To the Future Mrs. Estrellas and Mr. Pigdens

By Joel Hazard In January, I had the extraordinary opportunity to reconnect with my dear second-grade teacher, Mrs. Estrella. For years, I had tirelessly searched for her online, but to no avail. So, when my best friend conveyed that he believed she had passed away years ago, my heart sank. Yet, as fate would have it, divine intervention stepped in, and I was elated when my mother informed me that Mrs. Estrella was not only […]

Tov and Joy in the Classroom

By: Laura Barringer This is adapted from a speech Laura gave at the “Leading a Culture of JOY” event in Chicago. In October 2020, my father and I published what became a bestselling book called A Church Called Tov. It is not a story I could have ever planned to write. After all, I am a school teacher and have spent two decades of my career teaching primary-grade children. Writing a book at all and […]

Hopeful Leadership: Our Most Important Calling

By: Christopher Rutz In 1985 Marty McFly broke the time/space continuum and traveled back to 1955 and revealed a world so inconceivable to Doc Brown that he could scarcely believe such oddities like Ronald Reagan – the actor – was president of the United States. Of course, time travelers from this era of politics would say, “Ronald Reagan? Ha, that’s nothing, wait until 2016!” Now we are approaching 40 years after Back to the Future’s […]

Chocolate Milkshakes. Four Ways to Better Understand Love in Education

By: Dr. Chris Hobbs It’s the last day of February! The month of Valentine’s Day, and as Charles Schultz, creator of Charlie Brown, famously quipped – ‘all you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.’ My wife and I have developed a new dating tradition of jumping in the car after dinner during a busy week, and burying our stress at a local Freddy’s where I have discovered an amazing […]

Heavy is the Head That Wears the Crown

By: Sahira Kodra Looking back at the past few years the one word that comes to mind is heavy. The issues Christians and teachers are facing feel monumentous. Many leaders are reminded of the William Shakespheare play that created the idiom “heavy is the head that wears the crown.” We often hear about the burden and difficulties of being a leader. When I applied for the Master’s of School Leadership program, many of my friends […]