Center Court Networking Breakfast

Center Court provides guests with an opportunity to network with other business leaders, see first-hand the difference our alumni are making in our community, and support Grand Rapids Christian’s educational programs.

This year, our guest speaker was Dr. Steven Triezenberg (Class of 1975), Director of Van Andel Education Institute and founding Dean of Van Andel Institute Graduate School. Dr. Triezenberg shared with us how his Christian education helped establish both the intellectual foundation for his later studies and career and the moral commitment to a life of servant leadership. He advocated for a perspective on education that allows and challenges students to “do” as well as “know” in whatever field of endeavor they are studying.

“What really sticks with me 37 years after graduation [from Grand Rapids Christian High School], what has sustained me in my subsequent college and graduate school and academic career, is NOT the ‘stuff’ I learned, but the ‘learning to learn’ and the ‘learning to do’.  The ‘doing’ has had a greater impact than the ‘knowing’.

“From this ‘doing’, I gained fundamental habits of thought and integrity, of focus and broadmindedness, of passion and hard work, of stewardship and commitment that have had a significant part in forming my character as an adult.”

If you were unable to attend this year’s Center Court Networking Breakfast, you can still support Grand Rapids Christian Schools.  Give online or contact Marianne Grooters at 616.574.6009 or mgrooters@grcs.org.