GUEST STUDENT AUTHORS

A recently developed leadership program at Mount Paran Christian School is providing high school students with the opportunity to learn, practice, and reflect on leadership. Developed by Jason Beard, Assistant Head of High School, the goLEAD program’s goal is to develop and empower today’s servant-leaders by teaching essential principles of leadership, collaborating with community and school leaders, and providing authentic experiences in leadership.

 

The goLEAD program has officially launched as a two-year curricular program, designed to prepare servant-leaders by teaching leadership principles, collaborating with community and school leaders, and providing authentic experiences for students to learn, practice, and reflect on their leadership. The thought of doing leadership intentionally was the spark that created a leadership-development program that incorporates a balance between learning about leadership and actually experiencing it.

 

 

the past

For well over a decade, one of the greatest days each year at Mount Paran Christian School has been our day of service. It was on this day that the entire staff and students would stop their normal routine of teaching and classes and spend the day serving our community. Through that annual experience, we have formed great partnerships with ministries in our community, exposed our students to the needs of those around us, and were able to focus on one of the things we want most for our kids — teaching them to show God’s love through serving others.

With its official beginnings in 1987, Women’s History Month is celebrated in March to honor the contribution of women to American History.  Jimmy Carter, who issued our nation’s first Presidential proclamation of National Women’s History Week in 1980 explained, “From the first settlers who came to our shores, from the first American Indian families who befriended them, men and women have worked together to build this nation. Too often the women were unsung and sometimes their contributions went unnoticed. But the achievements, leadership, courage, strength and love of the women who built America was as vital as that of the men whose names we know so well.”

In observance of African-American History Month, we celebrate the impact made on our country by the men and women of our African-American community. But how often do we reflect on and celebrate the children who have impacted the course of history?

UNITY: the state of being united or joined as a whole. What a powerful act… when put into practice.

In thinking about what unity looks like in a person, or someone who promotes unity as an essence of who they are, a few attributes arise. They are people who are gatherers, who bring people in, bring people together, and make everyone feel like they are valued and loved — and in doing so, they create a sense of unity.

 

Welcome to the New Year! I have a lot of hope in what promises to be a wonderful year living and learning together in community. Each year, right around this time, Americans (and maybe people in other nations as well) take to setting New Year’s Resolutions. In all honesty, I have never been much of a resolution-setter, and while I could certainly resolve to lose a few pounds (or more than a few!), resolutions like that have never been effective in my life. I have always been a big-vision, long-term thinker and doer. So for me, this year I pray I will be determined, dedicated, committed, and devoted as a Christian, husband, father, friend, and employee of MPCS.

In mid-May of 1992, Mount Paran Christian School Headmaster Susan King received a phone call from the White House, asking if the President of the United States, George H. W. Bush, could pay a visit there to promote his platform of family values. Newly appointed as head of school, Mrs. King thought it was a joke at first, but soon realized the call really was from the actual White House in Washington, D.C. The president’s office stated that he would like to use MPCS to speak about his support of school vouchers for parents, his stand against abortion on demand, and his hope for a balanced budget in Congress. Needless to say, the MPCS administration and Board of Trustees were more than happy to accommodate the important request.

PHOTO: Associate Pastor of Mt. Paran Church of God, Dr. Darrell Rice (whose son, Dr. Josh Rice '96 recently served a term on the MPCS Board of Trustees) met President George H. W. Bush at the Allgood Road campus.

This past year, MPCS continued its innovation-grant curriculum for project-based collaboration among different grade-levels. High school Honors Government students had the unique opportunity to explore the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement alongside fifth grade and kindergarten students. Seniors were charged with the task of mentoring the fifth graders as they collaborated on a children’s storybook focusing on civil rights and citizenship. The books were specially crafted with original artwork, computer-generated designs, and a great deal of creative thought in the storylines.

What a pleasure it is to be a part of the Mount Paran Christian School community. As Katie, Eliot, and I have settled into our home and have been getting to know much more about the school and the many families that make up our community, I am more excited today about being at MPCS than ever before! Thank you for welcoming us so warmly and inviting us to be a part of your school family.

Since our arrival in March, it has been my privilege to sit down over meals, in your homes, by your pools, and in my office and to get to know so many of you. I look forward to much more of that in the future. I have also been blessed to hear so many of you express your love and gratitude for MPCS and for your children. Again, I look forward to hearing more about what makes Mount Paran Christian School such a special place. 

Allow me to begin my remarks by expressing my sincere appreciation to all of you who have, in various forms, provided me with affirming comments about my retirement whether on video, your attendance at events, your cards or e-mails expressing your best wishes, or an affirming remark over the past few weeks and months. I am overwhelmed with gratitude. Please know I will be thinking of you as I sit on the deck of a mountain cabin or cruise a river in Europe, or enjoy Scotland's landscape this August. Thanks!

James Kouzes and Barry Posner, two highly respected leadership researchers and authors, make the following observation in their book entitled The Leadership Challenge. “Exemplary leaders know that if they want to gain commitment and achieve the highest standards, they must be models of the behavior they expect of others.” And what an appropriate description of Dr. Tilley’s leadership! When Mount Paran Christian School personnel meet with other educators, both locally and nationally, Dr. Tilley’s name and his profound influence are invariably the first things mentioned in each conversation. Dr. Tilley and Mount Paran Christian School are considered synonymous with one another.  And rightly so! His servant-leadership has garnered great renown. 

"Providing academic excellence in a Christ-centered environment" is the opening phrase of the Mount Paran Christian School mission statement. While we do strive to provide the most academically challenging education in Atlanta, it is our commitment to become a strong, diverse, and inclusive environment that reflects the richness of what a Christ-centered environment is and how that sets us apart. In keeping with this core truth, MPCS has come together to initiate CommUNITY.

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. - 1 John 3:18

Wednesday, March 14, 2018 marked one month from the senseless school shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in South Florida. If you have been following the news, students in schools all over the country were joining together in remembrance of the event in a planned 17-minute walkout... many schools except ours. A group of students at Mount Paran Christian School decided to do something more — to not just walk OUTside... but to look INside.