Week 8, Term 1, 2025

Dear JCS Whānau,

It is good to be back in NZ and at JCS. My trip to the USA was fantastic in so many ways. It was a privilege to be able to attend the Converge Conference in Florida with nine NZ Christian school principals.

Leaders in education (800 delegates) came from all over the world to learn and share about what God is doing in their corner of the globe.

Each morning started with edifying worship with different expressions of faith from conservative hymns to popular choruses. Workshops and keynote speakers filled the days, with mealtimes giving opportunity to fellowship and learn from one another.

After the conference we went on a road trip visiting a number of schools in Florida and Texas. These were mostly private Christian schools, Years 1-13, but we also visited a public high school and a private secular school. A highlight was visiting Baylor University in Texas. This university has 20,000 students studying medicine, law, business, teaching etc., all developing young people to impact the world with the gospel in the fields in which they have chosen to work. We spent time with several of the lecturers who shared some of their recent research on inspiring, thought-provoking topics. One of these was the importance of sport in character development, giving examples of Christian athletes who have been ambassadors for Christ, reaching the highest levels of achievement and always using this platform to declare Jesus as Lord. We discussed the concept of flourishing in Christian schools, focusing on how flourishing communities bring about flourishing individuals. Further thoughts around the inclusion of neuro-diverse students in our Christian schools and what this looks like when it is done well, were offered, too. The goal is that all students feel relevant and have the opportunity to contribute meaningfully, going beyond being loved and accepted. We also spent time with Jon Eckert who hosted our visit. He shared some of his research on Catalytic Leadership in Christian schools.

I was struck by the intentionality of some of the schools concerning discipleship. There were signs everywhere reminding students in every faculty what the school was about, what it held as most valuable, and what they should think on. As a prerequisite to enrolling, the parents attended a series of dinners where they learnt the way the school went about discipling students and how they could support this at home. The facilities in the schools were outstanding from state-of-the-art sports fields, locker rooms, arenas and training gyms where each student was on their own strength training programme monitored by an i-Pad and the coach, to real life medical facilities, veterinarian rooms, horticulture spaces, and robotic centres. Students build and programme robots to carry out certain tasks for competitions. In one high school, the students were building a Cessna aeroplane which they will sell at a profit. The performing and visual arts centres were outstanding. Some schools had more than one theatre, one being a black box with no outside light to allow for maximum control over lighting and special effects.

When looking at the students’ reading, writing and maths, I was encouraged to see that our students are comparable and, even in some instances, perhaps at a higher level. It was comforting to know that in spite of less land space and money, education can still be excellent and give students wings.

We also managed to fit in an NBA game which was a great experience!

Yours in His service

Sandra Bosman