KnoxNews-Dec2021

types of Christians at the school. I
see how narrow the door is, as Jesus
said, but how wide open the door is
because there are so many different
representations of Jesus here within our
community. These are people who are
true followers of Christ, but who come
from very different traditions.
Sometimes within those traditions there
are different viewpoints. And that can
be everything from how to raise a child
to baptism. There are many varying
opinions and as a superintendent of
a Christian school I very much feel
humbled in recognizing that I don’t have
a perfect view. Rather, what I do is I very
much feel that I need to respect the
people of God and to hear their voices.
So, I see my role as listening profoundly
and deeply to those voices, supporting
staff in helping recognize that there will
be students who carry different voices
within their classrooms, and that those
need to be honored. And yet, as students
get older, we need to challenge them so
that they can be firm and strong in their
faith and then step into the world where
they can be effective.
One of my roles is connectivity to the
board, and I think it’s important to
say that a Christian school board is
vital, and the relationships between
the superintendent and the board and
the board chair are also vital. It helps
describe and prescribe a healthy running
of the school. We have a board that is
looking forward and seeking out what is
coming next. One thing I’ve been trying
to do is be very open with the board, talk
to them and let them know that I need
to lean into them, at times, for areas of
wisdom. Each one of them is there for a
reason, each one has a specific expertise.
Every day you spend time at both our
elementary and secondary campuses.
What do you love about each campus?
I love walking into the high school and
seeing and hearing and feeling the
intelligent buzz of activity. You will
see groups of organized kids heading
towards a club or to an event where,
for example, they are going to go out to
support people within the community
or farther afield. But you’re also seeing
a teacher working with a group of kids
on high level chemistry or mathematics.
You’re walking through the hallway and
you’re hearing music coming through
from the music room, as our students
are being challenged musically in band
or choir. There’s just this very beautifully
orchestrated sense of a wonderful noise
of intelligence, spiritual life education,
activity, and excited chatter. In the
Student Commons, you’re going to hear
foosball or ping-pong being played, both
things that I really love.
At the elementary campus, there is such
a beautiful sense of innocent education
and faith, and it’s lovely. Sometimes that
looks like a Kindergarten or Grade One
student stopping me in the hallway and
telling me, “I hope you have a good day.”
I love that. Among the staff there’s a lot
of playfulness, but there’s also a lot of
care and deep concern for one another.
Outside of COVID, you see a ton of
parent involvement, like parents reading
to kids in the hallways. It’s a constant
sense of parent buzz and interaction
with our students.
What are your hopes and dreams for
our school?
My hope is that our staff, our students,
and our administration are firm in
knowing who we are, and that our
culture and our faith are strong and
remain strong, no matter what the waves
that crash against us might be. This
means being alert and awake to that,
listening into what other schools are
experiencing or feeling, supporting one
another and doing as we were called to
do, which is to love one another deeply
from the heart. One of our mandates
is to support Christian families looking
for Christian education. That could
mean increasing the scope of how many
families we’re reaching at the primary
level. I think it also means to recognize
the differences within our school. We
have an elementary school and we
have a high school, but there’s a part in
the middle that needs a lot of support
and a lot of work. We have incredibly
dedicated teachers, but they need help
with a system that lets them do the work
they need to do.
You’ve got a great team supporting you.
I’m going to go through the entire team
and would like you to tell me what you
value most about each of them.
Kim Beunk, Vice Principal and
Primary Coordinator
What Kim brings to our team is
experience in understanding the child.
She knows how humans that are at
a very early stage of life think and
how they develop. That is absolutely
invaluable for areas such as our
admissions team and working with
new parents trying to figure out how
to do this whole thing called education.
The other thing that Kim brings us is a
tremendous sense of calm and wisdom
to our admin team. She’s a person that
I will frequently lean into to pray over
the admin team. She’s a pastor’s wife,
she’s been through it! She’s seen all that
you can see. To have her voice speaking
into our admin team is invaluable.
Kelly Blackmore,
Intermediate Coordinator
Kelly is a firebrand of education. She
is a person that has an insatiable
curiosity for how to move forward,
how we can increase what we have,
how we can become better than who
we are. And she takes it on herself the
most. She wants to make sure that her
own mind, her own person, her own
spiritual health are all growing in order
to help others. Her capacity for growth
and for finding and looking for areas
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