Conflict and Conversation: Modern Science in Classical Education

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We will explore the assumptions of modern science, the difficulties they raise for people of faith, and the prospects for establishing a common language capable of bridging the gap between the two.

Sabrina Little

Sabrina Little is a 2009 graduate of The College of William & Mary in Philosophy and Psychology, and a 2012 Masters graduate of Yale University in Philosophy of Religion. She is a former McLean Presbyterian Fellow and graduate assistant for The Trinity Forum, where she met her husband, David. Sabrina is an ultramarathoner and two-event American Record holder. She teaches Medieval History, Literature/Composition, and Anatomy & Physiology and serves as the head Cross-Country coach at Live Oak Classical School in Waco, Texas.

Into Africa: Classical Education and Rafki Schools

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Rafiki Foundation operates ten Christian and Classical (CC) Schools in ten countries in Africa. The presenter was fortunate to visit three Rafiki schools in West Africa this spring in order
to explore ways in which CC schools in the U.S. (including his own) can partner with and support this organization. The presentation will include images and video from that recent visit as well as suggestions for ways teachers and schools can support CC education in Africa.

Brad Ryden

Brad Ryden is the Head of School at Geneva School of Boerne, Texas. Prior to taking the position at Geneva in 2006, Brad served as the Head of School at The Covenant School in Dallas. Brad and Becky, a middle school English teacher at Geneva, have been married for 26 years and have four children. Brad is a member of Trinity Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Boerne.

Building a Classical School: A Panel on Design and Construction

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Are you about to start a building project? Are you completing a master plan? These can be very daunting and challenging projects. In this session, Eric Cook, David Goodwin, and Rod Gilbert will share their experience from constructing buildings that reflect the principles of classical, Christian education and serve the students well. Each panelist will provide a description of their respective building processes, an overview of some of the principles that guided their projects, and then offer feedback to you in an open question and answer session.

Eric Cook

Eric Cook is the Headmaster at Covenant Classical School in Fort Worth, Texas. He is from Lexington, Kentucky where he received his B.A. in Secondary Social Studies Education from Transylvania University. Eric taught history, civics, philosophy, and psychology for ve years in two di erent public schools. He received his M.A. in Instructional Leadership from Northern Kentucky University and served as an assistant principal at a large middle school in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 2006, Eric became the Middle and Upper School Head at Faith Christian School in Roanoke, Virginia before becoming Headmaster at Covenant in 2009. He has served on the SCL board for three years. Eric is married to his beautiful wife, Liz. They have six children: Haydon, Olivia, Grant, Cole, William, and Lincoln.

Integrating Elements of the True Story Across the Curriculum

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It is challenging for most students to realize that what they do, because of who they are in Christ, really matters. Using the paradigm of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration in all the disciplines helps students to grasp that they are significant tools for redemption.

Pamela Stanford

Pamela teaches sixth grade humanities at the Westminster School at Oak Mountain. As a part of the school’s community since its founding, she has served as a board member, and although not consecutively, as a teacher there for eight years. She is married to Sco y and has four boys.

Age of Opportunity: Building Middle School Culture

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If you could go back to being a middle schooler, would you? I would not. However, after working for 18 years with this age group, have found this is a tremendous time period with a plethora of opportunities to teach through failure and hardship. The logic stage is a time when children begin to test the boundaries and formulate how to interact with others, while testing their newfound intellectual musings. This workshop will be theological, philosophical and practical on how to build a middle school culture during these opportunistic years.

Dan Peterson

Dan Peterson serves as the Head of the School of Logic at Regents School of Austin in Austin, TX. He received his B.A. in biology and human services from Carson-Newman University. He earned a M. Div. in theology from Southern Seminary and a Ph.D. in leadership with and emphasis in education from Southern Seminary. He served as the founding Headmaster at a classical Christian school in Tennesse for six years. He and his wife, Brooke have four children: Isaac, Grace, Josie, and Annabelle. He enjoys reading, running and playing soccer, but most of all spending time with his family.

Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning

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Bryan Lynch

Bryan Lynch, a founding board member of Veritas School in Newberg, Oregon, is in his tenth year as Headmaster at Veritas. He also teaches Rhetoric, as well as Humane Le ers, to 11th grade students. His rst twenty years of teaching were in the local public high school teaching AP European History, European Humanities, and coaching football, basketball, and so ball. His wife, Ann, also a founding board member, teaches third grade at Veritas. The Lynches have three children, all of whom have graduated from Veritas. Bryan has an MEd. from Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon, where he majored in History and Secondary Education.

Defending the Christian Liberal Arts: Helping Teachers Tell the Story

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George Sanker

George Sanker currently serves as Headmaster of The Covenant School in Charlo esville, VA. George has worked in education since 1996 and served as the principal of two charter schools in Washington, DC and Longmont, CO. He started his career in education working in private Christians schools where he was a history and theology teacher for middle and high school students. George graduated from Colgate University with a BA in political science. A er Colgate, he served his country as an o cer at the Central Intelligence Agency, where he specialized in analyzing data pertaining to Southeast Asia. He also received a MA in Religion from Reformed Theological Seminary. George is currently ABD in sociology at the University of Virginia. He and his wife Jeanne e live in Charlo esville with ve of their children—Nicholas (10), Jonas (9), and Lukas (6), Thomas (3), Magdalena (6 months). Their h child, Kendrick (18), a ends Hampton University in Hampton, VA.

Round Table Conversation: Arts Integration in Classical Education

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Designed to facilitate conversation among leading art/music ‘thinkers’ in the classical movement, this seminar will connect educators and administrators to share their best practices and pedagogy for integrating the arts into all subjects.

Lilli Benko

Recognized for her ability to generate excitement and an appreciation for music, Lilli Benko has a multi-faceted background as a school administrator, classroom and private teacher and is a passionate advocate for the gospel of Jesus Christ as experienced through the lens of art and music.

Reaching for Rhetoric in Foreign Language Classrooms

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Language possesses the potentional to be both tool for communication and art form. Discover how to lead your students from learning vocabulary and verb charts to articulating their likes, recounting a tale, decoding poetry, or simply conversing eloquently. Explore the possiblities for incorporating literature and historical figures in weaving a story and inviting your students to create as well. Sample activities include texts from Voltaire, Rousseau, and Montesquieu for French.

Lisa Snyder

Lisa Snyder believes that language is simultaneously a tool and an art form. She has served as Foreign Language Department Head at Covenant Christian Academy in Colleyville, Texas since 2002. Grounded in Latin during high school, she later branched out into French, Modern Hebrew, and Spanish while earning her B.A. at the University of Texas in Austin. A er completing her M.A. in French Literature at the University of North Texas, Lisa taught at the community college level for ten years, incorporating French literature into her early curricula. As Department Head at Covenant, she has sought to establish a sound, fully-orbed classical program that fosters students’ proficiency in Latin and at least one modern language. Partnering with a team of strong language educators, she has built a program that spans the pre-K through AP levels.

Growing into Greek: Benefits of Expanding Upper School Greek Offerings

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The team-taught seminar will focus on the various ways that teaching Greek can bolster the rigor, moral and collaboration within a foreign language department-especially when offered as an alternative (or even an addition) to advanced Latin. Marcus Foster and Jeremy Sturdivant will discuss both the theoretical and practical issues of finding personnel, scheduling logistics, collaborating as team, motivating students of disparate abilites, capitalizing on a Latin foundation, and preparing families for electing competing language offerings in such a way that benefits both. The seminar will conclude with !&A as well as collaboration between participants.

Marcus Foster

Marcus graduated from Baylor University with a B.A. in Classics in 2000. He worked with youth in Berlin, Germany for five years, part of which was also spent studying theology at Humboldt Universität. He received a Masters of Humanities from the University in Dallas in 2012. Heavily invested in languages, Marcus hopes to stir a love for language and literature in his students. He and his wife, Julie, have been married for 10 years, and have three beautiful daughters.

Jeremy Sturdivant

Jeremy holds a B.B.A from Angelo State University and a Master of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Jeremy taught public school for five years, a er which he move to Fort Worth to a end seminary. Since then he has both taught and coached at Covenant, as well as served as an associate pastor for Carroll Baptist Church. A passionate follower of Christ and a life-long learner, Jeremy hopes to instill in all of his students both a love for the Lord and a love for learning that brings glory to God the Father, teaching 7th Old Testament & Logic, 8th New Testament & Logic, and 10-12 Classical & Koine Greek.