I remember that first day included my first chapel service where the students were able to vote on the school mascot, as formal athletics were going to begin in the fall. They excitedly picked "Knights" as they represented defenders of the faith. At the end of that day, we had a faculty meeting where I was formally introduced to the teachers and staff, including one kindergarten teacher named Connie Peeler. You may have heard of her.
The school was split between two campuses, using Highland Baptist Church for PreK through 3rd grade, and First Baptist Church for 4th - 7th grades. Around 170 students total. I had been hired specifically to help develop grades 8 - 12 over the next five years, to make sure those kids would be noticed and ready for college, if they chose to go, to begin athletics as an extra-curricular for our students, to develop Classical methodologies for our upcoming Rhetoric grades, and most of all, to point young people to the cross of Jesus Christ, as the culture around them was beginning to crumble. Tangibly, my job was setting up and breaking down classrooms every week, as we were sharing space with two (eventually three) churches. That helps explain why they hired a young man for the job.
I had been specifically trained as an educator, and had several years of classroom experience, so I felt confident and ready for my new responsibilities. As long as I was following expectations set by someone else, and not the lead guy, I was excited to serve.
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| My yearbook picture from 2001. I still have that tie! |
The board met with me to inform me that there was going to be an administrative change, and that I would be the interim Headmaster until we figured out what to do long term. Gulp!
20 years to the day later, God has blessed us with a $7 Million campus, virtually no debt, about 500 students, a faculty and staff of 70 amazing people, and 360 alumni who were introduced to a daily interaction with the Lord at school, in order to prepare them to face a mostly secular world.
This year (2020-2021), we began the process of adding a third classroom per grade in Kindergarten, which will lead to further growth over the next 10 years, and a greater impact on the Christian culture of Hickory, NC.
I continue to believe that Classical education is the greatest way to train our young people to discern what is true, good, and beautiful in this world, and to defend against all the imposters of those virtues. If all our kids do is memorize stuff for a standardized test in order to impress a college acceptance committee, we will lose the fight for their minds and our future. They are worth more effort that that. I continue to believe that the cross of Christ is the only hope we have, and in today's world, if that is not emphasized to our young people on a daily basis, the future is in trouble, not only for them, but for our culture as a whole.
The past 20 years have been amazingly difficult, but defending the souls and minds of our children can never have a price too high to pay, and I am honored to have been a small part of that. The 20 years have also been incredibly rewarding, not only in the daily interactions with thousands of precious children and parents, but also now as I see alumni in their 20's and 30's with children of their own - Young parents who are planting the same seeds in their own homes as they had growing up at HCA, and at least seven of them who have returned to put their kids back in the same classrooms they grew up in back in the day.
Thank you Hickory Christian Academy for welcoming in and tolerating a young guy who honestly didn't know what he was doing, encouraging me throughout each year, and raising your children alongside of mine for two decades. I could not ask for a better collection of people to influence my kids that what we have had. Kristen was in Kindergarten in my first year, and is now completing her 4th year on the mission field in Haiti. Sydney was in PreK that first year, and is now a 2nd grade teacher at a Classical Christian School in Nashville. Amy and Sam are finishing college this year, and Julia and Levi (who were not born the day I started at HCA) are in our high school, and beginning to make their life plans. HCA has formed me and my family much more than I could have ever formed it. Every minute was totally worth it.
On Monday, I will begin the first day of my second 20 years. I am so excited to see what God has in store!
