On January 11, 2025, Christian Schools International lost one of its previous leaders, Dan Vander Ark. Dan served as the executive director of CSI from 1993–2005. Prior to that and after he graduated from Calvin College, Dan taught English and became principal at Holland Christian School where he worked for thirty years. Upon retiring from CSI, Dan consulted with a number of Christian schools, most recently at NorthPointe Christian in Grand Rapids. He dedicated more than sixty years to serving in Christian education. Dan had a passion for writing; an excerpt of a blog he wrote for CSI in 2018 is below. Join CSI in remembering Dan and praying for his family.

Decades ago, while meandering through a magazine, I stopped at a letter to the editor, entitled something like “Jigsaw Puzzle Education.” The writer was troubled at the state of education, claiming that teachers were not connecting one fact or idea to another. His analogy went something like this: teachers ask students to learn that 2 + 2 = 4, but without any reference to the broader context of life.

He said that this way of teaching is similar to asking students to connect two pieces of a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle without ever seeing the picture on the box. Two facts may connect, but for the students, it has little meaning beyond that. The writer said it would be frustrating for students, seeing no sense in learning the tidbit connection without seeing how it fits in the whole picture.

After reading the letter twice, I did an experiment. In the lunch room where I was working, often there was a jigsaw puzzle in progress. When people came in for coffee or lunch break, they would sit at the puzzle table and put a few pieces in the half-done puzzle. I came in early and hid the box cover. You guessed it! The workers came in, looked for pieces, and glanced up to check the finished picture on the box cover. When they noticed the box was gone, it quickly led to “Who took the cover? You can’t do a puzzle without the picture of the completed one!” The workers quit on the spot, moving to another table.

So is it with kids who seek to learn without the picture on the box. The best Christian schools help students put the puzzling things of life together by always keeping the picture on the box in front of them: on the walls, signs, displays, teachers’ voices, slogans, mission statement, biblical themes, and more. The best teachers in these schools persistently point students to the brightest, sharpest image on the picture, Christ. “He [Christ] is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Col. 1:17).

To help students to see the whole picture and where 2 + 2, the Periodic Table, and grammar fit:

1. Frequently remind students of the puzzle frame, the story of the Bible, the big worldview we espouse: essentially the unity of the drama, in five acts: God made everything good; we humans corrupted ourselves and creation; God gave us his Son so believers could be righteous again; God equipped us to serve him and others by extending his kingdom; Jesus will come again to complete his kingdom, including us.
2. Connect each part of the picture to students’ lives and to other similar pieces, e.g., “See this orange piece; what other pieces look like that? Where is it likely to fit?”

Students educated to know deeply the bright picture on the box, Christ, lead to effective Christian education and student lives transformed.