Portrait of a Defender
Vision of a Veritas Defender: The Portrait, Path & Valiant
We are committed to growing students towards an ideal of the good, wise, and virtuous young man or woman of faith. As in all worthwhile pursuits, good intentions and verbal assent may resonate but alone produce little real progress. The cultivation of good habits and training of affections, however, provide slow and steady progress in the formation of valiant students. It is easier to speak in ambitious terms and to set lofty goals than it is to diligently persist in retraining entrenched bad habits. We should, therefore, feed our imagination with visions of both the end goal and the journey’s path. John Bunyan’s Celestial City provides an image of the final destination for Pilgrim, but it is the allegorical pitfalls along the way that makes Pilgrim’s Progress such a help to Christian readers.
The Portrait
The Portrait of a Defender identifies the defining attributes desired for every Veritas graduate. It paints a picture of the mature Christian man or woman we hope our students are becoming and serves as the destination toward which all of our educational efforts are directed. It is the vision.
The Path
The Path of a Defender marks the guideposts for Veritas students. Seniors do not arrive at graduation having fully attained the Portrait, but through years of faithful formation, they increasingly grow into it. The Path reminds us that character is cultivated over time through faithful practice, wise instruction, and God's grace.
The VALIANT
The Veritas Valiant Award is the academy's highest honor. The Valiant is not perfect, nor has he or she completed the journey. Rather, the award honors a student whose life displays the habits, affections, and virtues that characterize a Defender and exemplifies the Portrait taking shape through years of faithfully walking the Path.
Implication for Adults
We desire to give students virtue. But we cannot give what we do not have. To impart virtue, we must embody it. For this reason, the Portrait & Path of a Defender is a call to all adults to be faithful to their life-giving duties in a collaborative school—parents and co-teachers in the home, faculty and staff at school—to inspire the formation of habits in children. Our own habits will work either for or against the good habits that we want to see in them, both by what we model and by what we ask of them. Children will not call themselves to virtuous habits. We must call ourselves to these habits and then call children to follow. Therefore, each section of the Portrait & Path of a Defender will include thoughts about how the actions of parents and adults can support the growth of students in that area.
Portrait & Path of a Defender
At Veritas Academy, we desire to cultivate people, particularly students, who:
- Understand and believe the Gospel, trusting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
- Are present and active in the worship and life of the local body of Christ.
- Find joy in the study of Scripture, prayer, and service of Jesus Christ.
- Read deeply and charitably; reason truthfully, diligently, and earnestly.
- Speak and write with clarity, wisdom, and eloquence.
- Engage creation with wonder and respect; pursue beauty and good workmanship.
- Love Christ the King, following his command to make disciples of all the nations, teaching them to love God and one another.
Understand and believe the Gospel, trusting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Are present and active in the worship and life of the local body of Christ.
Find joy in the study of Scripture, prayer, and service of Jesus Christ.
Read deeply and charitably; reason truthfully, diligently, and earnestly.
Speak and write with clarity, wisdom, and eloquence.
Engage creation with wonder and respect; pursue beauty and good workmanship.
Love Christ the King, following his command to make disciples of all the nations, teaching them to love God and one another.
Acknowledgement: We wish to thank the Veritas School in Richmond, Virginia for its pioneering work in crafting and sharing with us its Portraits of a Graduate and Student, upon which we relied heavily in customizing this Portrait & Path of a Defender in order to reflect the vision and values of Veritas Academy.
The Veritas Valiant
The Veritas Valiant Award is the Academy’s highest honor, acknowledging a graduating senior whose life is marked by the habits, affections, and virtues of a Defender and who is leaving behind a legacy of leading with the heart for the betterment of self and others for the glory of God. Beginning with the Class of 2019, the recipient(s) of the Veritas Valiant Award have received the honor of making a significant monetary contribution to a cause or program about which they are passionate by directing an anonymously sponsored $3,000 grant to the organization.
As a result, the Veritas Valiant Grant has supported a diverse range of organizations dedicated to advancing the gospel, serving vulnerable populations, equipping future leaders, and meeting tangible needs in communities both locally and around the world. Through these designations, our Valiants have demonstrated that a life marked by excellence and virtue is also marked by generosity and a desire to serve others.
The Veritas Valiant Award is the academy's highest honor. It recognizes a graduating senior who exemplifies what it means to walk the Path of a Defender. The Valiant is not perfect, nor has he or she completed the journey. Rather, the award honors a student whose life displays the habits, affections, and virtues that characterize a Defender and whom others would remark, "Now there's a Veritas man/woman."
Attitude, Effort, and Tongue
In addition to walking the Path of the Defender, the Veritas Valiant has also risen to the challenge of cultivating mastery over the only three things in this world that they, and they alone, completely control: their attitude, their effort, and their tongue.
Attitude
Their attitude determines the joy and satisfaction they find in life, and it defines—and, especially, limits—their possibilities. The cynic has little potential.
Effort
Their effort determines where they will reside within that realm of possibilities. Ambition, or perhaps more accurately, desire, is the fuel of the engine of effort. Either selfish desire or noble ambition will drive effort, though the latter more broadly and sustainably. But regardless the motive—noble or otherwise—desire without effort is without impact.
Tongue
And, finally, their tongue has the power to undo it all. It's the match that most of us use to destroy in an instant what we have spent countless hours building.
The Ordered Loves of a Veritas Valiant
Many of the noble qualities of the Veritas Valiant reflect the right ordering of his or her loves. This is yet another example of a life marked by more than intellect and accomplishment, but by virtue and excellence.