Have you ever heard of a strengths school?  Do we seek career paths in something we don’t enjoy or are not good at?  We pursue careers and life paths that allow us opportunities to use our strengths and, ideally, bring us joy we can share with others while doing purposeful things.  Ephesians 2:10: “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”  At Vandermont, we believe that God made us all “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). Our goal is to personalize education so that when a learner graduates from our program, their educational journey matches real life.  Isn’t that what school should be?  We take school from a “sit and get” to a hands-on, self-directed experience.   School is not a place that is just preparing them for life… it is their life, and what their school journey consists of matters so much.  Instead of being told what to do -being micromanaged down to the minute for thirteen years of programming to “sit and get” the same “stamp-approved” things everyone else is getting, we do quite the opposite.  We create personalized and collaborative learning geared towards each learner’s God-given talents and interests.  Is every learner meant to go to college?  A study on entrepreneur.com , reports that 52% of graduates were not in a job where their degrees were even required.  We aren’t saying we are making all our learners into “leaders of the world.”  We help a leader grow into that leadership role and help behind-the-scenes learners, who are equally valuable in our world, to become the best of their abilities and live purposeful lives.  Our learners can choose to attend college, and we will help them get there, but they could also choose a trade school, serve our country, or go in other directions, and we will help guide them in those directions according to their goals. We are turning learning upside down and putting joy back in it. When our learners are sliding down the hall in their socks, we are there to give them a high-five as we cross paths.  When they confidently present what they have learned to 100+ people or use grit and perseverance when they just don’t understand something yet, but we keep trying, we are there to celebrate their successes alongside them with them understanding it got done because of their hard work and intentionality.  We are using the latest technologies, methods, and curricula to innovate education in research-backed ways, truly transforming “school” into a place kids look forward to coming back to day after day.  Please support our mission to help be a part of the offering of our program for our current and future Vandermont Lions in our community!