Enthusiastic Singing - and a Reminder to Guard Our Hearts

Palm Sunday and Easter are rapidly approaching, so in chapel today we brought out the tried-and-true (and FUN!) "Shout Hosanna" song by Donut Man Robert C. Evans. As you can see from the short video, the students (the video is K-6, thanks to Mrs. Akers) were having a good time!  (we didn't get any video of the 7-12 students singing the same song - that was great fun also!)

Following the singing in the elementary chapel, Mrs. Julie Little (with help from Mr. Little and a little from Mr. Ritschard) presented a skit designed to help us remember to "guard [our] heart[s] for it is the wellspring of life."  (Proverbs 4:23)  Mrs. Little also used tea bags to help the students and staff think about "what comes out of us when we are in hot water."

The secondary chapel after lunch featured student testimonies from Sarah Dages, Becca Wade, and Keely Campbell.  Each of the young ladies shared some of their personal journey with Christ with the student body and staff.  We're grateful for their courage in sharing, their heartfelt testimonies, and their reminder, each in their own way, that we can "guard our hearts" for the Lord.

Brian Schwartz visits DPCA Chapel

DPCA welcomed Brian Schwartz, the pastor of Renovation Church in Lafayette, Colorado, to the Secondary Chapel on March 14, 2014. Schwartz, a former NFL player, challenged the students to commit to Christ and a counter-cultural lifestyle.

A Warm Day

With so much cold weather in recent weeks, it was fun to see the students enjoying some time on the playground recently...  They look pretty excited about being outside, don't they?

DPCA Friends and Family Meeting February 24

We enjoyed meeting with all the folks who were able to come out for our DPCA "Friends and Family" meeting on February 24.  Thank you again to all who were able to be there!

We know a number of folks who are interested in our school were not able to make the meeting, so we've turned the presentation into a short video which will at least give you an overview of some of the central ideas that we shared about DPCA.  We didn't record the actual presentation, so this is just a summary version - but as we mention in the video, we'd be happy to talk further about our meeting presentation or to answer questions.  Thanks for taking a few minutes to watch...

EMH Hut/Leadership Course

"Leadership begins with myself. If I can't lead myself, how can I lead others?"

This question formed a key focus of the recent EMH Hut Course. The course gets its nickname from the Sangree Froelicher Hut just north of Leadville. On December 13, nine students, four instructors, and one EMH alumnus trekked the 3.5 miles to the hut on backcountry skis. Designed in part to introduce the students to winter travel and teach them the basics of backcountry skiing, the four-day course also included the annual EMH Leadership Seminar...

Read More at the Ekklesia Mountain High blog...


Ekklesia Mountain High is a boarding and day-student program for high school juniors and seniors at Darren Patterson Christian Academy, in which approximately forty days of wilderness experience and leadership training is integrated with rigorous academics in DPCA's Biblically-centered environment.  To learn more, please visit the school's website at www.dpcaweb.org, and the EMH program's website at www.emhweb.org.

Ekklesia Mountain High Photo Collections Posted

Photos from Ekklesia Mountain High Wilderness Courses can now be viewed on Flickr!  Click here to see the collections...


Ekklesia Mountain High is a boarding and day-student program for high school juniors and seniors at Darren Patterson Christian Academy, in which approximately forty days of wilderness experience and leadership training is integrated with rigorous academics in DPCA's Biblically-centered environment.  To learn more, please visit the school's website at www.dpcaweb.org, and the EMH program's website at www.emhweb.org.

Dogs, Daniel, Moses, and Education

by Mrs. Jani Ritschard

So, I want a new puppy... No, not really - I’m actually still in the middle of training my newest  puppy (who happens to be three…). I’ve had five dogs in my adult life, though, and with each new one it is the same. I start out with hopes and goals and dreams of what that dog will become; then I do my best, doing some things right and making mistakes also. Eventually, I learn new things and begin to struggle with teaching the “old dog” new things. It is always, in dog training, easier to have started correctly with a goal in mind than it is to reteach something.  After awhile, I begin to dream about what it might have been like if I had started out that current dog with “what I know now.” At some point, I begin to want to start over with that new puppy, because after a point it is simply too complicated and difficult to deal with the accumulated mistakes in training present in the “old dog.”

I’m a dog trainer by hobby and an educator by profession, and I've begun to see a bit of a parallel. Educating children has some similarities to training dogs. Starting right from the beginning is always easier than re-teaching after bad habits have developed. The Bible tells the story of Daniel, who was educated from a Godly worldview from a young age. As a young teenager, he was deported to a foreign country - and he was already ready to make his impact on the world and the Kingdom! The Bible also tells of Moses, who in contrast was educated from what we would today call a “secular” perspective, exposed in his education to other gods. Well, Moses spent forty years learning in Egypt, then forty years re-learning in exile, and then forty more years learning in the desert. Perhaps because of Moses’ education (which was the best money and culture could afford), Moses wasn’t even activated into ministry and leadership until after he was forty. God was patient with Moses, but if I had been God I think I would have begun to think, “I want a new puppy!”  

I believe that Christian education is the “Daniel” way to educate children. The “Moses” way of educating is any other way that is not centered, surrounded, and originated from a Christian worldview. Without that Biblical perspective there is no transcendent Truth and therefore, no true learning without God. He is our Creator and therefore he is ultimately what we are learning about and why we are learning in every subject. It is God we seek to discover in everything we study. God is All and is in All, so what else can we be trying to discover?

Do we want our children to be to God as “old dogs,” or do we want them to be ready to serve Him at an early age? Do we want our children to spend their lives re-learning truth and unlearning lies after being educated outside of a Godly worldview? I believe as parents and teachers, God would want us to raise up Daniels, to have the best possible launch into purpose and usefulness in the world.


Mrs. Ritschard teaches mathematics, high school science, and French at DPCA.  Her teaching experience spans more than 20 years in both school and homeschool settings, and it is her desire to help students know the Lord and walk with Him.  Her perspectives on education and dedication are great assets to DPCA, where our passion and purpose is to provide education that blesses families and children by working with each student for  a "Daniel" perspective - ready and equipped to express God's truths and to stand for the gospel in their culture.