Letter to Education Graduates and Future Christian Educators

Erik EllefsenThe CACE RoundtableLeave a Comment

Student-teaching is complete, graduation is quickly approaching, the job search has commenced and for some of you lucky few been completed, and you are filled with a combination of conflicting emotions. At the end of Matthew 28, Jesus gathers the 11 remaining disciples and gives them the “Great Commission” to go make disciples. As your professors and student-teaching mentors send … Read More

A Look Back and a Look Ahead 2017

Erik EllefsenThe CACE RoundtableLeave a Comment

As 2017 begins I took a look back at our blogs since we started CACE to see what resonated with the CACE network. I have highlighted a few of the more popular blogs below as they are worth another read as we begin 2017. A Letter to my Daughter on Her Graduation from High School: This is a timeless piece … Read More

Building an Engaged School: Management Matters

Erik EllefsenInnovation1 Comment

“Hire good people who hire good people, and let them do their job.” Tom Ricketts A World Series and Organizational Change: In six seasons, Tom Ricketts was able to lead the transformation of the most dismal or unlucky professional baseball team depending upon your view of the prior 100 years. Much analysis will be done on the Chicago Cubs as … Read More

Building an Engaged School: Get a Leader

Erik EllefsenInnovation4 Comments

In a blog from April I laid out that “Engagement Matters” throughout an organization for long-term success as well as short-term fulfillment.  Gallup continues to do research on employee engagement as they seek to understand the combination of personal enjoyment in work as well as business success overall, and they stated earlier this year: “Though companies and leaders worldwide recognize … Read More

Engagement Matters: An Introduction

Erik EllefsenInnovation, Webinars3 Comments

According to Gallup’s weekly survey only 33% of employees are actively engaged in their work while another 25% are actively disengaged. The data regarding teacher and student engagement is equally as discouraging with engagement rates that have plummeted in the past ten years to levels not seen since the early 1980s. As I work in a school, work with other … Read More

Three Steps for Recruiting Talent

Erik EllefsenThe CACE RoundtableLeave a Comment

In my prior blog, “School Buses, Lord of the Flies, and The Right People”, I received comments and questions about my own experience riding school buses, how to develop exciting non-bus orientated analogies, and what dispositions I look for in candidates; however, the most significant interest and conversation revolved around the following comment: Recruit Talent: No offense to those that … Read More

Support and Experiences: The College Advantage

Erik EllefsenThe CACE RoundtableLeave a Comment

As a college counselor at a highly regarded academic institution, my students are consistently seeking for the best in collegiate education. However, the cultural pressure to attend a highly selective university often outweighs the benefits students may gain from other less notable possibilities. Frank Bruni has written recently in an Op-Ed about what is happening near me in Palo Alto … Read More

Leadership Lessons from a Hospital Room

Erik EllefsenThe CACE Roundtable1 Comment

I have been having many fun conversations about education recently, and have other blogs that I am working on entitled “NCLB Reauthorization and Private Schools”, “I Hate Homework”, and a follow-up to “Innovation and Digical Schools”. However, March 2015 is Multiple Myeloma Awareness month, and I thought I would share some leadership lessons from my journey through the early days … Read More