Stategic Initiatives: Mission/Culture

Everyone recently received a feasibility survey.  I have been able to examine the results of the feedback as it comes in.  There are a several points of communication that need to be addressed.  Not everyone has the same understanding and context for some of the issues and points being raised in the survey.  So I am going to spend the next few posts addressing those points.  I will also speak to some of these points at the April 24th Open House event that is targeted at all current families in Maranatha.

Let’s start with the 5 Strategic Initiatives that were included.  The first one was: Mission/Culture: Maranatha Academy will create a marketplace distinctiveness based on our effectiveness in carrying out the spiritual components of our Mission.

What is intended here is that everyone that comes in contact with Maranatha should know what we stand for and what makes us unique.  I believe that our mission statement, when lived out consistently and passionately, is what sets us apart.  Students lives and their family lives are tremendously impacted by our ability to create a culture that is filled with the Holy Spirit and encourages young people to grow in their faith, relationships, and their knowledge.  A significant product of that culture is the students’ ability to put that faith and knowledge into action.  Therefore, if that is our uniqueness, then everything that we do should seek to elevate that uniqueness and make it of extreme value.

There are many ways to elevate that uniqueness.  In our advertising and marketing, we should seek to convey that position in words, design and images.  In our pursuit of academic excellence, we should leverage our ability to understand God’s universe through His eyes so that we more fully and deeply know and apply all areas of academia.  In our sports, we must use the opportunities for athletes to demonstrate and apply what they learned in the heat of the competition.  For our teachers, we must encourage our kids along the path of learning and applying our knowledge of God: arts, sciences, languages, mathematics, music, etc. by being creative in our teaching, helping the kids achieve their individual level of success, seeking to connect to the kids individually, and be involved in their lives outside the classroom.

As you do all of these things and communicate this uniqueness to those around us, our reputation will only increase and become a strong magnet for Christian families.