Sometimes you have to get some distance to see things clearly.

At Veritas, our mission is to cultivate loving, serving, thinking students. A lot of what we do, however, is fairly commonplace. My office is right behind the Receptionist area and right beside the Nurse’s station. The sentence that I hear more than any other during the illness-laden months of the winter is “Do you think you’re going to throw up?” This is just about as far as you can get from inspiring, ethereal, ivory-tower idea mongering.

Lest we get bogged down with the everyday mundane, it’s crucial for all of us to take time to get above the treetops. There are times that it pays to go up the mountain and get a broader vision of what we’re doing and why we’re doing it - and that applies to leaders of grand, multi-million-dollar institutions as much as it applies to the parent at home with her kids (and, yes, as much as it applies to Christian school leaders).

That’s why it is a privilege each summer for me and other Veritas leaders to attend the national conference of the Association of Classical and Christian Schools (ACCS). As an ACCS Board Member, I’m required to attend these conferences and meetings, and this year I was particularly blessed to have our Board Chairman, Eric Seeger and Executive Director of Administration, Jonathan Daughtrey with me at the conference.

Being at this conference helped us to see some things more clearly, and I wanted to share some highlights with you. It’s my hope that you will catch the vision of what Classical Christian Education is cultivating in our children and our society, and be encouraged by what the leaders of this dynamic movement are doing to make that vision come to fruition.

Sometimes, the simplest things are most important.

Before the conference starts, we have a one-day event called Leaders’ Day, which is particularly geared for Administrators and Board Members. This year, in Atlanta, two executives from Chick-Fil-A came down and talked with us about the importance of hospitality. Their testimony was inspiring and challenging. It was interesting to learn from a business that has so carefully considered how to show hospitality to their customers, and challenging to see an organization that has done such diligent work in making sure that their community sees the love that they have in their hearts.

Applying the Chick-Fil-A Philosophy to Schools

It’s striking that, while Chick-Fil-A’s food is certainly delicious (who wouldn’t love some waffle fries and a peach milkshake in front of them right now?), great chicken isn’t necessarily the thing that has made such fervent fans of the restaurant. What makes people camp out on a sidewalk for days waiting for the newest Chick-Fil-A to open? Why is the drive-through line packed out of the parking lot during the lunch hour? What sets Chick-Fil-A apart goes beyond their sandwiches. It’s their legendary hospitality. And I would venture to say that having employees that sincerely care about their customers and go out of their way to make them feel appreciated is much simpler than finding the perfect chicken recipe.

ACCS is working to help schools build on Chick-Fil-A’s insights concerning hospitality, providing resources to support better customer service, including cards that mimic some of Chick-Fil-A’s employee training. These will be produced by Davies Owens, who spoke at Veritas’s Leadership Circle Reception this year, and I’m looking forward to implementing these concepts once we receive them. As a close-knit school community, it is critical to me - and to our board, staff, and faculty - that we serve you (our parents and students) exceptionally well. Any opportunity we have to earn your trust and to better delight your family is worth pursuing. After all, it’s “our pleasure” to serve you!

It's encouraging to work together.

Also on Leaders’ Day, we spent some time in a case study exercise. We were divided into tables of six to eight where one person (chosen and vetted in advance) presented an issue their school is facing. By the end of the hour, each participant left with sound advice and solid best practices to help with commonly faced school concerns.

Joining forces with other school leaders and putting our minds together to discover real solutions for real issues benefitted all of us. Whether in our churches, our families, or our jobs, taking time to meet with others in the same position as ourselves can help us gain a new perspective and inspire creative solutions. And, when everyone around the table has the common calling to glorify God and uphold His truth, beauty, and goodness (as was the case at the ACCS Conference), great things will happen for all involved.

(As a side note, I was fortunate to be able to reconnect with an old friend at this event, as I was at a table with Rob Spykstra, our former Development Director who is now Headmaster at Morningstar Academy in Iowa. It was great to see Rob and his wife, Tamra!)

The battle is heating up.

During the regular conference, we were challenged by some fascinating plenary speakers. An overarching theme emerged through all the speakers: the challenge facing our sons and daughters growing up in this culture at this time is great.

Our culture is tilting away from the Christian faith and away from objective reality. Our kids cannot thrive in the atmosphere that is developing. As parents, we must build communities that are oriented toward helping our children remain faithful and sane during these challenging times. This might sound dour, but I see it as an opportunity. If we can give our children a solid foundation at home, at school, and in the church, they are going to be exceptionally prepared to be useful in Christ’s kingdom.

One of the plenary speakers was Abdu Murray, Ravi Zacharias’s right-hand man. A former lawyer and a convert from Islam, he talked about truth and cultural apologetics. He was so keyed into the battle for truth and reason that are erupting in our culture. While his talk at ACCS is not currently available for viewing, you can watch a similar talk from Abdu here.

We also heard from the only American Teacher from the Early Rain Covenant Church School, a Classical Christian School in China. He was deported when all the school leaders and many of the students were arrested. You can read Pastor Wang Yi’s “My Declaration of Faithful Disobedience” for a challenging look into what our brothers and sisters in China are facing. We could not know the speaker’s name because he is actively trying to get back into China to continue to serve Christ and to be persecuted with his friends, fellow teachers, and students.

The conference has left me with a challenge: can we go deeper into our mission to cultivate loving, serving, thinking students that are prepared to stand on the truth in a truth-averse culture? We have both the opportunity and the God-given task of raising young men and women to serve Christ in this generation. The task is challenging, but our advantages are great. Can we work together to build a foundation for our children and the future generations of our community, country, and world? I pray that we can, and look forward to working toward that end with you this year.

Are you looking for a school that not only has its sights firmly set on God's truth this year, but also exceptionally prepares your child to go out into the world as a critical thinker, compelling communicator, and joyful lifelong learner? We invite you to check out Veritas Academy by clicking the image below!