ourney to Excellence has been the tagline of Adventist Education in the North American Division for two decades.  It is a durable descriptor of the learning journey, because it is reality.  Life is about change, a journey of growing and learning that leads to eternity.  We must engage in planning life’s changes strategically, if we wish to impact our community and church for eternity

It has been wisely stated that one constant in life is change!  Some changes are monumental and historic, but most are moderate and incremental.  All can be consequential.  To know which ones are of most importance, most significance, and of highest priority is a challenge to all.

Fifty years ago (1975), when Kodachrome color slides and Kodak Instamatic Cameras were all the rage a Kodak company researcher built the first digital camera.  It was cobbled together from spare camera parts and cutting-edge digital technology.  The invention, the digicam, was hardly portable and recorded grainy black and white images to cassette tape.  Kodak’s “Film-less Photography” didn’t inspire company leaders.  Kodak was the world’s leading producer of film.  Why would you undercut your core business?

We might accuse Kodak executives of having no vision or lacking in leadership for managing change.  Or, perhaps, they simply decided to stick with what they did best, produce film.  What they did miss was the “WHY!”  Kodak was really in the business of helping create and preserve memories.  Cherished experiences and emotions rekindled by an image brought before one’s eyes.  For those too young to remember, great memories were sometimes referred to as “a Kodak moment!”  But, photochemical film, Kodak’s principal product, was a material resource that created images that generated memories.

With time and perspective, it is easy to analyze the missteps made by Kodak.  The question today is, “how about us?”  What is it we do in Adventist education?  What is our core business?  Do we maintain legacy programs that serve the needs of a previous generation?  Do our plans, programs, and facilities serve the needs of the current generation?  Do we equip ourselves to meet the needs of a new generation of learners who have not yet arrived?

I would suggest that Adventist education, like the Kodak Company, is in the image reproduction business.  Preparing students for New Earth citizenship is about reproducing in each student the image of their Creator God.  In full color and in fine composition the love, joy, peace, kindness, forgiveness and grace of God as revealed in the story of God with us, Jesus, who we honor at Christmas.

To reach this result in students we  implement various strategies and adopt a wide variety of resources to craft the learning journey effectively.  All these components are subject to change.  We must continually learn and grow our capacity to achieve excellence in a changing world.  The measure of our success, however, must always be in relation to the core purpose for Adventist educators—to create in students a change for eternity.  That goal is constant.  It is changeless!  May God grant you the wisdom and courage to discern the changing journey that leads to a sure eternity with the Creator.

Dennis L Plubell

Interim Vice President for Education