The
Defender |
Faculty
Quarterly |
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Heritage Christian High School |
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“The God of Heaven, he will prosper us;
therefore we his servants will arise and build.” Thinking back to the picture of building the wall that Prof. Engelsma drew for us at our school’s dedication, we surely can see God’s hand in prospering our cause. Many different people were involved in rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem, each group doing what they were able. So, too, with us. We have already seen many involved in the work of school, from near and far offering help and doing what they are able. God has provided for us bountifully, and a variety of needs and tasks have been met. Computer networking, furniture supply, bookkeeping and secretarial work, library and study hall help, hot lunch mothers, versatile teachers, and a Board which seeks the good of the school. God has given people of many and varied abilities to meet our needs. God has prospered us, His servants, and He will continue to do so. All of this work has borne fruit. We have a cheerful, enthusiastic student body, which is thankful for our school and has taken on the rigorous curriculum developed. Our small size has enabled us as a staff to develop and gear our courses to fit our students, who are succeeding in many ways in their work, and whose writing evidences spiritual growth. Yet there is much work to be done. As we close out the first semester of our first year, we ask for your continued support and prayers. RM
You may be interested to know who is teaching what in our curriculum. We as faculty have divided the present curriculum so that we each teach courses in our strengths and majors and so that we see all the students a couple times each day, as they move from room to room. Mrs. Sue Looyenga presently teaches Algebra I, Western Civilization, Sophomore English, Chemistry, and Latin I. Mr. Dan Van Uffelen gives instruction in Church History, Freshman English, Geometry, World Geography, and Keyboarding. I am responsible for Bible Survey, Algebra II, Biology, and Physical Education and Health . From surveying these varied assignments, the question may come, “How is this done? The teachers each have so many different courses.” The answer is versatility and preparation. We logged many hours
last summer in curriculum development, writing out objectives
and goals for each course, planning units to meet these goals
and fit the time frame, and customizing courses to address the
needs of the students. We plan to do the same next summer, but
are actually constantly going through this process, looking
back at what we’ve done and ahead, too, at what comes next year
and following. As we add junior and senior classes, the variety
of courses taught multiplies, and the need for teachers in specific
areas increases. Let us together pray that God will provide
us with these teachers. RM
My first Protestant Reformed Teacher’s Convention. “What would it be like?” I wondered. As a first-year teacher, I hoped that the convention would equip me with practical applications for the classroom, cutting-edge lesson plan ideas, and time saving tips. I’m thrilled to say that the teacher’s convention fulfilled these expectations. It equipped me with some of the teaching tools I was searching for, but most importantly, it provided me with a refreshing perspective of covenant education – a vertical perspective. This new perspective struck me at the very beginning of the convention, during Prof. Hanko’s keynote address entitled, “The Unity of Knowledge.” Prof. Hanko began by reading Isaiah 41:20, “That they (Israel) may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the Holy One of Israel hath created it.” The Holy One of Israel has created everything: the gorgeous autumn trees, the rolling oceans, and the dazzling stars of the heavens. Our God has created everything that exists, and it is our privilege and duty to study His miraculous revelations in creation. Prof. Hanko followed Isaiah 41 with a fascinating discussion about recent “epistemology,” the study of how humans learn. As it turns out, recent discoveries in this field have shed light on the fact that humans learn new things by linking those new things with information that has already been learned. In other words, we store new tidbits of information in our memories by forming relationships with old tidbits of information that have been already ingrained in our heads. This means that it is impossible to learn something as an individual unit. The only way we can learn something new is through its relationships with other things. As Prof. Hanko pointed out, it would be impossible to understand a silver maple without understanding its relationship to soil, air, and the sun. The more a person understands the relationships that the silver maple has to aspects of the world, the more a person actually understands the silver maple. Relationships are the keys to education. As Prof. Hanko proceeded to point out, these relationships are only “horizontal relationships.” They are “inter-creational.” If the key to true education were simply making relationships between worldly, physical concepts, there would be no point in keeping covenant Christian students out of public schools and placing them in Christian ones. Prof. Hanko went further to point out that as Christians teachers, we must realize that in all of this “leaning-through-relationships” talk, the most important relationship in the world is the “vertical relationship” that God establishes with His people. Without this vertical relationship, a student cannot truly learn anything. However, with this beautiful vertical relationship, a student becomes truly wise in every subject. The vertical relationship between God and His creation puts education in its proper perspective. This is why our Protestant Reformed Christian schools are so very important. They teach a relationship few other schools dare to mention. They teach a relationship that transforms knowledge into wisdom. I walked away from the convention with this inspiring, new, vertical perspective. Instead of focusing on horizontal relationships, I must first emphasize the most important relationship – the vertical one. When I teach Church History, I must make known the fact that God preserves and strengthens His people, even through the villainy of merciless emperors and ravenous lions. When I teach Geometry, I must emphasize the remarkable order that God governs His creation with. When I teach Geography, I must teach that the sovereignty of God has everything to do with the massive destruction of the World Trade Center in New York and the cruel and tyrannical government of Afghanistan. If this vertical relationship does not permeate every subject, what will students truly learn? Covenant educators must use “relationship-learning” to teach, always putting the most important relationship of God with His people and creation first. May God give all of His teachers the ability to think and teach vertically. DVU
There are, of course, disadvantages to being a small school- fewer new social encounters and fewer extracurricular activities in which to be involved. But then again, finding a parking spot in the morning is never a hassle , and neither is finding your appointed classroom once you get into school- not even when you’re a freshman. Perhaps the very best thing about being a small school, however, comes first thing in the morning every day -except Wednesday, which is a special chapel day- devotions with the entire school community in one room. Led in alternating weeks by Mr. Medema and Mr. Van Uffelen, morning devotions are centered each week around a new theme, with Scripture passages, a brief meditation, prayer, and singing directed toward the worship of God and the living of our daily lives focused upon it. Some of the themes that we have studied have been derived from the Old Testament Bible Survey class taught by our administrator, or from issues that have arisen in Mr. Van Uffelen’s Church History classes. After the events of September 11, we contemplated catastrophic events in the Bible and how God’s power and glory were revealed through these things. An old and precious Beacon Lights article on the goodness of God, written by the late Rev. Robert Harbach, served us bountifully for an entire week.. We have delved into the many facets of the word “temple” as it appears in God’s Word. We have walked with the prophet, Amos, contemplated the summer fruit in his basket, and prayed for the fruits of righteousness to be evident in our own lives. We have seen the Triune God revealed throughout the pages of Scripture and manifested in the still-living words of the martyr’s Confession of Faith. And we have confessed together that, even though there will come a time when the fig tree may no longer blossom, and there may not be fruit upon the vines, we who are blessed with plenty now , will continue to rejoice in the God of our salvation. It is a unique blessing to be able to begin the school day in this way, and even though the time may come when this is no longer possible because size or scheduling prohibits it, we will look back with appreciation for the opportunity to have done this. SL
In their sophomore chemistry class, students study the properties of matter, right down to the fundamental building blocks of matter, atoms. From time to time, students take a break from learning the many facts they must assimilate to understand chemical reactions, and from their lab work with the chemicals, in order to consider all these things through eyes of faith. Here follow some essays that capture wonder and gratitude for God’s marvelous work in creation as expressed by two sophomore scientists. SL Considering the Atom The atom is the smallest part of an element that still has the properties of that element. The thing about the atom that is really amazing is how God can create all things with such order and perfection. Looking at the atom alone is enough to fill you with awe and amazement. The atom itself is constructed of three main parts: positively charged protons and neutrally charged neutrons, which make up the nucleus, and negatively charged electrons in energy levels outside of the nucleus. The atom is so complex that even the very electrons around the nucleus have an order to them and without that order, the atom itself would collapse. This would happen because the magnetic force between the electrons and the protons would be too great or too weak and the electrons would fly off the atom or would be pulled magnetically into the protons, thus causing the atom to become extremely unstable and collapse. It is really amazing that God upholds this as part of all creation. This is a really humbling thought: that the atom to us is so small that we cannot comprehend it, and that to God, we are even smaller than this atom, but He cares for us so much that He sent His only Son to die for our sins, so that we may have everlasting life with Him. Joshua Poortinga A Tiny Piece of God’s Creation …To imagine how small atoms are we can compare the nucleus to the size of a dime in a football field, and the electrons to the size of the eye of Franklin Roosevelt on a dime in a football field. Another way to see this is to picture one ounce of water with 3 X 10 24 atoms being in it. Scientists are now finding that atoms are made up of even smaller particles called “quarks”. Atoms can teach us a lot about God and his creation. We see how much order is in everything He has made, and that everything has a way of working without fail. Even something as tiny as the atom has order. By this we are able to contemplate how perfect the new heaven and earth will be because we already see such great order around us, and we know that the new heaven and new earth will be far greater…. God has made everything, even the miniscule atom, for the sake of His elect people, in order to bring us to salvation. This thought should greatly humble us and make us very thankful to God for everything He provides to us. … Emily DeJong
“You teach Latin? But that’s a dead language. Why Latin? ” I heard it again, just the other day, the old argument implied, that learning Latin is worthless, that Latin is mouldering in the grave along with the senators, and tribunes, and gladiators of old Rome. And, in truth, there are few people upon this earth that speak Latin as a so-called “pure language” anymore, with all its inflective endings and grammatical constructions in place. But wait just a minute- language , argument ,grave, people ,pure, inflective, grammatical, construction, place- I’ve just freely used nine words in my own English language that have their roots in the Latin language. And that didn’t even take in the fact that we still have senators in the representative assemblies in the capital of our country, Tribunes on our front porches each day, and gladiators fighting professionally in the arenas of our own United States. Do you get the picture? Over 50% of the words in our own English language have been derived from Latin. Our language also abounds with Latin phrases and mottos: vice versa, bona fide, alma mater ,ad infinitum, e pluribus unum. If you want to get a good grip on English vocabulary and spelling, Latin is the latex jar opener you’ll need. In fact, even the word English itself is a Latin derivative. Not only has Latin played a large part in the shaping of our English language, but it is also the mother of the French, Italian, Spanish, and Portugese languages, among others. Marooned in Montreal? Idled in Little Italy? Stranded in Sao Paulo? Even if you’ve never learned their languages, your Latin vocabulary will give you the ability to negotiate a way out. But there is even more. Studying Latin requires attention to detail, accuracy, logical thinking, and a high level of concentration. Is there an employer on earth that wouldn’t value those traits in a prospective employee? Studying Latin is good discipline for the mind. Is there anyone who couldn’t use a little rigor in that area in a world filled with audio-visual overload? Ask any Latin student, and he or she will tell you how English grammar finally made sense in Latin class, and how knowledge of Latin vocabulary was a powerful tool when encountering difficult vocabulary found in the areas of theology, biology, mathematics, engineering, politics and many others. Latin’s uses are myriad and very practical. Take another foreign language in high school or college, and the old adage: “Use it or lose it” makes sense. But as long as you still speak English, you can’t lose your knowledge of Latin very easily. And that’s laudable in a language. SL Exam Schedule
It all began when a tortured voice cried out, “It is finished.” Our Lord, Jesus Christ, had accomplished the unimaginable. He had satisfied His father’s righteous judgment. He had saved His people from their sins! This is where my church history course begins, at both the darkest and brightest hour in world history. The rest is the fascinating, inspiring, and amazing story of Christ’s work as he gathers, defends, and preserves His church. Why is church history important? Because God is a sovereign God. God controls all things! His holy hands govern everything! From the rolling and crashing of the ocean’s waves to the flap of the butterfly’s wings. From our silly ambitions to the loss of our hair. From the violent persecution of His people to the translations of His Bible. God touches and maneuvers every last detail of His created world throughout all time. In our unending effort to get to know our God more fully, studying the history of His church throughout the ages is key. Studying the history of the church will enable us to see the working of God’s plan through His people. Studying church history will warn us about mistakes and heresies, encourage us when we think things are too difficult for us as Christians, and teach us of God’s covenant faithfulness and preservation throughout history. Studying church history will speak to us of the heritage that is ours with the saints of old as members of Christ’s body. Studying church history is watching for the fulfillment of the Word and our Lord’s return. The students have interacted enthusiastically with the history of the church. As “apologists” they have defended the truth by writing letters to Romans like Celsus, who openly attacked the church with false accusations. They have used their Bibles effectively to tear apart the ancient heresy of Gnosticism. Analyzing the Nicene Creed, the students have explored the truth of the trinity. They have shed light on the lives of saints by reading Prof. Hanko’s book, Portraits of Faithful Saints, and presenting their findings to the class. They have voiced their strong opinions about whether the Emperor Constantine’s conversion did more harm than good to the church. The students seemed to really enjoy writing short stories about “their experiences” in the days of the violent Roman persecutions. Church History (Pre-Dordt) is a course designed to teach the child of God to learn about God’s people, providence, sovereignty, covenant love, and doctrinal truths. It is the study of God’s promise that He will preserve His saints until the day of His return. “For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints: they are preserved for ever.” Psalm 37:28. Teaching this class has been exciting and edifying for me as a teacher. I’ve come to really appreciate and enjoy this deep and colorful topic. It’s my sincere hope that the study of church history is as spiritually rewarding for the students as it is for me. DVU
Hopefully, you have enjoyed this second installment
of our quarterly faculty newsletter. It ought to be explained
that our school has two newsletters, The Headliner and The Defender.
The former is intended to be a biweekly update of calendar events,
announcements, and the latest school happenings from students’
viewpoints. This paper is intended to be more formal, composed
mainly of faculty-generated articles on aspects of Christian
education and other updates from our perspective. RM |
