by Kyle Bryant, Director of the upcoming TCS Heights Campus
My first few weeks at Trinity Classical School have been many things—informative, encouraging, challenging, and life-giving. There is so much to learn, understand, and implement that sometimes it feels overwhelming. But through all of that, I still walk through the halls of TCS thinking, “This exists?” What a gift from the Lord! So, while I have much to learn, I am grateful to be a part of TCS.
For those whom I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting, my name is Kyle Bryant, and I am the campus director for the soon-to-be Heights campus. In many ways, I am a stranger to classical education, having grown up in the public school system. But after seeing the godly fruit of classical Christian education over the past few years, I decided that this was something worth pursuing wholeheartedly for our children and future generations. That’s why I am here at TCS: to pursue planting a TCS campus in the Heights. So I will be immersed in TCS this school year, learning, growing, and planning.
Because we are seeking to replicate what TCS does so well, I have had my eyes and ears open these first few weeks of school. I have found that there is a genuine love for God’s word at TCS, which is a direct result of God’s blessing and grace. We continually ask for humility in how we pursue education, and God has responded by creating a culture where his word is read and cherished. I am convinced that this will also help us become better learners (and educators) because the fear of the Lord is the beginning of all knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. All of these begin with truth, and truth comes to us from God in his Word.
That’s why we rightly place God’s word at the beginning of each campus day. If we want our students to learn any truth, we need to start with the truth, because we believe that all truth is God’s truth. So, during morning assembly this quarter, students are memorizing Psalm 46. “The Lord is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” They are also memorizing sound-off questions like “Who made me?” (God!) and “Why did God make all things?” (For his own glory!). These exercises, while appearing routine at times, help sow deep truths into the hearts of our kids. When the Psalmist invites us to “Come, behold the works of the Lord,” he is beckoning us to learn about God and his ways. For how can we behold that which we do not know? God made the earth, moon, and stars, and it is he who governs their motion. He made the mountains and the seas and all the creatures that inhabit them. So when we come to behold the works of the Lord, we come to learn math, astronomy, biology, botany, and poetry, for all of these were spoken into existence. In other words, learning about God and learning about math, science, and reading go hand in hand. All of life (and all of learning) are under the lordship of Jesus Christ, so we teach our kids to that end. But it does not stop there.
We as adults need these truths just as well. We need to believe them like children, too. For to such belong the Kingdom of God. Therefore when our kids say “The Lord is our refuge and strength,” we should remember that, yes, God is our refuge and our strength. He is present, to help us in trouble. And the invitation to come and behold the works of the Lord is for us, too. In our daily lives, the Lord proclaims his glory in many ways. Every sunrise is a reminder of God’s kindness. Every rainbow a remembrance of his covenant. And every at-home lesson is a testament to the Lord’s faithfulness through generations. “Therefore we will not fear when the earth gives way.” Our God is a faithful God, and he gives us things like sunrises, flowers, and at-home lessons to remind us of that glorious truth. May we receive it like our kids.
