Counting the Cost

I want every Faith high school student to get handed a laptop next fall and to use it on a regular basis as a tool to engage themselves in the learning process; but what I want and what will happen may be two different things. Our desire to expand our technology is conflicting with an equally strong desire to minimize any increases in tuition increases for 2009-10.

Faith's success is rooted in our constant progress.  Since moving to Summerlin we have spent an average of $2 million a year in improving our campus.  Athletic fields and new buildings have accounted for most of the dollars spent on improvements and there is no doubt that those additions have improved the product and benefitted our students.  Technology, and specifically the use of laptops on a regular basis, tie students into the world in way unthinkable just a few years ago. Just as importantly, they give teachers access to wealth of teaching resources, including lessons recognized as best practices.

We want to operate more efficiently.  We understand our environment is more competitive now that Bishop Gorman and the Adelson School have moved into the community.  It would be unwise of uis not to consider the changing economic conditions of our community. Our distinctiveness will never be rooted in our buildings, our computers, or our athletic success, no matter how successful those elements are.  Ministry is what matters here: taking each student and recognizing him or her as a unique child of God with boundless potential and a strong need to feel valued for who they are.

If we continue to do that, we will weather the storms ahead.

Point/Counterpoint

Not everyone loves us. First read this column from the Mesquite Local News. My response, which they were kind enough to include in full in their on-line version, follows:

Dear Editor,

I read with interest Happy Pontiac’s recent screed “Faith Lutheran: The Team I Love to Hate.” For a newspaper serving a small town with some old-fashioned small town values, his article was, appropriately, small. His work is certainly evidence that the power of the pen and the power of the mind are not necessarily related.

That “big shiny bus” was, in part, paid for by a parent. The gas and maintenance are paid for by the tuition dollars of our families. The bus also transports our choir and band on their excursions as well as transports classes on field trips. Our teachers and administrators don’t have access to a fleet of vehicles provided at taxpayer expense. We have to provide our own. Happy, just because you cover teams that proudly wear the green and white that is no reason for you to be green with envy.

While you insist that money must be at the root of our evil empire, were you aware that not that long ago, the school raised over $100,000 to support the victims of hurricane Katrina and the Asian tsunami? Or that each year our school provides hundreds of gifts through Operation Christmas Child to help those in need around the world?

And thanks for the compliment on our website. We do want prospective students and parents to look at it and consider the advantages of an education at Faith Lutheran. Perhaps if you had attended Faith you would have learned about libel. One definition of that word is “anything that is defamatory or that maliciously or damagingly misrepresents.” Both the NIAA and the NCAA have pretty clear rules about what we can do in terms of helping athletes. All our aid is need-based and that need is determined by an outside company. Nowhere on the form is there an opportunity for anyone to identify themselves as athletes, great actors or accomplished musicians. But I know you are going to consider this defense rather self-serving, so I offer this challenge: find someone. Find that athlete getting a “free ride” at Faith. But please find a real student. Not just one the voices in your head told you about. The notion that we would disregard our integrity for the sake of winning an athletic contest is ludicrous, but you are welcome to pursue your crusade against the Crusaders.

You write our soccer team was disrespectful during a ceremony. Were you aware that no one on the Virgin Valley side let our team know there was going to be a ceremony? Were you aware that our entire student body spent time that day in an assembly honoring our military and those who serve?

I was pleased to see that you survived your visit to Faith Lutheran Friday night. Given what you have written about our school, tarring and feathering might have been appropriate. Congratulations to your football team for their victory and to the volleyball team for their efforts as well. We look forward to continued spirited competition for the rest of the school year.

Finally, might I suggest that readers of the Mesquite Local News take to heart your own words and apply them to you: “…disregard everything I have ever said. Ever.”

Isn't it amazing how our biases can move us past those silly things called facts? I bring this to your attention in part because we sometimes forget that we are a target for some people. People resent our success and look for ways to tear us down. We are always under somebody's miscroscope, whether it is an opposing coach, player, fan or intrepid journalist (used in the lightest possible sense). Thus our witness must be positive.

Randomness

Yesterday I attended the wind ensemble concert. It was among the first public fine arts performances in the new CPAC. It was definitely worth the wait as the building is an acoustical marvel. Dr. Richard Fischer, conductor of the Concordia University-Chicago wind ensemble was on campus Friday working with our band and he was extremely complimentary of our facility. It isn't bragging if it's true: we now have the premier performance space in the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. A lot of people made this possible, but soli Deo gloria.

I would be interested in hearing from families about how we can be helpful in this time of economic upheaval. Occasionally I will hear from a parent that they or their spouse has been laid off and we talk about what that means for their students at our school. We will do everything we can to provide additional financial aid, but that pool, the largest it has ever been, still has some limits. This will be a topic at our next Board meeting.

As we start looking to next year, maintaining a healthy enrollment is critical to our continued success. The primary way students are recruited to Faith, other than siblings and Lutheran school graduates, is because of word-of-mouth. Anything you can do to convince someone to take a look at our school is helpful.

I recently spoke to a CCSD teacher in town working at one of the high schools. One of her classes had 50 students on the roster. She was a science teacher. And everyone of those 50 students had already failed this course once. While I doubt this is typical, it is no less tragic. While not everything at Faith is perfect, kids at least have the opportunity to be successful, limited mostly by their own drive and determination. I hope you feel enthusiastic about recommending Faith to your friends and relatives. If not, please give me a call so I can find out why.

This week is Homecoming at Faith. It is a week for making memories that may last a lifetime. I hope everyone has a great (and safe) time.

Missing the Boat

I am an admitted news junkie, much to my wife's chagrin. A good evening for me is flipping between Fox News and CNN to see what the various talking heads have to say about the Presidential election or more recently, the country's economic state. This week I have turned on CNBC in the morning as I get ready for the day, not because of concerns for my own meager 403B account, but because I am anxious to know what the experts think lies ahead both in the short term and in the extended future.

While the current economic crisis can be looked at a number of different ways, you haven't heard this much: at the heart of this issue is a moral problem -- too many people who settle for the expedient and ignore what is right. From CEO greed to people who bought houses with the idea they could simply walk away when things got tough, the sons and daughters of the Greatest Generation are proving to be anything but.

What does this have to do with education? Who's Who Among American High School Students has been surveying students for a long time. One recent report said that: "This survey spans three decades (1970-2000) and is the most comprehensive database available online of the attitudes and opinions of high-achieving teens on a range of subjects, including cheating.

In the 1999 survey, 84 percent of the high school students judged cheating to be “common” among their peers. That high percentage was not surprising in light of the fact that 78 percent of the same students confessed they themselves had cheated. Ninety-five percent of the students who cheated said they did not get caught."

By the way, this survey was of students regarded as among the country's best. We are seeing a generation of cheaters grow before our eyes. Students appear to be cheating at such a prolific rate, one wonders whether years from now the concept of cheating in school will even be an issue. The problem is that if you learn to cheat, to steal, to mislead for personal gain (even if it is to avoid a zero on an assignment) when does the moral compass kick in to say taking advantage of a client in even a small way is wrong. If in the small episodes of life cheating is accepted and penalties avoided, why are we amazed at the hubris of corporate titans and their golden parachutes? Parents who rush to the defense of their cheating students with cries of "your making mountains out of molehills" miss the point: we are creating tomorrow's moral climate today.

At Faith we will continue to fight the good fight. Giving in would be expedient, but never right.