Our schools obviously exist in the midst of the surrounding culture. The daily bombardment of media techno intrusion can ravage the affections and loves of our students. So it is imperative as parents and educators that we wisely  understand the context in which we run our schools and families. The good news is that at the same time and in the same moment, we have at our disposal, one of the most significant antidotes to the lure of the culture, a way to form our students through classical Christian education under God’s sustaining presence.

My good friend, Gordon Pennington, joins us again. He is one of the best cultural translators out there with a fascinating background as head of marketing for Tommy Hilfiger and other major brands, and knows well the power of the media to shape and persuade. He gets the fragmented world in which we live, and he sees the significant opportunity before us as parents and educators to raise up the next generation to stand strong and serve well.

Gordon Pennington is one of the best cultural translators out there. His life reads like a fascinating adventure novel. In his marketing days in New York as the head of marketing for Tommy Hilfiger, he was courted by MTV and jet setting with celebrities and stars including David Lee Roth, Prince Albert, and Johnny Depp. Gordon has served in places of media influence and understands how culture shifts. As a Christian, he now works tirelessly as a visionary and cultural liaison to governments, corporations, nonprofits, and ministries in all parts of the globe. His life is a rich tapestry, but he always points to the transformative discovery he made when visiting a middle school classroom at a classical Christian school.

Gordon Pennington is the Founder of Burning Media Group and serves as its Managing Director. Mr. Pennington began his career on Wall Street developing marketing communications for institutional investors and the emerging electronic banking services sector for Citicorp and serving as a consultant to both Chase Manhattan Bank and J.P. Morgan Bank. He then turned to fast growth consumer product markets, serving as Director of Marketing for Tommy Hilfiger, where he helped position it as the fastest growing menswear company in the world.

Working with The United States Council on Economic Development, Mr. Pennington led the team to assist American CEOs in assessing emerging Soviet investment opportunities at the end of the Communist era. He has also managed marketing and strategy assignments and been Advisor to Apple Computer, British Airways, the CBS Television Network, the Coca-Cola Company, Equinox Fitness, Rollerblade, the Oxford Analytica, Meyado Investment Bank of London, the Ministry of Defence in the UK and the Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University where he is also a board member.

He serves as a Member of Advisory Board of Saber Seven, Inc. Mr. Pennington is a Trustee of The Universal Literacy Project and has gained a rich understanding of the significance of literacy as a fundamental civil right, with particular interest in the international educational setting. He has appeared on television and lectures in the United States and abroad where he has been a speaker on Media, Culture and Communications and other related subjects at Columbia University, Michigan State University, The University of Virginia, Universite de Montreal, McGill University, Guelph University, McMaster University, New York University, Yale, Princeton, Oxford and Cambridge University. He has also provided briefings on culture to The White House, members of Congress and the Senate in the United States and members of the British Parliament.

Mr. Pennington is a founding board member and Vice President of charitable organizations, global advisor to The International Arts Movement, and a member of the board of the Jose Limon Dance Company.