When It Comes To Learning, More Is Better. It Just Depends On What The "More" Is.
September 03, 2024
Is more always better? It depends, of course. More hot fudge and whipped cream? YES! More traffic on the Merritt? No thanks. When it comes to learning, more is better. It just depends on what the “more” is.
Research identified various learning styles, or modalities, decades ago. You might identify as a visual learner, enjoying graphics and pictures, or you might feel you get more out of an audiobook than you do turning pages.
The truth is that we may have preferred learning methods, but science also shows that we shouldn’t learn everything in the same way. Depending on the content, we should experience all the different learning styles.
Yes, you might like learning through visualization, but is watching a soccer game more impactful than being on the field and playing? Will you get more from reading a script or from sitting in the front row listening to our performers belt out their lines? Do you get the same experience hearing about someone’s beach trip versus feeling the sand in your toes and smelling the fries from the boardwalk yourself?
Like muscles in our body, our brain needs to have all of the various modalities stretched, trained, and put to use.
At Christian Heritage School, we know and understand the importance of training the brain. Matthew 22:37 tells us we are to love the Lord with our hearts, souls, and minds. So, how do you train a brain? It's easy — with variation.
We design our elective programs to stimulate the contemplative student, the creative student, the competitive student, the engineer, and the musician. And here’s the secret- I just described one child. Our students aren’t simply right or left-brained, pigeonholed in one track or the other. In our development of the whole child, we provide opportunities to train in various modalities.
Walk our halls, and you will see a student working on 3D Engineering schematic and 2D drawing project.
Come to a sporting event, and you will see our athletes trade their uniforms in the fall for a prop and a costume in the winter.
Attend our art show and see our student's gifted eyes with their digital photography gallery and gifted ears with digital music playlists.
Listen to our students lead a class discussion on Wednesday, then lead our worship band on Thursday.
Peek into our science labs and see students testing a hypothesis, then follow those same students to Philosophy class as they discuss Heraclitus.
By the end of a school day, your student will have flexed various parts of their brain, exercised their socialization muscles, and possibly stretched past what they knew they excelled in into areas where they might feel as confident. Our job at CHS is to make sure our programming provides the well-rounded educational opportunities our students need to stimulate and grow their minds, as we have been called to do.
This year our blog posts will be highlighting all of the various ways we do this, from community events to therapy dogs. We will be hearing from our CHS experts on this subject in upcoming blog articles. So stay tuned!
Mr. Karl Simon is beginning his 22nd year in Christian Educational Administration and his fourth year at CHS. He enjoys reading, woodworking, watching the Patriots and Red Sox, and arguing with students who think the Yankees are better. He also coaches at CHS, where he enjoys spending time with kids outside the classroom on windy sidelines and on long car rides to away games. Mr. Simon feels serving as principal of the CHS Upper School is a great privilege, and he enjoys his relationships with his colleagues, students, and families.
Come to the Table - Our Spiritual Theme for 2024-25
August 19, 2024
Luke’s Gospel tells us what Jesus came to do. “The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10).” But it also tells how He uniquely went about doing it. “The Son of Man came eating and drinking (Luke 7:34).”
Meals matter. Food sustains our bodies. And the people we eat with are usually the ones who sustain our soul. The word “companion” comes from the Latin words “bread” and “together”, because a friend is someone who breaks bread with us.
Jesus ate with everyone – the renegades and the religious; He ate with a few and with the masses, with His best friends and His betrayer.
.png)
Our theme this year is Come to the Table. While this is Jesus’ free invitation of grace to all, it is hard to RSVP “yes”. Accepting this invitation comes with some stipulations. You have to acknowledge you are hungry for something that only God can satisfy. You also have to be okay being in the presence of your enemies at this table, because the grace of Jesus does not play favorites. And you have to eat what is served at the table.
We are going to journey through the book of Luke and stop each time Jesus sits down with someone for a meal. And we are going to learn about grace, humility, and the mission of God. And I pray that we will also live these out in greater measure. Come to the Table.
And we are going to practice this as a community right at the start of the year! On August 29th, we will kick off our first week of school with our annual Dedication Picnic. We share a meal and ask God to sustain us and empower us to learn and love in the year ahead. Then, on September 12-13, we’ll take the high school to HUME New England for our overnight retreat. Again, we will be sharing meals and marveling at the grace of Jesus offered to sinners like us.
Mark Persson, aka “Chappy P,” is the Chaplain at CHS. He is married to Michelle, and they have three children: Karis (starting Kindergarten at CHS!), Micah, and Asher. Mark likes baking (read “eating”) bread, running, reading, and building forts with his kids. He is an elder at his church. And, he is blessed beyond belief to work alongside the incredible staff and faculty at CHS as they serve students and families!
The Idolatry of Life Balance
June 24, 2024
With blue skies, bright days, and the alluring message of growth, rest, and pleasure, summer always has our ear and tugs at our heart. Summer beckons us to believe we can finally get it right.
By the way, don’t you want perfect balance in your life? Aren’t you going to finally get summer right? We believe if we can get our work/vacation, rest/play, fun/faith, family/friends/me time balance right, that all will go well for us. This sounds like a modern idea, but the Apostle Paul engaged with a similar mindset when debating the Epicureans in Acts 17. They believed they could order their lives in such a way that pain would not be able to penetrate them. Our longings for life balance often have this same undertone. We want to control our world by increasing pleasure and eliminating pain. This posture puts us in the place of God, and this is idolatry.
So, what do we do?
Remember that you were created in God’s Image. That means we are beautifully made and quite complex. We are relational, intellectual, physical, spiritual, and emotional beings. So, pursuing health in these areas is a good and right endeavor.
God has given us different gifts. Some of us are so relationally wired we never make time to engage our minds or exercise. Some of us exercise so much that we neglect time with the LORD. This means balance and health will look different for each of us this summer.
Remember that whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving (Colossians 3:23).
Here are three initiatives happening this summer to pursue Gospel balance:
1) Parents and families join the PTL Walk/Run a Mile with Jesus initiative. Look for an email with information on this!
2) 7th-12 grade students join Fitness in July. We’ll be meeting at the school every Monday and Wednesday from 8:30-9:30 AM in July for prayer, connection, and a run/workout.
3) And everyone, join with us as we journey through the book of Acts with a 75-day devotional!
Have a great summer.
Mark Persson and Katie Levis
Mark (Spiritual Director) and Katie (Athletic Director) collaborated on these 2 summer initiatives for Health and Wellness.
The Jump From Homeschooling To Christian School
April 29, 2024
You've heard the saying "If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans". This certainly rings true with our family. We were happy at our public school, did not plan on homeschooling, and never even considered a private school. But God had other plans!
Our family moved to Trumbull for the same reason a lot of families do - the great schools! My kids were in kindergarten, 2nd and 3rd grade at our local school when the world shut down in March 2020. We finished out the year distance learning and, as we looked ahead to all the unknowns, we decided to pull our kids from school and homeschool.
We called ourselves Taylor Academy. I spent the summer researching curriculum and trying to figure out how the whole homeschooling thing worked. While it is certainly not for everybody, we fully embraced homeschooling as a family and continued to learn together for two years.
During the two years of being a mom AND teacher, I realized the immense influence teachers have over children. I’d heard the statistic that a child will spend 16,000 hours at school from kindergarten through graduation.* It wasn’t until 2020 that I began to think about what kind of environment I wanted my kids to be in for the most vulnerable years of their lives. And that it should concern me greatly to know what is being taught as good and normal while my kids are under the care of someone else. I am now so fully aware of how much trust we put in a public school system that will not allow God through the front doors.
While homeschooling, I answered all my kids’ questions through the lens of my Christian world-view. We had many amazing conversations and I got to share God with them through so many different subjects. I realized that I could never relinquish my precious kids to public school again. Even if the teacher was “really nice,” it did not mean our values align. I wanted my kids to learn about the world the way God created it and through the Christian context.
Then, through a series of events that only God could orchestrate, I started working at CHS in the Finance Office, and my kids joined the student family. At first, we were hesitant because we truly loved the freedom that homeschooling gave us. On a selfish note, I truly treasured the time I spent with my kids watching them grow up. But once we got over the initial shock of starting school at 7:40a.m., my kids and I have never looked back!
We have been at CHS now for 2 years, and we continue to thank God every day for bringing us here. Aside from the academic schedule and extracurricular activities available, there are so many elements of being at a Christian school that I will never take for granted. The teachers pray for the students. They pray for MY kids! Students have chapel once a week where they get to hear a biblical message and worship God with their peers. They have Bible class during school that I can trust is teaching the actual Word of God. My kids are forming lifelong friendships with their classmates who share our Christian values. Even the sports coaches gather and pray with the kids before games. We are blessed beyond measure to be part of this community. And as a mom, I am eternally thankful to the teachers who love my kids and have committed their lives to pouring God's love out on students in a school setting.
*Battle for the American Mind by Pete Hegseth
Lara Taylor grew up in Pennsylvania and received her accounting degree from Messiah College. She moved to Connecticut after marrying Jeremy Taylor, a pastor at Black Rock Church. They live in Trumbull with their children Blake, Chad and Paige. Lara is entering her 3rd year as a Senior Accountant in the Finance Office at CHS. When not at school or church, you will most likely find the Taylor family on the baseball field, basketball court, or home enjoying being together.
CHS Arts: Impacting the Body, Brain, and Spirit
April 22, 2024
Just outside the SLC, near the traffic circle, is “Cindy’s Garden.” During her many years at CHS, Mrs. Cindy Keegan often reminded us, “It is SO important for students to be a part of something bigger than themselves.” We do this really well in the Visual and Performing Arts department. Each and every student’s singing voice is heard, every instrumentalist has a part to play, every actor has a role to fill and no one is “sitting on the bench.” At the art show this month, every student’s work is displayed, considered and celebrated. Each person makes a contribution that is integral, unique and irreplaceable.
At Christian Heritage School, we believe that the visual & performing arts are learned skills that every student can acquire and develop at any age. It is not something only for the “talented few.” This is why, at CHS, all students, grades K - 8 take visual arts and music classes as a part of their weekly curriculum. Students this age are discovering what they excel at and what it is they enjoy doing. In grades 9 - 12 at CHS, roughly ninety percent of the student body enrolls in at least one arts class annually. The largest classes in the upper school are all arts classes. This year, the high school concert choir roster is literally fifty percent of the entire high school student body!
If you are looking for your student to excel in the arts at the highest level, we have opportunities for you here at CHS. This school year, we had many students participate in regional and all-state music ensembles. We have current seniors being accepted into nationally recognized visual arts programs. Since the school was founded, many CHS students have gone on to pursue careers in the arts as a vocation and a profession. Currently, three teachers in the Visual and Performing Arts department are CHS alums. CHS students and alums have performed on some of the finest stages in New York City and have been featured on television programs like “America’s Got Talent.”
That said, the primary goal of the Visual and Performing Arts department is not to produce the next generation of professional artists and musicians. Rather, the objective is to show each student that he or she can be artistic. There is a place for everyone, regardless of ability, in an arts class at CHS. Artistry and musicianship are learned skills that all can improve.
When a student participates in an arts class, their brain is engaged in learning in a way that is totally unique in the midst of the school day. As a singer, instrumentalist, painter or photographer, the student is working and engaging the brain in three different realms at the same time: psychomotor, cognitive and aesthetic, or more simply put, “body, brain and spirit.” In arts classes, learning is more physically active and participatory than other academic areas. Students are “doers” first when they are in an arts class–they are musicians, they are artists, they are creators. The cognitive side of the brain is engaged in arts classes, too. Musicians are literally reading and performing a written and aural universal language. Performers have countless details to consider as they work in real time. Artists and creators have to contemplate not just how they will capture and present their work, but also how others will receive it. Artists of the highest caliber are thinkers, too. Finally, arts classes engage the learner in the area that is feelingful and inspiring. Works of art touch the human spirit in ways that are totally unique. Learning of all kinds impacts the brain. Not all the facts, words and numbers covered in a school day impact the spirit and touch the soul the way work in the arts can do.
The human ability to create and participate in artistic mediums and expressions of all kinds points back to our Creator. Our Heavenly Father is the ultimate artist and creator of all things beautiful. When we engage body, brain and spirit as artists, we are reflecting, celebrating and bringing honor to our creator. It was His idea first and we are his image bearers.
Something unique to a successful concert, art show, musical, or even chapel service is that each student artist and musician must be excellent at his or her part. Each CHS arts instructor capably sets up all students for artistic success. It takes each student, performing his or her role with technical accuracy and excellent artistry, to create a solid presentation. In arts classes, students learn diligence, creativity, critical thinking and patience all simultaneously. Most importantly, they are learning “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men…it it the Lord Christ you are serving” Colossians 3:23
Upcoming Spring Concerts:
- High School - Thursday, May 9, 7:30pm
- Lower School - Wednesday, May 15, 8:15am
- Middle School - Thursday, May 16, 7:30pm
Brett Flowers serves as the Visual & Performing Arts Department Head. This is his seventeenth year at CHS, where he directs band students in grades 4 - 12. Brett also teaches a high school Music Tech elective class and a UCONN dual enrollment course in Music Theory. Prior to coming to CHS, Brett taught in the public school system in Andover, MA and served as an adjunct music instructor at Gordon College. Brett received his Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Gordon College and his Master of Music in Saxophone Performance from Temple University. His wife is a CHS alum and four of his daughters are current students at CHS.