Several times in the past year I have had the privilege to rub shoulders with Wheaton Academy headmaster Gene Frost and glean ideas and philosophy from him. One phrase he uses that resonates well with me is “mission-appropriate students.” By that he means that his school is interested in attracting and working with students whose mindset predisposes them to flourish within the mission and culture of his school.
Dr. Frost gives an example of two incidents which illustrate what he means. In one, some students had gotten into some pretty serious trouble, but had come clean, admitted their offense, repented, and placed themselves under accountability to avoid similar problems in the future. They were dealt with in mercy, realizing that they had gone through a valuable learning experience. In the second incident, a student violated a fairly small school standard but showed a cavalier attitude toward the situation. That student was confronted with the school’s mission and challenged to change his attitude or face dismissal since he was out of step with that mission.
That brings me to consider the mission of Westlake Christian Academy: “To provide for Christian families a Christ-centered education that disciples our students to honor Jesus Christ in thought, word, and deed.” At the center of that mission, both textually and philosophically, is the verb “disciples,” which perhaps more than anything captures the driving force of this school. We are bent on making disciples of Christ. If we succeed in producing Ivy league scholars, division 1 athletes, or world-class musicians, unless those graduates are first and foremost followers of Christ, we have failed. Westlake betrays its very reason for existence unless discipleship remains the central focus of all we do. [Read more…]
