Jean Auxier

Jean Auxier is the Dean of Faculty and Curriculum at Faith Christian Academy (Kansas City, Missouri), where she has served for twenty years and currently oversees forty-three faculty members. Her teaching experience at FCA includes 7th grade humanities (currently), 3rd grade, and KG. Her passion is to rightly and deeply understand classical education and help others do the same. In 2022, Jean received the Herzog Foundation Teacher of Year Award.

2024 Speaker Topic

Twenty Years in a Collaborative School: Lessons Along the Way

THURSDAY, JUNE 20

4:10–5:10

From day one to day 3200, twenty years in a classical, collaborative school have made for an incredible journey! Join me as I trace the most pressing matters of those early and middle years, which included our need to define classical, parent burn-out and homework loads, clarifying curriculum, building community, and training teachers. Then, we’ll reflect on the challenges of the most recent years: the GroupMe culture, facing facts, and cultivating student loves. Join me for a practical, honest account of mountains and valleys traversed in this unique model.

Ascending Shadows: Shedding Light on Our Curricular Choices

FRIDAY, JUNE 21

10:50–11:50

Using Plato’s allegory of the cave as a beautiful metaphor for classical education, we will be challenged as educators to “ascend the shadows” of curricular and pedagogical choices. Are we simply “naming shadows” by focusing on memorization and rapid recall? Are we leading students upward and past the shadows in pursuit of knowledge, virtue, and wisdom? This workshop is intended for all grade levels and may be particularly helpful for collaborative schools who share instructional responsibilities.