Grade-school Students Display Dynamics of Building Faith and Developing Intellect to Drive Character

There are many approaches to the classical model in education. The perspective Hillcrest has is unique. Coming from a history of 100 years of dormitory-based community-centric schooling, Hillcrest has a great tradition of forming faith in students. However, the unique pairing of building intellect and strengthening character propels Hillcrest to impact students in renewed ways.

Earlier this year, third-grade students banded together to sell cookies and hot chocolate at a Basketball game. Most who bought from the young men had yet to learn of the foundation the boys stood on to do an entrepreneurial endeavor like this.

Earlier that week, Mrs. Ashton Fuhs taught the young men and the rest of the third-grade class at Hillcrest about stewardship. She used the parable of the talents as an example, pointing to Jesus’ call for the hearers not to squander gifts from the Lord.

While the lesson was poignant for the time and place the students were in, the simple opportunity Mrs. Fuhs provided allowed the structural elements of the story to come to life. The students exercised an understanding of opportunity and gifting. They logically brought the story to bear on their life, allowing the lesson to shape the character they are presenting and forming in Mrs. Fuhs’ class.

Moreover, allowing Scripture to shape actions guides students not simply to understand lessons to pass a test but to build habits and rhythms that concepts learned in the classroom should have a rhetoric or communication element to bear their truth to the world.