THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF CORAM DEO ACADEMY FALL 2018 A View of the World CDA’s AP Art History Class Tours Europe Also in this issue: A look at the lives of CDA students and families: missions, accomplishments, and our culture Training ethical servant-leaders & wise thinkers who will shape culture for the glory of God Fall Edition Forum From the Office of the President Contents elcome to the 2018 Fall Edition of the Coram Deo Academy Forum! As the largest Classical Legacy: Bryton Praslicka W and Rachel Meade 4 Christian school in the nation, and as the largest University-Model® school, CDA is uniquely positioned CDA Families: Daniel Family and to offer the most outstanding educational experience Kahn Family Stories 6 available in the country. With a mission of training Development: Diamonds & ethical servant-leaders and wise thinkers to shape BowTie Ball, and CDA Partners 10 the culture for the glory of God, CDA is making an CDA Staff Story: impact on the spiritual, educational, and cultural landscapes of the Barbara Rogers, Admissions Director 12 Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. We are tremendously excited to include you in this mission, and we encourage you to get to know CDA as a Cover Story: Art History, Observing the World Through Art 14 significant part of your community. In this issue, you will first see a snapshot of CDA from the outside looking in. What is Classical education? What is different about Lion’s Roar the University-Model®? Why is collaborative, classical, Christian education, the best way to educate a child? This first half of this issue Flip Magazine will help answer these important questions. You will then be able to CDA Dallas: flip the magazine and view our school from the inside out. This second Mrs. McMullin and Mr. Jordan 3 half, called “Lion’s Roar,” is focused on the lives of current students, Student Missions: Sarah Steib 4 teachers and families, and will allow readers to live a day in the life Aaron Dutka, TFA Debate Champ 6 of a CDA Lion. We want you to know CDA fully, so please peruse both perspectives! Student Successes: Latin 7 As we welcome you into our family, we would also like to invite you Track & Field: TAPPS 4A to celebrate with us at our First Annual Diamonds & BowTie Ball on State Champions 8 December 1, 2018, at the Dallas Lincoln Center! Come and enjoy an The Lionettes, National Champs 9 elegant evening of dining and dancing with your CDA friends and Student Successes: Athletics 10 family, followed by an auction of truly unique treasures. It promises to be a night to remember, and we hope to make some wonderful Student Successes: Fine Arts 12 memories with you! Allow me to close by thanking you for your time and interest in Coram CDA Campuses Deo Academy and our students. We truly believe in our mission, vision, and values, and seek to honor the Lord in all that we do. Collin County You are a blessing to us! Pre-K to 12 9645 Independence Pkwy Plano, TX 75025 Phone 469.854.1300 Dallas Dr. J. Alan Marshall, Col., USAF (Ret.) Pre-K to 8 Coram Deo Academy President 7777 Lyndon B Johnson Fwy Dallas, TX 75251 Phone 972.385.6410 Flower Mound Pre-K to 12 4900 Wichita Trail Flower Mound, TX 75022 Cover Photo: AP Art History students and Phone 682.237.0232 sponsors showing school spirit in front of www.Cor amDeoAcademy.org Chartres Cathedral, France, Summer 2018 2 CHRISTIAN CLASSICAL COLLABOR ATIVE Coram Deo Academy’s mission to train ethical servant-leaders and wise thinkers who will shape culture for the glory of God is centered on three foundational principles that set the school apart. ChristianWe are an interdenominational Christian community which guides students to see the world from a biblical point of view. Our families come from a variety of churches and denominations. We’ve witnessed students graduate with an appreciation for the diverse ways that Christians of different traditions understand the particulars of our shared Christian faith. Our instruction is rooted in the Bible. Christian theology makes its way into every course we teach, whether or not the textbook or other classroom tool is created by a Christian publisher. We help our students applyClassical these biblical truths through the proven system of Classical Education. Christ-centered classical education focuses on cultivating wisdom and virtue through the contemplation of truth, goodness, and beauty. Coram Deo accomplishes this within the Trivium structure—Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric—through the study of language, science, and mathematics. Students learn to read, write, think, and communicate well. Acknowledging that all truth comes from God, we seek to expose our students to the best that has been written, thought, created, or discovered in history. CollaborativeAs a University-Model® school, CDA offers a true educational partnership. Coram Deo Academy leverages the collaborative University-Model® of education. This combines the best attributes of traditional schooling with the best attributes of home education and integrates them into one model. The result is a quality, cost- effective, college-preparatory education that gives parents more time for imparting their own faith and values to their children. Students receive professional instruction on campus two to three days per week and complete their at-home studies under the tutelage of their parents. 3 CLASS OF 2015, FLOWER MOUND Bryton Praslicka How did CDA help form your worldview? Bryton in the engineering lab at Texas A&M I believe work ethic, pursuit of community, and intentional University relationships were paramount. Even though it took a month (or more) of my freshman year at A&M for the culture shock to subside, I quickly sought out and joined a church my freshman year. I’ve also made numerous friends outside the church—of varying religions and atheism—and my foundation remains unshaken in Christ. I’ve learned to navigate tricky situations in balancing when to say “yes” and when to say “no” (1 Corinthians has been my guide). Finally, I have a greater standard for myself. While many students are there just to pass classes, I won’t be satisfied with being average as I live by Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” I studied abroad in a Sunni Islam country where you will be jailed for proselytizing, and I connected so well with the underground church that I still remain in contact with them. We call on the phone and connect on Facebook frequently. I love and miss that church. How have you impacted culture around you for the glory of God? I’ve shaken a lot of people’s previous ideas about Christians. I’m often faced with students who see Christians as ignorant or sheltered. Through leadership in well-known activities, service, ryton Praslicka, CDA Flower Mound Class methods of handling conflict, evidence-based political opinions, of 2015, is currently a senior at Texas A&M B and knowledge of scripture, I have tried to break down the barriers University in College Station majoring in Electrical many have toward Christians. While I cannot yet say I personally Engineering. He will receive his Bachelor of have brought people to Jesus at the moment of conversion, I Science degree in May of 2019, and plans either to believe very much that I have shone His light and planted seeds attend graduate school or enter the workforce as a for others to water. I have hopefully shown others what effective management consultant in business, technology, Christian leadership in a public university can look like. or strategy (specifically in the areas of renewable energy, electric cars, or energy trading). What advice from your CDA experience would you give Bryton earned a Terry Foundation Scholarship to help future CDA graduates? which fully funded his undergraduate studies. He Three things come to mind. One, be the best version of is in the Engineering Honors program and Fast yourself always (and that is the version that reflects Christ) Track, a Texas A&M program that allows students and don’t waste a moment being anything else for anybody. to begin graduate studies at the end of their junior Two, be a good steward of the time you are given. David, year. Between January 2017 and August 2017, Bryton in Psalm 90:12, asks God to “teach us to number our days, studied abroad three consecutive times and travelled that we may present a heart of wisdom.” College flies by to nineteen countries. Inspired by innovative means unbelievably quickly. Don’t ever waste an opportunity. Use of sustainable living he witnessed during his time your Christmas and summer breaks to work on projects, abroad, Bryton pursued a startup project in College research, study abroad, etc. Finally, think of your university Station – smart bus stops. He has now been accepted as the size of CDA, no matter its actual size. That means say into the Startup Aggieland Business Incubator, an hello to everybody you sit next to. Thank your professor after application-based program to help him scale his every class and turn off your phone during lecture. Ask about smart bus stops into a full business. He also received others before you speak about yourself. And a meeting in a $34,500 grant from the Aggie Green Fund to person is always better than an email. implement this startup project. 4 legacy CLASS OF 2015, COLLIN COUNTY Rachel Meade How did CDA help form your worldview? I can definitely thank CDA for my ability to think critically about not only intellectual challenges in my life but also about the spiritual and personal challenges I face.