Turning Point Academy presents the 2023 Educator’s Summit on June 15-17. Turning Point Academy is a movement that is dedicated to “RECLAIMING the education of our children, REVIVING virtuous education focused on truth, goodness, and beauty, and RESTORING God as the foundation of education.”

The Educator’s Summit is specifically designed for the purpose of equipping educators (public, private, and homeschool) with the vital tools needed to train the next generation HOW to think, not WHAT to think.

Outstanding Speakers

Charlie Kirk: Founder &CEO, Turning Point USA; Author; Radio Host
Alex Newman: Award-winning International Journalist; Educator; Author; and Consultant
Dr. Lisa Fortini-Campbell: Professor, Northwestern University; Founder and President, Fortini-Campbell Company; Speaker
David Bahnsen: Managing Partner and CIO, The Bahnsen Group; Author; Television Commentator
Dr. Bill Federer: Historian; Best-selling Author; Speaker; President, Amerisearch Inc.
Professor Thomas Meade: Northwestern University; Eileen Foell Chair in Cancer Research and Professor of Chemistry; Director of the Center for Advanced Molecular Imaging
Dr. Bruce Lockerbie: Chairman/CEO of Paideia
Dr. Chris Firestone: Professor of Philosophy, Trinity International University
John Kessler: Instructor, Foundation Teaching Economics; Director, Center for Economic Education; Professor, Purdue
Daniel Maycock: Master Math Teacher, Polymath Classical Tutorials
John Punt: Music Teacher, Seven Oaks Classical School
Beth Kuzel: Primary Director, Classical Consortium Academy
Scott Phelps: Executive Director of the Abstinence & Marriage Education Partnership; President of the Abstinence & Marriage Education Resources

Conference Schedule
Thursday, June 15th
9:00- 12:00pm – Pre-Conferences Options:
1. Laying a Strong Foundation for our Littlest Learners OR
2. Foundation for Future Marriage & Family
1:00pm- Registration Begins
2:00pm- Welcome and Orientation
2:15- 5:00pm – The Harm of Indoctrination | The Purpose of Education | The Purpose of a Teacher
6:00pm – Dinner
7:00pm- Academy Sponsored Gathering

Friday, June 16th
9:00am – 12:00pm: Thinking Like…a Theologian la Philosopher |a Philosopher | a Musician
12:00 pm – Lunch
1:00 -4:00pm – Thinking Like… a Mathematician | a Scientist | an Economist
4:00pm – Breakouts | 5C School Workshop*
6:00pm – Dinner
7:00pm – Academy Sponsored Gathering

Saturday, June 17th
9:00am – 12:00pm – Thinking Like…a Historian | an Author/Literary Critic | an Artist
12:00pm – Conference Ends
12:00pm – 2:00pm – 5C School Workshop*
*Designed for current 5C School planters and staff.

Conference Fee
• $0/TPAA Affiliate | $50/Non-affiliate registration
• To become a TPAA Affiliate go to: www.turningpointacademy.com/association
• If the conference costs are a hardship, please contact Francine Quintero.

Travel Notes
• Closest Airport: O’Hare International Airport, Illinois
• Other Airport Options: Midway (MDW) or Milwaukee (MKE) Trinity International University, is located at 2065 Half Day Road, Deerfield,IL 60015, approximately 25 minutes from O’Hare Airport. If you are traveling by car, there is plenty of parking.

Accommodations & Meals
• There is a room block at La Quinta, Bannockburn, which is walking distance to the conference. You may call (847) 317-7300 and mention Turning Point Academy or go to wyndhamhotels.com, choose dates, special rates, and supply the group code CGTPA1 to receive the discounted price. Other hotel options are Hyatt Regency in Deerfield, Homewood Suites, Marriott, and Courtyard Chicago all in Lincolnshire.
• Three meals will be provided – Thursday dinner, Friday lunch, and Friday dinner. Complimentary coffee service and beverages will be provided during the conference.

For more information, please contact Francine Quintero:
Phone 224.677.9013
Email francine@tpusa.com

Registration deadline is June 1st.

Over Christmas break, I was hanging out with some friends and as we were playing some games in their basement, the topic of abortion was brought up. I stated my belief that all abortions are wrong. I did not think much of saying this as I assumed that they would at least somewhat agree with me. But shockingly, I was wrong. The two friends that were with me have been my friends since a very young age, and I know that they grew up in staunchly conservative families, yet they still were surprisingly of the pro-choice mindset. The disturbing thing is that they agreed abortion was murder and that it takes the life of an innocent child. This sounds contradictory, doesn’t it? How can one oppose abortion on moral grounds but still believe it should be allowed? The answer to this is the current generation of teens called Generation Z, apathy, complacency, and indifference.

When teens have everything we could ever need, such as a nice house, a TV, videogames, mindless social media apps, and countless other amenities, taking a moral stand on something can be stupid and even reckless. Taking a pro-life stand is controversial, potentially life ruining if seen by the wrong people on social media. Many people in this generation have no moral quandaries about abortion, but what is even more shocking it that some who do have problems with abortion are too indifferent or scared to say anything, even among people who they know agree with them. Morality for youth has been pushed to the wayside and this generation, even if they know something is wrong, will still go along with it for the sake of comfort and an easy life. The highest achievement for someone from Generation Z is creating for themselves an easy life, and sadly, most will do it by any means possible.

Conservative parents often raise their children thinking that their children will never stray from what they have taught them, but with the advent of social media and the effect of public education, this could not be more untrue. Again, both of these friends had grown up in conservative households. Their parents would be horrified if they knew the things that they told me that night. When we are bombarded by social media apps such as Tik Tok, Instagram, Twitter, and respected teachers that tell us abortion is not just acceptable, but something that should be celebrated, it is hard to take a stance that rejects it, even if you know deep down that it is wrong.

I know this firsthand since I was a victim of these lies. I was somewhat like my friends, believing that abortion was immoral, but I really did not care. I believe that it is more important than ever for parents to have in depth conversations with their teens about issues such as, but certainly not limited to, abortion. With the amount of brainwashing children are exposed to from a relatively young age, we all need to make sure that they are strong in their beliefs and cannot be swayed. This is why it is important to have regular conversations about this topic.

Talking to your child about abortion can be difficult, and thoroughly convincing them that it is wrong can be even harder. I am no expert, but I do have some recommendations that opened my eyes to the absolute horrors of abortion. In this day and age, people seem to care about “the science” and facts a lot. If something doesn’t have enough evidence to back it up, people will tend not to believe it. Back in the 70s, abortion advocates convinced women that the fetus in their stomach was nothing but a “blob of cells,” and quite frankly, that is what it looked like on an ultrasound screen back then. But with the technology we have now, we can clearly see that this “mass” is actually a living child. With today’s technology, we can see details such as the fingers, nose, toes, and other parts that can clearly show that this is a child that so many are willing to be allowed to kill.

Another thing that was jarring for me to see was Dr. Anthony Levantino’s testimony. As a warning, I would recommend watching this first before showing it to a child since it is very disturbing. Dr. Levantino was an abortion doctor. However, he has seen the truth, had a change of heart and is now fighting to protect the sanctity of human life. In this testimony, he describes in graphic detail the horrendous process of abortion. Many people do not grasp the severity of abortion. They just look at it as any other medical procedure, such as removing a tumor. In my earlier high school days, I somewhat looked at it in this way too. I assumed it was at least done in a humane and painless way. I did not realize that it was more like something out of a horror movie.

Another great resource to show teens is the movie Unplanned, which gives an inside look at the abortion industry from Planned Parenthood insider Abby Johnson. It would be hard for anyone to walk away from that movie unmoved and would certainly help teens understand that the abortion industry is a business and certainly not about their best interests.

The final and most important way I believe children can be raised to be strong in their pro-life beliefs is through their influence on social media. As I said earlier, social media for the most part is a cesspool of leftist ideology and brainwashing, but there are some good people out there. Teens today look up to YouTubers, Instagrammers, and other famous influencers. Whether it be a person that makes gaming content, or vlogs their travel adventures, they all can have a big influence on their audience. The problem with this is that most of these influencers, even if they are not political, will eventually spew some kind of leftist propaganda. With the way many young people look up to these influencers, they are likely to take whatever they say seriously and as near fact. Introducing your teen to influencers that are conservative and engaging is important, but difficult. Some good ones that I watch are Matt Walsh, Michael Knowles, and Charlie Kirk, but there are plenty to choose from. Most teens, if they have a phone, are inevitably going to use various social media apps, so introducing them to good influences can help tremendously with their stance on pro-life as well as other contemporary topics.

With all the attention abortion is getting in the news lately because of the U.S. Supreme Court case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which could mean the end of Roe v. Wade, and the new Texas pro-life law, talking about abortion and spreading the pro-life message is extremely important since we know now that the Court listens to popular opinion, not the Constitution. What better time to do this than during the Sanctity of Human Life month which culminates in Washington D.C. on January 21,^st for the annual March for Life! My heart sinks when young people today are apathetic about such a serious topic, but perhaps with a lot of work, effort, and prayer, we can change that.

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) announced Wednesday that it will start admitting girls to its Cub Scouts program, and eventually will create a parallel program that allows older girls to rise to the level of Eagle Scout.

In a statement, the BSA said its decision was in line with its “core values” and was driven by changes in the American family and busy parents desiring a Scouts-like program for their daughters.

“Starting in the 2018 program year, families can choose to sign up their sons and daughters for Cub Scouts,” the statement said. “Existing packs may choose to establish a new girl pack, establish a pack that consists of girl dens and boy dens or remain an all-boy pack. Cub Scout dens will be single-gender — all boys or all girls.”

It continues: “Using the same curriculum as the Boy Scouts program, the organization will also deliver a program for older girls, which will be announced in 2018 and projected to be available in 2019, that will enable them to earn the Eagle Scout rank. This unique approach allows the organization to maintain the integrity of the single gender model while also meeting the needs of today’s families.”

‘Zir Scouts’ next?

Conservative critics like Christian talk show host Janet Mefferd pounced on the BSA’s gender-neutral decision.

“When you have the Boy Scouts accepting girls (and gender-confused girls who think they’re boys), then the next logical step is for the Girl Scouts to accept boys. What does gender even mean anymore? You might as well join forces and become the ‘Zir Scouts’,” Mefferd told LifeSiteNews.

(“Zir” and “Ze” is a genderless pronoun created by “transgender” activists to replace “her” or “his,” and “he” or “she.” Another variation spells it as “Xir.”)

Conservative activist and Eagle Scout Charlie Kirk, founder and executive director of Turning Point USA, tweeted in response to the BSA announcement:

I am an Eagle Scout

Only boys should be in Boy Scouts

Only girls should be in Girl Scouts

Don’t change things that work

The BSA — whose membership is declining — said its “historic decision comes after years of receiving requests from families and girls, the organization evaluated the results of numerous research efforts, gaining input from current members and leaders, as well as parents and girls who’ve never been involved in Scouting – to understand how to offer families an important additional choice in meeting the character development needs of all their children.”

Randall Stephenson, the BSA’s national board chairman, was effusive about the new girls policy: “The BSA’s record of producing leaders with high character and integrity is amazing,” he said in the BSA release. “I’ve seen nothing that develops leadership skills and discipline like this organization. It is time to make these outstanding leadership development programs available to girls.”

The ATT CEO has presided over some liberal social changes in the Scouts organization that have outraged many former Scouts and pro-family, faith-based advocates like Franklin Graham, who has urged Christians to pull their sons out of the Scouts.

Beginning in 2013, the Boy Scouts moved to end their “morally straight” policy of excluding homosexual boy members, a policy that they had successfully defended in court going all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000. Then in 2015 the BSA decided to allow to adult homosexual men as leaders, despite the BSA’s history of adult male scoutmasters homosexually molesting boys in their care — the extent of which has still not been revealed to the public.

Earlier this year, the BSA waded into transgender controversies by saying it will allow severely gender-confused, biological girls (who identify as “boys” and want to live as “males”) to become Boy Scouts.

The Scouts’ politically correct moves appear to be taking a toll on membership, as new groups like the Christian-based Trail Life USA have been formed in response to the BSA’s liberal shift, while major church bodies like the Mormon Church have pulled away from the BSA. Perhaps this explains the opening to girls. The New York Post reports on the BSA’s plummeting numbers:

“Current participation in the Boy Scouts, which was founded in 1910, is down from 2.6 million in 2013 and more than 4 million in earlier years. The announcement comes as the organization and other youth service groups have seen dips in membership. The Girl Scouts, meanwhile, reported 1,566,671 youth members as of March, down from just over 2 million in 2014.”

“Just when you thought the Scout leadership could not be any more clueless about the actual purpose of the organization – raising boys to become responsible, masculine men – they come up with this,” said Robert Knight, a senior fellow with the American Civil Rights Union and an Eagle Scout.

“This is organizational vandalism and another sign that the current Scout executives care more about what the clinically insane Left and their media allies think than what is best for boys.  The only good to come out of this will be a further exodus toward Trail Life USA, the genuine heirs to the Boy Scout legacy.”

This article was originally posted at LifeSiteNews.com