A quintessentially classical way of doing things is to begin with the end. And so, as we consider the possibility of a Trinitas Classical High School, we begin with a Portrait of a Graduate. The cultivation of those virtues we illustrate in this portrait already begins in kindergarten, and it is a joy to see them grow throughout students’ elementary and middle school years with us. It is our hope, God willing, to be able to play a role in the continued cultivation of these qualities throughout students’ high school years.
Portrait of a Graduate: Trinitas Classical High School seeks to educate and spiritually form young adults with ordered hearts, courageous voices, and ready hands for obedient discipleship as they faithfully take the next steps in their education, work, and service.
Young Adults
“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.” (I Timothy 4:12)
The idea of a young adult perhaps brings to mind a person who is full of potential, someone who is a “future leader,” rather than a leader right now. Or it may make one think, a little negatively, of someone with a fair amount of freedom but with less responsibility. At Trinitas, we recognize that young people can be leaders now, and that freedom and responsibility should increase together. In a world that is reluctant to ask much of our teenagers, TCHS seeks to graduate young men and women capable and desirous of being examples for others both younger and older than they.
Ordered Hearts
“Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8)
Education in the classical Christian tradition seeks to guide our hearts to love what is true, good, and beautiful. Our hearts are formed, in large part, by what we spend time thinking about. At Trinitas, we seek to engage excellent and praiseworthy material. We also do this because we know, as St. Augustine observed, that only a heart that is ordered toward its maker is truly at rest. In a world of restless striving, TCHS seeks to create a place of rest, a place of scholé where students, teachers, and families delight in their maker and in what is good and true and beautiful.
Courageous Voices
“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” (I Peter 3:15)
Our desire is for TCHS graduates to seek first the Kingdom of God, to revere and proclaim Christ as their Lord. The Rhetoric stage of their education is particularly well suited to help them share their testimony in written and spoken words and by living lives of love and service in whatever places and roles they are called. In a world that tempts us to cowardice or encourages aggression, TCHS seeks to equip students with courage that speaks truth and treats others with both gentleness and respect.
Ready Hands
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” (Colossians 3:23)
Since the time of the ancient Greek philosophers, classical education has elevated the life of the mind. The cultivation of our intellect is indeed an important part of what it means to live a flourishing life, but it is only a part. As Scripture tells us, human beings were made from both the breath of God and the dust of the earth—we are beautifully and mysteriously both immaterial spirit and physical body. And so, the work of our hands is also an important part of what it means to live a flourishing life. The Lord of the Sermon on the Mount was also a carpenter. But neither the life of the mind nor the work of our hands is our ultimate end. In a world that identifies and classifies us by what we do, TCHS seeks to form graduates who know their identity lies not in their work, but in the One they work for—graduates who work for their Lord and serve others with all their hearts, graduates who know they are loved by the One who first loved us and who find their joy and rest in this ultimate truth.
© ALP