When families cite community as the reason they return to Wilson Hill year after year, they’re not just referring to building relationships with each other, though that’s certainly a significant part of it.
Wilson Hill teachers uniquely create space for relationship in their classrooms. Their genuine love for God, subject, and students is what sets online learning at Wilson Hill apart from other virtual schools.
There’s no better example of the caliber of teachers at Wilson Hill than our beloved John Choi. At our most recent LINK graduation ceremony, John served as the commencement speaker. Founder Nancy Donaldson introduced him, aptly capturing all of our feelings toward him, “There is one word to describe John: friend.”
She went on to describe how John lives out the values all of our teachers embody, “He points his students to Christ, calls them to high standards of integrity, loves them unconditionally, and demonstrates humble confidence.”
John attended seminary in Minneapolis, where he fell in love with the classical Christian model and discerned God calling him to spend his life in education. During his tenure at Wilson Hill, he worked alongside Dr. Tom Vierra to develop an award-winning senior thesis program in addition to teaching other classes.
“Words fail me when I try to explain just how much Mr. Choi has influenced and deepened my walk with the Lord the past two years,” said one student. “From Dante to Boethius to Augustine and Spencer, he transformed the way I see myself, others, the world, and, most importantly, God. He has seen my ups and downs and seen me through many of them. The work he puts into his students is astounding.”
In his commencement address, John encouraged graduates to consider their past, present, and future: What will you carry forward from this educational experience? What will you rejoice in today? And what will you rally to?
Finally, he called them to beware knowledge that puffs up, to avoid idolizing learning for the sake of learning.
“Christian education is more than memorization, more than dialectic, more than great books, speeches, papers, and debates,” John said. “Education that is truly and authentically Christian is investing yourself in diligent study of God’s word and God’s world for the purpose of present rejoicing in a past redemption which has secured for us a future grace.”
“He transformed the way I see myself, others, the world, and,
most importantly, God.”
—Wilson Hill student
John’s closing words of wisdom beautifully reflect our educational philosophy at Wilson Hill. Our ultimate goal is not to produce scholars brimming with knowledge, but men and women who live purposefully for the Kingdom of God both now and in the future. John and our entire faculty help us reach this goal every day through their engaging lessons, offline support, discipleship, and consistent presence.