As I move deeper into my studies, I am learning the importance of this, and of bringing my whole self into whatever situations I face. Societal values are constantly changing, but Christian values remain firm, as they are planted with biblical roots (Keith-Lucas, 1987, p.3).

Participations in small in-class groups which purpose was to accomplish a task assigned to us by our Professor, were the most powerful learning experiences for me. In developing common focus, as stated in Gitterman and Germain (2008), members need to establish group rules and also remember to “build on one another’s contributions, identify and focus on salient collective themes, invite expression of differences” (p. 174), as well as welcome opinions which are contradictory or different from the majority.