A teacher paused mid-note, looked up, and you could almost see the connection being made. Across the room, others leaned in, not out of obligation, but because something had just clicked. The kind of clarity that doesn’t just inform your thinking, but reshapes it. Last week at Hillcrest, that kind of moment didn’t happen once. It happened again and again as Dr. Kathy Koch led upper school faculty through a training that moved beyond theory and into transformation.

This is what it looks like when learning becomes formation. Students are seen not just for where they are, but for who they are becoming. They are given space to try, to fail, to rise, and to discover that the abilities God has placed within them are not theoretical; they are usable, meaningful, and needed. In rooms like this, with voices raised and minds engaged, students begin to understand that they can enter complex situations, think clearly, speak truthfully, and act with purpose. And that realization changes them.

If the first day is any indication, what lies ahead will not simply be a series of planned moments, but a continuation of something God has already been orchestrating. Because the Gospel does not wait for perfect conditions, it moves through willing people. People who will go. People who will sit. People who will listen. People who will love.

They went to the Capitol to learn about advocating for life. They left understanding something even greater: that a healthy society depends on citizens who are informed, courageous, and willing to step forward.

When the final boxes were packed and the totals counted, the room filled with smiles. The collection represented more than food, it represented compassion, responsibility, and the growing hearts of students learning what it means to live for something bigger than themselves.

The call to missions has been forming in the hallways of Hillcrest for generations of students. And as students gather for conversations like the recent lunch with Dave Narvesen, it is clear that the tradition continues.

Hillcrest’s House System is helping students grow in community, character, and connection. One simple bin at the gym door is becoming a powerful lesson: some moments are too important to scroll through.

Flags lined the doors. Countries were represented in color and creativity. Students hurried past in team hues, whispering about chapters they had finished the night before and debating which book deserved to advance. In classrooms, brackets were filling up. Medals were being earned. And quietly, steadily, something powerful was happening: children were falling in love with good books.

When children are truly known by their parents, their teachers, and their school, they don’t just learn more effectively. They live more faithfully.

For Coach Hannah Clark, win No. 100 arrives not as a single achievement but as a reflection of sustained culture. The numbers tell the story: disciplined defense, focused ball movement, unselfish offense, and players empowered to contribute in multiple ways. On a night that celebrated a milestone, the Comets delivered a performance that captured exactly why that milestone matters.

Each month at Hillcrest, students are invited into something deeper than a lesson or a theme. Through a unified and intentional virtue program, the Lower School is being shaped in how students think, respond, forgive, and love. This January, that focus is Grace: loving others despite their faults.

Walking through the fourth-grade display yesterday felt less like stepping into a classroom and more like entering another century. Towers rose from tables, stone walls wrapped around courtyards, banners marked kingdoms, and drawbridges hinted at danger just beyond the gates in their dioramas. Parents and members of the Hillcrest community gathered not simply to admire displays of medieval castles, but to witness learning that had taken root and shaped imagination and understanding, and strengthened character.

An article published last year in The Harvard Crimson came across my desk recently. It highlighted how Harvard had to introduce a remedial math course for their students.

The highlight of the night was the Pumpkin Carving Contest, where creativity reigned. From intricately carved faces to comical designs, students worked side-by-side, celebrating the simple joy of creating together.

For those gathered, it was more than an event, it was a reminder. A reminder that God’s work at Hillcrest spans decades and continues in the lives of staff young and old. As alumni, parents, and students left the Castle that evening, one truth was clear: Hillcrest’s legacy isn’t a building, it’s a people. Generations of believers, worshiping together, bearing witness to the same faithful God who continues to write new stories of grace in this sacred place.

President Luke Fiskness offered three principles that act like anchors to steady the classroom in Monday’s inservice. The first is to make room for rest; the pace of modern schooling can feel like a factory conveyor belt, but scholé insists on space to savor ideas. The second is to aim every lesson at what is truly worthwhile: the goodness of creation, the beauty of art, the truth of Scripture, and the wisdom of history. The third is to remember that people are not machines; we are created to worship and to wonder, not merely to produce. Those principles are simple enough to write on a sticky note and profound enough to change a culture.

The clubs meet for a 45 minute block once a week. They have the opportunity to change clubs at specific breaks in the year to explore more restful learning opportunities. Faculty and staff lead the clubs, connecting with students in a mentor relationship that moves discipleship beyond textbooks and home work assignments into a love of exploration and learning around interests the student holds.

The classical education model values exposure to the great books of Western civilization—not only so that students gain an affinity for them but also to cultivate wisdom, virtue, and maturity. Reading The Iliad, for instance, challenges students to grapple with themes like heroism and the consequences of pride. The Odyssey demonstrates the importance of perseverance, loyalty, and identity, while Herodotus invites reflections on human nature, cultural values, and divine providence. Tableau takes these vital lessons and moves them from head knowledge to heart conviction.

In a classical education, students progress from absorbing concrete truths (grammar), to grasping their deeper meanings (logic), to applying them in real life (rhetoric). Joy, commonly recogized as a “genius quality,” is especially vital for students to explore and develop. Joy fuels curiosity, resilience, and a love of learning—a spark that ignites both the imagination and the heart. This is one reason chapel matters so deeply at Hillcrest. It reinforces that real knowledge is never just intellectual—it’s transformational, guiding kids to integrate faith and wisdom.

Against the backdrop of proposed legislation in Minnesota that would permit abortion to the point of birth, the Comets for Life club gathered in St. Paul to join the March for Life.