Perspective is Everything

Welcome back to OCA!  I hope you had a great summer.  We’re ready to have your children back on campus and walking our hallways.  This year I thought it would be wise to start the year expressing my sincere hopes and dreams for OCA.

Since taking the position of president of OCA the concept of perspective has interested me more and more.  Often, the reality we live in comes from the perspective we have.  Knowing this has helped me learn many useful lessons.  

My father-in-law and brother-in-law recently helped me build a deck in my backyard.  On the far right side of the deck we built a large section in the shape of an octagon, and for everything to line up correctly we needed everything to be perfectly symmetrical.  From where I was standing everything was perfectly symmetrical as you can see.

To my surprise, my father-in-law began to disagree with me.  He was saying that we were way off and needed to make some adjustments.  After we talked about it for a little bit he asked me to come look at it from his perspective.  

What do you know… he was right!  My perspective changed everything.  You have the perspective of OCA as a parent, teacher, grandparent, guardian, alumni, or friend of the school.  I have a different perspective as the school’s leader.

I think this blog provides me a great opportunity to share my perspective on OCA and allow me to be vulnerable with you.

Here is my perspective… I want OCA to be committed to loving students and loving God.

Loving students means:

• We will strive to be student-centered in our classrooms.
• We will strive to focus on student achievement.
• We will provide a safe environment for our students.
• We will discipline our students because we love them.

Loving God means:

• We will teach every subject filtered through a biblical worldview.
• We will provide faith-formative experiences.
• We will hold students to an expectation of honoring God in everything they do.
• We will honor God with our best in everything we do.  

As the President of OCA I want to have the best academic experience possible for your child.  I want to offer the best fine-arts department, the best athletic department, and in everything else we do I want us to be our best. I do not want to be the best for prideful reasons, however, I want to be the best because God calls us to be our best.

I know as a school we are not perfect but our heart is in the right place.  As we go into a new school year I ask that you keep OCA in your prayers!

Please pray for our:

Students:

That God will protect their hearts and minds.

Faculty and Staff:

That they continue to allow God to work through them and they call upon him daily.

Parents and Guardians:

That they will raise their children up in Godly ways and that they continue to work closely with the school.  That they will live out the callings of Deuteronomy 6.

Lastly, I ask for prayers on my behalf.  That I will continue to lead OCA in a Christ-centered way and that I prayerfully make decisions that impact so many people for His kingdom.

Again, welcome back to the school year.  We’re excited to live life with you and your children this year.