Blackhawk News

• We have installed gates to our parking lot at the second entrance off State Street on the south campus and to the entrance at Turkey Run. We will close the gates each day at 8:15am and reopen at 2:15pm to help secure our campus during school hours. Our goal is to limit vehicles and foot traffic on our property during the school day. Beginning next week, if you come to the south campus during school hours please use the main entrance at the light at E. State Blvd.

Religion, Faith, and Church

• Many of our families are familiar with the Desiring God blog founded by John Piper. He and many other authors contribute posts about all types of topics related to religion, faith and church. Their stated mission is to "help people everywhere embrace a profound truth that changes everything about life and eternity: You were created for something greater than yourself. You were formed for something awesome and magnificent. You were made to know glory — God’s glory."
• I wanted to share a Desiring God post from last year entitled "Technology Cannot Replace Presence". We are making a concerted effort to share with our students the importance of being in a church community, especially in an era where streaming a church service, listening to worship music, or listening to a podcast can feel like an adequate replacement for authentic community. Please take time to read this article, and please know that we desire authentic church community for all of our BCS families. Here is the article: Technology Cannot Replace Presence

Adolescence

• Tim Elmore is a leading authority on preparing Millennials, as well as Generations Y and Z, to serve as leaders in their schools, places of work, and communities. He is a Christian who has contributed to places like Focus on the Family and The Christian Post, but he also provides many services and writes many articles for a broader audience. He has a wonderful blog called The Growing Leaders Blog that you can sign up for at the link below. He recently wrote a three part series on that blog entitled "Six Crippling Realities We Must Address in Today's Kids". I encourage you to check out that series and his other posts to learn more today's teens and how we can understand and support them. Here is the link: Growing Leaders

Virtual and Digital Worlds

• Did you know that the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry estimates that teens spend up to nine hours each day on screens. They provide a quick and easy list at the link below of the things they may be exposed to if unsupervised on screens, the impacts of screens on children and teens, and tips to help your child and family manage screens. If you like bullet points rather than articles, this link is for you! Screen Time and Children

Education

• One additional article from Elmore's blog that I thought you would find helpful, as it has crossover to both parenting and education, is his post entitled "How to Simplify Students' Lives Without Making Them Easier". I think you will find it very helpful. Here is the link: How to Simplify Students' Lives Without Making Them Easier.

That's all for November. As always, I invite you to send resources that you use and articles that you find so I can share them with the community.

In Christ,

Mark Harmon, Principal

Blackhawk Christian Secondary School

"Preparing Hearts and Minds to Serve Christ"

www.blackhawkchristian.org

(260)493-7470