Each year, our Classical Showcase highlights the benefits of Christian classical education and remains the most attended and valued event showcasing our educational investment into our students.
Classical Showcase is a chapel dedicated to demonstrating distinct components of our Christian classical education. Each JK-5th grade class contributes one or two unique presentations that often include memorization of material related to what is being studied in the particular grade. Classic poems, recitation of Bible verses, a history chant, grammar “jingles,” Latin conjugations, etc.,
These presentations provide an impressive array of the various methods and content of our Christian classical education. They are not just random selections, but purposefully tie the learning in any given grade across disciplines. For example, the memorized poems will highlight the history a class is studying, while grammar will often tie into the literature the class is reading, and the verses memorized tie into Biblical themes of a book or a theme chosen for the entire Lower School. Tying disciplines together is itself a characteristic of Christian classical education as we believe that in God all subjects are related and can provide insight and understanding into His nature and character.
As one of the most powerful examples of the benefits of Christian classical education, this chapel is the most well-attended and the most appreciated by parents for what it offers in terms of return on their investment for their child’s education.
At this year’s Classical Showcase, Graham Whitaker, who has attended FCS since Kindergarten, shared about how his experience at Classical Showcase and other recitation chapels benefited him throughout his time at Faith Christian School. (Scroll below the photo collage to read the script of his speech.)
Good morning parents, grandparents and friends. My name is Graham Whitaker, and I am a senior here at Faith Christian School. I have attended FCS since I was in kindergarten. Throughout my years at FCS, I have participated in many Classical Showcases and recitation chapels. Today, I will be sharing with you some of my experiences from Lower School and how those experiences fit into the broader mission at FCS.
Classical Showcase is not just a way to show parents what their students are learning, but another tool used to teach. Each year at this time, the Lower School gathers for the Classical Showcase. This is a distinct and critical part of this education we call Christian and classical. Faith Christian School defines Christian classical education as “a time-honored and results-proven, robust method of educating junior kindergarteners through the twelfth grade by inspiring what comes naturally to all children: a love for learning, a deep desire to discover, unending curiosity, and endless questions. While inspiring these, it also cultivates in the hearts, minds, and souls of students a desire to see God and the world as He intends, and to ‘be able to thrive in all of life—intellectually, spiritually, vocationally, and avocationally.’”
During my Lower School years, I learned scriptures, poems, catechisms, hymns, and, of course, the history chant, that I memorized and went on to recite on this stage. The memorization builds capacity for retaining information, and the things your children memorize are connected to the learning done in class. These skills have served me well now through the years to my upcoming graduation. They provided me with a deep well of information and experiences from which I—and they—can draw to benefit their learning now and forever onwards. The meter, the rhythms and the rhymes, the tone and movement, the requirement to be articulate and expressive, the practice in presentation, the attention to fellow classmates, these become practiced skills that build on one another and lead to increasingly sophisticated learning. For each of the thirteen or fourteen years your child attends Faith, the skills build upon each year with each successive year, becoming more important than the last.
As I moved into Middle School, my skills developed even further. For example, oral presentations in various classes, debates in logic class, speeches in rhetoric class, as well as other forms of recitations were the new areas that I applied the skills I learned when I was younger.
The final example of the power of this education is how these basic skills culminate in our senior year Thesis and defense. We are required to write, then complete a formal presentation of a 12–15-page paper. In addition, we will be required to respond to questions by three members of the faculty as a defense. I have heard about the thesis program nearly the entire time I have been attending Faith Christian School, as I am sure many of you have heard about it as well. While thesis seems like a daunting task, I have been well-prepared through my years at Faith to spend the past year developing my thesis.
When I was younger, I did not know how useful all these skills were. Since Faith Christian School’s education is all I have ever known, the methods used seem simple and obvious. However, looking back, I now see how important everything I have done was and how it has helped me. I have been very well-prepared from Kindergarten until now, and a large part of that preparation was the teachers who have supported me at every turn. I know doing hard things brings great satisfaction. From experience, I know that standing on stage and presenting memorized work is not an easy task, but these students (your children and grandchildren) always rise to the challenge.
So, to the students I say, bravo for your hard work! We are all so proud of all that you are accomplishing!
Now, I will pray for the students before they begin their program for you.
Let us pray:
Dear Lord,
Thank you for the opportunity for Faith Christian School to hold this program. Thank you for the faculty and administration who pour into these students every day. I pray that you will watch over the students presenting, that you would calm their nerves, and give them confidence.
In your name, I pray. Amen
