On Sept. 18, Sara Kraushar (’98) stood before the Trinity Western University community to receive the 2026 Think Truthfully Award.
Presented during TWU’s Alumni Awards Dinner as part of Homecoming Weekend, the Think Truthfully Award recognizes alumni who pursue truth through excellence in Christian research, education, ministry, or creative work and demonstrate the integration of faith and reason. Kraushar was selected for bringing those commitments into education, building flexible learning models that respond to the individual needs and potential of students.
Today, as head of schools for Heritage Christian Online School (HCOS) and Flex Academy, Kraushar provides leadership for educational communities serving thousands of students and families. HCOS has grown to approximately 8,500 students, while Flex Academy has reached capacity at 375 students.
“What we’ve done is we’ve tried to build a system that’s so agile that it will conform to the needs of the child instead of the child having to conform to the system,” Kraushar said.
Starting with the learner
For Kraushar, thinking truthfully begins with being willing to question how things have always been done. Her own understanding of education was shaped early by a Christian school teacher who recognized her potential at a formative point in her life.
“He really encouraged me to choose to use my talents and my thinking for good,” Kraushar said. “Those Christian school teachers that can really speak into kids’ lives and call them forward into their giftings, they’re really special.”
That experience helped lead Kraushar toward education and eventually to TWU, where she continued developing both her faith and her thinking. Years later, when Kraushar joined HCOS as a home education support teacher, she began with just 18 students. Working closely with families gave her a first-hand look at how differently children learn and reinforced a question that would eventually shape her leadership.
“We start with a learner,” Kraushar said. “We say, ‘What does the student need to thrive?’”
From 18 students to thousands
As Kraushar moved into leadership, that student-centred philosophy began influencing education on a much larger scale. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Heritage Christian School, HCOS’s campus-based sister school, was struggling with declining enrolment. Rather than simply preserving the existing model, Kraushar and her team proposed transforming it into a hybrid school that could combine in-person learning with greater flexibility. The result was Flex Academy.
The team hoped 125 students would enrol. Instead, Flex Academy opened with 175. By its third year, the school had grown to 375 students and reached capacity. At the same time, HCOS continued growing to approximately 8,500 students across British Columbia. Behind those numbers is the philosophy Kraushar has carried throughout her work: start with the student, recognize how they learn, and build an environment that gives them an opportunity to flourish.
“How do we build a program designed for them that honours who they were created to be?” Kraushar said.
Thinking truthfully for the next generation
For Kraushar, educational innovation is ultimately grounded in something deeper than a particular model or technology. She believes Christian education should equip students to think carefully about what they believe and prepare them to respond faithfully to the world around them.
“I’m actually a really strong believer that faith and academics have to be valued very equally,” Kraushar said. “We owe it to ourselves and to our children to be good thinkers.”
That conviction sits at the heart of why Kraushar was selected for an award centred on thinking truthfully. Across more than two decades in education, she has worked to create learning environments that recognize individual students while equipping them with the knowledge, confidence, and critical thinking to move forward.
“We aren’t to despair over the next generation,” Kraushar said. “We’re to do our best to equip them because they are the healers and the redeemers of their generation.”
That is what Kraushar’s 2026 Think Truthfully Award ultimately recognizes: a willingness to question what can be better, a commitment to build what students need, and a belief in what the next generation can become.
About Trinity Western University
Founded in 1962, Trinity Western University is a global Christian liberal arts university dedicated to equipping students for life. Uniting faith and reason through Christian teaching and scholarship, TWU is a research institution offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in the humanities and sciences as well as in several professional schools. TWU has its main campus in Langley, B.C., and campus sites in Richmond, B.C., and Ottawa, Ont.
Learn more at twu.ca or follow @TrinityWestern on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. For media inquiries, please contact media@twu.ca.