Acta Equitum – June/July 2023

June/July 2023

Acta Equitum

The Newsletter of Franklin Classical School

FCS Office Summer Hours: May 22 – July 28

Monday through

Thursday 9:00 am – 2:00 pm

Congratulations to our Class of 2023!

Avery Abruzzo Charles Bennett Xavier Bradley William Brittain Gustavo Culp Cailyn Davis** Ella Hepp

Elijah Jones Jackson Lopez William Miles Miles Minard Lauren Pace* Josiah Parolini John Schwieger

Out of a class of 21 Seniors:

Olivia Ten Napel Abigail Thornton Ty Thornton Jono Tims Tremon Trudeau Ava Warren Vaughn Warren *Valedictorian **Salutatorian

6 were accepted into college Honors programs 5 received Presidential Scholarships based on academic merit 1 received an exclusive Air Force ROTC scholarship which pays full tuition, plus books, plus a personal stipend 1 received the highest merit-based scholarship awarded by Samford University this year All seniors were accepted into the colleges where they applied and therefore had a choice of where they preferred to attend.

Not including financial assistance scholarships, Tennessee Promise, or Hope scholarships, the class was offered scholarships for academic merit, leadership, and athletics totaling $2,790,816.

Charles Bennett and William Brittain: SEEC All-Conference football team William Brittain: All-State Honors in soccer from TSIAA Elijah Jones: NCSA Servant Leadership Award for baseball and basketball

Announcements June Calendar

July Calendar

June 6–9 Junior/Senior Retreat

July 1 Add/Drop fees applied to contract changes

June 15 Application to Homeschool Deadline

July 4 Independence Day offices closed

Working 2023 – 2024 Calendar available in RenWeb/FACTS – Resource Documents

July 31 Last day to make contract changes before add/drop fees apply

FCS Teacher and Staff Anniversaries!

Mrs. Michelle Cruise Mrs. Rebekah Bales Coach Traci Harlow Mr. Joshua Sperry

10 years 5 years 5 years 5 years

Thank you all for your continued impact at FCS and for your commitment to beauty, goodness, and truth!

We wish all our FCS families a wonderful

Knights Athletics June 12–16: Girls' Basketball Camp for 8th–12th graders 2:00–4:00 pm 1850 General George Patton Drive, Franklin $65 (includes t-shirt) Register by May 19th

July 10–12: Volleyball Camp for 5th–12th grade girls 2 sessions: 6th–8th 3:00–5:00 pm 9th–12th 4:30–7:00 pm 1850 General George Patton Drive, Franklin

June 15 & 16: Football Camp for rising K–12th grade boys Jim Warren Park No cost July 10: Football Practice begins for registered team members 4:00–6:30 pm Jim Warren Park

$85 (includes t-shirt) Register by June 20 July 10–14: Basketball Skills Camp for 8th–12th grade boys 5:00–6:00 pm 1850 General George Patton Drive, Franklin $35 July 21: Basketball Camp 2nd–5th grade girls 3:00–5:00 pm 1850 General George Patton Drive, Franklin $20

Registration for summer camps and fall athletics is now open! www.franklinclassical.com

GRAMMAR SCHOOL

PRESENTATIONS and CHARACTER BLESSINGS

MUCH TO

CELEBRATE! 2023 Awards Ceremony

Teddy Roosevelt: Leadership Lessons On Thursday, April 27, 2023, after 30 years of teaching, Dr. George Grant, our own statesmen hero, delivered his final lecture as lead Humanities lecturer at Franklin Classical School. We thank him wholeheartedly for his leadership and devotion to this community of his founding. Below is part two of an excerpt from his final lecture.

The private life is the proving ground for the public.

This is a lesson we seem to have forgotten. We put ideology or economics or policy above character. The result is we have people in public life who simply aren’t fit. Character is the firm foundation of the private life that is necessary to build a public life.

Leaders make the most of every opportunity.

Sometimes opportunities look scarce or small.

Sometimes they don’t look like opportunities at all. But leaders see glimmers of promise where no one else does. And they march onward, come what may. Hard work is necessary in order to lead.

If you want to lead, you must read.

Learning is necessary for leading. Teddy read widely.

His library at Sagamore Hill on Long Island in New York is a museum today, and you can see how well used the books are.

The role of the leader is to serve as a moral compass.

The purpose of the leader isn’t to do everything. No one can do everything. The person who acts like a Nam-Lugal wrecks everything.

The purpose of a leader isn’t to come up with great innovative policies but rather to serve as a moral compass through the situation.

A leader must overcome tremendous obstacles.

This is just the nature of leadership in this poor fallen world. A leader doesn’t simply assess the obstacles but assails them. If you stand for anything, you will be shot at. If you take any kind of controversial stand, your character and motivations will be questioned. A leader has to just say, okay this is simply a part of it.

Failure is the backdoor to success.

Roosevelt ruined his career more times than almost any other politician ever. He was told not to ruin his career by going off the Spanish-American War, but he did. He walked away from the Republican Party. He was willing to fail in order to do what was right.

Failure is the back door to success. If you admit the mistakes, confess your sins, learn from your errors, in the same way the gospel offers forgiveness, failure can grow you.

A leader will always prefer to be faithful than famous.

He knew from whence his strength came and yearned to be faithful to the gospel. A leader’s faith must be firmly established. A leader must be accountable, connected, and plugged into a local parish and community of faith.

There is no place like home.

With all of his travels and experiences, Roosevelt still believed the best place on earth was home. Churchill used to say, "A day away from home is a day wasted."

That’s actually a line he stole from Teddy Roosevelt.

The White House was like a zoo, literally, with ponies, zebras, peacocks and chickens, and sometimes when they were in the house. Teddy would take a little Shetland pony into the residence quarters and take his children on pony rides through the White House.

With great privileges come great responsibilities.

Roosevelt understood that because of the privileged position he had in many people’s eyes, if he stumbled and fell or became either prideful or complacent, it would be devastating. As a result, he showed us what is possible when a great man leads the way.

"Faithfulness is a virtue rarely produced in a state of calm, unruffled repose.

It flourishes in adversity. It kindles in the hour of danger and rises to deeds of renown."

Thomas Chalmers

"And gladly wolde he lerne and gladly teche."

Geoffrey Chaucer, Canterbury Tales

Dr. Grant delivers the Commencement Address.

More than 35 FCS alumni attended Dr. Grant's final lecture on April 27th.

A special FCS tradition: Dr. Grant sharing with the seniors the Bible verses he prayed over each one throughout the school year.

The 2022–2023 Upper Division with Dr. Grant following his final lecture at FCS.

Thank you, Dr. Grant!

God be with you!

Three Generations of the Grant Family are part of FCS.

The Robert Charles Sproul Blessing Every so often, God raises up someone who makes waves in history. And more often than not, these waves are the gentle ripples that dissolve stone hearts and redirect the courses of mighty rivers. R. C. Sproul was such a man. R. C. Sproul was a man for his time. A man who God called and equipped for His good purposes.

Through R. C. Sproul, countless men and women in the Church were strengthened and mentored in the bountiful love and grace of our Lord. He was prolific and tireless in his dedication to teach and equip the people of God through his sermons, books, lecture-series, podcasts, and through personal and individual mentorship. He understood the consequences of ideas, the weighty significance of worldview, and the unrelenting, healing power of the gospel.

His legacy is best seen in the legacy of every soul he touched; in every life he shepherded; in every person he equipped; in every family he strengthened; in every disciple he lead. Samuel Johnson says, “The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.” Dwight L. Moody once said, “The measure of a man is not how many servants he has but how many men he serves.” And Marcus Aurelius reminds us to “Bear in mind that the measure of a man is the worth of the things he cares about.” These are all expressly true for R. C. Sproul. And if these are true of Sproul, then they are especially true for the recipient of the R. C. Sproul Blessing, our founder, our teacher, our mentor, and our friend, Doctor George Grant.

Written and presented by Mr. Carson and Mr. Scherrer to Dr. George Grant on May 19, 2023, at the FCS Night of Blessings.

An Alumni Tribute to Dr. Grant We know of no other way by which to keep the love of the world out of our heart, than to keep in our hearts the love of God—and no other way by which to keep our hearts in the love of God than building ourselves up on our most holy faith.

—Thomas Chalmers How do you sum up the impact Dr. Grant has had on hundreds of FCS students for over 30 years in just a few words? My family first met Dr. Grant when my mom was pregnant with me. We attended his Micah Mandate classes for years before I ever attended FCS. But very quickly after entering 9th grade in 2003, I realized this pastor & teacher was not just another educator.

I have no idea why I first asked him to coffee in the summer of 2004, but I did during a tumultuous time in my life. He listened intently and advised wisely for all that was happening in my life at that moment. That started more than 19 years worth of coffees, dinners, and conversations. He later officiated Jenna's and my wedding in 2011.

See, Dr. Grant has always made time for his students, both current and graduated. He's modeled exactly what the Chalmers quote above says. He's built up others in the faith and loved people fiercely. He's poured out the love of God daily through his many ministries and in his Humanities classroom.

I would not be the man I am today without Dr. Grant's influence and mentorship. It’s bittersweet to know his final Humanities lecture as the primary lecturer has come and gone, but I am excited to watch both him and his wife step into this new season the Lord is leading them toward.

Dr. Grant closed out his final lecture with these words, “In the same way the gospel affords us the freshness of forgiveness, failure can be the best thing for us in the world. Making sure the inward life matches what we desire for the outward life. It’s living these things out, knowing that ideas have consequences. That worldviews matter. Knowing that culture is simply religion externalized.”

All FCS alumni are the consequences of the worldview & legacy that Dr. Grant championed for decades. I look forward to the next rendition of that legacy manifesting through us all.

Thomas Coghlan FCS Class of 2007 Current FCS Parent

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June 2 Mr. Brian Hatcher

June 21 Greyson Hervey

June 3 Mrs. Mary Hamann

June 23 Beau Barnes David Corning

June 4 Kenzie Browning Benjamin Jenkins June 5 Elizabeth Thornton June 8 Micah Morrison Sam Toski June 9 Owen Hervey June 11 Tolan Trudeau June 19 Charlotte Strong

June 27 Jeremiah Avila Will Jebasingh Jude McNeil June 28 Mrs. Connie Michael David Van Liere June 29 Hailey Corning

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July 1 Mrs. Niki Thiessen

July 22 Oliver Dykstra

July 3 Olivia Bennett Preston Sapp

July 23 Grace Lott

July 5 Richie Lupescu Mrs. Jamie Parolini Danielle Richter July 8 Siena Strayer July 9 Ansleigh Hurt July 13 Scarlet Hagopian July 16 Ian Ruzicka July 20 Avenlea Medina

July 26 Isabelle Dake Boone Minard July 27 Daisy Schlapman July 29 Olivia Rapo July 31 Zach Harlow