ST. LOUIS, Mo. — David Robinson, principal of Word of Life Lutheran School, has been selected by the Van Lunen Center for Executive Management in Christian Schools at Calvin College for a 2010-2011 fellowship.
Robinson, a 1990 graduate of Bryant High School is the son of Becky Hannah of Benton and the late Charles Robinson. He is a 1995 graduate with a B.S. in Education with minors in youth ministry and physical education, and received a Masters in Education — Educational Administration from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2002.[more]
He is among a list of educators from as far away as British Columbia as well as 16 schools from across the United States to be selected.
The Fellows program is designed for Christian school heads with fewer than 10 years experience in their position. The majority of participant expenses are covered by Van Lunen, including cost of instruction, travel, lodging, meals, coaching and access to topic experts.
The Van Lunen Center was established at Calvin in January 2007 and now operates with a $2.4 million endowment gift to the college from the Richard D. Van Lunen Foundation. Its purpose is to provide world-class executive management education for senior leaders of schools based on the historic Christian faith (of which there are some 20,000 across the North American continent).
The Fellows program is a key part of that vision for Christian education. It is a selective one-year fellowship that, said Van Lunen Center director Shirley Roels, assists heads of Christian schools in refining the executive skills necessary for school management in the current competitive climate.
"Through case studies, reading, writing, interactive exercises, small group discussions, a school based project, and coaching," she said, "participants will deepen their own leadership, develop skills essential to the tasks of headship, and create deep relationships with peers and leaders. They will become more deeply prepared to craft and implement a Christian educational mission with parents, teachers and other supporting communities."
The program begins with five residential days in July 2010, continues again in January for four days, and ends with three days in July 2011. Between sessions, faculty coaching and consultant support is available via phone, through on-line tools, and in person to assist fellows with a crucial school project.
The Van Lunen Center was established to serve faith-based schools large and small across the U.S. and Canada with a big-tent philosophy, reaching out to schools from a wide-range of faith traditions, including Anabaptist, Catholic, evangelical Protestant, Episcopal, independent Christian, Lutheran and Reformed Christian day schools.
