New documentary profiles Seventh-day Adventist holistic education in North American schools

The documentary “The Blueprint: The Story of Adventist Education,” by independent filmmaker Martin Doblmeier, profiles eight Adventist schools across North America and is now available on DVD. It opens with a student who could not read a word when he transferred to the Bronx-Manhattan Seventh-day Adventist School in third grade. He is now graduating from eighth grade with honors, which the story credits in part to a teacher who worked with him every day after school.

The film’s title refers to Adventist Church co-founder Ellen G. White, who in the mid-19th century introduced the concept of holistic education. The source describes this as mental, physical, social and spiritual health, joined with intellectual growth and service to humanity. Today, the source states, the Adventist Church operates the second largest faith-based school system in the world.

On location in Holbrook, Arizona, Doblmeier examines the Holbrook Indian School, an Adventist boarding school on the nearby Navajo reservation. The school teaches students to find value and self-worth in their identity as Native Americans and children of God. Many of its students come from abusive, broken homes in a community marked by unemployment, drug abuse and gangs. Caring for children in such circumstances is a call to defend the vulnerable (Psalm 82:3). Vice Principal Jovanna Poor Bear-Adams, who grew up on the reservation and struggled with feelings of inadequacy, says, “I want to help them figure out that they are not less than everybody else.”

The documentary reveals that students at schools from Holbrook to Columbine Christian School in Durango, Colorado, share traits that correlate with high achievement. These include reading for pleasure, positive relationships, good nutrition and adequate sleep. Students also identify themselves as spiritual. Elissa Kido, who directed CognitiveGenesis, a survey of more than 50,000 students at 800 Adventist schools across the U.S., Canada and Bermuda, says a decline in enrollment at some Adventist church schools has led some parents to question whether Adventist education can still deliver quality academics.

At Pinon Hills School in Farmington, New Mexico, which has nine students, Doblmeier addresses the challenge of multi-grade classrooms. Blake Jones, pastor of the Pinon Hills Adventist Church, says, “There’s been a cultural change in the Adventist Church. Forty years ago, if you were an Adventist family, it was almost a scandal if you didn’t send your children to the local Adventist school.” He adds, “That’s not the case today.” The source reports that half of Pinon Hills’ operating budget goes to supporting the school.

Students at Spencerville Adventist Academy in Maryland score in the 80th to 90th percentile. The film argues that Spencerville is the rule rather than the exception. CognitiveGenesis found that Adventist students outperform the national average in all grades and all subjects, regardless of class size. Lisa Beardley-Hardy, Education director for the Adventist world church, says, “There’s no academic advantage in going to a large school.”

At Loma Linda Academy in California, Doblmeier reports that students at Adventist schools score “considerably” above the national average in science. The source notes that critics have questioned whether good science can be taught in the context of creationism. Robert Skoretz, principal of Loma Linda Academy, says the school has found it is able to develop students into critical thinkers and good scientists with sound scientific method, who also understand how a person can be a good scientist and a believer in God.

Doblmeier also explores community service at Oakwood Adventist Academy in Alabama, which the source identifies as one of the school’s core values. The school holds regular community service days, during which students distribute food, clothes and other supplies. Sharon Lewis, principal of Oakwood Academy, says, “Students begin building habits early in life, and if we want to prepare them for a lifetime of service and involvement in their communities, we have to start early. It’s part of our curriculum.”

Source: Read the original report