Scholé Academy's Fall College Night will feature a panel of Christian college leaders offering thoughtful perspectives and practical guidance for anyone thinking about higher education. The event is open to all ages and is particularly suited for families with students in middle and high school.

Dr. David Diener is an Assistant Professor of Education at Hillsdale College.  Previously he spent fifteen years in K-12 private education, eleven of those in administration and eight as headmaster of classical Christian schools.  He is a Fellow on the Alcuin Fellowship National Council and Director of the Alcuin Fellowship Midwest Chapter, serves on the Board of Directors for the Society for Classical Learning and the Board of Academic Advisors for the Classic Learning Test, is a member of the National Council of Classical Educators, and offers consulting services through Classical Academic Press.  He also serves as the series editor for Classical Academic Press’ series Giants in the History of Education and is an associate editor for the journal Principia: a Journal of Classical Education.  

Dr. Phillip J. Donnelly is Professor of Literature for the Great Texts Program in the Honors College at Baylor University.  His research and teaching focus on the historical connections between theology, philosophy, and literature, with particular attention to the Renaissance reception of Classical educational traditions. He is the author of The Lost Seeds of Learning: Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric as Life-Giving Arts (Classical Academic Press) as well as Milton’s Scriptural Reasoning (Cambridge University Press).  He has worked as an educator at the university level for over twenty years and worked with K-12 Classical schools in faculty development for over fifteen years.  He serves on the editorial board for Principia: A Journal of Classical Education. He is the founding Director of the Texas Chapter of the Alcuin Fellowship and serves as a Fellow on the National Council for the Alcuin Fellowship. 

Dr. Christopher E. Franklin, is Professor of Philosophy and Humanities at Grove City College, Grove City, PA. He received his B.A. in philosophy from Biola University, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Riverside. He has taught at Biola University, Marymount University, and is beginning his tenth year at Grove City College. His scholarship focuses on philosophical anthropology, the nature of moral formation, Plato, Aristotle, and the Roman Stoics. His current writing is on the role of literature in wisdom and moral formation, which has appeared in Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care and Philosophia Christi, and his recent courses include Aristotle and Jane Austen on the Happy Life, Stoicism and the Art of Living, and Thomas Aquinas’s On Evil. He lives in Grove City with his wife Rubie, and they homeschool their four children.

Dr. Matthew J. Smith is the Founding President of Hildegard College, a new classical college in Southern California combining the liberal arts with the study of Entrepreneurship. Dr. Smith has fifteen years of experience teaching in higher education, at public and private universities, and he writes and speaks frequently on the future of Christian college. He is also a scholar of medieval and renaissance literature and philosophy. His books include Performance and Religion in Early Modern England: Stage, Cathedral, Wagon, Street (Notre Dame), Face to Face in Shakespearean Drama: Ethics, Performance, Philosophy (Edinburgh), and  Literature and Religious Experience: Beyond Belief and Unbelief (Bloomsbury). He also edits the academic journal, Christianity & Literature. Dr. Smith serves on the governing board of Veritas Classical Academy in California and on the advisory board for the Classic Learning Test.

Kimberly Farley began her career as an occupational therapist, but she resigned to invest in full time home education of her three children. Kimberly loves talking to students and their families helping them navigate home education, testing choices, and preparing for college. Kimberly is a passionate advocate for connecting students to liberal arts colleges after her children's exceptional experiences at three of CLT's partner colleges. Kimberly continues to work with homeschooled students by coaching speech and debate and serving the national organization.

MODERATOR: Dr. Joylynn Blake obtained her BA in philosophy from Dallas Baptist University and a Master’s degree in theology from Regent College, in Vancouver, Canada.  The Blake family served for eight years in Asia before returning to Dallas Baptist University where Joylynn earned her doctoral degree in Educational Leadership.  She was awarded the Outstanding Treatise award in 2019 for her study of urban classical schools. Joylynn has worked in both charter, private, and international schools in various capacities, including as teacher, Director of Curriculum, and Head of School. She is passionate that classical education be accessible to all students, and she is delighted to serve families at Scholé Academy.

Follow up with our partners:

• Classical Learning Test (CLT)
• Grove City College
• Hildegard College
• Hillsdale College
• Baylor University

Plan Now to Attend Our Next College Night!

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