Heartland is Different

We are proud to support Heartland Christian School, and welcome the one and only Scott Clemens, headmaster of Heartland into our studio! 

If you'd like to support Heartland Christian School, check them out at their website: https://www.heartlandchristianeducation.com

Transcript

...And that's what we're trying to teach kids, like you can control you, right? You can be honest.

You can be respectful, you can be obedient. You can be diligent. Those are all character traits. And when they get in life, when they apply for a job, I want to say even you, when you apply for a job, you can find people. If you find somebody who they have all the right test scores and they have all the knowledge and the skills, but they don't have the character, you're probably not going hire, all right.

If they won't show up, if they're not dependable, if they're not honest, you're not. It's like, okay, you might know how to do roofing, but I can't use you.

Welcome to this edition of the Hoel Truth Podcast. Today, our special guest is Mr. Scott. He is the headmaster over at Heartland Christian School. Which my kiddos get the privilege to, be part of, but I just want to bring in Mr. Scott, have a conversation with him.

Well, let him introduce himself. And then we're just going to talk about the school kind of. What's going on over there? There's some some exciting things. Thanks for having me. It's great to be here. My name is Scott. As he already mentioned, my wife is Kristina. We have three children, Conrad, Reagan, and McKenzie. My oldest two are now at college, and my daughter, McKenzie is an 11th grader.

So I'm like, I'm almost the empty nest stage. And that's going to happen. In fact, this next year, if it happens, my oldest will be graduating with his bachelor's. My second will be graduating for the AA, and then my daughter will be graduating from high school. So I'm not sure what I'll do after that. What, what are they graduating?

What's the all the time graduate? Oh. This one. He wants to be a physician assistant. Awesome. So he blew out his ACL twice. And in the process of all those surgeries through high school. I got interested in medicine. And my second is, he's in the sales and business. He's a salesman. Yeah. And then, like I said, in with McKinsey.

We're still figuring it out. So anyway, a little bit about me. And, I been in education for now. Never dreamed I'd be in education. Honestly, never dreamed it was not on my radar. Growing up. And, we just got a job in Cincinnati when I lived there with an inner city. It was a behavior school.

Okay. I called the children's home of Cincinnati. And in that process, God started working on my heart and put a love for the kids. Actually, I fell in love with the kids. And that kind of started the process for education. So, let's give a little history back on heartland. You know, location kind of all that, because there's still a lot of people, even in rush fields, like, where do your kids go?

So. Sure. So, we are in New Castle, Indiana, 3340 West Downey Road, 100 South, to be exact. Three, which runs right through New Castle. So, we're about three and a half miles off of that and 38. A lot of people know where 38 is. We're one mile south, 100 south off of that. And, yeah, that's where we're located.

Kind of tell the, tell the backstory of, like, how heartland came about, because that's, that's that's pretty cool. Yeah, absolutely. So, in 2013, there was five business owners got together. And we met there in that facility, which that facility is a lot bigger. We've grown a lot. We've done a lot of expansion. But where we started, we met in that facility and, John Sproles, who's now the Henry County sheriff, he owned that.

It was a gymnasium, two classrooms on the end. Wasn't two classrooms then, just two rooms. He owned that facility. He called four other businessmen and myself. We met that summer, said, hey, we're thinking about the idea of starting a Christian school. What do you think? And I tried to honestly talk them out of it. I was like, guys, y'all don't want to do this.

It is. Y'all are for profit businesses. What? You're talking about starting as a non-for-profit. In 2000, 13 Christian schools were not doing well. Many were closing in in America specifically. So long story short, they're like, well, would you at least pray about it? And I said I would. So I left. I didn't live in Newcastle, went home.

Me, my wife. We knew we were moving. We actually lived in Muncie at the time. I've lived in Cincinnati for six years. We lived in Muncie. We knew we were moving. I had several job opportunities I was looking at. So in that two weeks I went to all these opportunities and there's none of them fit right. We prayed a lot.

In that process, we felt like, you know what? God, I think God wants us to do this. I also got advice from people my, you know, mentors and like, okay. And so were like, okay. So two weeks later, we came back and said, I think God wants us to do this. So literally at that moment, that second meeting, they're like, okay.

John's like, I have this gym and these rooms. This is a place you gotta have a place to start so that you can use this place. And we'll see what happens. And I'll we ended up with, I think, three teachers and 26 students that first year. And John and I, he'd come in and we would we we laugh about it now, but John's like, do you think we could ever get to 50 students?

I always tell people, being the great man of faith, that I am, I was like, probably not. Probably not. No, probably not going to have. We're in the middle of a cornfield. Anyway, by our third year, I think our second year, we had around 37. Our third year we had 60. We were packing out those rooms.

And then we started the building expansion. Soon as we had part of it done. So another room would open up. We had 88. As soon as the next room, you jump to 100, 100 and 1425, 45, 85. Yeah. So the space we have now was design thinking we would triple it. Like I said, when we designed it, we were around 60.

We're like, let's triple our size. We could hit 180. We thought that would be good til Jesus comes back. Yeah. And, I think right now we got about 230 something in that space. So we're very, very packed, but. And, the exciting thing is, have you guys officially broke any ground on the. We have.

Not officially. In that there's so many stories I call them God moments. I mean, there's just so many God moments all along this journey. We're in our 12th year now. Like, I didn't say that, but we are in our 12th year. But in that process, course, we became fully, fully accredited. That was a huge thing. In that process, there was ten acres of land behind it.

There's a whole story there. How God worked amazingly beyond we ever imagined. That's all bought and paid for. We've done a lot of. I think we've done five, 30, $40,000 worth of moving dirt stuff starting, getting some trees cut out of the way, etc. most of it was a field, but not all of it. And we now have all that ten acres our own paid for.

No doubt on that. And looking to build another facility on there and then the facility we have now would end up being more elementary. And then that would be by middle and high school, wherever that break is, depends how many students God sends us. So once the new. So what phase or technically are you on for fundraising right now on a new facility?

Technically we're about phase four. Okay. Phase one or some of the beginning phases were smaller, and they were finishing up, things that we needed to do where we were like phase one was like a hundred thousand, but it was getting our parking lot paved and stuff like that, which was what we already had for the first facility.

Phase two was like I said, those were smaller phases. The phase we're on now, phase four, is about $1 million phase. The big the whole process, the whole project is probably A45. You would even know those numbers vary based on the product. And when you. But it could easily be a 4 to $5 million product, counting where we have and everything that's come in were over.

We're over a million towards that. Okay. So we still got a ways to go, but our plan and prayer is that we would be breaking ground within the next couple months. So it's not to actually raise all 5 million and then break ground. It's to break ground. And as we keep raising, as we build, of course we'd love to be debt free when it's done right.

But at the same time, we have we have to decide what we do with all the students wanting to come in and do we keep saying no and put them on waiting lists, or do we again kind of step out in faith and make this happen? What? So what is the capacity of once the, new building is built, it would push us really between the two, we'd be able to hold around 500.

Okay. Yeah. Because, I mean, in that new facility, there's a bigger gym. There's a, There's just so many things we do at heartland that we we've just over we have a gym, which you've been there and, you know, because your kids are there, we do, you know, band concerts in there, choir concerts in there and whatever. It's just we have literally maxed out.

We used to graduations in there. You can't do that anymore. Even this last week, we were supposed to do our spring choir and and band concert. We had to cancel it because it rained all week. And the our parking. The last time it was like Christmas in December, we did our choir. People have to park in the grass.

I think afterwards we had about 20 people. We had to go out with a jeep and pull them out. So anyway, that was going to happen again. That was just why that guy. Yeah. It's all there's like there. We cannot do this again. Of course it destroys the grass and the ground everywhere. It's funny because I looked at the grass the other day when I pulled in to drop the kids off.

I was like that actually looks pretty good over there for what it looked like a few months ago. Yes. Yeah. So we've got some work to do, which right now it's like, do we do we repair all the grass or do we put in something to provide some more parking? Right, right. Yeah. Our parking is very,

It's not adequate for our needs. So with the, with the new one added, will there be can you add enough parking over there to kind of help with the lack of parking with it? Yes. What will be the element that new facility is, is a really big facility. And there literally would be parking all the way around that facility.

And with what we have now. It would I think it would be adequate. So I know, I know, you're turning away kids. Right now, which, you know, is not is not ideal by any means. Just because, like, the growth that I see in my kids and just the. I don't want this to sound, but I don't want this to sound like my I'm act like my kids are better, but the amount of people that come up to me is like, Holy cow, the way your kids act, which I contribute some of that a half from the help grow up and running the business, but also like the school, like, you know, I

mean, my step mom that I don't think has graced church doors in over 30 years, like even complimented us for sending our kids, to a private school. So like, that was like, yes, like my dad, he he used to kind of drive me nuts, but I appreciate every time he would leave a program, he'd give me an Emily a hug.

And he's like, thank you so much for investing in my grandkids this much. And I'm like, dad, I'm not doing it for you. I'm doing it for my kids. But, you know, but, you know, I do. I do appreciate it, but also like it and correct me if I'm wrong, you're also kind of where there's some homeschooling where people there are that can can come a few days a week and homeschool a few days a week.

Like, yes. What's that look like there as well? Well, one, I want to say that as of right now, we're not turning people away, okay? We usually max out, put people on a wait list, and we try to get them in over the summer. Okay. And another God moment. We just got a whole facility donated to us. We were way over for next year.

So you were right. If you were a month ago, I would have said absolutely. We. There's no way people are just waiting list. We have. We there's no way we put more people where we're at. God just gave us a whole nother facility in Newcastle. They were closing their door and they donated the whole facility, which is going to open up the opportunity that I'm hoping.

I'm not going to have to turn people away next year. Which is going to our capability would go up another probably to, maybe to to 60 to 70 for next year while we're building. So that's one thing. And we praise God for that. So, back to what was your question again? My question is like, I believe there's some people that the kids only come a couple of days a week, and then they're sold a couple of days.

Yes. So what happened is there is, our vision at heartland is we want to partner with parents. That is, we. And we are bigger that I believe God is clear in his word. God gave parents the response. Primary responsibility trained their children. So we want to come alongside and Paul. So when it comes to home school, there are a lot of people in Indiana.

Indiana is very friendly to homeschool there in some states aren't. Indiana is. So when we started heartland, I was like, I do not want to be like you either come to us or you homeschool. Like, how do we create an umbrella that we could still partner with families who really want to homeschool? So yes, we have had students from the very beginning, homeschool families that come.

We don't have a lot. We have a few that come only one day a week. They homeschool or they come one day a week. And that's those usually the distance. They're so far away. It might be an hour drive. Right. But it gives so much. So a contact they can do band choir that day. Give them some of that.

Well, what a homeschool co-op would do. Right. Okay. More. We've had more do the two day a week or three day a week. And that's the same thing. But that's where they if they want to be, like on a sports team or something like that, they need to be there a minimum of two day week. You're going to have at least two practices a week usually.

So and then of course it's just at home that always looks different because my, my main question when they people apply for that is what is your goal. Like you're you have a home. So like what are you looking at. We do have some criteria but it's going to be tailored as best we can to the families.

The how can we meet and work together and partner with you? So anyway, yeah, I just like I said, because we've got some friends that homeschool right up the road. And then part of the co-op that they're part of, I believe some of them kids come to heartland and yeah, I've had many start that two day a program and then they switch to full time.

I've had that happen over and over and over. It's like once they get there, I think a lot of it too, as parents, many times when parents do homeschool, it's because I mean so much just, you know, they feel like it's there. They want to. Right. Other times it's a concern about public education, like what's being taught there.

Or whether it's bullying, how they've been treated because some are pulling them out. But it's like you want to and you just, you want to work with them as best you can. And the why is always can, can vary so much based on the family. Right. Yeah. So but we definitely would we definitely do our best.

And one neat structure about, you guys, is when they're in their lower grades. Excellent. They go four days a week. You may hear my kids in the background. This is a Friday. Yes. And they're off. Yeah. So K to four, K to fourth grade is a four day a week program. People say, well, why do you do that?

I said, because we're serious about partying with parents. And I believe strongly that there's a lot of learning, children need to do outside of school, outside the classroom. And, it just opened that door for them to spend. Maybe more time with their parents. It opens that door, maybe with their grandparents, put other people's lives. Yeah.

I mean, it is very valuable, I think. And we still we meet all the criteria. We still get through the the year's work and all that stuff done. So that has been a very positive thing, but that's really awesome. Yeah. No. Good for you. Well, it's got to go five days because we've gotten spoiled with just with owning the business.

They come with us, you know, and, you know, that's that's one thing. Yes. And Emily's been very fortunate and blessed that, you know, we do get to spend a lot of time with our kids. Absolutely. And I don't, I don't I don't take that for granted at all. So, it's it's actually funny because Rhett has now started asking questions how he can go only two days a week and be homeschooled because he loves being at home and around the cows so much that, yeah, he's like one time we had to vet coming out to I one of his heifers and it was after school had started.

Yeah, he's like, dad, I'm missing so many cool things. Like, you know, how can I still go to heartland? And I was like, we'll have that conversation at a later date. There you go. There you go. Another thing that I like to, point out, seniors, that's structured a little different. All right. It is. It's really, it's, I mean, and even even, like, I'm thinking when your boy hits fifth grade, there's ways to where you.

Because you have two younger ones and one in fifth grade. So do I make an extra trip? Which is a pretty long trip for you. And there's all ways to work with that. But seniors. Yes. Our goal, of course, is to, not to provide opportunities. So we push really hard. Our whole system of learning is different. It's just different because it's an individualized approach.

Most education is all lockstep. I always tell people it's only in education that I know that we look at children and say, how old are you? And try to put everybody on the same level. It's all five year olds here, all seven year olds here. Well, my goodness, in your own family you have you got 20 kids.

They're all different. So our whole approach to education is individualized. So within individualization, it opens up the up. It has comes with challenges, but it opens up the opportunity that most of my most of our seniors are already they have done their work, they have their credits, and usually their senior year. It is more of a part time thing.

Some are doing a lot of dual credit stuff, which they're jumping in the college world. They're already walking into college with a bunch of that already done. Others, maybe they're not want to go to college, but they're working because we do the Dave Ramsey stuff, which you have helped make that possible. Heartland. So, and we require that for all senior seniors is when I require it.

We have a lot of that training in middle school. We have a lot of that training and other times. But in middle school, it's like, okay, this is our work. Let me get through this and pass my test or whatever. And at seniors, those kids are thinking, do I go to job? Do I go to college?

I'm wanting to buy a car. And that's when suddenly it's very relevant because for Dave Ramsey sound, you can pay cash for a car. Oh, you want to go to college? Yes. You're going to college debt free, right? That needs to be the priority. So by the way, our system works, many of our even and even start sometimes in juniors, it's incentive based.

It's, you know, you reward people who work hard. They're they're having a job, they're working two days a week or vice versa, and preparing, making the money, doing whatever so they can actually follow his principles. Right. So and let let's talk a little bit more about the, the, your take the teaching approach, I guess, kind of what you were saying, like, you know, and why how you I mean, I know you didn't come up with it, but why why why?

I mean, why when you guys sit down and open heartland like you wanted this approach. Gotcha. That's probably if you talk to any teacher. Who has taught a lot where however big their classroom is, let's say, let's say it's even a small classroom size of of 15, 20, 20. I don't know what's I mean, it's going to vary wherever that.

So let's let's just say let's say 12. The teacher has their lesson plan. They teach their concept in the 12 you have 1 or 2 students who have that concept in ten minutes and they are bored. And basically in many ways you are holding them there. They're sitting waiting on the other end at a 1012 students you can have 1 or 2 on the other end.

They're not getting the concept. They need more one on one. Most students are not going to raise their hand in front of all their friends and say, I'm not getting this because what are their friends get what's wrong with you? And they're definitely like, if they do it once, they probably won't do it twice, three times. So what you have and then if you're like in many cases it's one teacher to 30 students.

So even if teachers know this, they're falling through the cracks. How do they help? Right. So the reason we chose the one on one approach is because it deals with that specifically on both ends. Students who get the concept can go. They're not being held back. The ones who need more help are getting help, but it's one on one.

And it's private. It's not. Which forces us to have a low student teacher ratio. Like in elementary. Our ratio is like a 1 to 7, which is really good. I always tell people homeschool has a speed like we can't beat that ratio, right? But as a school, a 1 to 7, 1 to 8 ratio is really good.

And even up in high school or maybe about 1 to 11, 1 to 12. Right. Right. Yeah. So that's that's one of the reasons. Yep. On that style. And the other reason of course we love the Bible approach. God is the center of every class. It's not like we have our classes and then we have a Bible class over here.

We sprint Jesus on top of no. It's like God and His truth. It's the foundation to everything. That's that was personally really important to me. So when we study science, math, whatever, God's the foundation, he's the centerpiece. I don't want to ignore God, and I don't want to ignore. I mean, how how do you handle if your kids ignore you?

You know, I always tell me, like, if my kids are ignoring me, we're going to have a talk. If I tell them to do something, they just act like I don't exist. But in education, unfortunately, we have done that right. And with the creator of the universe and the number one bestseller every single year, you would think from an educational viewpoint, why would you not look at the number one bestseller every year?

But that's the one that is surgically removed. So that would be another thing I love that got the approach of that. I love the individualized approach. I love the mastery based learning approach. Every, every like 2 to 3 weeks, they will go up. They will take a, like a test over that section of material. If they make below an 80%, this is all the way up through high school.

If you make below an 80%, you don't move on. You stop. You redo that section to make sure you master it before you move on. Which makes sense. Especially like in math. Right, right. And even some of your English grammar I understand history could move around. Right. But I love the mastery based approach. And then the last thing I love the goal setting approach.

Which I know in the company. How do you, how do you accomplish big goals. So they have to be broken down into daily goals. And that's what we're teaching. It starts in first grade. We start teaching them how to set daily goals. So every day they have to set daily goals okay I need to get my year's work done.

How can I break this down into daily goals, which goes into, you know, people want to come, they want to work one day a week and do five. I'm like, okay, you got you got this much work to do. That's typically five days worth. Can you put that in a daily goals and do five days and four days.

Right. And kids are like, oh yeah. And we help them. And then suddenly they're like and that. But that sets them up for life, right? Right. I to say, how do you eat an elephant? Right. One bite at a time, one bite at a time. So anyway, those are different things that why we chose this. No. And I mean like, God rest his soul.

Nick Fiano. Yes. Good friend. We lost, about a year ago now, but he he told me about heartland and told me about heartland and told me about heartland, and, you know, that was his that that was like one of his big selling points to me. It was like, he's like, they're setting them up to be business owners or very high performers in the marketplace.

And, you know, in like and I love a lot of public school teachers that I know I've had some on the podcast, you know, and this isn't like, you know, the public school system. Sure. The sad thing is the amount of people leaving the public school system because they're frustrated and like, you know, I've seen some good ones leave to go home to homeschool their own kids.

And, you know, that's, and then I've got it. I've got a unwired the people that I hire that went to public schools. Yeah. You know what I mean? It's like, you know, and, so, yeah, I mean, to me, it was like I've said this a million times, like, my kids will go to heartland, like they they love it.

I mean, yeah, read every once in a while. He's a boy, you know, he's like, yeah, you want to go back to school. You know, especially their spring breaks next week. Following week. I don't know how excited they'll be a bit to go back to school. But he genuinely love school. All three kids do. Well and you know, I, we we we appreciate it.

You know, for everybody in the school system that, you know, that puts the work in and you know, their sacrifice. So it is and they do their sacrifice on parents because there's something you pay for that to happen. But there's also the sacrifice on the teachers they work for. Most of my teachers could make more money elsewhere. Right?

Right. And I mean, they could. Right? Right. And they choose to sacrifice, so that they can have the freedom. Mainly the it's amazing the freedom to pray with students when they need it. I had a teacher not too long. She's actually applying. She's taught for years, and that's where I start. I started the public school system, so I've been in that system.

And she's like the hardest thing for me and I'm a believer. I had many people tell me this I'm a believer, I'm a Christian, and kids are struggling with this or that or whatever, and I can't tell them what they need. I can't tell them about God. I can't point them to the truth. You know, they're struggling with who they are, their purpose in life.

And I'm not even supposed to tell them that. You know what? You're not an accident, right? You're not a just a collision of molecules that exploded somehow. We're here by chance, like you were created on purpose. For there's a God who loves you. There's a God who can redeem your life, and he can transform you and and be able to sit down and pray.

I have day like I can't do that. I can't do that. I can't do that. And in the meaning when they're asking, like, where did I come from? Right. And all the textbooks are saying, you've evolved, right? Right, right. So there is a unique, people tell me all the time, they walk through heartland, they walk into that gym.

Because right now when you walk into the gym and they say the atmosphere is different. Yeah. And it is there is a different atmosphere. And I always tell people it's a simple answer, really, it's God. Yeah. We welcome the creative universe like we man. We invite him every day. We're going to start every day off with prayer when, I mean, I walk to the high school and kids are struggling or or I can just tell I'll wait there, I'll drop down and pray with them.

And I'm like, we can't life was not made to do without God. Yeah, like you guys have chapel every Wednesday morning. Yes. And like, yeah. My kids like, come come in he thing they will not be late on Wednesday. And it's, it's funny because the running joke in our house is dad gets us to school early.

Mom gets us to school on time, or maybe a little late. We won't say that real loud because there's trouble later. But, you know, I don't. Let's not talk about that. Yeah, but it's it's it's funny because, like. And also like I try to be there early. I, I try to be one of the first ones in line to pick them up.

And they used to say they knew who was picking them up when their name got called, because they knew it was either dad or mom, you know? But I'm based on the time. Yes. Yeah, but I mean, like, generally like our kids, you know, they love it. They of course, they come home like, hey, you know, like one of them came home a year or two ago was like, hey, this person's being mean.

Well, I mean, Emily knew that the parents are going through a divorce. Yep, yep. So we're just like, love them. Sure. That's sure. That's. Well, you know, we didn't say, hey, you know, I'm just like, yeah, you know, just you're called to love them, you know? Reagan's my little spitfire kid. You know, we've kind of had to, focus.

She is she is angry or she gets angry, or however you want to say that when she doesn't get her way, you know, and she's told people that, yeah, I don't like you. And it's like Reagan. Like, we can't sure we can't do this, but once again, she's eight now, so 6 or 7, like, right. She's got to learn to control her emotions.

These adults that can control their emotions. Absolutely. You know. But yeah. Absolutely. And there. Yeah. And I mean I think they mean students are students. Yeah. You know just because you go to a Christian school doesn't mean everybody's perfect. They're they're growing. I do believe that how we handle it when, when if a major system comes back to us, it is always dealt with like it is always.

And we don't deal with that without the parents. They bring the parents and, into that picture. And, it's just amazing watching watching conflict resolution happen when it is done with the goal of honoring God ultimately, but also in, you know, working with parents. Well. So when Reagan first started in kindergarten, it was, I think, the fourth day of school, and I was picking them up and teacher walks her out and I'm like, this is not good.

And, you know, I had a conversation. She was struggling with getting, you know, controlling her emotions. And teachers, like, if this happens again, I want to call her mom. Yeah, yeah. It's coming. Get her. Like we we're loving her. Yes. However, you know. Yes. And then I turned around and I said, no, no, no no no no, you call me.

There you go. And you know that, that helped that helped kind of have Reagan. Oh. Dad's coming. Oh, yeah. And I may or may not threaten a whimper, but in front of our whole class, if I had to show up, I actually gave her teacher permission to whip her butt, and, and needless to say, we haven't had any prob very few little problems with Reagan since I finally ask her a couple months later.

I'm like Reagan. Like why? She's like, I didn't want you to whip my butt in front of all my friends. So, But no, I mean, it was. I appreciated the way the way it was handled. I know, I know, my kids personalities are all different. And sure, I don't want to tame Reagan like she's got. She's got a fire and desire in her.

And Miss Missy are both of their teachers technically this year, and, I'm thankful for all the teachers, but she's really. I think she's been amazing with Reagan, you know? And she even said that she's like, we don't need to. We don't need the water on this. We just need to figure out how we can help make this.

Yeah. Control it. Yes. Make this a win win for for everybody. Because, you know, she does have a massive, huge heart. Like she's very motherly already, you know very loving. She loves every animal. Yes. Every animal in the world she thinks is cute. You know. Yeah, absolutely. And those are God instilled right? Opportunities. Right, right. Yeah. And like and like you said, like to thank that everybody's created for a purpose and like for them kids, you know, they hear that.

They gotta hear it at school. Yeah. But I even try to do a a decent job at it as a dad of telling them also just because, yeah, the goal of the school should not be to replace the parent, right? That is 100% not the goal, right? We need to work together. And that is that is the beauty, of I think of heartland like we like we are very if there are issues, I'm like, have we talked to the parents?

Yep. We're bringing this in. Of course. And even on discipline issues, you can discipline to a point at school. Right. But even then I'm like, I'm not here to replace the parent. There are times I'll call parents, say, hey, I need your help. I need you to come pick up your child, I need you be the parent.

This is what's going on. And, he needs he or she needs to know this is what's going on, and we need we need some help here. Right. If it works very well, but then also with parents when they're pulling, I guess that's the goal. What goal? I want to pull in the same direction I believe most parents want to pull.

I tend once again, I'm not bashing, I'm not trying to bash public schools, but I am trying to be real here. I tend to call them government schools more than public schools, because most of the public I know, even friends or whatever, who send their kids to public school, they are not for what's being taught and what's being done.

I very I especially if you go to the Lgbt+ community, but which even our election if anything it proved most people are not cool with guys going to girls restrooms who say there or playing on sports or whatever. I mean it. If anything, the election's kind of strained. It's like, that's not appropriate and the community is not for that.

Yeah. But also so many values. It's like we want to reinforce, hopefully what's being taught at home. Honesty, responsibility. Individual responsibility. Like I can't control what other people do, but I can control me. And ultimately my response. Well, and that's what we try to teach kids like you can control you, right? You can be honest.

You can be respectful, you can be obedient. You can be diligent. Those are all character traits. And when they get in life, when they apply for a job, I to say even you, when you apply for a job, you can find people. If you find somebody who they have all the right test scores and they have all the knowledge and the skills, but they don't have the character, you're probably not going hire, all right.

If they won't show up, if they're not dependable, if they're not honest, you're not. It's like, okay, you might know how to do roofing, but I can't use you. And that's what we're trying to get to our students. The most important part it's the character development, test scores and all that to me are a byproduct of good character.

But it shouldn't be the focus. Focus is raising people who are honest. Truthfully will treat others the way they want to be treated. See see others as as God's kids. So it's a it's a different focus for sure, but it does, really make a difference in the lives when family, when family school. And I like to say church because a lot of our families are going to church.

So when, when those three things are pulling in the same direction, I think in Ecclesiastes he says it's a three fold cord. It's not easy. Like broken. Well, and like what I love is like asking the kids like they can they can, you know, read scripture. Yes. You know, and, just, just that they're putting that in their mind.

And yes, we're kind of we're them crazy parents that I think if you gave my kids a tablet right now, I don't even know if they would really know how to use it. They'll grab our phone sometimes and make you see videos and take goofy pictures. But like, literally last night, Reagan grabbed the little bucket and they went frog hunting out in the creek, out the water because water staining everywhere, you know?

But just just to see, like just to see him brought up like not around that. And like one thing that Dave Ramsey always said was like, you know, straight-A A-plus students, that doesn't necessarily correlate in the real world of, like, being successful. You're right. I was a I was a high C, low B student, like, you know, and especially entrepreneur who was on top of that.

A lot of them were seasoned D's. Oh yes. Absolutely. Because our minds are, you know, they're thinking different, you know, and it be interesting to look at like kids coming out of like a private Christian school because like, my kids do really good grade wise right now. Right. You know, and they and they, they are responsible. They do have chores, you know, to do at home and, but but I always love is asking them and then, you know, when they're misbehaving, I'm like, they they talked about obeying your father and your mother willingly.

And, you know, the kids are like, you know, they kind of hang. Yes. You know, so it's just it's they're they're phenomenal kids like, I, I appreciate they're great kids. Sure. So yeah I still got they're still kids right. Oh absolutely. And they'll go the way of least resistance. Yes. Yeah. That's why the standard has to be held.

Yep. Yep. As parents I always tell parents just be encouraged. There are no perfect kids out there. And if you figure out how to have perfect kids, you should go write a book about something. And said there's going to be ups and downs, but if you can be consistent in your parenting. Yep. I tell a challenge, parents.

Do you remember the old etch A sketch? You know, you you draw the lines and then you shake it. They all disappear as that too many times as parents were. Etch a sketch parenting. We draw our lines and then we get tired. Or life. Shakes it up and it becomes very inconsistent. Yep. So, if anything, I would say it's just as parenting, you know, be consistent if you can, if you're going to say something's going to happen, then follow through and make it happen.

Yeah. And that way kids know where their boundaries are and yeah. Well, and it's really no different than even in business, like, setting expectations. And what, what I've found with the kind of team members that I want. Dave Ramsey to share this clip. An employee comes in late. Doesn't really work when they're here.

Yeah. You know is on Facebook all day right. I team a team member adds value but I've, I've even learned struggling as a business owner like not setting clear expectations. Yeah. And then once you get them clear expectations set. Yeah. And if they're a true team member less they will hold themselves accountable. Adam behind behind the camera here.

Like we just started a new marketing. We're shifting sort of some of our marketing in. He's like, he's Mr. Adams. Mr.. Check the box. Like, if he's giving these 12 tasks like he's checking them freaking 12 tasks, you know, and got, you know, got a lot of praise from, the group we're working with on that today. So, you know.

Yeah. That, that that was nice. And, you know, I've even heard and there is a lot of chores, like kids want they they want held. They do want held accountable. I know, I know, kids say they don't, you know, but that's when they know that they're truly loved. Yes. Well. And with boundaries it's great to have good relationships.

Yep. You know, but the boundaries need to be clear. And like what you're saying and everything, which that's one thing I do like even about our whole system of schooling, it's very, very clear they're setting daily goals. That's what gets done. And then there's an instant action reaction. So if they get this done, they can have no homework.

That that what they don't get done instantly go to homework. So if you want to go and waste time and drag your feet, not be a diligent worker. Yep. Now you have all this homework. Because what we're trying to do, we're trying to develop those kids are like wet concrete. Yep. You know, their world, they're what they're developing now is going to follow them the rest of their life.

So when they're young, if they can develop a work ethic, man, that's going to take on my life. Which again, heartland. What I love is we still do recess every morning. I like kids, they go and they run like crazy. And there's incentives on that. They can get so much time, but do incentives, they can get more time at lunch.

They're going to eat and they're going to go out to the gym. Once it's nice, we have playground run like crazy. And then afternoon we turn around and do it again. And that goes all the way through high school. Yep. Because I think there's value especially I say boys, but I think I'm right there, especially in boys.

Like, we need to run. Yes. We need to move. We need to let that energy out, especially when you're just sitting gets, you know, I have a hard time sitting, and I'm in my 40s. Yeah, yeah. Well, and I like to be active and. Yeah, that's, you know, especially, like you said, especially with boys. You can't put them in a box, you know, and it's so funny because read like the first couple of years, the teachers are like, he's the most quiet boy I've ever been around.

He gave them that truck and that light switch switches. And, I mean, he's running and screaming through the office and yeah, they were in here the other night. Emily picked him up and came back in here, and we were on a call and I was like, guys, go out to the shop. Yeah, like you're from somewhere else, and I.

I want to like, I love it. Like, when we moved into our house, I don't think we had a TV up for almost six months. Yeah. Like we moved in in May, so the weather was nice. And like, they are outside. Like we'll go outside even in the barn with the show cars and stuff this winter when it was, I mean, every time I went out, I'm like, get in the house like it's it's three degrees out.

We've been outside for 45 minutes. Like, we got to go, well, now I want to play. And I'm like, it's too cold to play. I yeah like yeah, you know but I just that's what we need. Not shove them in a room. Shove headphones, shove a computer in front of them. You know. You know in 2000, this is an old in 2018 which is old.

They were saying the average time and this would be more teenagers nine hours. They're on a device nine hours a day. They're watching something. Yeah. Which of course we grew up, we didn't have that, you know, you have that. But I do, I do think there's so much value in students not being on technology all the time.

Right? Which I know nowadays it seems like everything is going to the cloud, which I know at heartland. We're still like I still almost all of our curriculum is all hard copy. People say, why do you do that? I'm like, because I want parents to know what's being taught, right? And when everything is in the cloud, how do you even know?

Right? Right. It's really hard to know. And they're like, what are you worried about the kids not knowing how to how to navigate technology? I'm like, no, I'm really not right. I said, kids know how they know more about when they get their phones. It's like they know more about it than their parents in like a year, right?

Or probably three months. It's just like well connected with it. And I've I've we me and Emily try to go and talk to the classes that we sponsor. Oh, we've done a bad job about not coming to heartland. But like, especially in the public school system and, you know, and the teachers are always like, hey, give them, you know, give them the secret sauce.

And I'm like, quit doing this. Yes. Look, somebody in the eyes. Yes, shake their hand. And I was like, show up and actually work when you're at work. Yeah. I was like, literally, you've beat 98% of you. Absolutely. You're competition. Absolutely. By just doing that. And I kind of hate it because I really do feel like the standard is getting lower and lower.

It is. And like it's, you know, and when you when you do show up and do that kind of stuff like you just you cream to the top. Yeah. I'm watching it with both of my boys. Yep. Both of my boys. Connor, I just turned 20. Reagan is almost. I mean, they're college, but I mean, the jobs they get, the amount of money they're starting to make, people are.

I mean, and it's that they have that right there, right? They have a work ethic that they developed when they were young. Within the system, of course, family too. It's not just a school. A school is not a magic recipe by itself. It takes the family and the school, I think working together, but so many. But they will.

I mean, everywhere I go, I'll go to Cincinnati and people walk up and say, your son Conrad, you're oh my, oh my goodness. Every cop, everybody tells me about him. And a lot of it is just he sees people. He values people. They both they're going they're going to walk in and shake your hand. They're going to talk to people, a job to do, they're going to do it.

And then if the job is done, they're not going to sit and do nothing. Waiting for the next assignment. They're going to let, okay, what can I do? What can I do? Okay. They're self-starters. Yep. Yep. And that is going to they're amazing, employees. But those type of people usually don't always stay employees. They usually go out and start something or run a big branch or, you know, like run, you know, run, run, run a big, you know.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I've got a I've got a young kid that I've mentored, he's worked with with me and around me for 6 or 7 years now. And like, you know, he's he's sharp but there's a trust there that I've built where, you know, I can have some hard conversations. Oh, absolutely. And he knows that. He knows it comes.

Yes. Out of love. And every once a while I'm like, hey, I need business advice. Yes. I'm like, all right on here. It's coming unfiltered. Yes, I love you. Right? Yes. You know. So absolutely. But yeah. No. As we wrap up here, you know, I'm going to let you give a plug of, like, if anybody feels led to donate, how they can donate, to the building, because we didn't even really talk really about any of the fundraising.

You know, I know there's a lot of money to to be raised there. And if anybody has any questions like reach out to you. Yeah. So we have our website is w WW Heartland Christian education.com. I guess I don't need a WW but anyway Heartland Christian education.com. On there there's, there's a lot of stuff about a lot of things.

But one of that is to a way to donate right. On our website we have just if you're wanting to even look at it because like I said, we don't advertise. We've hardly ever advertise for heartland. We do have a Facebook page. We have an Instagram page. And you can search us on those and you could see more about heartland.

You see our core values. You can see what's going on there. Just a lot of cool stuff like that. But probably the number one way would be to, to donate. If you're just want to do it online, it's through the web page. If you ever wanted to come see the place, because I tell people a lot, it's like for different, we're just our whole system of is is a different approach.

And like with anything, there's pros and cons to anything, but, we do, luncheons at heartland. You could come to our come to heartland. It would, you would get a free meal. And it's a great meal. We have people who cater. Catering is a great meal. And you get a tour of the school and a little bit more about the history and how we what God's done for us.

And anybody who wants to come to that would be amazing. I got, I don't know, Eric Heimlich. It's our donor development, and I think and Casey Knight. Yep. Yeah. I have business card for Eric who you could call and, I don't know, (317) 331-0119 or just call the call Heartland Christian. And if you're interested in any of that.

So leave us, leave us some words of encouragement or, sure. We'll just let you do that. Probably the words I would think is just remembering as parents. Okay. There is no there's no thing in your life that's more important than our kids and our grandkids. So I don't know who I'm talking to. Our kids are great.

They are our most valuable possession. And in that training process, God has equipped you and me, all of us. Whoever has kids, God has called us to raise them. And in that, I always challenge people that truth matters. Truth matters. And the ideas that our young people are getting, whether it's through schooling, through media, through home, those ideas will have consequences.

Good ideas have good consequences. Bad ideas have victims. And then the children are our future. There's no greater investment than investing in the next generation. So that would probably be my challenge. Is just as parents, let's, let's don't get distracted by whatever in life pulls us, whether it's a money job, whatever our greatest, our greatest possession, our kids.

So I appreciate you, Mr. Scott. Thank you guys for tuning in to this edition of the Hoel Truth Podcast. Thank you.