The Case for Hillcrest: Why Should You Choose Us?
Recently we held our admissions open house to acquaint prospective families with what we do at Hillcrest Christian School. This week, we opened enrollment to our existing families, whom we would like to encourage to continue choosing Hillcrest for their children. Because we are fortunate to live in a relatively homogeneous and safe community, it is easy to think that there are a multitude of choices that will do the job of partnering with parents To make my case for a Hillcrest education, I would like to use the metaphor presented by Greg Koukl, a well respected apologist and founder of the Stand to Reason ministry..
Mr. Koukl defined worldview as a picture of reality and illustrated his point by comparing a worldview to a jigsaw puzzle; when the pieces of the puzzle are put together correctly, a cohesive picture emerges. As I thought about this analogy, the Hillcrest mission and emphasis on partnering all fell into place. If a Christian worldview is indeed likened to a jigsaw puzzle, the pieces represent Biblical knowledge like memory verses or courses like the Life of Christ; they also represent practical applications of knowledge as well as chapels, retreats, service projects, mission opportunities and the like. If these pieces are not put together or if they are not put together well, a Christian picture of reality does not emerge; one is simply left with pieces of Christianity which may not result in a real life picture.
Ten or twelve years ago, the Christian community began to talk about postmodernism, a direct attack on Christianity. The ideas of political correctness, tolerance, and relative truth that came with that continue to grow. Mr. Koukl asserts that anyone who has attended ANY institution of higher learning within the past ten years has definitely been subjected to a postmodern point of view. All of the school age children and perhaps some of their parents do not remember anything different, and that is where a partnership with Hillcrest becomes invaluable. Because we teach EVERY SUBJECT from a Biblical perspective, teachers can help students put the pieces of the puzzle together. While it is primarily a parent’s responsibility to help their children do this, my question becomes, do you feel adequately prepared to do the task without a partner? Do you know how the puzzle fits? Are you aware of the ways that postmodernism has crept into your thinking? This year, the Hillcrest faculty has committed to viewing the twelve session Truth Project which is an exploration of Christian worldview as it relates to philosophy, government, history, economics and many other topics besides science and religion. It is an eye opener and a wake up call to see the subtle ways that our thinking has been influenced by a postmodern view.
Children spend the majority of their waking hours at school or with their friends from school. Teachers, coaches, and peers thus have the potential of wielding more influence than parents. A parent of a public school child recently lamented, I can’t understand why my child thinks homosexual marriage is OK; she didn’t learn that from us, and I don’t think she learned that in Sunday school either.” That is an example of a lack of partnership for that family.
As a parent of children who are Hillcrest alumnae, and as a veteran staff member, I can attest that Hillcrest students are adequately prepared to academically compete at the highest levels; they can excel at university level athletics, and become productive members of society who are raising and training the next generation to love and serve Christ.
In this, we are like many other schools who do these things very well; however, we are unique in that every teacher, every coach, and every member of the school staff not only knows about Jesus, but is committed to grow to be more like Him and to support parents in training their children to do the same. As you make your decision for the coming school year, I urge you to ask the question, “Has my child put the pieces of the puzzle together in such a way that the picture that I can see is a Christian view of the world?” If the answer is not a resounding yes, then ask the question, “Who will help him do so?” I hope that your answer will be HCS.
