Transcript of Directors Town Hall
Transcript Town Hall 3.28.20
Great care has been taken by a professional transcriptionist to reproduce the audio into exact writing.
This includes grammatical errors and speech “fillers”
Starts at 19:40 / 19:52
(CC Advertisement: Robert Bortins, CEO Classical Conversations Inc. speaking)
The Hebrew word, “avodah” is the root word for work and worship. As Christians, our
work is part of our worship because that’s what God tells us in the Bible, to do all
things unto Him. The Impact 360 Institute teamed up with Barna to do a study of
Generation Z and they found that only 1/3 of Gen Z-ers believe in Absolute Truth and
that it could be known. As Christians that’s a big problem because we believe Jesus is
the way, the TRUTH, and the life.
Classical Conversations’ mission is to know God and to make Him known. Our act of
worship is to partner with families who want their children to receive a classical,
Christian education.
We believe truth can be known and that parents are the first and best teachers for their
children. So we equip parents by training them in classical education and equipping
them through community. Proverbs 25:2 tells us It is the glory of God to conceal a
matter, to search a matter out is the glory of kings. We believe that as brothers and
sisters to Christ, we are prince and princesses in the kingdom of heaven. God reveals
Himself in His creation, Romans 1:20. When we teach our kids reading, writing, and
arithmetic, we are teaching them about our Lord and Savior. It is the foundation of any
true education to seek truth. Every year Classical Conversations surveys our graduates
and this past year we found that 89% said that their faith was strengthened by
attending a licensed Classical Conversations community AND 98% rated the quality of
Classical Conversations programs as higher than other programs that they had
experienced.
If you want to know more you can find out at ClassicalConversations.com
21:58 transition to new advertisement
(Brad Steele, Pastor at First Baptist Church, Alachua, FL Speaking)
Classical Conversations was a natural fit for us, they came and approached us about
having their classes meet here on Tuesdays during the week and, of course, we said,
“Absolutely!” We’d love to do that.”
I think that the public school system has failed us. Partnering with Classical Conversations benefits our church because we are able to partner with our community
and say, “We are with you. We know that you are trying to pour a Biblical Worldview
into your children and we support that.” And if we let you use a building for a couple
hours a day during the week that is sitting vacant, sign me up. Our mission is to equip
saints for the work of the ministry and it starts with worship. It starts with stepping away
from yourself and acknowledging God as the giver of all things.
It just makes sense that we would want to partner with an organization that feels the
same way and, if everything we do is an act of worship and should be done “as unto
the Lord” as the Scriptures say, it shouldn’t stop at 12 o’clock on Sunday afternoon.
And so, when we have a group like Classical Conversations that can come in and teach
that same worldview and they’re equipping their children for the works of the ministry through education it’s just a good fit, it’s just something that we need to do, something
we need to celebrate, something we need to embrace, it’s something we need to
support, and I think it’s a great extension of what the church is doing and then saying,
“Ok, Classical Conversations, you got Tuesday. Let’s do it again on Tuesday.”
We have to partner with that it’s not op-, I don’t think it’s optional. If someone were to
ask me if they should host a Classical Conversations I would say, “Pray about it, but it’s
-, I think it’s a done deal. I think if you have the space and you have the time and you
can use that facility to equip kids in a way that is bringing glory to the Lord, I mean,
open the door. You’ve gotta walk through there, you’ve gotta do it.”
24:02 transition to new advertisement
(Robert Bortins, CEO of Classical Conversations Speaking)
CC+ has been just such a blessing to Classical Conversations and all the families in CC.
I think so far we’ve saved nearly $4 million together for those families and their
students.
Besides just kind of recognizing the work that all these students are doing as college
level work can you talk a little bit about… just a little bit what you’ve heard from your
professors here?
(Dr. Meghan Griffin, Professor Southeastern University Speaking)
Absolutely, so CC+ has been really exciting for us because, based on what I see, CC
students are well-loved on our campus, um, we have professors angling for more of
them, so, “How can I get more CC+ students in my classes?”
RB: Wow
MG: CC students have a reputation and it’s a really positive one, so, good job, Moms,
you’re doing a great job preparing students for college.
RB: That’s good. Yeah, I love that you brought up moms because, you know, CC+ kind
of validates some of what the moms are doing and validates that homeschooling works
for these kids, um, but I still feel like the homeschool moms and the work and effort
that they put into it isn’t really validated by society like it ought to be. Can you talk a
little bit about just how, how that’s…?
MG: Yeah, so … I’ve worked at four college campuses, I know a lot of professors, and
CC moms are still the smartest people I know. So when I think about hiring, you know,
the most qualified faculty to teach, I.. I want CC parents, that’s who I think of because
they have a deep, rich, whole education.
RB: Well, at Classical Conversations we often say that we are redeeming two
educations at once.
MG: Yeah.
RB: We say that because that’s what we hear from our customers, those homeschooling
moms and dads, that they just learn so much.
25:46 transition to live view
(Robert Bortins, CEO of Classical Conversations Speaking)
Alright, I think we’re live.
Welcome, everyone, to our virtual town hall. We are excited to be with you today, uh,
we’re disappointed that we couldn’t be with you in person. Uh, This is the first of many
town halls we’ll start having throughout the year, um, we’re planning on another one in
late July, um, as well, that will be in association with our Sales Orientation going on,
um, with our new SRs, assuming that everything is back to normal at that time.
And so, I just thank you, um, I was looking forward to having, uh, many of you in
person, um, but obviously that isn’t possible right now, and, uh, I just wanted to say
thank you guys so much for all the grace you guys have been offering to your families
and all the flexibility and I hope that we’ve been able to help you, uh, in this
unprecedented time, um, from the home office,
Uh, we’ve been working quite literally around the clock trying to stay on top of the
latest news and, um, just getting you guys the tools and information that you guys
need to, uh, continue to finish off the school year strong and well and, uh…
Just really been blessed, um, by the preparation God has had for us. The fact that six
months ago we decided that, uh, our topic for the great… GHC, and Teach them
Diligently, TTD, was going to be on “What would you do if you had to homeschool and
there was no, uh, government institutions, there was no institutions to send your kids
to?” And so that was six months ago that we made a decision to talk about that and
prepare for that. And, of course, my mom, Leigh, for years has always said “You know,
what would happen, um, if all the schools shut down one day, like, how would you help
your neighbor, how would you love them well?”
And so, we’ve been talking and thinking about this, you know, not… you know, not
wanting obviously a pandemic or anything like that to happen, but just, um, preparing
our people, um, to be the boots on the ground, um, the hands and feet of the Lord to
their neighbor at this time and so I’ve just heard so many wonderful stories, um, it’s
been great just seeing you guys get on the news or have articles or getting on
Facebook, um, and just saying, “Hey, I’m here to help, I’ve been doing this, um, for
however many years and happy to, um, help you guys figure out what you’re doing.
And so the Lord has put us here on the earth, um, for such a time as this and I just
thank you guys for that.
Um…
28:31
Even in this time of uncertainty there are a few things that remain stable. One, our God
was not surprised by this, um, He loves us, He knows every hair on our head and, and,
uh, you know, He has a plan for us and we just pray that, uh, we walk in His plan uh,
during all of this. And secondly, our love for our Directors. Um, we love our Directors.
That has never changed, um, you know my mom’s a Director, has been a Director in
the past, uh, most of our, uh, employees have wives or husbands that Direct or they
Direct themselves, and so, Directors the heart and soul of Classical Conversations and
our support for them, and that’s never been wavering either.
Ah, I just appreciate that we all came together, rose to this challenge ahead of us, um,
and we continue to look forward to the future. The future of homeschooling is exciting
and, uh, even though we know that we’re all doing our best to follow directions now
and make wise decisions for our families, um, we do know that this, too, will pass, uh,
that this was a season that we’re in, and, um, we are preparing for the future. We
continue to push ahead at Classical Conversations to make sure that when we do
return to normal, um, hopefully soon, uh, that we are prepared to continue on having
our practicums and um, starting the next school year well, and just making sure that
we’re serving you better, uh, every single year. And that’s what our focus is right now.
Um…
We’re looking forward to those face-to-face events. I know, um, looking forward to the
family reunion at practicums, uh, this year as well, uh, just gonna be a joyful time after
so many of our seasons, uh, were cut short this year, um, and not being able to meet in
many areas, uh, on a weekly basis like we’ve become accustomed to uh, so… just
thank you so much.
30:31
You know, we had a big survey that we sent out, we really appreciate the open, honest
feedback that we’ve received, uh, it’s been super helpful for us. Um, it kind of validated
a lot of things that we were already working on and gave us some more ideas on things
that we could, uh, do better on just to serve you. Um, and so we’re going to go
through those five main areas of feedback first today, um, and then, of course, we’ve
got a big announcement which you guys are going to hear first and then you know,
roughly an hour later, um, we’ll announce our, uh, new information, uh, to the world.
31:11
So. First, uh, topic. The number one issue, uh, that arose, um, from the survey was the
business training, uh, aspect of Classical Conversations and being a small business
owner. Um, just through our guidance with our legal teams and, um, information, uh,
you know, we know that we have very good business practices, um, and continue to
get that feedback. Uh, we know that this was kind of generated by some, uh, moms
or… who thought that maybe we were doing some things wrong and didn’t really
understand what the law and what the separation of church and state really meant. Um,
and so, they continue to have different accusations that they hurl at us, um, but luckily
they put them on the internet, and we are able to go research ‘em for us and, uh, get
our legal team to research and just make sure that we’re above board in everything
that we do and, of course, we are, of course, we continue to work on that.
Um, one of the things that… was this church letter. Kind of, how we’ve been dealing
with it, um, as different, uh, churches may or may not have information that they need.
Uh, we really support them because it’s a state church relationship and we help and
we’ve guided a number of churches, uh, through, through this process well. And so we
have not had any issues, uh, with the letter and with churches getting fines or anything
like that so, um, it’s just been not, a non-issue. Um, I did have a nice letter. Um, one
state, uh, our home state of North Carolina, did state… uh, directly come to Classical
Conversations…
February 28, 2020
John J. Collins
Classical Conversations
255 Air Tool Drive
Southern Pines, NC 28387
RE: Request for Communication
Mr. Collins,
Thank you for your letter of November 27, 2019. Please excuse the lateness of this
response.
Having reviewed your letter, I find that you have answered all of my questions. It would
seem that everything is in order regarding the exempt status of churches participating
in your program. I find nothing about Classical Conversations as described in your
response to threaten the exemption of participating churches. Further, I have shared
your letter with every Assessor in North Carolina, and all feedback received has agreed
with this opinion.
At this time my inquiry into Classical Conversations is closed. Please let me know if you
have any questions or if I may assist you in any way.
Sincerely,
Jeremy K. Akin
Tax Administrator
Alamance County Tax Department
(336) 570-4119
33:23
… in your program. I find nothing about Classical Conversations as described in your
response to threaten the exemption of participating churches. Further, I have shared
your letter with every Assessor in North Carolina, and all the feedback received has
agreed with this opinion. At this time my inquiry into Classical Conversations is closed.
Please let me know if you have any questions or I may assist you in any way. Sincerely,
Jeremy Akins the tax administrator.
33:47
So we’ve shared that with the North Carolina Directors, uh, after we had received that
letter, um, and got… got the ok, so, we… we hope, and we are working, you know,
with the different states as they come to us, and we’ll continue to do that and, of
course, having this letter is a powerful statement and testimony to Classical
Conversations’ integrity and will also help answering, um, other states, should they
inquire upon it. You know, most states seem to know that there isn’t an issue and are
just ignoring it as they ought to.
Um, so there’s been zero instances in our history that we are aware of that we’ve had
any bad business practices, um, or any instances of Directors having business practices
that weren’t in alignment, uh, with local rules and so, um, you know, if that ever
changes, uh, we will definitely be active in that communication on what needs to be
done.
Uh, we did have one state, California, change their laws on… uh, we do monitor the
state laws to make sure they aren’t changing. Unfortunately, uh, in California, due to
the nature of the law change we had to, uh, increase prices because the cost of doing
business in California really increased significantly. And so we had to, um, cover that so
we could continue to support those families there. And, uh, really that’s been our drive
since the beginning is to keep costs low and value really high for families, um, because
we know that homeschoolers, we’re homeschoolers ourself, um, you know, single
income families and we know that, uh, money is always, uh, being budgeted here or
there, and that we need to do a good job helping you steward that money and not, uh,
be negative, um, a negative influence on that.
That was one of the reasons that we cancelled our Spirit Week sale was we knew that
there was a number of people who, uh, may have lost their jobs or just, um, didn’t
know what the future was holding and we didn’t want to tempt people to spend money
when it was, in our opinion, a good time to try to, um, conserve cash, uh, in the family
just like, uh, we’re trying to do here, um, in the home office just to make sure we
continue to service you guys well.
Um, so we will, in the future, uh, have additional, uh, business guidance for you. Um,
we want to train you on what you guys need, uh, to be successful. And that’s really…
we know you’re busy, we know you’ve got family, um, and you’ve got families you’re
supporting and so taking a lot of time to train you on something that’s never happened
before and our legal team says, “Nope, there’s no reason to think it will happen in…
again,” um, you know, Again, that’s why there wasn’t as much business training in the
past. But you guys asked for it and we’ll deliver it for ya.
36:32
Alright, so the second issue. Number Two was the Learning Pathways and, um, one of
the things just a phrase I’ve heard recently and I think it’s kind of apt to some of the
things that we’ve done here at Classical Conversations is, uh, “drowning in data, yet
thirsty for knowledge.” And the idea behind that is we’ve got so much information out
there but it’s really hard to find and it’s hard to know what’s the best information that
you have.
And so we’ve started to do a couple things: One, we’ve created a team that is, uh,
looking at all of our training and we’re really trying to work on it in this manner. One,
kind of a master document, um, that has everything you need in it for that subject. And
so, uh, if you’re doing DLOs or we had a new DLO, um, training that we released this
year for the SRs and, I know that of course DLOs are, um, right now, kind of in flux
some people are doing it online, some people are waitin’ til this thing is over, um, but
we’ve tried to give them more information there, um, but that’s a good pattern of what
we’re trying to do going forward. Um, I know I’d like to just be a .. snap my fingers and
have everything done but it’s going to be a process over the next couple years of
getting things refined and put together in a, uh, more fine, searchable manner.
Uh, the other thing that we’re doing is, uh, tech… back end technology. Um, we had
been investing in that and making it more friendly and… but they’ve been sold to
another organization and our contract with them runs up at the end of 2021. And so
we’ll continue to improve that, of course, as much as we can but we will be forced to
pick a new provider either way, um, starting in 2022, because of that contract running
out.
And so, right now we’re really looking at what, what we need based on all this new
information that we’ve been able to gather over the past couple years and your
feedback to make sure that we either pick a better system or, um, possibly even just
designing our own that’s really built for you… you all, um, that mobile first, that’s our,
uh, phrase right now with our technology. That means that whether you use iPads or
your cell phone that it is accessible and usable well there and then, secondly, of
course, we want to continue to support laptops and desktops and all sorts of other
things but our… our mantra right now for our technology is Mobile First cause we know
that’s how you guys… that’s how I live, that’s how many of you live as well.
Um, another thing that’s gonna happen is um, on our new um, documents we’re trying
to make sure we have a good reference, on the back, of all of our training so you now
where you can go get additional information or where we pulled information from
that’s placed inside. And then we’re also working on, um, tagging those assets so that
when you’re looking at it, um, you know exactly how to search and find it in the LP and
find other assets. So those are all things that we’re doing in, right now, really, to
improve Learning Pathways and really improve your ability to get the information you
need when you want it and when you need it.
40:00
Alright… um…
The next issue that you guys brought up was Parent Practicums. And really, Parent
Practicums, Academic Orientation and Director Licensing Orientation were the next
three areas and for all three of these it would seem there’s a lot of inconsistency, um, in
the feedback. Where a number of you love it and a number of you dread it or don’t
understand the reasoning behind it or you know, you… some people perform really
well and then some people you know, maybe were executing them not as well. And so,
what we’re trying to do for that is really, overall, just provide a better baseline so that
anyone who is performing, anyone who is putting on these events for the first time are
able to do it at a much higher level. And so that’s what the direction we are taking…
Again, all of this is with training it just takes time, you know, our staff is re-evaluating it,
um, and we’re working together to, uh, make sure, um, that we have, uh, just doing a
great job for you in the future.
41:10
So on the Parent Practicums you’ve may have heard, um, the rumors, uh, but we are
piloting a 2+1 two-day practicum with a one-day academic orientation in a couple of
select markets this year. The idea of piloting it this year is that we’re able to get
feedback, we can see what works well, what doesn’t work well, what did we you know,
just not even think about, um, from a execution stand point of those 2+1’s and so
we’re hopeful and we’re believing that those will go very well and, uh, we will provide
you guys feedback on that and, uh, we really think that that’s the direction that we’ll be
able to move to overall next year. And so that’s the plan to pilot this year and roll it out
nationwide next year, um, assuming that it goes as planned.
42:00
Uh, finally, uh, on Academic Orientation. Um, again, it seems like there was a lot of just
consistency where some people really love it and it’s awesome and then maybe some
areas, you know, oh, it’s… I don’t understand why we’re doing this or it’s boring or
those type of things and so really what we’re trying to do there is the Academic Team
is working on on-demand, high-quality training that’s going to be available um, online,
as well that’s really gonna undergird and complement and strengthen what you’re
receiving in person. And so we wanna just continue to offer more materials to you in a,
uh, professional manner and I think you guys have probably seen the quality increase a
little bit lately, and so, uh, we’re listening and trying to make adjustments as you guys
let us know.
42:55
And then, the Director Licensing Orientation, of course, that’s been pushed off for many
of us or moved online this year and, um, I just of course really appreciate the flexibility
and grace and humility everyone’s, uh, been offering each other and, uh, we’ve been
trying to model that from the home office, uh, hopefully successfully most of the time,
uh, as Mary Alphs loves to say, you know, “The seat of perfection was filled over 2,000
years ago” and uh, we’re definitely gonna make mistakes, um, but we try to own up to
them and change it and, you know, get back on the right path as quickly as possible for
ya.
Um, so the training team, uh, like I mentioned earlier, we’ve tried to get together a
stronger, um, DLO training package for the SRs so that they had a little bit more
guidance on, uh, how to execute those well, and, uh, we’re also working, um, just like
we are for the Academic Orientation, uh, to continue to have online, on demand
training for you that will undergird and support the live training that you’re getting.
Um, I know that I miss being able to interact with people and I think that of course
some of these issue might seem small now compared to uh, how they seemed in the
past, as we’re going through this and being isolated from one another, um, but these
are still important issues to Classical Conversations for us to continue to improve upon
those and continue to just really support our Directors cause you guys are our number
one customers.
Alright and we’ll continue…
Um, this year, uh, finally, on the DLO is we just, um, want to continue to offer more
business training due to the nature of the timing of the feedback and, uh, the DLO we
didn’t get to really change as much in there as we would like but will continue to offer
on demand items for you there and hopefully you’ll see those rolling out all throughout
the year.
Alright…
Well again, thank you for this feedback. We always value, um, hearing from you and I
look forward to seeing many of you, uh, in person, uh, this year and just continuing to,
uh, be available to you all and to, uh, pray for you, uh, and to continue to just, uh,
make Classical Conversations the organization that God would have it be and continue
to glorify Him in all we do.
45:30 [transition to advertisement]
On-Screen Text: Last month we went to Florida for something BIG. Big Big Big. We are so excited
it’s finally here! “The biggest news in homeschooling since it was legalized in all 50
states.” A Revolution in Higher Education. Thanks for joining us. Tell all your friends.
It’s time to get excited. Invest in your success.
[Classical Conversations CEO Robert Bortins speaking with Dr. Megan Griffin, Professor
Southeastern University.]
RB: Dr. Griffin, tell us why you’re excited about this partnership.
MG: For me, getting parents engaged, credentialing what they’re already doing, what
they already know, what they’re already excellent at is such an opportunity for
influencing higher education. Right now higher education is preparing for students out
of a K12 environment. If a student’s coming out of a K12 environment and taught by
people who came out of the K12 environment we have a cycle. What I’d love to do is
introduce CC parents into that and give people a chance of a truly rich education. CC
parents are key for that. So if the classical education is going to be accessible to
anybody it takes mobilizing the army of parents that you’ve equipped to get them out
into the higher education sphere.
RB: There’s such a need for parents who have educated children in higher education
because they know the nature of a child, they know what they ought to do.
MG: Absolutely. And there’s just so much opportunity for bringing CC parents into the
fold of Christian higher education. I’m really excited for the future.
47:27 transition to live view
(Robert Bortins, CEO of Classical Conversations speaking with David Tran, CMO of
Classical Conversations)
RB: Welcome back everyone, that was Dr. Megan from Southeastern University and I
got to fly down there earlier this year and meet with them. Of course, they’re a great
partner with Classical Conversations Plus where your students can earn college credit
for doing the work in Classical Conversations’ Challenge program. And so we continue
to expand that program and just really excited about it.
We’re also really excited about New World Echoes!
DT: Here’s the big announcement!
RB: No, no, no.
DT: Nope, nope, nope
RB: So, here, you guys have seen David in a couple of our videos, he’s our new Chief
Marketing Officer. David, just, uh, tell us a little bit about yourself and what your goals
are at Classical Conversations.
DT: Yeah, absolutely. Well, thanks for, um, having me, and I’m super excited about the
future of what we’re doing in CC. I am a new homeschool dad. I have a little son
named Banks, who’s 5-years-old and he started the program last semester. Have a
beautiful wife named Jenny Tran, (waving) hope she’s there, uh, she’s amazing, and
then also we have two younger kids named Lila and Colby.
RB: And you’ve got one on the way?
DT: (speechless, nodding) Yep.
RB: I wasn’t supposed to tell people?
DT: Yeah, we’re not supposed to tell people, but, yes, I, my wife Jenny and I are
pregnant. That’s the big news that… yeah… okay…
RB: Yeah, sorry. Well, we’ve got one on the way, too. Of course you know I’ve got Lily
and Trey and we’ve got one due in May.
DT: Sorry, Jenny.
RB: Yeah. Sorry. That’s alright. April Foster told some people we were pregnant
beforehand. So, I’m just continuing the tradition.
DT: Got it.
RB: Good news for people. But we haven’t spoiled this good news, have we?
DT: The good news is humungous and we’ve been talking about it for the past threeto-four weeks and we’re really excited to talk about it today.
RB: Yeah. So one of the things, when I told my wife about what we were doing, she
said, “Well, that doesn’t seem that big.” I said, “Alright, well obviously I didn’t set it up
very well.” So, we’ve been really working on helping you guys understand why this is
such big homeschooling news and how…why it’s so exciting. And we’ll be premiering
live at 3:30 on Facebook as well as our YouTube channel, the big news. And so we
really encourage you, if you think it’s big, make sure that you, uh, share it, tell your
friends, uh, like it, comment, cause all those things will help generate, um, buzz, and
help the algorithms, the Facebook algorithms, and YouTube algorithms and really
promote what we’ve got going on at Classical Conversations, which, of course, will
make your job easier filling up those communities and just making sure you guys have
a thriving community.
So… the thing about this big news is, I really admire homeschooling families because
they opt out of the economic engine for twelve years, eighteen years, you know,
however long they homeschool, you know, they make the conscious decision to
sacrifice income, sacrifice careers for their kids. And, of course, we know it’s worth it
but what I saw when my mom became an empty nester, and her friends, was really, they hadn’t really thought about what they were going to do afterwards.
DT: Right, yeah.
RB: Because they’re just focused on their kids, they’re focusing on like “How do I do
chemistry?” “How do I homeschool in high school?” “How do I get my kids into
college?” like all the questions homeschool moms have and then Boom, empty, and
they don’t really have anything, um, planned for themselves. Of course, you know, my
mom’s working on things, still involved in Classical Conversations on the academic side
and writing curriculum, um, so she stays very busy – keep us busy – um, but I know a
lot of moms, when they become empty nesters, you know, they’ve got… they’re just
not sure on what to do so they maybe go into ministry, support their church, maybe go
find a minimum wage job … but a lot of employers just see 20 years, or twelve years,
or six years, of nothingness.
Of course we know that’s not true, uh, at Classical Conversations we always say we
have the smartest customers in the world, uh, and you guys, I know we have 50,000
very well-trained editors that see our product after we print it and give us great
feedback…
DT: Yeah, great feedback… pages of feedback…
RB: Yes! Um, and of course we’re trying to improve there. I did want to say that by
publishing standards we are significantly below the error rate, but we continue to try to
get perfection…
DT: And we also know, uh, moms, you guys are putting so much time in to where you
guys are working two jobs on a daily basis and we completely understand the
investment that you guys are doing into your kids’ future.
RB: Yeah. I don’t know, on Twitter I saw when this shut down came, all these
educational elite people said, “Well, hopefully these kids will be getting back to real
teachers soon enough.” That just irked me to death because we know that you guys
are real teachers and that you guys, uh, should be respected for, uh, everything that
you do. And of course, we know that there’s Dads who are Directing, that stay at
home…
DT: Yeah, don’t for… we haven’t forgot about you dads!
RB: Yeah, don’t… don’t worry about it, we just say “homeschool moms” because weknow about 98% of the people watching are, are, are moms. Um, but really, that really just brought me a revelation. I said, Why… As employer, right, we employ tons of homeschool moms, and that’s really helped us be successful, that’s one of the reasons we’ve been Best Christian Workplace for four years in a row, I mean these are super
intelligent women and they’re just being kind of, you know, put out there and not really
know… know what to do for themselves.
That’s what really made me think, “What can we do for the homeschooling parent?”
‘Cause that’s what Classical Conversations is all about, to me, David, is the parent. We
support parents. Most educational companies targeting children, Classical
Conversations is there for the parent because if the parent is trained well, if the parents
know what they’re doing, if the parents have confidence you know they’re going to
homeschool through high school and they’re going to do it well.
Um, but it kind of feels wrong to be hoarding all these very intelligent women.
DT: Oh yeah. I mean we’re talking about powerhouse workers who can do five, six
different things really well because they’ve been doing it for X amount of years with
their kids.
RB: Yeah. Well I think homeschool moms deserve a better opportunity for after all
they’ve done for their kids. That they’ve been focused on their kids but they deserve
more.
DT: And this is where the big announcement comes into play.
RB: So we’ve been working behind the scenes with our partners at Southeastern
University to bring you the first homeschooling program for parents. And guess what?
It’s a Master’s Program in the Classical Arts that’s aligned with the Classical
Conversations program. So the work that you’re already doing with your kids counts
towards this degree!
DT: College credit!
RB: Yes! And guess what? It’s about 35%-40% cheaper than Liberty’s master’s
education program, 30% or 40% cheaper than Houston Baptist’s program, we went so
low on the pricing because we know that you guys are stay at home parents on one
income. We’ve also put in some payment plans for you guys and so that’s what the big
announcement is today. Is the program for homeschool moms and dads that aligns
with what you’re doing so that when you graduate your kids you can slide into a
teaching job or you can slide into a CC+ evaluator for us.
The, uh, I went to the coll… uh, teaching degrees dot com and I found out that the
average teacher who has a master’s degree makes $65,000 a year right now.
DT: Oh, wow. Yeah.
RB: And that’s obviously, Alabama and L.A. probably play a lot differently, um, but,
even if you don’t go into teaching or don’t want to teach I think this does two things:
One, even if you don’t do the program at all, it just kind of validates you as a teacher
because you know that what you’re doing is already worth so much for your kids but
it’s just a great way to tell your friends, “Like, hey, I could get a master’s degree while
homeschooling my kids!” The second thing it does, if you don’t want to teach, having a
recent master’s degree, um, is going to help you get other jobs. Uh, who was it, uh,
Elon Musk, uh, all the tech guys in, uh, Silicon Valley are looking for people with
classical education backgrounds now to help them with their technology. So it really
opens up a whole bunch of doors for homeschooling parents that have never been
open before.
DT: And that’s the… the whole premise behind it is we’re here to… to equip you to be
even better than you were before. And the really amazing thing about this is as well is
the university that we’re going through or we’re using um, they have one of the highest
accreditations from a college level stand point. So this isn’t a, you know, an online
random university where you’re getting accreditation from, it’s actually a legitimate
highest accreditation that you can possibly get and the fact that they have agreed to
use our curriculum as a part of this master’s program just speaks multitude to what you
guys are already doing.
So we just wanna say, “High Five”.. Major high fives here…
RB: Air High Fives…
DT: Air high fives, remember no touching, because six feet, uh, but ultimately we just
want you guys to understand the heart of CC and the fact that we want to invest in you
and we felt like this was the best way to allow you guys to feel invested in and to be
successful.
RB: Yeah, absolutely. Well, you can go to CC Degrees dot com to find out more
information you have to wait til 3:30 to share, you know, if you can keep the secret for
an hour that’d be wonderful, if not, that’s ok too. Uh, we got a really fun, exciting
video, uh, to announce it with, we brought in two local homeschooling moms that had
no idea what we were talking about…
DT: No clue, no clue…
RB: Um, and we just kind of, just had a conversation with them and, um, you know you
can’t really tell on the video, but, um, one of them started crying..
DT: Um, hum, tearing up…
RB: …when we told her, so… It just meant so much to me that this idea that we had at
Classical Conversations to honor parents, um, you know, it really goes with what God
tells us to do, Honor your father and mother, and uh, that’s what we fight for every day
here. Uh, so the educational elite that said that they’re gonna go back to real teachers,
well, they can do something I probably can’t say on tv… to you all, but, uh, I’ll ask God
for forgiveness later.
Alright, uh, I do want to bring up really quickly before we end, uh, two of the, uh, brain
trust behind, uh, this program… unfortunately, uh, we couldn’t have SEU with us today
because of the, uh, travel arrangements but, uh, we have Scott Whittaker, as well as,
uh, Will, Will McCreary, and, uh, look – gotta do my six foot thing – and we just wanted
to say to you guys, to say thank you for all the hard work that you guys have been
doing for these homeschool families, uh, behind the scenes and I know that we’ve got
even bigger, no… it’s not bigger… almost as big, the second biggest news ever
coming down the pike. Uh, these guys are our innovators they are working tirelessly to
make sure that you guys get their respect and the recognition you guys deserve and
this is just part of that process, part of the stuff that, uh, we’re doing behind the scenes.
So, thank you so much and premier 3:30, share! Like! Comment!
59:32 [transition to CC+ advertisement]
(Robert Bortins, CEO of Classical Conversations Speaking)
CC+ has been just such a blessing to Classical Conversations and all the families in CC.
I think so far we’ve saved nearly $4 million together for those families and their
students.
Besides just kind of recognizing the work that all these students are doing as college
level work can you talk a little bit about… just a little bit what you’ve heard from your
professors here?
(Dr. Meghan Griffin, Professor Southeastern University Speaking)
Absolutely, so CC+ has been really exciting for us because, based on what I see, CC
students are well-loved on our campus, um, we have professors angling for more of
them, so, “How can I get more CC+ students in my classes?”
RB: Wow
MG: CC students have a reputation and it’s a really positive one, so, good job, Moms,
you’re doing a great job preparing students for college.
RB: That’s good. Yeah, I love that you brought up moms because, you know, CC+ kind
of validates some of what the moms are doing and validates that homeschooling works
for these kids, um, but I still feel like the homeschool moms and the work and effort
that they put into it isn’t really validated by society like it ought to be. Can you talk a
little bit about just how, how that’s…?
MG: Yeah, so … I’ve worked at four college campuses, I know a lot of professors, and
CC moms are still the smartest people I know. So when I think about hiring, you know,
the most qualified faculty to teach, I.. I want CC parents, that’s who I think of because
they have a deep, rich, whole education.
RB: Well, at Classical Conversations we often say that we are redeeming two
educations at once.
MG: Yeah.
RB: We say that because that’s what we hear from our customers, those homeschooling
moms and dads, that they just learn so much.