Canal Digging: Trusting & Planning at Our Christian School

I'll admit it. I have a weakness for TV building shows where projects of massive scale are completed as engineers, architects, and other specialists work with ingenuity to do something that many people say can't be done. The  Panama Canal was the most recent. Its creation is a story of determination, financial and political scandal, risk,  hardship of malaria and yellow fever, and geographic obstacles. Those who presently ride smoothly between the  Atlantic and Pacific on cargo or cruise ship would say the efforts were worth it.

LCES has done much of the same thing in its own history. We've overcome challenges, worked problems until they become solutions, and carried on for 55 years even though some said it couldn't be done. Plans are underway to bring the next school year into reality and that too takes a similar team of data collectors, strategists, planners, and visionaries to make it happen. Our current student's lives will tell you that it is worth it. There is a tremendous pattern of God’s obvious blessing and care for our school for which we are grateful. January starts a planning time of the year.

Here are five ways to help us:

•  Pray for the Lord's leading as school leadership seeks to simultaneously uphold educational excellence  and financial responsibility all while working to complete the mission and vision of our school. Pray that God will continue to bless us more than we can ask or imagine.

•  Commit to handing in your family's intention forms as requested. The information that is gleaned from those documents is incredibly important in planning for the next school year with the kind of accuracy that creates a good school experience for your children and provides stability in organizing staffing needs.

•  Give to the school. If you have been blessed with the ability to give more than your obligation, know there are families who are struggling greatly in our community and who would love to receive your anonymous help. Contact our bookkeeper or treasurer if you are able to do so.

•  Talk about our school. At least half of the families that I tour and eventually enroll mention that one of our existing families is the reason that they came. They have been intrigued by comments present parents make about our school, sometimes for a year or more before they made the decision to connect with us. You might be the one and only school spokesperson the school has for a potential family. What will you say?

•  Use our gift card program. It’s a win-win situation in which the financial health of the school and your family's situation both benefit without having to spend any more than you presently do.

SJ