The William L. Kean Bursary

The William L. Kean Bursary provides students with the opportunity to complete a Christian Virtual School course. Increasing access to exceptional Christian education is at the heart of our school’s mission. Our goal is to ensure students feel supported, particularly those who require financial assistance. The William L. Kean Bursary is awarded based on financial need and will be issued to up to four students once per calendar year.

If you are interested in applying for the William L. Kean bursary, please submit the application form and required documentation to guidance@christianvirtualschool.com

Frequently Asked Questions

Download and complete the application form and attach all required documents in an email to guidance@christianvirtualschool.com. Please note that all information collected by Christian Virtual School is kept strictly confidential.

There are four bursaries issued once per calendar year. Applications are due by the 20th of April and will be issued at the beginning of May.

The purpose of the bursary is to provide students access to exceptional Christian education. The bursary is awarded based on financial need. All current and prospective Christian Virtual School students are eligible to apply.

The value of the William L. Kean Bursary is the value of one course (any grade level). The bursary is non-transferable and successful applicants must utilize the bursary within 6 months of issuance.

Applicants are asked to submit the following documents:

  • Completed William L. Kean Bursary Application
  • Most recent Notice of Assessment
  • Applicant’s identification (e.g., passport, birth certificate, etc.)
  • Applicant’s high school transcript or summary of most recent academic progress (for homeschooled students)

If you have any questions about the application process, reach out to guidance@christianvirtualschool.com.

About William L. Kean

William L. Kean is a former industrial arts school teacher, an artist, and eventually went on to become a Salvation Army Captain. He resides in Badger’s Quay, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

When asked to reflect on the interconnection between religion and education, Mr. Kean wrote the following inspiring passage:

What great opportunities and obligations are at our door and we must never forget that our great “master” says: “To whom much is given, much is required.”

Most of us my age grew up attending a school system that allowed us to live pretty much like pagans six days a week; but tried to give us a Christian mind on Sundays. Such a poor job was done in giving us a Christian mind that we just couldn’t wait to get away from it. I remember so vividly that rush of energy as I finished my last high school exam and bounded up those basement gym steps rejoicing in my new liberty and autonomy. No more books and study for me, life was finally mine now, I was “in charge” at last. I put my mind on auto pilot and my passions in overdrive. Finally, after three years of self rule, my scepter lay broken and I began to wake up from my delusional life.

I admit I did not begin to really think and evaluate until I was attending a very liberal fine arts school. In that very liberal place without rules, without instruction, without moral restraints, where everything was up to be criticized and demolished, I began to evaluate and think about what was really “the truth.” What a bunch of lost individuals we were. But it was there I found out what were some of the things I didn’t want. Maybe the government, marriage, family, loyalty, and the education system we wanted torn down wasn’t so bad after all. I saw that as a nation and people we were exceptionally blessed, what liberty and freedoms we could boast in having. It was then I began to think about foundations and building – and the roots of our marvelous Judeo-Christian culture. The most startling discovery was that the reason for my basic dissatisfaction was not because of wrongs around me that needed to be changed but was due to my rebellious heart of pride. My estimation of right was distorted by my own personal bias and prejudices. The fly in the ointment, the bent in the machine, the flaw that not only caused me to go wrong, but every culture that ever grew up on this planet, was the perverted love of self. In essence, we are rebels and we say, “move over God I’ll do this my way.” None of us can handle it and we were never meant to be Gods. Some of us find this out when young, more it seems in early adulthood, some late in life and some never. We seem to be oblivious to our own rebellion and destruction. We never thought for a moment that we were created beings, like Woody in “Toy Story” there is a mark of ownership on us all and it’s Christ our Saviour and Lord. We were bought with the price of the blood of the son of God, “whom he appointed heir of all things by whom also he made the universe. He is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word.” Hebrews 1:2-3

And it is this word that makes it so exciting. How it came to us unadulterated is a miracle. We have His story and through the Holy Scriptures we can step back into His past which can become the present and make us new creatures born of the Spirit. We can set with others and hear for ourselves that amazing “Sermon on the Mount.” We can possess our very own library of His teachings that is never outdated but are as fresh now and timely as when spoken to the common people of Palestine. We can meditate on His profound simple parables, see the Son of God hungry and thirsting, laughing, angry, conversing, weeping, touching the sick and suffering, finally suffering Himself and dying all to prove to wayward rebels that “God is love” and not ashamed to call us brothers and sisters.

He longs to give us His mind so that we can think and so live to please Him and this to me is the job of any education that calls itself “Christian.” If we never learn to think Christian, how can we meet the culture on its own ground? Now more than ever is not the time to be simple or ignorant.

William L. Kean (2021)

“The center of Divine love is holiness,
The direction of Divine living is surrender,
surrender our point of view to Jesus’ point of view.”
O. Chambers