The Heart Behind Trojan Football with Coach Steve Hayes

In this episode of Let’s Talk TCA, the tables are turned as our regular host, Cynthia Yanof, becomes a guest on the podcast. TCA student Ella Eubanks interviews Cynthia about her new book, “Life Is Messy, God Is Good,” and her experiences as a podcaster, a foster mom, and a TCA parent.

Life is hard, and it often goes “off script.” Cynthia talks about having a theology that lines up with reality and finding God at work in the middle of our messes. She shares “messy truths” from her book, heartwarming stories from the TCA community, and insights from being “the oldest mom on the playground.”

As a special treat to our listeners, we are also giving away 20 signed copies of Cynthia’s book. To enter your name into a drawing for the books, simply email podcast@trinitychristian.org with a suggestion for a future podcast topic or guest. Out of everyone who emails an idea, 20 people will be randomly selected to receive a free book.

You can order Cynthia’s book and find more of her podcasts at cynthiayanof.com.

Dr. Tim Elmore joins the podcast to talk about cultivating leadership in our children and equipping them to be future leaders. 

Dr. Elmore is the founder of the global nonprofit Growing Leaders and has written more than 35 books, including “Habititudes,” “Generation Z Unfiltered” and “12 Huge Mistakes Parents Can Avoid.”

An expert on leadership and the younger generations, he believes that the problems we face today will be solved by kids who are now in school.

In this episode, Tim Elmore and host Cynthia Yanof discuss:

• How Generation Z and Generation Alpha are defined, and how they are different from previous generations
• The impact of smartphones on younger generations
• The four ways kids become leaders
• How parents can develop leadership in their kids
• Ways in which parents inadvertently stifle leadership in children
• Positive steps parents can take and mistakes they can avoid

Tim Elmore’s latest book, “I Can’t Wait!” contains 52 stories of kids who took leadership to solve problems or serve people. Each short story includes discussion questions and an online
video families can watch together.

You can learn more about the book here, and find other
resources from Tim at growingleaders.com.

Bob Goff, the bestselling author of “Love Does” and “Everybody Always,” joins the podcast to discuss loving people, dreaming big, and living an undistracted life.

Answering questions submitted by TCA students, Bob talks about:

• His work building schools in 13 countries
• The difference between teachers and educators
• How to love people who are difficult to love
• Using your platform or influence to make a lasting difference
• How to deal with distractions
• Making plans for life versus going with the flow
• How students can take leadership in building a better, more loving world
• The phone number you can use to call The White House (202-456-1414)
• Getting into adventures at any age

You can find Bob Goff’s books and videos, including his latest bestseller, “Undistracted,” on his website, bobgoff.com.

In this episode, host Cynthia Yanof talks all things athletics with Chief Administrative Officer Tonja King. Tonja and Cynthia cover a range of topics, including:

• The mission and philosophy of TCA athletics
• How TCA measures success in athletics
• Recent coaching hires
• The new position of athletic chaplain
• Athletic department leadership
• Changes in the strength and conditioning program
• TAPPS’ and TCA’s policy on recruiting
• Improving athletic facilities
• How you can help

If you would like to learn more about opportunities to support TCA athletics financially, please contact Becky Lewis at the TCA Foundation.

In this episode, host Cynthia Yanof discusses AI (artificial intelligence) with TCA Chief Academic Officer Fran Legband and Director of Technology and STEM Lisa Wong.

Love it or fear it, AI is a game-changer, and it’s here to stay. Listen as Fran and Lisa explain the basics of how artificial intelligence works, including its potential benefits and its limitations. They talk about how AI can influence education and the way subjects are taught, such as focusing student work more on critical thinking skills that AI cannot replicate. They also explain how TCA is guarding against the use of AI-generated content in school assignments.

As an example of how this new technology is rapidly developing, ChatGPT’s capabilities changed soon after this episode was recorded. ChatGPT can now search the internet to answer prompts, which gives it access to more data.

This week on Let’s Talk TCA, we have the privilege of hearing from one of the leading voices of Christian worldview, Michael Craven.

Mr. Craven is an author, speaker, and the Vice President of
Equipping at the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. He’s passionate about helping Christians align current-day cultural issues with biblical truth, a focus TCA is also highly committed to providing its students.

A few of the topics covered on today’s podcast include:
- Mr. Craven’s journey from corporate CEO to Christian worldview apologist
- The importance of having a Christian worldview
- The call to engage our culture with truth rather than abandoning hope
- A reminder that our children are seeking a larger purpose in life, which the Bible offers

We are so fortunate to have Michael Craven joining us for today’s podcast, as well as next week live on our campus.

 Join our TCA family on September 26 at 7 p.m. to hear Mr. Craven discuss the hope we have in an oftentimes hostile culture, and how to fulfill the call to be Christ’s
witnesses to the ends of the earth.

In today’s episode, we talk with three of our graduating seniors: Caitlyn Hackney, Alana Soileau, and Max Merrifield.

These students tell us about their experiences throughout their time at TCA including involvement in activities, how teachers have influenced them, school trips, preparing for college, and most importantly how TCA has impacted their faith. Their advice to their freshmen selves is priceless.

Whether you are a current TCA student or parent, are joining the Upper School this fall, or considering TCA for the future, you won’t want to miss this advice and wisdom from our seniors!

Congratulations to our Class of 2023!

Building Community from the Beginning with Bev Birmingham: Episode 27

On today’s podcast episode we have our Assistant Head of Lower School Bev Birmingham with us. We get to know Bev and her heart for our lower school students and families. She also shares about the Lower School Moms Book Club that she started last year and how moms are finding community through coming together over a book.

Bev and her husband Barry served in schools overseas in Turkey and South Korea. They have been at TCA for eight years and two of their four adult children graduated from TCA. One thing that drew Bev to TCA was the moms' MPACT prayer group and the community of believers here. Bev is passionate about student life as a part of education and building relationships with students.

As Assistant Head of Lower School Bev wears a variety of hats including working with teachers, curriculum, disciplining students and LS chapel. Bev spends time helping children to learn to put others first and teaching them how to resolve conflict with friends.

The Lower School Moms Book Club was an idea that came out of a heart for connecting moms after COVID. Bev wanted the book club to be a place for moms to be authentic and make connections. The book club is well attended, and moms can feel free to come as they are and when their schedule allows and whether they have read the book or not. The first couple of books they have read are, “When Strivings Cease” by Ruth Chou Simons and “Find Your People” by Jennie Allen. This spring the moms are reading “Rhythms of Renewal” by Rebekah Lyons. Bev is looking for books that speak to moms as women and believers.

The last meeting of the semester is Monday, May 15, from 7 to 8 p.m. in the Lower School Library. Every mom is welcome (even those with older kids) whether she has come before or not. We hope to see you there!

On today’s podcast episode, we have our Head of School, Dr. Jeff Williams. He talks with our host Cynthia Yanof
about the new prefect system, junior leadership inauguration, curriculum updates, new coaching staff, and parent survey results. We are so glad to have Dr. Williams on the podcast to
update us on everything happening at TCA.

Dr. Williams tells us about April's Junior Leadership Inauguration for our TCA juniors. It is a program designed to call students into the school's leadership for the following year at the end of their junior year. We ask parents to come to a ceremony and to come alongside them. We are calling students to be the best that they can be, where they can influence and impact the student body at TCA. We give the student a medallion with the TCA logo and this scripture on the back. (To whom much is given, much will be required. Luke 12:48). Parents stand and pray a blessing over them to lead well the following year.

The prefect system is also a new program for the upper school next year. This program came from the Oxford Educational System. This program gives students more
ownership and voice in the culture and daily life of the school. Dr. Williams thinks students must have a voice – they impact morale and school spirit. Dr. Williams has used this system at the last two schools he has led, and its influence on school culture is impressive.

Dr. Williams met with the junior class in February to introduce the program based on character demonstrated through leadership. Seven prefects will oversee seven
different areas of the school. Each prefect will have a faculty mentor for the year and a committee of students. This program allows upper school students to be involved in
leadership through these committees. Thirty-nine juniors applied for the seven positions and were interviewed by a selection committee of nine, including five faculty selected by the junior class. Prefects will be announced after the junior leadership inauguration.

Another new program beginning next year is the Biblical Immersion and Worldview Initiative, headed by Bob Dyer. We want to ensure our students are equipped to enter the world.
We want our students to know what the scriptures say and how to apply it to the decisions and choices they are making in life. Practically this will help to equip and train our faculty to be more intentional.

The results of the parent survey were emailed out to parents. The email talks about areas where parents believe TCA is doing well and those areas that need improvement. The results have been circulated to the board of trustees, school heads, and department heads.

We will be doing a homework survey for middle and upper school students. We will be intentional about change and only change what needs focus to use our energies wisely.

Here are a few more updates:

• Tonja King has been hired as the new volleyball coach and dance coach.
• Fran Legband introduced a new Humanities Core Curriculum in a video a few weeks ago.
• Jon Millet introduced new art courses in a video that makes our art program accessible
  to more students.