Tonya Snyder Head of School
CCS Mission: Key Strategy #2
from the Desk of the Head of School
AN INTERVIEW WITH A CCS ALUMNUS
Joel Kearney, CLASS OF 2014
The CCS mission is "to engage and educate young people to know Christ and be equipped to impact the world for God's Kingdom." CCS employs five key strategies to aid in accomplishing the mission. The second key strategy is to instruct from an integrated Christian worldview in developmentally appropriate ways.
This two-part strategy embraces the way in which God designed us as human beings, which necessitates a developmental approach to education. Since no two people have ever developed at the exact same rate as one another, CCS embraces God's unique design of each child. At the same time, we also know there are general steps in each child's development that can be counted on when designing an educational
program. CCS is
deeply committed to
understanding what the research says about the unique stages of a child's general development. For instance, our middle school program is designed to assist young people during preadolescence as they transition from a self-contained elementary classroom to learning how to juggle the challenges associated with switching classrooms for each subject once they are in high school.
Integrating a Christian worldview "into" all learning simply means that we aim to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus throughout the entire learning process, which belongs to God anyway! When we are aware of God's character and His plan of salvation for all people, then we are able to learn with joy and with a sense of purpose that sees the identify of each student in the context of a loving Savior. While other educational models try to pull God "out" of the learning process, we actually celebrate that He is always in our midst!
Joel Kearney had several different schooling experiences before coming to Cornerstone in fifth grade. Initially, he went to another private Christian school before his family decided to homeschool for the next three years. Even though they had been involved in a co-op with other homeschooling families, they decided it wasn’t the best schooling style for their family. Joel’s parents were set on their five children attending a private Christian school, so they explored Cornerstone. His parents felt like CCS would be the best environment for their children to grow in their faith and gain an education with accessible teachers and faculty, so they enrolled all five of them! Joel says, “Attending Cornerstone for the remainder of my elementary and high school career was such a big blessing in my life, and I would not have wanted it any other way!”
One thing that Joel recalls about his time at Cornerstone is how the school felt like a community to him. He was able to know his classmates and teachers well, and that was a great experience for him. Some of his favorite memories
at Corner-
stone
were the
high
school
retreats to Camp CONNRI, a group project reenacting Romeo and Juliet in Miss Mazz’s English class, the junior class trip to Gettysburg with Mr. Kirch, and his senior trip to the Jersey shore with Mr. Millington and Mrs. Clark.
After graduating from CCS, Joel attended Grove City College (GCC). continued on back page.
Alumni Feature of The Lion's Roar
Joel currently resides and works in Washington, D.C. and is planning to serve overseas with South America Missions next year.
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APRIL 2019
THE LION'S ROAR
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