When I came to Orange Lutheran 10 years ago, people asked me about what I thought our academic program could become. Over the first 25 years of the school’s existence, many graduates had attended colleges and universities around the country. I wanted this to continue, so that our high school is a place where students can get there from here. That destination is really about the school helping our students develop the gifts God has given them. Placing an emphasis on excellence in academics is a value that is critical to the success of our school.
To attain this value, Orange Lutheran will strive to hire great teachers who are passionate about their discipline. We will continue to provide them with the resources to accomplish great things with their students. We will create an environment and a climate in our school that is conducive to learning, and we will support our students with the resources and strategies that help them reach their full potential. It has been wonderful to see the places God leads our students upon graduation.
A few years ago as the mission and values were developed and shaped, the discussions were lively. Helping students grow into the people God desires them to be, helping them become people who were known for their character, and helping them reach their academic potential were all fairly obvious goals. We wanted to go a step further though and really emphasize those things that occur outside the classroom as well. Thus our third value was established – that we emphasize excellence in competition and performance.
Competition deals with all of those areas in which we compete. Athletic teams, groups, and clubs that compete with other schools fall under this area. Performance deals with all those activities in which we perform. Activities like the fine arts – vocal and instrumental music, drama, musical theater, and the visual arts are all areas of performance. In identifying these areas as a value, we are saying that in whatever our students do outside the classroom, we want them to do it at the highest level. We will provide experiences for our students to compete against the best teams, perform pieces that grow their abilities, and create works that exhibit the gifts God has bestowed on each of us.
Our mission and values are the guide by which we do all things here at school. If we do something that doesn’t help us reach our mission and values, it is not worth doing. As students and faculty, we need to be people that assist in raising these values to the highest levels.
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