“We celebrate the past to awaken the future”, US President John F Kennedy remarked in 1960.
This short statement is a reminder that the very act of remembering is powerful; that in that simple action is the potential to shape and to influence our own futures.
Tomorrow, we celebrate Heritage Day at Calvin Christian School. Heritage Day is a chance to look back on our past, to remember, and to reflect on the incredible step of faith that was taken when those first, founding families established an association for a Christian school. Putting their vision into action, these pioneers then set about saving, planning and, finally, building to create the School that we enjoy today.
“The future that was imagined in 1962 has become a reality”
Our Heritage Day celebration this year will include time for our students in Years 6-12 to sit and learn from Piet and Jeltje Verdouw. Mr and Mrs Verdouw have a long history with our School that included Mr Verdouw working as a young man on the construction of our first classrooms and Mrs Verdouw moving with her family to Kingston so that her father (Mr O.J. Hofman) could take up his post as the first Principal of Calvin.
The vision for Christian Education remains central to our association. Our teachers have just returned from a two-day conference with staff of Christian schools from around the state. Meeting in Launceston as part of a national network of schools that began with one small school in Kingston, our staff joined other Christian school teachers in honouring God for the work that He is doing in and through our schools. Today, that association of schools (Christian Education National) that began with Calvin in 1962 educates over 23,000 in every state and territory in Australia.
The future that was imagined in 1962 has become a reality. Thousands of students have been educated at Calvin Christian School over the last 59 years in partnership with parents. As our students learn about these first steps in Christian Education, our hope remains that this will awaken them to the possibility of a future with God.
Scott Ambrose — Principal