Culver introduces pillars and competencies aimed at making students better citizens and leaders

 This story first appeared in the Autumn 2025 edition of the Culver Alumni Magazine

Culver Academies has introduced a list of 27 academic skills it wants students to work to become competent in because it will help them to become more responsible citizens, better leaders and provide them with high-demand skills that employers are looking for.

“You’re here because we believe in your potential to live a good life — a life of meaning, purpose, and joy,” Jackie Carrillo, Ph.D., Culver Academies’ dean of studies, told students at an all-school meeting. “And Culver believes that to live that kind of life, you’ll need to cultivate every one of the competencies that fall under our five pillars. These are skills you will use and continue to grow in throughout your whole life.”

The five pillars of Culver, an elite leadership-oriented boarding school, are scholarship, communication, well-being, leadership and citizenship. There are competencies listed under each pillar.

“We believe that to be a leader and a responsible citizen of character, you must be competent in these five areas. And every part of our school programming, whether it is an academic class, athletic or co-curricular experience, student life or spiritual life experience, should be geared toward that goal -- helping you get better at at least one of those five things,” Carrillo said.

To help students to get better at these five pillars, Culver will hold a series of all-school meetings where speakers will share their perspectives about one of the five pillars. Josh Danforth, senior humanities instructor, will talk about citizenship, Jenna Schroer, fine arts department chair and director of vocal music, will speak about well-being, Mehdi Meziane, Ph.D., senior mathematics instructor, will speak on scholarship, the Rev. LaThelma Armstrong, assistant director of spiritual life, will speak about communication, and Kevin Patrick, coach of the CMA prep hockey team, will talk about leadership.

The theme for Culver this school year is, “Find joy. Fuel joy.” So each of the speakers will talk about how that particular pillar helps them to find and fuel joy.

Carrillo said because what she considers good leadership or good scholarship could be quite different from someone else, Culver has come up with a specific list of competencies, or skills, students should focus on.

She cites as an example that written expression is a competency under the communications pillar that both math and humanities will target. The competency reads: “A Culver graduate writes with appropriate clarity, concision, and precision, adapting to audience and purpose.”        

“You can imagine this might look different in a humanities class than it does in a math class. So your teachers and counselors have crafted ‘I can’ statements, their learning outcomes, that describe how to successfully master a competency in their area,” she said.

She encouraged the students to take a cardboard chart listing the competencies. She said she wasn’t going to ask the students to memorize them, but to keep the chart somewhere visible – maybe on their desk or a bulletin board – to remind them of what they are working toward.

“They’re the skills and habits that will shape how you think, how you create, how you lead, how you care for yourself and others, how you contribute to your communities and how you will find and fuel joy,” she said.

The list under each pillar describes what a person would be able to do if they were competent in that pillar.

Carrillo said that because “competency” is a bit of a buzzword in education, she wanted to be clear about what that means at Culver. She said Culver will continue to offer a well-rounded curriculum that exposes students to diverse disciplines and ways of thinking and knowing. Culver also will continue to value the importance of knowledge because students need a solid base of understanding.

“The competencies ask you to apply what you know in order to act on the world or yourself. But that action is only meaningful when it’s grounded in accurate foundational knowledge,” she told the students. “Our teaching practices will continue to be evidence-based and grounded in learning science, as articulated in our Learning Tenets. The competencies don’t replace our curriculum — they help us align and sharpen it. In fact, many of our core courses have already been aligned to Culver’s competencies for several years.”

Carrillo told the students that Culver always has and will continue to prepare them for college, as well as for the college admissions process. That means continuing to assign letter grades for courses, because they are what colleges and universities are most familiar and comfortable with.

“What we anticipate will change is that you will have more ways to differentiate yourself in the college application process, as well as more compelling and precise language to describe your strengths. Because Culver’s competencies are action-based, your teachers, counselors and coaches will be guiding you to produce work and take on challenges that will set you apart. This isn’t Culver gaming the college admissions process. You will be able to differentiate yourself because you will actually be different,” she said.

She said that a 2025 report by the National Association of Colleges and Employers shows that when employers were asked what attributes they are looking for on the resumes of job candidates, nearly 90% indicated they are seeking evidence of a student’s ability to solve problems and more than 80% are seeking candidates who have strong teamwork skills.

Seventy-seven percent said they were looking for written communication skills, and 73% were looking for initiative and strong work ethic, nearly 70% were looking for strong verbal communications skills and more than half were looking for leadership skills.

“They are all embedded in Culver’s competencies. It turns out, colleges and employers value leaders and responsible citizens of character too,” she said. “The last point I’d like to make is that growing in Culver’s competencies might sometimes be hard.”

One of Culver’s Learning Tenets is: “Learning is often challenging and uncomfortable. People can be challenged in learning when they encounter concepts and skills that are difficult to master, requiring focused, effortful practice over time. Other times, people’s understandings and beliefs may be challenged by ideas and perspectives that conflict with their own. Though both types of challenge may cause discomfort, they are normal parts of learning.”

Carrillo told the students that the purpose of education is to transform them.

“Changing and growing can be difficult and uncomfortable. Because nobody enjoys being uncomfortable, it can be tempting to take short cuts, especially if you feel rushed or under pressure,” she said.

But she told the students that just like they will never be able to run a marathon by watching someone else train, they aren’t going to become more competent by copying a friend’s homework, outsourcing their thinking to artificial intelligence or learning with a mentality of “get it over with.”

“Instead, I invite you to jump in and be willing to engage in difficult work. You have to go through, not around. But you are surrounded by people who believe in you and are here to support you,” she said.