Hillcrest Hosts Life Unite With Comets for Life Club

This past Saturday, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy’s campus buzzed with a sense of purpose and hope as students, schools, and local pregnancy resource centers gathered for the inaugural Life Unite Conference, hosted by Hillcrest’s Comets for Life club. In a world that often blurs the lines between truth and opinion, Hillcrest students boldly stepped forward to present not just information, but conviction, understanding, and compassion—hallmarks of the Academy’s unique classical and dormitory experience.

"The event we did today was an invitational event to people outside our Comets for Life club and outside of Hillcrest," shared Dawn Synstelien, the club’s director. "We are wanting to use our club as a model for other schools wanting to start their own clubs, and we called this event Life Unite."

Throughout the day, Hillcrest seniors led discussions on foundational topics such as "Defining the Unborn," "The Science of Life Before Birth," and "What Does It Mean to Be Pro-Life?" Students carefully walked attendees through the historical landscape of abortion in America and the development of the pro-life movement, blending strong apologetic reasoning with a heartfelt call to defend life from a place of grace and truth.

But the conference didn’t stop at intellectual formation. Attendees participated in a service project, crafting blankets to donate to local pregnancy resource centers. These blankets, gifted with handwritten notes from the students, will be distributed to older siblings of newborns in the area—tangible reminders that the defense of life is not just a debate to be won, but a community to be loved.

"My goal with Comets for Life," Synstelien explained, "is not just to give students a club experience, but to motivate students to take action now, and in the future, to change the culture with winsome engagement and compassion, one conversation at a time."

The Life Unite Conference powerfully reflected what makes Hillcrest’s classical Christian program so unique. Students aren’t simply absorbing information; they are learning to deeply understand issues, apply logic and reason, and communicate with both clarity and compassion. Hillcrest’s classical training builds intellectual muscles for critical thinking and courageous dialogue, but it also cultivates the character muscles needed to interact winsomely with a hurting world.

Living together in Hillcrest’s vibrant dormitory community only strengthens these lessons. In their daily lives, students practice engaging differences, building respectful discussions, and living out convictions with kindness—essential training for the cultural conversations they are already stepping into.

Comets for Life represents the flourishing of this formation. It shows students how to lead with both truth and love, and it invites them to see that defending life is ultimately about reflecting the very character of God: His justice, His creativity, and His overwhelming love for each soul He has made.

At Hillcrest Lutheran Academy, students are being equipped not just to know what is true, but to live it, speak it, and share it. Through efforts like Life Unite, they are inspiring others to see the beauty of life, the goodness of God, and the hope we have in Christ—the true Light who calls all people out of darkness into His marvelous light.