When I left my head of school position to come full-time with the Society for Classical Learning, my wife told me that if we did one thing as an organization, we needed to bring alumni into the classical Christian school movement. We have been thinking about how to do that at SCL ever since. After some prayer and planning, we launched our first Alumni Summit last weekend!
We invited a small group of classical Christian graduates to Heritage Prep in Atlanta to discuss the state of the classical Christian school movement, how their experience can help refine the work of our schools, and how they might consider getting involved. What an incredibly bright, fun, and insightful group of young people! They spoke about their education with wisdom beyond their years. It was inspiring to hear their perspectives and to witness their eagerness to play a role in its future. The energy the alumni brought to the conversations was a powerful reminder that the legacy of classical Christian education is not only alive but gaining momentum. We invited some outstanding speakers and leaders to cast vision and invite these young leaders into the work we are doing. Thank you to Bryce McDonald, Starrla Fowler, Erik Twist, Christopher Perrin, and Jeremy Tate.
In addition to my wife’s charge to bring classical Christian alumni into the building and growth of classical Christian education, I have also been inspired by Bill Buckley. Buckley, in an effort to extend the reach of conservatism, invited 100 young people to his home in Sharon, Connecticut, in 1960. That gathering was historic in many ways. Buckley personally invested in and encouraged the youth to get engaged in the conservative movement. He challenged them to lead and build on what had begun; to become a social and cultural force for the ideals they believed in! From the Sharon event came a host of initiatives, including: the Sharon Statement (a ~300 word summary of the conservative principles that succinctly captured the big ideas), Young Americans for Freedom (YAF), which now has 2,000+ chapters on college campuses around the country, and a host of alliances, projects, and friendships.
Classical Christian education is not a political movement (and I am not Bill Buckley). However, fostering a multi-generational vision for the renewal of culture and expansion of CCE is not only inspiring, it is necessary. YAF chapters often use a quote from Reagan that says, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” The Sharon generation of conservatives heeded that call, and their legacy continues to inspire new young conservatives 60+ years later. It is our prayer at SCL that classical Christian education will endure for generations. We hope this event and what comes from it will be the catalyst to extend and enrich the reach of the movement.
