Steva Finch

I live in the Oklahoma City metro area with my husband and children. I have a BS in Nursing from Oklahoma Baptist University, a liberal arts university, where my passion for classical education was sparked. I am a seasoned classical educator with 14+ years of experience teaching in the classical tradition. My experience includes home-educating my four children, tutoring with Classical Conversations for 10+ years, mentoring parents in classical education, and teaching Henle Latin and The Lost Tools of Writing for the past eight years. I delight in pursuing the true, good, and beautiful and enjoy sharing in that journey with my students. Ultimately, I desire to inspire in my students not only a love of Latin but also a passionate pursuit to know God better through His word as we study language together. I enjoy spending time with my family, serving my church alongside my pastor-husband, traveling near or far, reading from many genres, and enjoying great coffee and rich conversations.

Teaching Philosophy

I believe the purpose of education, simply stated, is to know God and make Him known. To that end, as an educator, I seek to lead my students to discover God as they uncover His truth and delight in His goodness and beauty that are expressed in all subjects of learning. There is no true knowledge, understanding, and wisdom apart from God, so teaching through a Christ-centered worldview is essential. The integration of faith along with the classical model of learning help prepare students to make God known to others. The classical model of learning teaches students how to learn through teaching these arts of learning: grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric. The grammar of any subject includes the foundational knowledge which is gained in this first step of learning. Through the dialectic, students take the next step of learning by expressing understanding as they process their knowledge through dialogue and reasoning. With the art of rhetoric, the third step of learning is achieved as students are able to share and present winsomely what they have learned. As a result of their personal understanding and practice of these arts of learning, I hope to cultivate a love of learning in my students. Armed with the knowledge of God and the tools of learning, students are prepared to be tomorrow’s leaders.

Statement of Faith

I believe the Bible is the infallible, inspired word of God and is our sole foundation and authority for faith and practice. Through Scripture, God specifically reveals Himself and His redemption plan for humanity. As revealed in Scripture, God is the Creator and Lord of all. He is the one true God who exists in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ, God’s Son, born of the Virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, died to pay for the sins of mankind, and rose from the dead to defeat the power of sin and death. The Holy Spirit, who lives in all believers and is our seal of salvation, convicts of sin, imparts gifts for service and guides believers into all truth. Salvation comes by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ Jesus and not by any works of our own. The Church is made up of believers united together in the body of Christ, commissioned by Christ to proclaim the Gospel and make disciples of all nations, and committed to this purpose until the return of Christ. Currently, I am an active member of First Baptist Church, a Southern Baptist church, in Choctaw, OK.