An Introduction to the North Hills Logo
By Michael S. McIlhargey

The Design
The North Hills Classical Academy logo was designed during the 1997-98 school year by Michael S. McIlhargey, a founding school board member, a salesman by trade.

Our Name. . . and Motto
Our school, North Hills Classical Academy, had its name established to describe its geographical location in the hilly, northeast region of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and to convey the classical methodology it uses to educate children. While the name was chosen primarily for marketing purposes, our motto, A Christ-Centered and Classical Education, more acutely represents us and points to the confluence of true Christianity and true scholarship that we believe are compatible and essential elements in the provision of a rigorous, godly and complete education for our students.

By implementing the Trivium, the classical model provides a threefold mechanism of teaching that emphasizes grammar (memorization of facts), dialectic or logic (learning how to think about and understand the relation of information through formal logic and argumentation) and rhetoric (learning how to clearly and convincingly present dependable information). With this, we hope to elicit in children a love for God and a deep desire to learn, and to deposit in children an arsenal of tools for learning that will equip them for a lifetime.

A Christ-centered worldview ultimately supersedes and permeates the teaching of all subject matter, as God is the Creator of all things, the centerpiece of our focus and the revealer of all truth through His Son, Jesus Christ. (Proverbs 1:7, Proverbs 2:5-6, Proverbs 9:10, Proverbs 24:3-4, 2 Timothy 3:14-17, Colossians 1:15-19 and Deuteronomy 6:6-9 are good references in support of the classical and Christ-centered approach to education.)

The Crown
The crown does not find an inconspicuous place in the logo, but it finds a natural position prominently atop the logo as Christ's crown to symbolize the sovereignty of God over North Hills Classical Academy. We believe God planted our school, and as we, His subjects, cast our own crowns at His feet, we can expect God's blessing of provision, direction and protection for our school, that it might thrive for His use and pleasure.

As a delegation of Christian leaders, teachers and parents, we find ourselves as the earthly representatives of this heavenly kingdom. This is both a joyful and dreadful responsibility, as we have been called to properly raise our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, teaching them to observe and to obey the commandments, and to abide in the will of God. As a teaching academy, we have the more earnest duty of educating our students in all fields of study and in a manner worthy of God and His Word; by this, our students will be prepared to further God's kingdom through the implementation of their gifts and talents that rest in each of them. (Romans 13:1, Daniel 4:34-35, James 4:6-10, 1 Timothy 4:14, 2 Timothy 1:6, Philippians 2:9-11 and Ephesians 1:19-23 reference God's supremacy and exhort us to live in humility before him.)

Soli Deo Gloria / Banner
The Latin phrase, Soli Deo Gloria, stretches itself over the face of the logo as the paramount objective of North Hills Classical Academy. It means to God alone be the glory, and all victory, achievement or success at our school should resonate with these words both in attitude and deed. May we raise this banner high in each of our lives as a testimony to our God. (See Romans 11:33-36 and John 5:19-28.)

The Shield
The shield represents the nature of the Kingdom of God as it plays out in this world; it is both progressive, in that it moves forward to achieve its objectives in a world offended by its intrusion, and defensive, in that it cannot be moved or shaken from the ground it takes. In relation to North Hills Classical Academy, God has placed us in the forefront of Christian education in order to develop our students into both the planters and defenders of Christianity in the highways and byways of life's many callings. It is in the center of God's will and presence that we abound with His divine care, as God allows us to safely build amidst danger. In all human practicality, God's plans are regularly tested among His people, and we need to be prepared to quench fiery darts, to stop the mouths of the wicked and to press on courageously behind the shield of faith. (Ephesians 6:11-17, Nehemiah 2:5 & 4:16-18, Ezra 4:1-5 & 8:22-23, Titus 1:9-11 and 1 Thessalonians 2:18).

The Cross
The cross of Christ is the quintessential symbol of Christianity, and to include it in the logo immediately affiliates North Hills Classical Academy within the general fold of Christian organizations and the Body of Christ. This effect is necessary, but alone, it is quite superficial; for today, we see the cross as something more to wear as opposed to something we have been called to bear. As a serious aspect to the logo, the cross is to be looked upon as a reminder that individually, or corporately, as North Hills Classical Academy, we represent Christ as members of His body, and as such, we must suffer for His sake. The Bible says that "ye are bought with a price" and that we are to have our "conversation honest among the Gentiles; that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation." This is central to our Christian testimony as parents, teachers, administrators, board members and students. (References include 1 Corinthians 6, Ephesians 2, Titus 2:12-14, 1 Peter 2:19-25 and Luke 9:23-24).)

The Book
The book symbolizes the Bible, as God's Word is the curriculum before the ages, while all other books come secondarily from this space and time and attempt to reveal what is already known. So, as for us at North Hills Classical Academy, Christian school success begins and ends when the essentials of Biblical faith are applied to every department of learning and study. Rousas John Rushdoony, in his book, The Philosophy of the Christian Curriculum, makes the point that the multiplicity of facts found in all subject matter are subservient to God's Word in that they are "God-created, God-governed, and God-serving facts." The Word of God is our chief guide and weapon for all of life, in and outside the academic world. (Some references are 2 Timothy 2:15-16, John 1:1, Ecclesiastes 12:13, Psalm 119, Hebrews 4:12 and Ephesians 6:17.)

The Roman Column
The pillar in the North Hills Classical Academy logo represents strength; however, it's not just any kind of pillar that we have today, but that which lasts, has stood the test of time and has proven faithful. This is classical education, and the Roman column points us to an era of time when the formality of the argument and its delivery in the venue of the forum was planted. This is the place of the public square, where philosophies, ideas and every wind of doctrine abound. While the facts we learn in the form of grammar play a crucial role in our usefulness to God, all of us must eventually walk out from behind the door of our compartmentalized lives and earn a seat at the forum. This begins with the opportunity classical education offers children to prepare them for life's courts that they might be "ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh" and that they might "be instant in season, out of season." The Apostle Paul earned his seat at the forum and one day found himself at Mars Hill. With the power of God in Paul's life, his excellent education, his ability to break through all cultural and economic barriers and his worldliness, Paul was well-prepared to dispute the false gods, false worship and idolatries of the Athenians, and to turn their hearts to the true God and the gospel of the resurrected Jesus Christ. Like Paul, our children, with a classical education, will make converts out of judges. It is the intention of North Hills Classical Academy to prepare its students/children, the heritage of Christian families, to "not be ashamed", but to "speak with the enemies in the gate" in each of their callings in the court of life. (See Acts 17:16-34, 1 Peter 3:15, 2 Timothy 4:1-2 and Psalm 127.)