About Today’s Show
Today’s podcast features Andrew Neumann, Executive Chair and CEO of Open Sky Education. Andrew talks with Lynn Swaner about the Flourishing Schools construct of Resource Constraints, where leaders believe “we could be more effective as a school if not for fiscal constraints, and we lack the resources we need to make changes in our school.” Andrew discusses the ways in which the Christian school sector can move from a scarcity to abundance mindset when it comes to resources and reaching more children with Christian education.
Notes:
To go further in learning about this construct, check out the book MindShift: Catalyzing Change in Christian Education, which features Open Sky Education as a case study in the chapter “From Scarcity to Abundance.”
To learn more about Flourishing Schools Research, check out the Flourishing Together book by Lynn Swaner and Andy Wolfe (Eerdmans 2021) and this video overview of the research. You can also find out about the related institute for leaders and instrument for schools here.
About the Guest
Andrew Neumann, Executive Chair and CEO of Open Sky Education, is an educational entrepreneur who believes we are living at the most opportunistic time in the history of the world to be in the field of advancing Christian education. He is driven to ensure all children have access to excellent learning opportunities which maximize their potential to fulfill Greater Purpose and live flourishing lives. His passion is to contribute to building an educational ecosystem which will close global and national achievement gaps, build deeply held, internally driven character, and provide faith formation as an integral part of education for all who desire it regardless of a family’s income or where they live. Committed to this mission, he began his career as a teacher serving students at the high school and college levels while finishing his Ph.D. in educational mathematics. Since 2006 and through his time at Open Sky, he has supported the growth of the HOPE Christian Schools network and has helped to launch and grow multiple new divisions including the EAGLE College Prep charter schools, Compass after school programs, the Character Formation Project, School Services and the Microschools Initiative.
About the Host
Dr. Lynn E. Swaner is the Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer at ACSI, where she leads initiatives and develops strategies to address compelling questions and challenges facing Christian education. Dr. Swaner serves as a Cardus Senior Fellow and is the co-author or editor of multiple books on Christian education, including Flourishing Together: A Christian Vision for Students, Educators, and Schools and MindShift: Catalyzing Change in Christian Education. Prior to joining ACSI, she served as a professor of education and a Christian school administrator in New York.