Executive Coordinator Karen Ovalles de Peña and Director Lester Flaquer

What is the ACSI-CEL?

International Association of Christian Schools Logos Education Center

The Logos Education Center (CEL) comes from the common dream of several people to serve the Christian educational community of the Dominican Republic and is intended to support Christian schools by providing education and training in their task of training students to integrate the principles of a biblical worldview in their daily lives.

In 2001 strategic bonds were formed with the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI), an association whose voice can be heard around the world with authority on the subject of Christian education. ACSI is recognized for providing leadership and services that allow schools to be effective in fulfilling the educational mission of educating young children and cultivating in them the mind of Christ through Christ's power to transform the world.

ACSI services include: International Accreditation, Teacher Certification, Conferences, Seminars, Leadership Academies, Schools Parent, Publications, Curriculum Texts, missionary groups and in general, support in matters of management and institutional development. It offers, in coordination with the Latin American Faculty of Theological Studies (FLET), Miami, an MA in Christian Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

In 2005, ACSI-CEL was designated the ACSI regional office for the Caribbean, giving us the opportunity to expand its services.

The ACSI Caribbean Office currently has about 45 member schools and over 300 Christian schools with which it maintains contact. Through its services, ACSI benefit directly or indirectly more than 10,000 students and approximately 1,000 teachers in different contries and Puerto Rico.

The Association of Christian Schools International

The Association of Christian Schools International Latinoamérica via Google Translate

June 2011 Highlights

This year we had an extraordinary experience! The Lord prospered us in a special way through our main speaker, Dr. Washburn and all the incredible expositors who taught with passion and wisdom, giving a great testimony of what the Lord had made in their lives and work.

People were so excited about what they were learning and many of them were giving testimonies how they were confronted with their practice. It looks that one of the most impacting theme was the plenary about the mission of every Christian teacher.

We give thanks to God because again, He assisted us greatly with every detail in the our XI National Convention!

Spotlight on ACSI

Over 500 people attended the XI version of National Convention of Educators and Christian Administrators, coming from 50 different schools from every corner of the Island.

The workshops were imparted by:

Dr. Kevin Washburn, Director
Clerestory Learning. Pelham, Alabama.

Alan Voelkel. Anthropology
Wakefield School of Tucson, USA

Christy Coverdale Voelkel, MEd
Wheaton College, IL. USA

Cristina Inchaustegui Santoni, Directora
AMO Program for the Caribbean

María del Carmen Hernández de Cerdeiros, Director
PECES Christian School, member school.

Maribel Morillo de Rojas.
Colegio Cristiano Logos, Member School

Eric Sigfrido Guillen
Colegio Cristiano Logos, Member School.

Like every year, we have to highlight the extraordinary team work that made possible the Convention. Again the educational and administrative staff of Logos Christian School had the opportunity to take the workshops; meanwhile a great team of our church IBSJ was involved in all the arrangements during the day.

This year we have new Christian schools and teachers that have never been at an ACSI event, reporting to be greatly impressed and blessed with the experience. Fifteen publishers were exhibiting their educational material! It was very glad to have ICOS among us. They had the opportunity to present their Program, reaching many of our schools. Besides, we had a stand and presentation of UNFHC, an evangelical University of our Country.

At the ACSI Stand we presented the new curriculum for English as a Foreign Language. Some of the directors and teachers showed interest on it.

We also presented the strategic alliance between ACSI, ASPIRE and Programa AMO, institutions that are working with Christian schools. Both are an added value to our member schools.

ACSI promoted the convention through several media including three local TV program and one newspaper.

This year we were able to give the support material in attractive ACSI plastic folder like souvenirs. We really testify that the Lord was glorified greatly in the whole process, giving us abundant grace and moving hearts to reach for excellence in the ministry!!!

Our next Convention will be on June 28th and 29th, 2012.

Below there is a brief summary of the results of the participant’s evaluation.

Some general comments were:

1. Excellent!
2. Congratulations for all the speakers!
3. Blessings! Great speaker. Lord continues using him greatly!.
4. Excellent Program, keeping doing like this!
5. The event was extraordinary!
6. Continue working with the same love and effort!
7. The plenary satisfied my expectations, it was a great blessing.
8. I liked very much the practical principles! They teach us how to do things. I liked too how they focused the importance of the fact that the teacher has to be what he wants to teach.

July Priorities

• Follow up new schools contacted at the Convention.
• Go to training at IICSE, Columbia, S.C.
• Take summer break.

February 2011 Highlights

On Friday 4th we had Jarabacoa Regional Seminary 2011 with an attendance of 86 teachers and principals.

Tuesday 4th we had a meeting with Mrs. Elsa Vitalia Lara, Director of Accreditation in Education Minister talking Higuey International School, with excellent results.

On 14th and 15th MI-EL Christian School had their second Accreditation visit by Mr. Dave Rhodes, CS. Lester Flaquer was participating in the process.

On 12th Lester Flaquer taught the workshop “Distinctive of a Christian School” to 100 teachers of ASPIRE (Association for Investment and Use, Inc., Opportunity International) in La Vega, R.D.

On 18th Lester Flaquer and Karen Ovalles were presenting the Certification Program to American Christian School Staff.

We met in our office the principals of “Look at me School” and “Baby Boom” who are very interested working toward a Christian Curriculum.

Spotlight on ACSI

Workshop Reports

During the Regional Seminary we had a blessed time. The attendance was great and , like always, many of our North Region memberschools assisted. This year we could be able have three novedoso y actual subjects. Multiple intelligence: Educational strategies for learning styles. Bullying: cause, symptoms and strategies. Bloom's Taxonomy in character and thinking development. Those were taught by the speakers: Jennifer Olthoff , school counselor K-12 , Santiago Christian School and Anny Ogando Consultant in Language Arts, King’s Christian School.

This was great opportunity to revising many psychological concepts, their meanings and applications. The speakers worked very dynamic and interactive way using examples and cases through the Word of God. Some of the comments of the attendance are:

Bullying:

• I received the challenge to be more careful and give attention to cases of harassment.
• It is a very good opportunity to learn about this, these cases are very common among school.
• It motivates me to continue helping the pursuers and the victims.
• I must review my communication avoiding actions and words could damage other people (young and adult).
• To detect cases of harassment without confusing it with common conflicts.
• To make me conscious that this is happening and I must to confront it.

Multiple Intelligence:

• The importance of knowing the types intelligences and use them at my planning classes.
• To make evaluations to discover the I.M. of my students.
• Very good subject. I have waited for it for a long time.
• To develop strategies to determine what intelligence my students have so I can be able to make a plan based in it.
• How to teach according to each students need.

Bloom Taxonomy:

• Enjoyed the group discussions and the project in which we had to apply our understanding of the bloom taxonomy
• To use all this in my plans and the classes
• To use the taxonomy of Bloom in my educative practice.
• Good. Very interesting and applicable. It is vital to develop critical thought.
• It was my favorite time.
• Congratulations teacher Anny, her class was exciting. Integrating her experience with the content was the best. Thank you very much.
• The small groups were excellent! It could be not better.
• Please continue using teacher Anny, she is very good.
• Excellent speaker.
• Congratulations! Every day you are innovating the workshops.

Suggestions:

• Integrate more biblical concepts.
• Use of graphs, images, dramatizations and cases.
• More group time or practice like the other seminars.
• More concrete ideas of how to use this in the classroom.
• More practical ideas would’ve been nice.

January 2011 Highlights

On January 13th we had the workshop Mathematical Mediation: Helping the Students to have a Mathematical Thought. Structures for the Intervention in the Mathematics and Support Educational Therapist. Susan K. Hutchison, Ed.D. , Delaware County Christian School, PA. NILD Instructor

From January 11th to 15th we had Curriculum Development and Instruction master course taught by Dr. Bob Brumley, FLET

Regional Seminary Jarabacoa 2011 arrangements

Accreditation Consulting visits arrangements

Accreditation books sales

Spotlight on ACSI

Conference Challenges

• The importance of solving mathematics problems.
• How to teach mathematics with a practical and real sense.
• To use more concrete examples in my classes.
• Diversified learning lecture is hard for adults too.
• Dedicate more time to the students with special needs.
• Using practical methods to explain the concepts.
• Use a better mathematical language.
• The challenge that I received was to dominate the fluidity of the reading in the mathematics so my students can understand the explained thing.