We are looking forward to a memorable day on June 9 to celebrate the graduation of the Ad Fontes Class of 2012! The ceremony will begin at 1pm  at Centreville Presbyterian Church.

We are very pleased to have Mr. Vigen Guroian as our commencement speaker. Mr. Guroian is a University of Virginia professor, and a leading advocate, writer and speaker on the value of a classical and Christian education. Ad Fontes and other classical schools have included his writings as part of our teacher training. He has a deep walk with the Lord, and a great love for young people. He can speak poignantly about classical education and the transition to college life. His full bio is at the end of this article.

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On Saturday April 28, 150 guests were touched by articulate students and moved by a stirring address by Cal Thomas while joining to raise over $20,000 to support the mission and vision of  Ad Fontes Academy. We offer special thanks to our event sponsors, Christopher Consultants and Mathansium.

One of the evening speakers shared a personal testimony of the Ad Fontes vision , “We discovered that our daughter can have an education where Christ is the Lord of all things, where her teachers can be mentors and her classmates brothers and sisters, where character and intelligence both mattered, and where history, great books, and articulate thinking, writing and speaking were highly valued.”

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Senior Greg Barton had always liked music, and started learning it with the piano in elementary school. But it didn’t stick.  “I hated piano.  The little jingles I had to play bored me.  I wanted a bigger challenge.”  So he decided on the drums.  “[Drums] started as a way to get my energy out, and to team up with my friend Addison (also an AFA senior) who played guitar.  But soon I wanted to go beyond that, and added singing to the mix.  I knew combining drumming and singing would be a bigger challenge, and I’m always happiest when I’m busy.”

Having attended AFA since the fifth grade, Greg has seen the school from many perspectives.  “The school is a small environment, and we don’t own our own space.  But I feel that both of these negatives are really positives.  My classmates have been the same for years, and if we don’t get along we have to deal with it and think about a Christian response.  I can’t just avoid it.  I have been challenged to think about what is really important about education.”  Over time, “I’ve also come to love the faculty.  They care and invest themselves in students’ lives, which I know is rare.  They have also helped us mature by giving us responsibility progressively, like allowing seniors to leave campus, help lead discussions, or plan events,” and this, “has really helped unite me to the school.”  Greg spoke of AFA as a “monastery, a safe haven.  I’m not saying that school is stress-free, but we know we’re cared for.”

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As students move through the Upper School, we challenge them to think their own thoughts, to analyze information and hone their thinking skills. To varying degrees, this is outside their comfort zone. Often they want to be told “the answers,” so that they know what to write on the test or paper. We, however, want them to take the information they’ve been given and to figure out the answers on their own, or even to generate new questions.

When a student is able to do this—to analyze and synthesize, to answer a question in a way that shows depth of thinking and creativity—we want to recognize him or her. Thus, we created the Outside the Box award. Faculty can nominate students at any time and every week we will announce new winners in chapel. Every six weeks or so, we will have a special lunch in honor of Outside the Box nominees. At the end of the year, during our awards ceremony, we will recognize one or more students who have exhibited the essence of Outside the Box thinking throughout the year.

You can view all nominees and their work by clicking here.