Speaker 1: Good morning, good morning, good morning, Welcome, welcome, Welcome in
Speaker 1: its time now for our community connection right here on
Speaker 1: K one, the one you trust. Our program today is
Speaker 1: brought to you by Tall Grassmotors, our layd Neecamp Funeral
Speaker 1: Home of Wesley and Kitty College, and we have Cornerstone
Speaker 1: Classical Academy in here, and we have Dale Willis and
Speaker 1: also Sarah.
Speaker 2: Walton welcome board. Kind of been a busy year for
Speaker 2: the two of you.
Speaker 3: Has It's been a great year.
Speaker 2: Lots of good ops, I imagine, Yeah, yes, absolutely, Well,
Speaker 2: let's talk about some of the some of the big positives.
Speaker 3: Of the Well, we wrapped up our initial our launch
Speaker 3: year for the Leadership Academy this past year. Sarah and
Speaker 3: I both teach that and that went really well. Had
Speaker 3: nine students all together, a couple of part times that
Speaker 3: came and went, but did really well with that, got
Speaker 3: out in the community, did a lot of great things
Speaker 3: and really paid off big. I believe our students loved it,
Speaker 3: their parents loved it, and we're excited about year two
Speaker 3: which is coming up.
Speaker 1: For that.
Speaker 2: Hey, Sarah, I got to ask you, what was your reaction?
Speaker 2: It was brand new, you know, it was the first
Speaker 2: time testing the waters. I guess you guys just went
Speaker 2: in head first and we really did. Yeah, we did.
Speaker 2: How did you? How would you recap the year? Oh?
Speaker 4: It was it was an amazing year. We we were
Speaker 4: able to look at some people in history, were able
Speaker 4: to give kids examples of great leaders throughout history. We
Speaker 4: were able to get out in the community and visit
Speaker 4: visit different businesses, different uh, different leaders there. We were
Speaker 4: able to get our kids a couple of different internship
Speaker 4: opportunities that were really great for them.
Speaker 2: We think one of them, yes, we did.
Speaker 4: We got to intern here a little bit. We had
Speaker 4: one who was really interested in being a VET tech
Speaker 4: and so we were able to place her with an
Speaker 4: internship at a local VET. We were able to connect
Speaker 4: with with Phillips and their inn and Ship program and
Speaker 4: things like that. So we really made some great steps
Speaker 4: this year and it should continue on into next year.
Speaker 2: Speaking of next year, Dale, what are you looking toward?
Speaker 3: Well, it's important that our students, some of our students
Speaker 3: will be back for their second year. Plus are We
Speaker 3: had five eighth graders at Cornerstone that become eligible for
Speaker 3: leadership this year as well. It's a high school program
Speaker 3: and we just need them to know that we're gonna
Speaker 3: this is this is Phase two, Chapter two, but it's
Speaker 3: gonna look it's gonna have a lot of the same
Speaker 3: elements of last year in terms of the core, but
Speaker 3: a lot of new layers this year. New new textbooks,
Speaker 3: new opportunities in the community, more concentrated effort on internship programs,
Speaker 3: and just it's it's just really exciting to be able
Speaker 3: to build on what we laid in place last year
Speaker 3: and make it bigger and shinier. It's going to be
Speaker 3: very exciting.
Speaker 2: Sarah, What how did the kids react to this? First
Speaker 2: of all, it was new to them, and kids are
Speaker 2: kind of like, oh new challenge, Oh goody great. So
Speaker 2: what did they come away with? Did you see a
Speaker 2: progression as the semester went on.
Speaker 4: We saw them as a group getting closer to each other.
Speaker 4: We saw them taking some leadership roles on both there
Speaker 4: in our leadership class and in the high school. We
Speaker 4: saw them stepping up in different ways, and we got
Speaker 4: feedback from them. You know, this was one of their
Speaker 4: favorite times. They loved to come and do this. We
Speaker 4: gave them a time of course, and during leadership we
Speaker 4: learned a lot of things, but they also got to
Speaker 4: have activities, have games where they they got close knit,
Speaker 4: they formed relationships with each other which strengthened their bonds,
Speaker 4: and overall, the feedback that we got was amazing. We
Speaker 4: had several times where we went and toured somewhere, we
Speaker 4: came back and even students that necessarily weren't interested in
Speaker 4: those things the places we went to, then they would
Speaker 4: come back and say thank you for setting that up.
Speaker 4: That was an amazing opportunity just to to go and
Speaker 4: see that. And so that kind of feedback was really great.
Speaker 2: I think you started a fire Dale.
Speaker 3: These kids came from eight different eight kids came from
Speaker 3: six different churches and four different schools. So this was
Speaker 3: not a group of kids that were all together here
Speaker 3: and said let's go do leadership. They came from all
Speaker 3: directions and her point is a great point. We saw
Speaker 3: them come to know each other, love each other, and
Speaker 3: take care of each other. We had we had one
Speaker 3: student that could only make it midway through the three
Speaker 3: hour block because she was going to try County, and
Speaker 3: then she would leave there and come to our class
Speaker 3: and the other students would make sure that she stayed
Speaker 3: caught up. It was just a cool thing to see.
Speaker 2: You know, it starts out with leadership and it winds
Speaker 2: up being a little bit of teamwork too, which, by
Speaker 2: the way, is the best form.
Speaker 3: Of leaders are the important component.
Speaker 2: Wow, everybody learned a little something. Did they get to
Speaker 2: learn a little bit more about themselves too? Is as true?
Speaker 3: Yes, and a lot of them I believe themselves and
Speaker 3: some of the leaders that we studied, and that was
Speaker 3: a very important thing we wouldn't She mentioned the historical
Speaker 3: figures that we dove into, and we looked at them
Speaker 3: not just from an accomplishment evaluation, but from who they
Speaker 3: were as people and how that set them up to
Speaker 3: be successful. We talked about in our mission statement that
Speaker 3: we're not as interested in what you're going to be
Speaker 3: when you graduate as who you're going to be when
Speaker 3: you graduate. And I think we really, I think we
Speaker 3: planted that seed this first year.
Speaker 2: Did some of the kids come away a bit surprised?
Speaker 4: Probably in some ways we came away surprised as they
Speaker 4: impressed us with different things that they learned and would
Speaker 4: say answers that they would give us.
Speaker 2: You know, you give the kid an opportunity to amaze you,
Speaker 2: they'll succeed that's very true. Where did you get the
Speaker 2: idea for this program? Day?
Speaker 3: Oh, I've been thinking about this for years. Letting it cook. Yeah,
Speaker 3: just letting it cook. And these eyes at Cornerstone, it
Speaker 3: was just a blessing to be able to run into
Speaker 3: them and share that vision and and see and it's
Speaker 3: just been a great team effort.
Speaker 2: Now, how do we get the kids to sign up?
Speaker 2: Now that it's out there, people know about it, people
Speaker 2: are talking about it. How do we get the parents
Speaker 2: that saying.
Speaker 3: We're going to roll that into the whole Cornerstone school?
Speaker 2: Now?
Speaker 3: Packet okay, and Sarah can give us some details on that.
Speaker 3: I see that.
Speaker 4: Well, they can obviously, they can go to the website
Speaker 4: and enroll. Through the website, they go in and there
Speaker 4: is a section for signing up, and in that section
Speaker 4: you can check and see if you want to be
Speaker 4: in the Leadership Academy, and you fill out your student
Speaker 4: fills out an application for the Leadership Academy, and then
Speaker 4: it will be reviewed and we'll get back to you.
Speaker 2: That easy huh, no secret handshake.
Speaker 4: Well, you know there's some excited to have any of them.
Speaker 3: We've had some really cool things just happen at the
Speaker 3: Cornerstone School itself, outside the leadership aspect of it. We've
Speaker 3: become accredited since we last talked, we are now accredited
Speaker 3: school graduations, which is a big deal, and that ties
Speaker 3: into the whole tax credit program. And we've seen a
Speaker 3: lot of interest in that. Our numbers are will be
Speaker 3: a little more hectic this next year than we were
Speaker 3: these past years. Bring it on, right, bring it on. Yeah,
Speaker 3: really excited and probably have some opportunities to add some
Speaker 3: new teachers this next year as well. If anybody's out
Speaker 3: there then wants to.
Speaker 2: Come talkature we have.
Speaker 4: I mean, we didn't quite double our enrollment, but this
Speaker 4: the tax credit or the yeah, the tax credit. It
Speaker 4: opened up this opportunity to a whole lot of families
Speaker 4: that maybe it wasn't an option for them before. And
Speaker 4: so they're still able to apply if they want to
Speaker 4: come to Cornerstone, then they are still able to apply
Speaker 4: and also apply for the tax credit as well.
Speaker 2: You know, I've been here in town for about six
Speaker 2: years and I got acquainted with the Cornerstone Academy quite
Speaker 2: early in the ongoing care and I kept telling myself,
Speaker 2: you know, this is going to be that little engine
Speaker 2: that could and by Golley. Every time I turned around,
Speaker 2: you get things like accreditation, you get the thing like
Speaker 2: the leadership program, You get things like more and more
Speaker 2: people finding out about you and putting together just an
Speaker 2: interesting blend of how kids can learn. Well.
Speaker 3: We appreciate the part that you guys have played in
Speaker 3: that as well.
Speaker 2: Well. We just like to be good neighbors to everybody.
Speaker 2: That's part of being a community. Broadcasters to reflect communities, wants, needs,
Speaker 2: in attitudes and everything. And this is a great way
Speaker 2: for folks who might not have explored private school or
Speaker 2: alternatives to public education. Please go on the web site,
Speaker 2: Please take a look, Please pick up the phone, Please
Speaker 2: ask a question, Please set up with an appointment, and you'll
Speaker 2: be amazed.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, And just a reminder, we are at hybrid school
Speaker 3: wearing class Tuesdays and Thursdays, leadership on Wednesdays, and then
Speaker 3: homeschool the other days.
Speaker 2: Which makes you very unique. In fact, I can't think
Speaker 2: of a school that's that's like this at this level
Speaker 2: in a community where it's hybrid like this. You know what,
Speaker 2: It puts a lot of responsibility of the young people
Speaker 2: to keep going and keep up, and.
Speaker 3: They have to take they have to manage their week.
Speaker 4: They really do keep this step up and we partner
Speaker 4: with parents and it's a great a great combination with
Speaker 4: the teachers and the parents.
Speaker 2: Does this bring families together a little bit closer to
Speaker 2: because of the parents really having.
Speaker 4: To be I think it does. I think it helps
Speaker 4: them to be as involved as they can be, and
Speaker 4: they are. They're the ones that are going to see
Speaker 4: they're the ones that know their child and so they're
Speaker 4: going to it is. It's such a benefit to the
Speaker 4: child to be able to be taught and be with
Speaker 4: their parents, and it's just the best blend.
Speaker 3: I think it's a cool thing for a student, for
Speaker 3: a young person to see their parents develop a relationship
Speaker 3: with their teacher. It as well, I think everybody wins
Speaker 3: in that equation.
Speaker 2: It also creates just a lot of accountability on everybody's part,
Speaker 2: and that's something that we kind of lack in the
Speaker 2: world as a whole these days. Through my comment, my
Speaker 2: ears true. But I want to thank you all for
Speaker 2: coming in and sharing some great news once again. What's
Speaker 2: the website?
Speaker 4: Oh goodness, Cornerstone Classical Classical Academy dot.
Speaker 2: Com And we'll just stick it into Google as you'll
Speaker 2: find it here in Bartlesfield. And remember, folks, this is
Speaker 2: really something else. And what I mean by something else,
Speaker 2: it's very unique and it's really worth your time and
Speaker 2: effort to check it out. I want to thank you
Speaker 2: both for coming in today and sharing some really good
Speaker 2: news for having us alrighty ladies and gentlemen, you've been
Speaker 2: watching and listening to our Community Connection program on K one,
Speaker 2: the One you Trust