Torch, Winter 1978

Dr. Paul Dixon, President ''AFTER THEIR OWN KIND.. Can anyone find any more amazing life cycle than that of the butterfly? What a wonderful life story as it begins with the tiny egg deposited upon the branch and hatches in a wonnlike grub! It then matures into a caterpillar with an enormous appetite, until it becomes too big for its skin. At last, it spins a case around itself and goes to sleep, only to one day split that case open and come into the air as a floating flower, that most beautiful of all creatures-the multicolored butterfly. Surely, there are many cycles of life that would interest and thrill all of us. Yet, one of the most fascinating is comparatively new. I speak of that process of education where the student is trained in the Christian school at the elementary and secondary levels. He then attends a Christian college such as Cedarville. After graduation, he returns to a Christian school as a certified and qualified teacher. He is now dedicated to reproducing himself in the lives of other young people. The cycle goes on! This issue of Torch is devoted to Christian education-truly a modem phenomenon. Twenty-five percent of our present freshman class graduated from Christian high schools. Obviously, the Christian school boom is having its impact on the Christian college. But that is only one phase of the cycle. One of our largest areas of study at Cedarville has historically been teacher education. This is again true in 1978. In the last ten years, over 1,000 of our graduates have been certified by the state of Ohio to teach. A remarkable statistic! To complete this cycle, requests come to us every week for these graduates; over 1,000 such requests were received last year. As a result, 98% of those who graduated from our teacher education program last year and who desired to go into teaching are now ministering in Christian schools across America. The butterfly matures into that beautiful creature God intended it to be. In like manner Cedarville College's goal is that every young person fulfill the purpose of his Lord. We rejoice in this vital responsibility committed to us. Truly, we are leading the way in Christian education. 3 , ,