Dinesh D'Souza to Speak at Briarwood Christian School

Briarwood Christian School has started a Distinguished Visiting Scholar lecture series. The purpose of this lecture series is to give our students and faculty an opportunity to learn from internationally respected Christian scholars and leaders. I believe this is essential as we seek to encourage our students to “love God with all of their minds” and to interact with living examples of what it means to apply the truths of God’s word to one’s life and vocation.

In God's kind providence, last year we were privileged to have Dr. John Lennox[1] address our high school students and faculty as the inaugural Distinguished Visiting Scholar. Last month, Mr. Truett Cathy, Founder and CEO of Chick-fil-A restaurants, addressed our high school students. This month, we are privileged to have Dr. Os Guinness[2] as our keynote speaker.

Several years ago, at my previous school, I was privileged to secure Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia as a guest speaker. Our students read several of his books prior to his lecture and had prepared questions for discussion after Justice Scalia’s presentation. Our seniors were honored to have a private reception with Justice Scalia after his presentation.

We have just confirmed that Dinesh D'Souza has agreed to speak to our faculty and students in 2009. I share this information with the hope that it will stimulate visionary thinking as we consider how to create world-class Christian schools. The video clip (CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO SEE a Video of a recent DEBATE) is a wonderful example of how God can use a Christian to defend The faith and spread the Gospel.

Response:

Have you had special guest speakers whom you would recommend?

What are the challenges, "dangers" of having guest speakers?

Would you ever invite speakers who were totally against your school's philosophy and mission, e.g, the ACLU et al? Why or why not?

---

Endnotes:

[1] Dr. Lennox is a graduate of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and took his doctorate there in 1970. Then for 29 years he was Reader in Pure Mathematics at the University of Wales from where he has a D.Sc. He is currently a Research Fellow in Mathematics at Green College, Oxford, and a Senior Fellow of the Whitfield Institute. John has lectured extensively in Europe, both Western and Eastern, including many visits to Russia as a guest of the Academy of Science. John is very involved in the science-religion debate, having been active in Christian work since his student days. For example, he gave the Whitefield Institute annual public lecture in 1998 on the topic "Is the watchmaker really blind?" in which he challenged the materialistic atheists like Dawkins et al.

[2] Dr. Os Guinness was Educated in England, he did undergraduate studies at the University of London and postgraduate studies at University of Oxford, where he graduated with a D.Phil. in the social sciences from Oriel College. He has written or edited more than twenty books, including The American Hour (Free Press, 1993), The Call (Word 1998), Time for Truth (Baker 2000), Long Journey Home (Doubleday 2001), and Unspeakable: Facing Up to Evil in an Age of Genocide and Terror (HarperCollins, 2005).

Technorati Tags: Wordview , Debate , Apologetics , Christianity , Atheists , Atheism , Speakers , World-class

Click to read full article>>>

Fascinating Video on Creativity

Response:

What is your response to this video?

How do we specifically/practically stimulate and ensure creativity in our classrooms?

Technorati Tags: Creativity in education , Transforming schools

Click to read full article>>>

How Should We Deal with Climate Change?

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has just released its latest report on climate change. The purpose of this post is not to debate the reality or causes of climate change. That is a task for scientists and policy makers. As Christian school leaders we have a different task: How should our teachers address this issue in the classroom? Here are questions that confront us:

• Should the science of climate change be addressed in our classrooms? If so, how?


• What is a biblical framework for assessing the science of climate change in our science classes? In our social studies classes? In our Bible classes?


• How can this issue be used to stimulate interest in science?


• How can Problem-Based Learning, Inquiry-Based Learning, and Authentic Assessments be used to address the issue?


• Should students be encouraged to be involved in addressing the issue through community service or other forms of activitism?


• How do we deal with the PR side of this issue, e.g., parents who believe that climate change is a liberal cause or those who believe that we should all buy a Prius?


• How should this issue be handled in anticipation of the inevitable assertions by some that climate change is evidence of the End Times?

Response:

Do you plan to address this issue with your faculty? If so, how? What are your concerns? What are your challenges?

Technorati Tags: Climate Change , Global Warming , Al Gore , Worldview

Click to read full article>>>

One Comment, One Changed Life

Education was not highly valued in my family when I was growing up. My father dropped out of high school to join the military and my mother never went beyond high school. With the exception of the newspaper and my mother reading her Bible, I never saw my parents read. College was never a topic of conversation. I was an average student with little vision for the future and who watched too much TV.

That all changed one day in high school when in literature class I was chosen to be a “defense attorney” charged to defend Marcus Brutus for his role in the assassination conspiracy against Julius Caesar in Shakespeare's play of the same name. I took to my role with gusto, eager to vindicate Brutus for trying to save the Republic. My client was acquitted!

After class a student came up to me and said: "You are a very good debater. You should be an attorney." That was the first time I recall receiving a compliment regarding my "intellectual" abilities. The thought flashed through my mind: "You know, perhaps I can; I'm not really trying!" With this revelation my motivation and grades dramatically improved. In God's kind providence I was the only member of my immediate family to attend college and I eventually earned my doctorate. One comment, one changed life.

A similar story is told by Highlander Way Middle School technology teacher Carole Colburn, recently named the 2007 Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning (MACUL) Outstanding Technology-Using Classroom Teacher of the Year. MACUL then nominated Colburn for "Outstanding Teacher" category of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Awards program. In 2006, Colburn also was selected from hundreds of applicants to participate in the Microsoft Innovative Teachers Forum, the first of its kind held in the U.S. She has received numerous awards for her work. She also serves as the mayor of her small town of Dansville.

Her journey started with a few kind words from a teacher. The Livingston Daily reports that Mrs. Colburn was a shy, quiet child who did not have a lot of confidence in herself until one day her speech teacher told her: "You really have a gift for public speaking." That compliment helped spark a change in the way Colburn looked at herself. "I knew I wanted to make that kind of difference with kids," she said.

Solomon reminds us that gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body. (Pro 16:24) A few well chosen words can change a life.

As leaders, we have the opportunity to use words to change lives in at least three ways: 1) to encourage and inspire our staff, 2) to encourage and instruct parents, and 3) to inspire our teachers to seek opportunities to speak words of life to their students. Words are free but they can make a priceless contribution to another’s life.

Response:

Do you have a testimony of how a few well chosen words changed your life? As leaders, what specific actions can we take to create a school culture that encourages and reflects words of inspiration and life? Do you have examples (without names) of words spoken by teachers that are destructive, demoralizing, or merely detached? What are the implications for how student work is assessed?

Technorati Tags: School culture,Inspire,Transformation

Click to read full article>>>

Challenges Facing Christian School Administrators

Zach Clark and I often spend time on the phone or on the road with Christian school leaders. We see or hear about three common challenges that school leaders face. Here are three challenges commonly faced by administrators.

1. The squeaky wheel
This is the feeling of constantly protecting the school from the people who are pushing their own agendas. This could be a group of teachers, parents, or parents. One leader we know says that at their school they are trying to completely eliminate the "thems, theys, and everybodies." These folks believe they represent and speak for the majority, but you know they are really a minority. You just wish you could prove it.

2. The reactive mode of leadership
This is something most leaders in any field have to guard against. In Christian schools it manifests itself in a feeling that you are constantly responding to needs, phone calls, emails, requests, squeaky wheels (see above) and most anything that gives you a feeling of missing out on moving the school forward strategically. This is what causes some to feel like they just aren't having the impact that they deep down believe they should.

3. Truly developing a Christian worldview among students
We've noticed far more unity of philosophy than there used to be, even a decade ago. Schools wholeheartedly agree they should be about the business of developing young men and women who can think, live, speak, write, and lead with a Christian world-view.

We should graduates students who are "different to make a difference," as they say at Briarwood. Unfortunately, our philosophy is often better than our practice. We are starting to see more and more leaders who are really seeking to determine the level of impact the Christian school is having on the development of the Christian mind, and how it can be improved.

Reponse:

Do you experience any of these? How do they manifest themselves at your school? What is your leadership response?

Click to read full article>>>