PCA Podcasts

Middle School as the Bridge: Faith, Formation & Growth with Lois Blatchley

In this episode host Mike sits down with Lois Blatchley, PCA's middle school principal, to explore the school’s educational vision for grades 6–8 and how whole-child formation shows up in daily life. Lois — who has served as dean of women in the upper school, a board chair, and a long-time leader in Christian education — brings a wide perspective on guiding students through the pivotal middle school years.
Mike and Lois discuss why middle school matters: it’s not merely a phase to get through but a bridge where students develop emotionally, socially, academically, and spiritually. They talk about leadership emerging in unexpected ways, the testing of influence and boundaries, and how teachers and staff help students find voice and accountability during adolescence.
The conversation dives into faith formation at this age. Lois explains that middle schoolers begin to make faith their own — asking deeper questions and learning to internalize beliefs rather than perform them. Practical practices that support this growth include Bible homerooms, weekly chapel, prayer and reflection times, and faith modeled authentically by teachers and staff. The episode also highlights the role of school chaplain David Moore, who works closely with teachers and students to answer questions and support formation.
Class communities and cohorts are another central theme. Lois and Mike describe how consistent routines, shared expectations, and strong adult mentorship help sixth- through eighth-graders grow together, learn conflict resolution, develop empathy, and practice responsibility. They note the balance PCA strikes between being large enough for individuality and small enough that students are truly known.
Looking ahead, Lois describes how intentional middle-school formation prepares students for upper school freedom and responsibility: strong academic habits, spiritual awareness, time-management skills, and confidence. Using the metaphor of a bridge under construction, she emphasizes that patient, daily formation equips students not just for the next grade but for faithful, purposeful adult lives.
The episode closes with gratitude for the middle-school team and a pointer to the school’s educational vision in the show notes. Mike also previews next week’s episode with Dr. Carrie Abood on using data wisely to inform growth without letting it define students.

Slow Down, Love Your Neighbor: PCA Winter Driving & Campus Safety

Join host Mike and guest Steve Howe, PCA's Chief Operating Officer, for a candid conversation about campus safety during winter months. This episode frames safety as a posture, not a checklist, and focuses on the everyday choices that keep children, staff, and neighbors safe as families arrive, park, and depart.
Topics covered include on-campus speed limits (10 MPH on Seabourn Drive, 5 MPH in lots), the particular risks of speeding and distracted driving, reduced visibility from snowbanks, icy parking lots due to limited salt and sand, and unsafe shortcuts during busy pick-up and drop-off times. Mike and Steve describe problem areas on campus (lower school loop, middle school pickup zones, and straightaways where drivers tend to speed) and remind listeners about obeying one-way streets, stop signs, and crosswalks.
The episode also explains PCA's parking and student-driver policies: paid/assigned parking spots, handicapped spot etiquette, registration and parking permits for upper-school student drivers, and how violations are handled. Steve clarifies that parking-related fines feed the upper-school student activity fund and why vehicle registration helps maintain campus security.
Listeners learn about Eagle Watch, the volunteer layer of campus security—what volunteers do (observe and report), how they’re vetted and equipped, and the ways the community can support through volunteering or serving as crossing guards to free faculty for instruction. Mike and Steve emphasize a gracious, Christian-minded approach to one another during busy times and remind the community that safety extends beyond campus to nearby roads where PCA drivers affect the school's reputation.
Key takeaways: safety is shared stewardship; slow down and follow established traffic patterns; respect parking rules and permits; register student vehicles; treat Eagle Watch volunteers with gratitude; and consider volunteering to support arrival and dismissal. The episode closes with an invitation to Mike’s annual State of the School meeting and a final appeal for patience, care, and cooperation through the rest of the winter.

Be the Light: PCA Auction — Unite, Give, Transform

Ready to join PCA’s biggest community event on March 21? This Saturday morning gathering brings neighbors, families, and staff together to celebrate, connect, and raise vital support for our variable tuition program. Admission is free; breakfast tickets and tables are available for purchase.
The funds raised directly support families with varying financial needs so students can access a Christ-centered education. Nearly half of PCA families receive some form of variable tuition, and this auction helps ensure every child feels welcomed and valued.
Attend to bid on exciting items and experiences, donate goods or services, sponsor the event, or volunteer — from set-up to traffic control and student helpers. Teacher-hosted experiences and the emotional sponsor-child moment are highlights that demonstrate the community’s generosity and impact.
Please pray for the event, invite others, and visit the PCA website or contact the school to learn how to get involved, donate items, buy breakfast tickets, purchase a table, or become a sponsor. Come be the light with us.

Nate Hasty: How PCA Helps Discern Calling, College, Career for Your Children

 
In this episode Mike talks with Nate Hasty, PCA’s Director of College & Career Guidance, about how the school helps students discern their next steps—not just where they can get admitted, but where God may be calling them to serve and grow. Nate brings a background in student ministry and higher-education admissions and explains how those experiences shape his approach to guiding students and families.
Key topics include the difference between a prestige- or resume-driven process and a calling-centered approach, how PCA balances high academic expectations with spiritual and personal formation, and the team’s efforts to begin discernment early by engaging underclassmen in questions about identity, interests, and gifting.
Mike and Nate discuss practical aspects of guidance: when the department begins working with students (junior year into senior year), how they help students identify strengths and gaps, and how PCA uses honors, advanced coursework, and DAP classes to prepare students for college-level work. They emphasize honest, sometimes challenging conversations that point students toward appropriate pathways rather than lowering standards.
The episode also shares outcomes data: roughly 90% of recent PCA graduates enroll in two- or four-year postsecondary programs, while the remainder pursue meaningful vocational, service, or mission pathways. Alumni testimony—brought into campus panels—reinforces that PCA’s holistic preparation (academic, spiritual, and personal) equips graduates to engage confidently in college and other next steps.
For families with younger students Nate offers clear counsel: focus on forming habits of effort, curiosity, responsibility, and joy in learning. These habits keep options open and make later discernment possible. Parents are encouraged to walk alongside children with compassion and to prioritize long-term faithfulness over short-term performance.
The conversation covers alternate pathways as well—community college, vocational training, service, and mission work—and stresses that there are multiple legitimate routes to reach a student’s goals. Nate highlights the guidance team’s willingness to be creative and prayerful in helping students find the right fit.
As college decisions for the class of 2026 roll in (January through March), Mike and Nate invite the PCA community to pray for discernment and to remember that admissions outcomes are not a verdict on worth. This episode offers encouragement and practical next steps for seniors, families, and younger students as PCA continues to walk with students toward faithful, well-prepared next steps.

Challenge and Hope: How Korea Forged an Integrated Army

As our nation marks Martin Luther King Jr. Day and looks ahead to America’s 250th year, this episode tells a lesser-known story from the Korean War—one that reveals both the promise and the pain of our national journey.
Mike sits down with his father, retired U.S. Army Colonel Dennis Runey, to reflect on the Army’s first full integration in combat. Through the story of a fellow soldier who lived it firsthand, we hear how Black and White soldiers learned to fight, trust, and live as brothers under fire—only to face the sobering reality of re-segregation upon returning home.
This conversation does not rush to resolution. Instead, it invites us to remember honestly, reflect faithfully, and consider what it means to love our neighbor as individuals made in the image of God.

Mid‑Year Momentum: Growth, Mastery, and Excellence at PCA

On this episode of Mondays with Mike, Nate and Mike Runey lead a timely mid‑year review as the first semester closes. They explore three central ideas for PCA families—growth, mastery, and excellence—and explain why now is a good time to reflect on a child’s academic trajectory.
They define growth as the measurable trajectory a student makes over time, mastery as grade‑level competence (when skills like multiplication facts move into long‑term memory), and excellence as the discipline to pursue constant improvement rather than mere comparison with others.
The hosts discuss how curriculum and rigor work together: curriculum is the course your child runs (teacher, material, sequence) and rigor is built into that course. Growth shows where students are on the course; mastery is assessed on a continuum (needs support, proficient, exceeding, exceptional).
Practical examples across grade levels are given: early grades focus on language and motor fluency, upper elementary emphasizes revision and stamina, middle school builds workload management and independence, and upper school demonstrates mastery through honors, AP, and dual‑enrollment work and capstone projects.
They also describe supports and interventions (like Mosaic) for students who need help and options for challenging those who are ahead, emphasizing the importance of getting the order right—cultivating growth and character first so mastery and achievement follow without exhausting the student.
Finally, Nate and Mike underscore that all of this takes place in a Christ‑centered environment: PCA aims to prepare students academically and spiritually for the next step in their calling, helping families and teachers walk alongside each child toward flourishing and readiness for future challenges.

Winter Roots: Midyear Growth at PCA

Good afternoon, PCA community. In this episode Nate Paul and Head of School Mike Runey discuss returning from winter break and the important academic season ahead. They explain how the winter months—though quieter on the surface—are a powerful period of deep, rooted academic growth and development for students.
Mike highlights PCA’s educational vision (the five “lanes” or pentathlon approach) and emphasizes that midyear is an ideal time for parents and teachers to assess progress, embrace healthy academic challenge, and encourage revision, perseverance, and cross-disciplinary thinking. He reassures families that struggle can signal real growth and that teachers are intentionally guiding students through this stretch.
Looking ahead, Nate and Mike describe how steady work through Q2 builds momentum into Q3, where students consolidate skills, complete deeper projects, and gain confidence that leads into a fruitful spring quarter. They also connect this seasonal rhythm to PCA’s long-term goals for stable, generational growth and invite families to upcoming midyear updates and a state-of-the-school presentation in early February.
The episode closes with gratitude for teachers, parents, and students, and a reminder that winter at PCA is a season of faithful, steady growth academically, spiritually, and personally.

Hope in the Hallways: Chaplain David’s Window into Student Life

A good Monday, peace, safe families.As we head into Christmas week, this episode meets you where you are and introduces Chaplain David Moore from Portsmouth Christian Academy. David shares his journey to PCA, his role focusing on the middle school, and how he quietly walks the halls—listening, praying, noticing, and being available to students and staff.David describes the real, thoughtful questions students are asking about faith and theology, the pressures they carry from social media and school, and the ways teachers and the Holy Spirit are present and active in their lives. He emphasizes partnership between school and families, and how PCA supports spiritual formation alongside academic growth.This conversation offers a calm, encouraging window into how hope is showing up for kids—often quietly, sometimes slowly, and always with care—and invites parents to feel confident that their children are seen and supported as they enter the Christmas season.

Voices & Strings: PCA Students Share All‑State Audition Journeys

Happy Monday from PCA: in the week before Christmas break, a group of young PCA musicians share how they discovered music, prepared for All‑State auditions, and balanced lessons, school, and extracurriculars.The students describe the audition process — learning repertoire in advance, sight‑reading on the spot, and for vocalists, memorizing excerpts — and reflect on practice routines, coaching, and the excitement of audition day.They talk about growth, competition, and community: 14 students auditioned and nine were selected, and many describe how the music program and teachers at PCA support collaboration and development across choirs, orchestra, theater, and worship team.With holiday concerts approaching, the students share favorite pieces they’re performing, including My Lord Has Come, an a cappella Deck the Halls arrangement, and Sleigh Ride, and they encourage younger students to join the rich, supportive fine‑arts community.

Inside PCA: Survey Results, Staffing Challenges & the Path Forward

Steve Leavitt interviews Head of School Mike Runey about the Fall 2025 Parent Survey and the biannual Student Culture Survey (grades 5–8). They review community feedback praising PCA’s relational, Christ-centered culture and exceptional faculty while highlighting key strengths such as students feeling safe and proud to attend the school.
The conversation also addresses primary concerns raised by parents and students: academic rigor in higher-level STEM courses (especially math and physics), difficulty finding qualified STEM teachers, clarity and consistency around grading and rules (including dress code enforcement and the headphone policy), and questions about dual-enrollment credit value.
They discuss student well-being and behavioral culture, acknowledging reports of bullying, the limits of on-campus counseling, and plans to partner with local Christian counseling providers. The school’s responses include recruiting national firms to hire skilled Christian STEM teachers, partnerships with Ethos and Colorado Christian University for advanced courses, work on grading clarity and consistent policy enforcement, professional development for staff, and facility improvements to support play and movement.
Mike and Steve close by thanking parents, students, and faculty for honest feedback, asking the community to pray and help identify qualified STEM teachers, and reaffirming PCA’s commitment to listening and improving school programs and culture.