Join Priscilla Ron as she engages in a heartfelt conversation with Jake Clay, the head of education at Brave Academy. Discover Jake’s inspiring journey from serving in the Department of Homeland Security to embracing his calling in education and leadership. As he shares his experiences and vision for Brave Academy, delve into the values of a Christian classical education and its impact on students’ lives.
00:25:40 Conclusion and Restoring Education in America
SPEAKER 02 :
Welcome to Restoring Education in America with Priscilla Ron. She’s a master educator and author, leading the conversation to restore the American mind through wisdom, virtue, and truth.
SPEAKER 01 :
Welcome, welcome back, everybody. This is Priscilla Ron, your host of Restoring Education in America. I am so glad you decided to join the conversation today. I’m excited to share my very special guest, my good friend, Mr. Jake Clay.
SPEAKER 03 :
Hi, good evening. How are you?
SPEAKER 01 :
Oh, it’s good to see you. It’s good to see you. For those who are listening on radio, we actually have radio, audio, and visual, but thank you for being on the show today. For those people who don’t know you, I’m going to share a little bit about your bio. So Jake is a graduate with a bachelor’s degree in history and business. While as a firefighter in EMS, after that tragic event of 9-11, he answered the call of duty and served our country in the United States Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security. Following his critical period of service protecting our nation, he turned his passions toward educating and inspiring the next generation and later earned a master’s degree in educational leadership. Jake has been an educational leader and administrator for many years at the school, district, and charter levels before becoming the head of education at Brave Academy. Additionally, his commitment to serving our country still continues to this day. as he lends his expertise while on DHS and FBI emergency management advisory committees at the state and national levels to support the private sector. Jake is the author of the novel, Always Ready. Jake is married to Ariel and they have three children. Welcome, Jake.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thank you. Thank you. Wonderful introduction. So thank you.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, I had to shrink down your bio. It was so impressive. And I’m glad to call you friend. I’m glad to call you fellow LPR graduate. And we attend the same church, Brave Church in Denver.
SPEAKER 03 :
We do.
SPEAKER 01 :
Everybody’s welcome. You are loved and all the good things. So I was so excited to find out that you were hired to be the head of schools at Brave Academy. This is only the second year. that they’ve been open and they’re doing amazing things but let’s go back to your life as a firefighter and ems uh person i didn’t even know this was part i thought you yeah educators like all those like having having to uh yeah like a prior service and prior life i think many veterans
SPEAKER 03 :
especially coming up on Veterans Day on the 11th, can share that same sentiment that have gone into, you know, the private sector sphere and the corporate sphere after their service and have transitioned into that part of it’s still part of you that never really leaves. Right. But I’m honored to say that, yeah, I did answer the call after 9-11. I remember sitting there in college and seeing the Twin Towers fall and really felt compelled. My grandfather had served in the Army. My dad served in the Air Force as a pilot. And so I felt it was my time to step into the arena and serve this wonderful country. And so I did.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, thank you for your service. I’m an Army brat, so I always have a big appreciation for those who serve in the military. But tell me what, from your time in emergency response and national security, what most influenced how you approach leadership and education today?
SPEAKER 03 :
that is a wonderful question because i feel like the two really merged um i never thought that security would necessarily be such an important crucial part of of schools and i think what you see today whether it be michigan or you know colorado for that matter i mean how many incidences have happened within schools here in our state that really have been impacted you know because of school shootings and and such and so many parents have it on their mind of Is my child safe? Teachers on their minds too, am I safe? Is the school going to protect me before they even get a thought in of what am I going to teach the math lesson for today or the history lesson? When you have to tackle those, I am happy to state that because of that background, because of a wonderful team, because of Brave Church and Brave Academy, we do have one of the most secure schools in the state, if not in the nation, because we do have an armed team and people who take that very seriously, knowing that the protection of our students and our teachers is paramount.
SPEAKER 01 :
You know, when I hear the news about the targeted killings of Christians in Nigeria, and I think about our country and the freedom that we have to worship and the fact that we go to a church where we are fully armed and we’re safe. And we have a pastor who believes in our 2A rights and takes responsibility. the safety of everybody seriously it’s such a comfort it’s really refreshing because i never feel worried well i i sometimes might maybe conceal carry too um you know myself included you never know don’t take a chance with me right but um the fact that we do have a school that is hardened and protected because in our public schools We don’t even have an SRO in my school and a public school. And if something were to happen, we have to wait for DPD to show up if they don’t have something more pressing or if they’re short staffed because there’s crime that’s happening all over the city. And by the way, sadly, I just found out that city council wants to cut the safety budget in Denver. by multiple millions of dollars, which there’s really no place to cut. But you are very passionate about safety. But what transitioned you from your military life and your EMT life into schools?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, going from like super action oriented to education, which you don’t think is going to be as, you know, stunning impactful and such. I would say that, yes, students, as you probably have experienced, Priscilla, students can definitely give you a different day every day. So you definitely need to be adaptable. um my mom is a history teacher a historian my wife was a kindergarten teacher my sister my younger sister is now a elementary school teacher and so it kind of runs in the blood a little bit um when i first got out of the the military i actually went into banking Not too many people know about that, but I went into banking and I was doing well. But sitting in an office all day long had its drawbacks. You go from being all about service-minded to also then go transition over to being super self-minded and what’s best for the bank. I didn’t feel like I was giving back anything to anybody. And so education, the Lord put on my heart that education was the place for me to be. So that way I can really use my gifts. I can go out and use my passion to really set forward and model for the next generation and inspire them to really be the people that God intended them to be.
SPEAKER 01 :
So when we look at Brave Academy and it’s still growing and we would love for parents who want a traditional Christian education because it’s very heavy on Christian education and I’m assuming classical as well. Tell us more about the mission and vision behind Brave Academy.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, the mission is very similar to Brave Church. and and we’re challenging brave warriors for courageous kingdom advancement and when i say that it’s uh somebody put it very eloquently recently the why of what we do is christ first the how of what we do is classical And so it’s not a competing, it’s really a supporting piece because we’re putting God first on the pedestal. We’re acknowledging him. Our students, we have chapel on Monday to start the week out. And they continue that in their Bible blocks throughout the week, really getting into the word to understand while they’re also growing in their academic understanding. And I know Charlie Kirk and others have brought this up, Charlie being a very big proponent of classical education. to go and say that, well, if they have critical thought, they’re going to understand a lot of this. But on top of that, what is wisdom? Wisdom is having the understanding of what God is, who he is, what his word says, what is true, and coupling that with also this application so they can put it into practice. And so those two coupled together with the knowledge that they’re gaining Now they can go out and really be impactful in the world, make an incredible difference and further this kingdom and really glorify God.
SPEAKER 01 :
Okay, so what do you say to people who say, oh, Christian education? You know, because you’ve worked in both the public system. I have. And now you are working in a private Christian. Private’s different from just classical. Like all of these types of schools are very different. So, you know, has anyone ever questioned you about – sending their child to a Christian school and having them be prepared for the real world? Like what would be your response to that?
SPEAKER 03 :
Ooh, well, you know, I’m going to I’m going to put a little bit and say kind of what Pastor Jeff Schwartzentraub has said, you know, like it’s going out there. It’s good intention. And I’ve seen this in the public sphere of students who want to go out from the charter level or go out from, you know, into the public school. And I’m going to do a Bible study. I’m going to do prayer groups. You know, I’m going to make an impact in their high school. And that’s wonderful if it’s a one to one experience. The problem is it’s a 30 on one experience where those kids are don’t see the same culture, have the same understanding of Jesus Christ and have the same values as that one. And so eventually that erodes away that student day and day and day to the point where they start to lose who they are instead of inoculating students. So that way they understand that the world has already fallen. There’s already situations that they’re going to go into this world fully unprepared for. but knowing that they have a god who’s fully prepared to back them protect them and guide them through any conversation or situation that they have in the future so one is a preparation uh kind of goes back to that book that i wrote always ready it’s preparing them to be always ready for the things that they’re going to encounter in the world but also to give a profession of their faith towards others so if they do evangelize they do tell somebody about who jesus christ is They can do it with love and they can do it articulate so that way the other person really understands and can see that they’re coming from a good place of care of who they are, who they can be through Jesus.
SPEAKER 01 :
That’s beautiful because, you know, there are a lot of great things in this world, a lot of great schools, a lot of great methodologies and philosophies, but really at the end of the day, when we’re talking about raising socially, emotionally healthy souls, because we’re, we are souls too. At the end of the day, when we leave this earth, we’re going to meet Jesus, you know, having that acknowledgement of, God, the creator, the person that’s going to help us through the most difficult times in our life on this earth, which is why he came in the first place, right? Reminding young people to have these tools of prayer, right? Of accountability and all of that. I can’t think of a stronger argument for a Christian classical education because You know, obviously it’s not for everybody. It’s not everybody’s first choice. But the fact that we live in America where parents can choose to help their children go through this life with a Christian education and they can trust that their children are going to hear about the word of God and be equipped because your parents are not going to be there for the rest of your life. You know, when they even when they send you off to school for eight hours a day. No, absolutely not. Right. Right.
SPEAKER 03 :
You’re absolutely right. Jordan Peterson talks about that. As much as parents, as hard as teachers can be on their students and on their children, that at the end of the day, there’s nothing we can do that will actually fully prepare them for the brutality of what this world will really throw at them. You have experiences. I have experiences where we know that this world can be a very harsh, unforgiving place. And so preparing them for that, I don’t know if anybody can truly do it to the magnitude of what God can do in an individual and giving an opportunity and a place where they can. But I would say that even more than the intellect and the knowledge of what we teach through the books and the great books and a classical education is the formation of the soul and the human being of who they are. to be a good and virtuous person who has wonderful character so that way it doesn’t matter they have they have the i was talking about fortitude this morning in chapel they have the fortitude and they have the courage to go out there and face that with a smile and know that onslaught is coming but still know that they have a god who has their back and go out there anyways to go and make a wonderful change for this world for the better to really and unto the glory of god
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, it reminds me of Pastor Jeff’s going through his Book of Acts series. And he recently preached a sermon about, you know, we’re not perfect people, but we’ve got to constantly, you know, die to our flesh and check ourselves and be accountable. And that is such an important tool to humble ourselves when we’re going through life and having accountability with people. And those are really important skills that a lot of children don’t learn. And then they grow up to become adults. They have not received the tools as an adult. And so they’re struggling as an adult because, you know, a lot of people have an acknowledgement of God, but they don’t really have the tools and they’re not prepared, as you say, to be fortified against the enemy who will come in. And as teachers and as school leaders, I mean, the pressure that’s on you as a school leader to lead the teachers who then will lead the children. I mean, that’s a big responsibility. I applaud you for that and giving those lessons to the kids. But tell us a little bit more about your book. It’s kind of got a cool cover, you know, snow and there.
SPEAKER 03 :
Trust me, I would much rather talk about education than necessarily my book. It was just something that was inspiring to me during COVID. I was working at the district office at the time. And I just this as you’re just sitting there, we’re all just kind of stuck. You know, in this state of limbo, I just I wanted I loved I would sit down and watch and work on stuff with my wife while she was watching Hallmark movies. And growing up, I love John Wayne movies. I missed a lot of kind of the classics when it came to, you know, the good guys doing the right thing because it’s the right thing to do and kind of ride off into the sunset. I’m like, none of the movies or anything these days are like that. And so I just wanted to recreate something where it’s set in Colorado. It’s basically Mitch and his Bible study buddies who uncover this, you know, bigger sinister plot that’s kind of unfolding. That’s really to go in a, if you’ve heard of NORAD, you know, in Colorado Springs at Cheyenne Mountain. So there’s this whole plan to basically go and attack that. Well, he and his buddies kind of uncover this entire thing as it’s unfolding and decide that they’re completely under under equipped and not ready to handle this. But they decide to saddle up and ride and go and do the right thing anyways.
SPEAKER 01 :
That’s amazing. And, you know, as a fellow author, it takes a lot to write a book. Someone said like, well, Dr. Cranawitter actually from LPR, you know, describes the process of as you’re writing the book, there’s like all this turmoil and then you’re sweating and you’re grappling and then you finally get the product. And then you think, oh no, now I have to sell it. You know, I have to let people know that it’s there so that they can buy it. But yeah, I think that’s really cool that that’s how you use your time. And it’s such a great lesson, even for your students to say you can create, you can write and share your thoughts. What a great way to spend your time is to put your thoughts down on paper. And you have this great product. I’m sure there’s another book in there somewhere that’s ready to come out.
SPEAKER 03 :
Not anytime soon. I’ve already been asked. And yeah, it was about a four year process with three years of writing it and one year of just editing it and just trying to get it right. And I think even even when you get it done, you never feel true. Like, like, oh, this was, you know, go through it again and again for like the eighth time. But still, there’s one more piece to do.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, I always tell people now it’s never going to be perfect. You can edit forever and you’re going to have all of these insecurities about being judged. I know I was. I felt judged because this is an education book and it better be perfect because I’m not paying.
SPEAKER 03 :
I’m holding you up like like this high of a pedestal. Like you need to be like.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, where can they buy Always Ready? On Amazon, right? On Amazon. Yeah.
SPEAKER 03 :
If you just look up Always Ready author, Jake Clay, you can find me on Goodreads as well.
SPEAKER 01 :
Very good. Now you’re a husband and a dad. Tell us about your family. And yeah, I want to tell us about your family. I know your amazing wife. She’s awesome. But let’s go ahead and tell us about your family.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thank you, she is definitely amazing. So I’ve got three kiddos. My oldest, Lily, she’s a junior right now in high school. And so she’s working on actually graduating early. If you talk about somebody, I actually asked her at the very beginning if she would like to edit my book. And she looked at me and she’s like, Dad, I love you enough to say no. She definitely holds a high bar for everything she does. And I appreciate her for that greatly. And so she could consume a book. um and probably like two days she’d read an entire book like cover to cover and um my son who’s just turning 13 he’s at the academy with me and so he’s in eighth grade now definitely loves engineering and my youngest is zoe and so she’s in fifth grade
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, if you’re just now tuning in, my special guest today is Jake Clay. He is the head of education at Brave Academy, which is a Christian classical school in the Denver metro area. So with your three kiddos, how do you teach your children about service and responsibility and faith?
SPEAKER 03 :
That is a beautiful question because it is really going to be a modeling. You can’t expect anybody to do something that you can’t necessarily show yourself. And so just like whether you be a teacher, Dr. Perrin talks about this, that really adults are nothing more than older students. Like we’re constantly learning ourselves. I know Pastor Jeff has said this and others that we’re practitioners of what we do. Like we’re still learning this. We’re still working through this and still living this. And knowing that none of us is perfect, that I do see… Our children look up to us and want to see us and they emulate us whether we notice it or not. And so for every parent, this is my message to you is that you are always going to be your child’s number one educator. Beyond the teacher that they have in the classroom, beyond any administrator or anybody, you’re always going to be the number one teacher, good, bad, or ugly. So why don’t you choose to be a good teacher? Show them what it means to be good, to be loving, to have service, to have gratitude, to give thanks to God to pray.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, it seems like that’s a constant journey for us as adults. It takes a lot of humility to be vulnerable and model the types of things that God has required of us when we’re still in our flesh. I mean, it’s constantly a reminder. Be humble. Elevate others before ourselves. Don’t respect someone more than you respect another person based on their status. These are all valuable lessons. back to what a great environment the church is and the school for Brave Academy where kids can go and learn these skills. It’s so important as part of this preparation that we have sending them out into the world. I’m curious, you’ve worked in public schools and now you’re working at a private Christian school. Are you seeing the same struggles with students that you, you know, in the church kids, you know, versus in a public school setting?
SPEAKER 03 :
I would say no. Right off the bat, the biggest indicator for me is the character of a child, you know, the character of an individual, right? We don’t have any technology at the school. So the students are not running around with cell phones. They’re not constantly looking up, you know, chat GPT for the answers in the class. They’re actually having to think. The teachers are actually teaching. You know, they’re walking around and interacting and having engagement with the students. there’s an expectation of character that we have of every single student there at brave academy and and that’s where the partnership with parents comes along because if they’re doing this at home if they have the same values at home as they do in the classroom you’re going to see good impact i applaud you for that i i’m reminded of a time when i went to japan this was back i think in 2018
SPEAKER 01 :
And Japan is the number one technology country in the world. And we went and visited this high school, 10 stories high. And we started at the 10th floor, the top floor. And we just worked our way down and went through, visited all the classrooms. And when we were done and we were standing outside talking and I realized, I said, I didn’t even notice a computer in the school. And the teachers were still using chalk on the chalkboard. And the gentleman that was giving us a tour, he said, yeah, we don’t do computers here. And I’m like, but this is Japan, the number one technology country in the world where students were not, like you said, glued to a screen. And it’s a problem where I’m at. We have one to one Chromebooks in my school and the kids are bypassing the firewall. They’re getting on games. They’re not paying attention. They’re breaking their computers. And then teachers have to figure out how to give them paper assignments at the last minute when their technology isn’t working is such a handicap. I don’t recommend one to one technology. The only time I think it’s appropriate is if you’re actually doing research, you know. But I applaud you for not doing that. I think even Boulder has these sleeves where you have to put your cell phone in the sleeve and it locks and you can’t get any wifi to it. I don’t know. Somehow the kids are surviving. Somehow the brave kids are surviving. So you would say, oh, you didn’t die because you don’t have your cell phone.
SPEAKER 03 :
and soon they check it in they just put it in a bucket and they they turn on silent they turn off and they’re good for the rest of the day you know what if if all schools could go back to that i miss the days when we didn’t have technology
SPEAKER 01 :
But I’m looking at the time, Jake, and we actually need to land our plane before we go in about, you know, 45 seconds. What does restoring education in America look like to you? What would it take?
SPEAKER 03 :
I’m going to use one of Charlie’s quotes that he gave to me, and he gave to a grouping of school leaders. We’re a turning point affiliate school. Brave Academy have been for two years. And he said that, unfortunately, schools have replaced academics for agendas. And the only thing we can do is take that back and get rid of the agendas and just go back to original academics as they should be. Teaching kids math and science and history, helping them to develop good character and giving the tools and equipping them to actually be courageous out there in a world that they’re not fully prepared for. That is how you’re going to turn around education is by caring about the child and making it about the child. So that way they have a potential future and partnering with the parents as well. So that way they know that they have a choice, they have a voice, that they are part of this fight as well because they want to see their kids succeed as much as we do.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, thank you, Jake Clay and to my guests. Thanks for listening in and catch me next time, you guys. And remember, educating the mind without the heart is no education. So seek wisdom, cultivate virtue and speak truth.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thanks for tuning in to Restoring Education in America with Priscilla Ron. Visit PriscillaRon.com to connect or learn how you can sponsor future episodes to keep this message of faith, freedom, and education on the air.
