(And no, I am not retired yet! :))

• It was a record-breaking year for schools beginning to use Curriculum Trak - we had 183 schools start to map with our product. Consequently, this led to a number of schools requesting my help with casting a vision for curriculum design and initial training. If you are curious about my travel schedule as evidence I am not retired, you can view it here.
• Last year we (a group of like minded colleagues across North America) held our first Christian Deeper Learning conference in January in Florida and we are looking forward to our next conference in March in Texas - see more info below.
• As part of the Planning Team for the Global Christian School Leadership Summit, it has been exciting to put together a program of the very best innovative speakers and leaders for the conference coming up later this month. For more information, see below - there is still time to register!
• I have had the opportunity to help spearhead an international group of educators to think deeply about the future of Christian education. If you attend the Global Summit, you will be able to experience the Mindshift process that we are using in this work.
• Several leadership teams have asked me to help them better understand their team strengths and their team dynamics using the CoreClarity process. New insight into ourselves and others can lead to a language of grace and working better together as a body with diverse strengths.

Please consider this to be your personal invitation to our second Christian Deeper Learning conference - this time in Frisco, Texas on March 6, 7, and 8, 2019! 

We are so excited that Ron Berger, Chief Academic Officer and visionary leader of EL Education (formerly Expeditionary Learning), will be one of our keynote speakers. More info about Ron and the books he has authored can be found here. We will also have three pre-conference offerings on the 6th and then the full conference on the 7th and 8th.

We have a great line-up of speakers from all over North America and Australia! Take a look at our workshop listing here. You can see more information at our website and we will continue to update that information as it becomes available.  If you know an organization that may be willing to provide sponsorship, we would be grateful to have you send us their name and contact info.

Our location this year will be convenient to access through either the DFW (Dallas Ft. Worth) or Love Field (Southwest) airports. Our host school, Legacy Christian Academy has beautiful facilities and the staff there is very excited to host us. There are many hotels and restaurants located nearby. And, although we cannot promise, it is unlikely that Dallas will have snow that time of the year!

We need to get the word out about this event, so please consider passing this information on to others in your network who might be interested.

What's new at Curriculum Trak

• We are grateful for continued interest and growth - we are nearing 800 schools using Curriculum Trak across 30 countries in the world!
• Last year we will did three regional conferences in Orlando, Chicago, and Annapolis to support our client schools and to introduce Curriculum Trak to interested schools. We have scheduled upcoming events in Arizona - February 21 and 22 at Gilbert Christian School in Phoenix (registration ends January 18!) and in Lilburn, GA - April 15 & 16, 2019.  With a focus on technical tips and tricks, mapping practices, and mission alignment, this conference may be just what your curriculum director, lead teachers, or administrative team may need to take your mapping efforts to the next level. You can register or get more info here.
• The Faith-Learning Integration content has been very popular with our faith based schools and we are excited to announce that 10 additional areas will be added to our original 10 discipline areas! Below is an image of the 20 areas - click here for a clearer copy!
• We keep adding enhancements to our product - one of my recent favorites has been the addition of the favoriting tool - this way teachers can begin to see which units in our sharing network are deemed to be the most helpful as good examples to view. 

The Global Christian School Leadership Summit is at the end of this month - register now!

The second Global Summit will be held in San Antonio on January 30 through February 1, 2019. The conference will have several strands (see graphic below) and I will be leading a Christian Deeper Learning panel, assisting with leading worship times, and presenting a workshop on school improvement with Lynn Swaner, conference chair. This will be a very exciting international event and based on the speakers already committed, it should be an excellent gathering around the theme of innovation! Hope to see you there!

It was also a record breaking class this year in EDUC 501 at Dordt this summer!

61 great students and lots of papers to grade! Can you find the professor? 

"When I became a middle school principal at Annapolis Area Christian School, I was charged with building a specific program that would fit the needs of young adolescents educationally and spiritually. There was no grand plan that spelled out the steps to take either from within my own mind or from the school itself, probably what most new principals experience. However certain questions came or were brought to my mind early on and upon which we built a plan.

The first question was “What do the teachers talk about in the faculty lounge?” I wasn’t looking for the details but rather the tone and spirit of the conversations because we needed people who were sold out for middle school students and loved teaching them. The second question was “How can we create time?” and that meant time for thinking, talking and planning for change. The third question was “What does an excellent Christian middle school look like?”

The first two questions really were about building a faculty culture that would face toward a common direction and embrace an attitude of “We are always improving”. The third question brought into our view the whole scope of educating students towards faith and how important it was to intentionally address themes like community, character, and compassion. Equally important was planning for authentic opportunities for students to participate in their own growth and understanding of their faith.

Christian schools have the opportunity and the means to be highly influential in how their students respond to God and to his call to become disciples. I would like to share my experience and knowledge with schools who want to intentionally navigate through building a transformative, redemptive, and joyful culture. While I can’t claim to have all the answers I am confident that I can help find them."  - Rick Slenk, Advancing Christian School Culture

Schools contact me with a variety of needs:

• Mapping their curriculum
• Analyzing current curricular development
• Helping staff to develop mission distinctiveness/faith-learning integration
• Developing quality essential questions
• Leadership coaching for leadership teams using CoreClarity
• Getting ready for accreditation
• Analyzing/designing effective teacher evaluation/professional growth programs

It gives me great joy to help individuals and schools make forward progress. Planning  inspires hope! Contact me to discuss your needs, discover ways we can work together, and explore pricing options.