The BC government is rolling out a new (or revised) education plan. As a government-funded school, we are obligated to deliver education in line with the plan. As a Christian school, our first obligation is to be faithful to our mission. And so, on a professional development day earlier this year, we devoted time to work out what the new BC Education Plan means for ACES.

We began by asking what are our deep hopes for learners, in light of our mission of “Engaging Minds, Nurturing Hearts, Shaping God’s World.”

Here is what we listed:

  • Know how to live in community
  • Be able to know and live in God’s story
  • Be joy-filled
  • Be self-disciplined
  • Be confident in who God made them
  • Be a child of God
  • Recognize their gifts
  • Discerners
  • Develop/maintain curiosity
  • Be fruitful
  • Love God, love people, do stuff
  • Know how to wrestle through faith issues
  • Show love to be loving
  • Be comfortable with not knowing answers to big God questions
  • Be stewards
  • Understand culture and know we are all travelers
  • Contribute to others flourishing
  • Allow God to infiltrate the lives of others
  • Demonstrate an awareness of their part in God’s story
  • Global awareness/blessing
  • Lives of “otherness”, invested
  • Be courageous
  • Embrace failure as a learning opportunity
  • Faith is stronger than fear (perfect love)
  • Be forgivers
  • Communicate with others (culture, geography)
  • Life-long learners
  • Look/question beyond status quo
  • Be peculiar
  • Be wise

A concluding observation was: Academics support the goal; they are not the goal (emphasis mine).

As we recognize that school is no longer a place to get information and absorb content, as anything we need to know is readily available, we also recognize that much of what is listed above has always been our desire for learners in our long tradition of Christian education. Our government funding requires us to deliver education that is in line with the new BC Education Plan, but that plan allows us to focus on what distinguishes us as a Christian school. We have the opportunity to provide leadership in our community and in our province as we continue to discern what it means to provide quality Christian education.

We would love to hear what your deep hopes are for your children. As I tour new families, I hear many of the same things listed above. Please pray for God’s guidance as we continue the exciting challenge of fulfilling our mission.