Ad Lucem: A Journal of K-12 Christian Scholarship

Good Morning, Interim Head of School, Dr. Chen,, Board President, Mr. David Stewart,, High School Administrator, Mrs. Wade,, our guest speaker, Dr. Dale Meredith,, to the faculty, staff, parents, friends and to my classmates, I would like to welcome you to the Commencement Ceremony of the class of 2019. You passed by your middle school hallway in the fall of 2015. As you made your way to the high school, it was announced that your lockers would be the same ones you had in 6th grade. You were disappointed, yes, but only a minor set back, because you were finally a high schooler.  You went to Hickory Hill completely unprepared, wearing everything but the class color you were apparently supposed to. You saw new faces, and old ones, and you were ready for the next 4 years.  Within those first moments, you felt like high school would last forever.  In a way this is all you have ever known. This way of living. Four years of complaining about walking up three flights of stai

The Necessity of Responsibility Good morning Dr. Chen, Mr. Stewart, Mrs. Wade, Dr. Meredith, faculty and staff, parents, friends, and classmates. Welcome to the Graduation Ceremony for the Christian Central Academy Class of 2019. Today is a gift. It was not guaranteed. However, through hard work, perseverance, all-nighters, and sometimes just praying for a good grade, we have reached this day, our graduation. This, like every other day, has come with a price, and we are the ones responsible for it. It is our day, and we must take ownership of how we use it. We have recently honored the 75th Anniversary of D-Day; the start of the Allied liberation of Europe from the Nazis during the Second World War. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, an American General, was responsible for planning the complex and risky operation. When he gave the order to execute the plan the day before the operation, he signed a letter talking about the invasion if it failed. It read, “Our landings in the Cherbou

Zachary Miller Mrs. Abdul AP Gov Essay 17 April 2019 Prompt : "Without common ideas, there is no common action, and without common action men still exist, but a social body does not. Thus in order that there be society, and all the more, that this society prosper, it is necessary that all the minds of the citizens always be brought together and held together by some principle ideas" Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America 1835 Essential Question : How do demographics, political culture, and dynamic social change shape citizen beliefs about government and how are those beliefs measured? The United States' constituency could by arguably one of the most politically active constituency in the world. Aspects such as political culture, demographics, and dynamic social change drastically shape citizens' beliefs about government and polling is used to measure this change. Political culture is possibly the largest contributor to American political ideology. Ind

"Christ in the Classroom" by Mrs. Nurline Lawrence, Head of School Emeritus -Mrs. Lawrence gives credit to Dr. James Kallas for these insights on Christian education. "Education is not simply accumulation of facts, but the molding of an outlook that examines all things from a given center." Albert Einstein "But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his son" (Galatians 4:4). If we grasp this phrase, we are well on the way to grasping the nature and purpose of Christian education. Paul's meaning must be put together bit by bit, and only when all the pieces are in place does the overall picture become clear. The first piece has to do with the idea of the Greek philosopher, Posidonius, centuries before the birth of Jesus. The idea rooted and flowered that man was overwhelmed by forces he could neither cope with nor control; a slave to cosmic deities who made mockery of all his plans - totally controlled by fate. You will reca

What We Don’t See   By Jared Baldwin “He’s doing it again.” “Well then stop him!”  “How?”  “Simple. He has homework and he should be doing that.”  Jack sat in his room staring at a wall, but not giving any thought about the wall. His spatial awareness was unusually low, almost as if he wasn’t there; and, in truth, it was almost as if he wasn’t. He had heard earlier that day that someone in his school had passed away. He wasn’t that close to the kid. He had seen him once or twice in the hallway, maybe talked a time or two, but he had never gotten to know him personally. However one thing he and everyone else knew about Sam was that he was a Christian. Jack had never judged him for it, but could never understand why he chose to believe he had no control over his own fate. At least, that’s what everyone said, that Sam thought there was a God in control of everything. Jack paused in his trail of thought to look around his room. He noticed his backpack sitting on his b

I never fully realized how much this school has had an impact on my life until I went through a difficult family situation in seventh grade. My parents were getting a divorce at the time, and my grades started slowly dropping, especially in math. I didn’t feel like trying at something I couldn’t understand anymore. When I got home one night, my mom told me that my math teacher had stopped in her classroom after school to tell her that he understood what I was going through as he had once faced a similar circumstance. He offered to pray for me right then and said he was going to look out for me. After hearing this, I remember feeling a great amount of relief, gratitude, and encouragement. It was comforting to know that I wasn’t alone and that it didn’t appear I just wasn’t smart enough to complete the assignments. Throughout the year, he continued to check up and me and occasionally sent me emails, making sure I was keeping up with the material and presenting help when needed.