This year’s conference themed “Education as Discipleship,” prepares teachers with practical tools through workshops that include ideas and tips from seasoned classical educators.

POINT LOOKOUT, MO. — School of the Ozarks hosted its annual Classical Chrisitan Educators (CCE) Conference at College of the Ozarks March 6 - 7, 2026. This conference explored the practical aspects of teaching classically within today’s classrooms.

This year’s conference, themed “Education as Discipleship,” prepared teachers with practical tools through workshops that included ideas and tips from seasoned classical educators and allowed time for Q&A and discussion. The conference was designed around three plenary lectures and over 30 workshops that spread out over six breakout sessions.

Guest speakers this year included Dr. Davies Owens, host of the podcast “Basecamp Live,” which discusses classical Christian education, and Dr. Kyle Rapinchuck, head of school at Sager Classical Academy, who spoke on the topic of classical Christian education as discipleship.

Dr. Brad Dolloff serves as dean of School of the Ozarks.

“Educators left the conference confident that, as Jesus said, a disciple looks like a teacher. Therefore, the end of learning in our classical Christian schools is a student who looks more like Jesus,” Dolloff said.

Under a classical Christian model, schools integrate a liberal arts curriculum with a Christian worldview. Rooted in the trivium – grammar, logic, and rhetoric – it seeks to cultivate individuals who think critically and communicate clearly, all while emphasizing Christlike character and the pursuit of truth, goodness, and beauty.

The CCE conference explores the practical aspects of teaching classically within today’s classrooms.

Conference Breakout Sessions           

• Why Words Matter – Kathy Becker
• Teaching Virtue Through Plato’s Souls – Jacob Douvier
• Culture Is Key: How School Culture Shapes Formation, Discipline, and Learning – Kristie Stoddard
• Forming Fruitful Lives: Helping Children Grow in the Fruits of the Spirit – Jennifer Freeman and Beth Howard
• Hard Words, Holy Ground: Navigating Tough Talks with Biblical Wisdom – Joel Carey
• Let’s Get Started – Starting a School from the Ground Up – Josh Dyson
• Beings Not Bots: Teaching Humans in an AI World – Hunter Burnett
• On the Integration of Logic and the Art of Understanding – Stephanie Young
• Watch Me; With Me; Show Me: A Beginner’s Guide to Teaching (and a plea to use whiteboards) – Luke Shawhan
• Habit Formation: Shaping our Students' Affections for Truth, Goodness, and Beauty – Michelle Walker
• AI as a Tool, not a Teacher – Mitchell Slater
• Creating Spaces for Good Teachers: The Ten Principles for Helping Teachers be Good – Carrie Eben
• Christ Redeeming Cultures Through Classical Christian Education – Emily Humphreys
• The Problem with the Soft Sciences and How to Make Them Hard Again – Joshua Shaw
• Educating for Virtue: Why the Acquisition of Knowledge is not the Point – Kristie Stoddard
• Reading Not-Great Books: Bernard of Clairvaux and Classical Formation –  Kendall Mayo
• Defining Success: Worldview Driven Pedagogy – Jennie Davis and MacKenzie Wood
• 7 Ways to Grow Your Enrollment that you Probably Haven't Thought Of – Mitchell Slater
• Math Explorers: Climbing Toward Fluency and Flourishing – Beth Howard
• Ordered Steps, Ordered Loves: Forming School Culture Through Communal Dance – Jarrod Richey
• Listening as Formation: Teaching Students to Hear with Heart and Mind – Jennifer Freeman and Amy Martin
• Board Governance – Josh Dyson
• Understanding the Liberal Arts as both a Science and Art – Jenny Martin
• The Sword and the Cross: A Classical Christian Inquiry into Just War – Joel Carey
• Panel Discussion: Climbing Mount Classical – Darren Walker, Kyle Rapinchuck, and Ryan Gorman

More about Kyle Rapinchuck

Dr. Kyle Rapinchuk is head of school at Sager Classical Academy in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. Previously, he spent twelve years as associate professor of Christian worldview, upper school curriculum director, and lead teacher at School of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri. Rapinchuk and his wife, Kristin, have also served in ministry together for more than a dozen years. Rapinchuk has a bachelor of arts in English from College of the Ozarks, a master of divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a doctorate. in Biblical studies: Old Testament from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary. Additionally, Rapinchuk runs The Classical Thistle, a website devoted to promoting classical Christian education in a 21st century context.

More about Davies Owens

Dr. W. Davies Owens is a seasoned leader with over 25 years of experience in classical Christian education. As a speaker, teacher, school administrator, and serial entrepreneur, Owens has dedicated his career to inspiring parents and schools to raise the next generation with purpose and clarity. His leadership journey includes serving as Head of School at Heritage Preparatory School in Atlanta and later as the Head of Vision and Advancement and Upper School Dean at The Ambrose School in Boise, Idaho.

Owens recently served as the executive director of the Society for Classical Learning and is currently the CEO of ZipCast, an innovative media platform connecting school leadership to their parents and teachers, with more than 10,000 listeners each week. In addition, Owens is the host of the highly regarded BaseCamp Live podcast, a leading voice in the classical Christian education movement now in its eighth year.

Beyond his leadership and entrepreneurial work, Davies teaches in the master’s program for classical school leadership at Gordon College as an adjunct professor and serves on the Board of Academic Advisors for the Classic Learning Test (CLT). He holds a master of divinity from Duke Divinity School and a doctorate from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.