One of the proposals at the Liberty Hill city council recently are for a security resource officer to be hired to protect students at the local public schools. This has caused me to think a lot about the problems we are facing as a culture and raised a lot of question in my mind. While the safety of our children should be a top priority of every citizen, I do wonder if we are trying to put a band-aid on the problem while avoiding the real issues facing our youth. Could the problems that our youth are facing be connected to the fact that they are being robbed of faith, purpose, significance and an education that develops virtue?
One of the great blessings of being part of a private Christian school is that we have the freedom to teach our children from a Christian worldview. Because Fortis Academy is a multi-denominational, we have to decide on what doctrines and values we agree upon to explicitly teach, and those that belong to parents and their church. We have chosen to unite around:
- The scriptures are the inspired inerrant word of God.
- Scriptures have defined:
- Marriage,
- Gender,
- The beginning of life.
- The Apostle’s creed
- That we maintain the creator creature distinction but do not take an official position on the age of the earth because there are sincere, thinking Christians on both sides of the debate.
What we want is for our children to be able to succinctly and eloquently express what they believe using sound logical arguments and citing sources of authority. Our emphasis is on developing Christian thinkers and communicators who are confident, secure and speak the truth in love. The ability to communicate persuasively is a great responsibility that must be always be used for the glory of God and the benefit of men. This vision is an important part of providing a college and life ready education. When our children leave our home, it is our hope that they will have the character and faith not only to be faithful to Christ, but to be a blessing to our culture. While we cannot guarantee all of our students will truly be Christians, we can create an environment where Christian faith and values are natural and students are prepared to succeed in the world. It is our conviction that a classical Christian education is the best vehicle for this to take place. Not only do we emphasize math, science, reading, writing and speaking, but we also have an education that connects our students to the great ideas of Western Civilization from a Christian worldview. History, literature and theology are an important element of a Fortis education because history is the story of people’s religion and philosophy being worked out in the culture we create. All of this is studied with an emphasis on Socratic dialogue, because discussions are an excellent way to develop analytical thinking skills as well as civility. All of this is done in a safe environment, guided by excellent Christian educators.
While there is no question that the safety of our youth is non-negotiable (and why we have an armed security officer at Fortis Academy), it seems that we also need the courage as a culture address the real issues they are facing. There is a financial and time investment to educate our children at a classical Christian University Model school, but our children are worth it.
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