Guests: Megan Rogers, PCA Senior Director of Development & Stewardship, and Kenzie Venus, Director of Development Events

If you’d like to watch this podcast, check out the PCA YouTube page.

North Texas Giving Day (NTGD) has begun! From now until September 19, you can give to the PCA Fund that helps provide that margin of excellence funding specific projects that make our school even better! Funds designated for the North Campus will be used for North Campus projects and funds designated for the Plano Campus will be used for Plano Campus projects. The goals for the two campuses are as follows:

• North Campus - goal of $80K, with a stretch goal of $100K
• Plano Campus - goal of $553K, with a stretch goal of $700K

To donate, visit the NTGD/PCA page and make a donation - make sure you put what campus you’re on and what grades your children are in.

Special shout out to Jared Wood for allowing us to use his music - check him out at JaredWoodMusic!

Guests: Maddie McDonald (PCA Plano senior), Kellen O’Brien (PCA Plano junior), Naomi Livings (PCA Plano sophomore), Madison Kirby-Birdwell (PCA Plano freshman), and Ryan Newsome, PCA Plano Spiritual Development Director

If you’d like to watch this podcast, check out the PCA YouTube page.

Both the North and Plano campuses took their US students on retreat to Sky Ranch this past week. We had the opportunity to sit down with students from the Plano campus at their retreat as well as with the new Director of Spiritual Development Ryan Newsome to record some comments about why they felt a spiritual retreat was an important component of the PCA DNA and why, as students, they felt like this time away from school and with their classmates was essential to building community and meaningful relationships.

Special shout out to Jared Wood for allowing us to use his music - check him out at JaredWoodMusic!

Guests: Stephen Bryant (PCA dad, coach, SLi Director), Mike Thornberry (PCA North dad), Aaron Ulmer (PCA alumni, Class of 2007), Chris Housewright (PCA dad)

If you’d like to watch this podcast, check out the PCA YouTube page.

The Forge is the latest movie from the incredible Christian movie producers the Kendrick Brothers (Alex, Stephen, and Shannon), who brought Facing the Giants, Fireproof, Courageous, and War Room to the big screens. This new movie is about the process of making a man - and it’s a powerful story of prayer, forgiveness, redemption, and salvation!

The Forge opens in theaters across the country on Friday, August 23, 2024.

In the movie, Joshua Moore (older man, business owner) asks a younger Isaiah some important questions that cause Isaiah to pause and evaluate his life and future - here are those questions:

• 5 years from now, where do you want to be?

• What ways do you want to grow in the next year?
• What kind of man do you want to be?
• What do you want people to think when they see you coming?

The Forge isn’t a “self-help” movie about making better decisions - Isaiah surrenders his life to Christ and as he begins to follow Jesus, his life and decisions are radically changed! The Forge also highlights the importance of walking in community - surrounded by others to hold us accountable and encourage us on our journey!

Special shout out to Jared Wood for allowing us to use his music - check him out at JaredWoodMusic!

Guest: Dr. Mike Goddard, PCA Superintendent

If you’d like to watch this podcast, check out the PCA YouTube page.

This year’s theme comes out of the Book of Joshua, specifically Joshua 1:9, which reads:

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

As Joshua was standing at the precipice of something new, exciting, and definitely nerve-racking, God reminded him to be strong and courageous. What new adventure lies in front of you and your family this year - what is God doing in and through your life that you’ll need to rely on Him and His strength to make it through?

Remember that great trials and tribulations produce great faith in a great God. J.K. Gressett is credited with saying, “God prepares great men for great tasks by great trials.”

The Book of Joshua begins with this charge to “be strong and courageous” and ends with Joshua reminding the nation of Israel that “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Parents, you have a choice to make this year - whom will you serve - the gods of our age (convenience, comfort, competition) or the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?

Special shout out to Jared Wood for allowing us to use his music - check him out at JaredWoodMusic!

Guests: Jillian Bryant, Plano US Dean of Students, and Erin Williams, Plano US Counselor

If you’d like to watch this podcast, check out the PCA YouTube page.

PCA’s New “Internet Enabled Device” Policy

• Basically, PCA is going to be a “cell phone free” environment
• Much of the rationale for this decision is encapsulated in the research presented in Jonathan Haidt’s latest book The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness
  • Haidt writes about four foundational harms from a phone-based childhood:
    • Social deprivation
    • Sleep deprivation
    • Attention fragmentation
    • Addiction
  • Haidt also gives four foundational reforms:
    • No smartphones before high school
    • No social media before age 16
    • Phone-free schools
    • Bring unstructured “play” back for children

If you would like to review more of Haidt’s research, check out The Anxious Generation Research Website that goes beyond the book.

Special shout out to Jared Wood for allowing us to use his music - check him out at JaredWoodMusic!

Guests: Jillian Bryant, Plano US Dean of Students, and Erin Williams, Plano US Counselor

If you’d like to watch this podcast, check out the PCA YouTube page.

Dress code

• Greater emphasis on enforcement and understanding

Modesty

• Five Lies book by Rosaria Butterfield:
  • A godly woman is a modest woman.
  • A modest woman does not bring attention to herself but instead gives glory to God.
  • In Modesty: More than a Change of Clothes, Martha Peace and Kent Keller define modesty as “an inner beauty of the heart motivated by a love for God that seeks His glory through purity and humility; it often reveals itself in words, actions, expressions, and clothes.”

Special shout out to Jared Wood for allowing us to use his music - check him out at JaredWoodMusic!

Guests: Julie West, Senior Food Services Director, and Vinny Tellini, Executive Chef, with Sage Dining Services

If you’d like to watch this podcast, check out the PCA YouTube page.

Both Chef Julie West and Chef Vinny Tellini are “seasoned” veterans making the dining experience for PCA students something wonderful! Sage desires to be part of the PCA community - a meal is a chance to connect with others and Sage does a great job of making the food service at PCA special, unique, healthy, and delicious!

Sage takes into account the variety of allergies that students might be sensitive to as well as what are the favorites for the students. The menus are planned with great care taking into consideration what is best for the students and what the students will enjoy. As a parent, you can see what is available for your students on the Touch of Sage app - you can see the weekly menu, you can rate specific menu items, you can filter based on allergies, and you can contact Chef Julie or Chef Vinny to share your thoughts, compliments, or concerns.

If you would like to email Chef Julie West directly, her email address is JWest@sagedining.com. Parents, you are also always welcome to purchase a lunch pass and go eat with your child. Please see Susan at the LS front desk or Sarah at the MS/US front desk for more information.

Remember when your child says that they “don’t like” something - make sure you encourage them to try it first before they decide that they don’t like it!

At this time, the Sage dining experience is only available at the Plano campus, but consideration is being given to adding Sage dining to the North campus when time and space permit.

Special shout out to Jared Wood for allowing us to use his music - check him out at JaredWoodMusic!