Taking Leadership Development to New Levels
By Head of School Michael Dewey
Our school’s mission statement concludes with the following words: “with the goal of preparing leaders who will impact the world for Christ.” This means that the end result of everything we do as an educational institution is the development of Christian leaders. Leadership is in our DNA. This is why we developed the Essential Questions Project as the foundation upon which our program is built. Our commitment is that every ECS graduate be taught how to effectively articulate their faith, to live it out boldly in today’s world, to apply it to relevant issues, and to defend it when necessary. While not every student that graduates from ECS will go on to be a leader in the sense that they become the president of a corporation, the pastor of a church, or even a member of Congress, each one is called to be a moral and spiritual leader wherever they are called to serve. Having just sat through senior oral defenses, I can assure you that our students are ready to confidently lead in this capacity.
While all Eagle students receive this foundational level of training, being a Christian leadership program necessarily involves more than just moral and spiritual leadership training. Our vision for leadership development is to raise up students who will also be leaders in their respective fields, so that others will see that the Christian worldview involves much more than heavenly aspirations and right living. To this end, we are inaugurating a new leadership program designed to provide additional educational opportunities—both in and out of the classroom—that deliver in-depth leadership development tailored to specific careers. We are calling this program the Evergreen Graduated Leadership Program.
Introducing the Eagle Program: The EGL Program, or Eagle Program as it will more informally be referred to, builds upon the mission of the school by taking Christian leadership development to a graduated level. The word graduated indicates a higher stage, often used for increased expertise or advanced, structured development. It intentionally plays upon the traditional educational understanding of the word to convey that we are looking to graduate students with advanced leadership skills. While Evergreen already boasts a wide range of course offerings enabling students to pursue specific areas of study, the Eagle Program will look to build out specialized “tracks” that combine added course offerings with externship/internship opportunities with partner organizations and businesses.
This will not be a required program of study, nor will it function as an “honors” program within the school. As an academically rigorous college prep program, all students are engaged in honors level study. Our current graduation requirements (which include the EQ Project) will remain in place for all students. The goal of the Eagle Program is to provide more thorough leadership development to students who already feel called to a certain career path. Since most high school students will not settle on a particular career until they get to college, the Eagle Program will necessarily cater to a smaller subset of ECS students who desire to cultivate a calling on their life.
Our Initial Tracks: As a new program, it will be important for us to start small, with just two tracks. As the school grows and expands, we anticipate additional tracks will be added in subsequent years. This fall, the Eagle Program will launch with two designated tracks––a Visual Arts track and a Computer Technology track. Why these two? Our Visual Arts program already offers seven classes enabling students to take courses in this area all four years. Additionally, Art & Aesthetics is being introduced this summer, with AP Art Portfolio and Photography being planned additions after the coming school year. While we currently only offer four computer-based classes, we will be introducing AP Cybersecurity in the 2027-2028 school year and Christianity & AI next summer. Additionally, we already have access to a wide range of computer certification programs for students wishing to pursue a career in the tech sector. We are also cultivating partnerships outside the school enabling students with a specific calling to the arts or computer technology to get practical leadership experience in these fields.
Why Now? Not only have I been impressed by the quality of students we have at Evergreen, but I have been inspired by their desire to grow in their faith and their hunger to live for the Lord. Through three years of senior oral defenses each ECS graduate has dutifully wrestled with how to apply their faith to various careers, interests, and callings. It is because of their great example that we must strive for ways to better prepare and equip these young women and men to lead wherever God calls them to serve. The Evergreen Graduated Leadership Program represents a natural progression in our mission of raising up the next generation of Christian leaders. Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” This is how we faithfully help our students do just that.
In the coming weeks, I look forward to releasing the full details of this new program, what specifically is entailed in each track, and how interested students can apply. We are particularly working hard to make the program immediately available to rising seniors and juniors. Please join me in praying for this exciting new chapter in our school’s history.