March 26, 2021

How Bad Will It Have to Get?

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By Jeff Keaton

Jeff Keaton is the President and CEO of Renewanation, working across America to reach the world for Christ and to get involved in the great cause of giving children a biblical worldview.

      More than twenty years ago, I had to choose who would have access to our oldest daughter’s heart and mind in the world of education. I remember the weight of that decision. One of our church board members was a county supervisor, and he assured me that the public schools in our county were mostly led by Christians. I went to our local public school with a genuinely open heart and mind and interviewed an administrator. I asked her many questions, and after less than thirty minutes, I was convinced that this lady, nor the school she was leading, shared our Christian beliefs and would never have access to our precious daughter’s mind. My wife and I have never regretted that decision as today, our daughter loves Christ and has a well-developed biblical worldview.

In the 1960s and 70s, the government demanded the removal of prayer and Bible reading from government schools. Long before these actions were taken, public education had abandoned many of the core tenants of a biblical worldview, but these two decisions were a tipping point. Millions of children either left public education during that time or since then. However, the vast majority of evangelical Christian parents never left public education.

Even though millions of church kids have left the faith, there still seems to be this lack of understanding that education plays a major role in the loss of faith in Christian young people. Many still blame the universities while failing to realize that what children are being taught in K-12 erodes their foundation and prepares them for the knockout punch once they enter a secularized college. It’s not even close when you compare the pure evil children are taught today in public schools to what they were taught in the 60s and 70s. And yet, there are still millions of well-meaning Christian parents who are allowing their children to be subjected to utter unrighteousness day after day in their local public school. The sexual revolution is front and center in public schools today. Children are the experiments of the radical sexual ideologues, and the public schools are the laboratories. Abortion, homosexuality, transgenderism, feminism, hatred for the God-ordained family, and on and on the onslaught goes. Why in the world would anyone want their children subjected to these lies?

Public education offers the wrong answer to ALL the major questions of life. Who are we as humans? Who is the authority of the universe? How did we get here? What is our purpose in life? Who defines morality? Who defines sexuality and gender? Again I ask, why would anyone want to send their child to a school for 16,000 hours where they are taught falsehood all day long? I want to believe it’s simply ignorance of what is actually happening and a lack of biblical worldview understanding in parents.

Don’t be afraid of what others say. You make the best choice for your child, and God will honor and bless your decision.

Re-Enrollment

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We recently sent home a packet of information on re-enrolling for the 2021-22 school year.  All families wishing to send their children back to LCA in Fall 2021 must complete the re-enrollment process.  If you need a copy of any of the paperwork, you can get that at our office or on our website or on Sycamore.

We hope you have found the program of LCA to be an encouragement as we partner with our parents to see God’s best in the lives of each student here.  It is our prayer that God will lead you to return this fall and continue to be a part of the ministry here.  Our curriculum is designed with a scope and sequence in which each year builds on the one before it, and we are confident your child will continue to grow through each passing school year.

Please remember that the re-registration fee must be paid at the time of re-enrollment.  (Until April 16, this fee is discounted to $90.)  If you have any questions about the re-enrollment process, please contact Mrs. Kettlewood in our school office.

Standardized Testing

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Because of the reduced number of school days we have had this year and in an attempt to cut some costs, LCA will not be giving the Iowa standardized tests this April.  We are planning to resume this program in April 2022.  Please see us with any questions.

Virtual Open House

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Each of our classes, from K3 through 6th grade, prepared and presented a virtual tour so that guests can get a feel for our classrooms without having to visit.  These video tours are available by visiting our school website at www.lcany.org.  We think you will be excited about what our students are learning and encourage you to take the time to view them.

If you know of any families that may be interested in the ministry of LCA, please have them call or email us.  We are scheduling individual tours of our building, generally during the school day, to help families see what our school can help them accomplish for their children.

We certainly hope to be able to get back to a more “normal” open house routine in March 2022!

End-of-Year Changes

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In a year full of changes, we are making some additional changes to our schedule.  To try to make up for some lost days, the final day for K3-K5 students will now be on Thursday, June 17, one week later than originally scheduled.

Please note the following program dates.  We hope that family will be able to attend these special programs:

K3-K4 End-of-Year Program – Thursday, June 10

K5 Graduation – Tuesday, June 15

Both programs will begin at 7:00 and be held in our church auditorium.

Yearbooks

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Our yearbook staff of high school juniors and seniors has been working diligently on the yearbook for this school year.  Each family will receive one copy and will be billed $35 on their April statement.  (This is a required charge.)  Additional yearbooks are available for purchase from our school office.  Yearbooks should be in by the end of the school year, full of memories from this school year!

Busing Requests

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If your family is planning to use public school busing services to LCA in the coming school year for children entering kindergarten (K5) through 12th grades, you must notify your district’s transportation office no later than April 1.  This is a hard deadline and requests made after this date will likely not be honored by your district.

We have some districts’ request forms available in our school office.  Please see Mrs. Kettlewood with any questions.

Senior Spotlight – David Arthur

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Latham Christian Academy is privileged to have four graduating seniors during the 2020 – 2021 school year.  Half of those in the Class of 2021 have attended LCA for a long time, and all four have become good friends during their time here.  We will be highlighting one of the seniors each month in an article published in our Knightline newsletter.  We continue this week with senior David Arthur.

      David’s father, Reginald, was born in Karachi, Pakistan.  His parents had been educators there, but came to the United States with a desire for a better life.  They moved from Pakistan to Troy when Reginald was 11 years old.  David’s grandmother’s sister, whose sons attended LCA, had married an American and sponsored the family’s move.  David’s father graduated from Troy High and went on to the University at Albany.  After working for several financial institutions, Reginald eventually settled in working for New York State, where is still employed today.

David’s mother, Shana, was also born in Karachi, Pakistan where her mother was a nurse.  Shana and Reginald had known each other for many years through family connections.  They got married in Pakistan and then moved back to Troy.  David’s older brother, Joshua, LCA Class of 2018, came along in 2000, and David joined the family in 2003.  After staying home to raise her boys, Shana went to work as a dialysis technician while she studied nursing.  Today Shana is a Registered ENT Nurse and works through Albany Medical Center.

The family moved to where they live today in Albany in 2003.  A few years later, David started at LCA in kindergarten with Mrs. Mein as his first teacher.  David has been a student at LCA for 13 years!

That same year, David met his classmate and longtime friend Caleb Desnoyers.  Thinking of him, David simply asked, “Where do you start with Caleb?!”

David thinks of Caleb as strong (not just physically but also mentally), a good friend and partner in crime, and a “good person to do dump stuff with”!  They even created a YouTube channel together, “Shamu and Sundu.”  This channel details some of the things the two did together and now has 17 subscribers!  David recommends you check out their “World’s Nastiest Cereal” special!

One time, the two of them were doing some target practice with a BB gun when David decided to hold up a shovel as a target for Caleb.  Fortunately for both of them, David’s father intervened before the shooting could begin!  David also remembers Caleb intentionally running into open lockers for fun, just to see what would happen.  Perhaps the most interesting of his memories was a time Caleb was staying at David’s house and the two of them partially deflated an air mattress and had David sit on one side.  When Caleb jumped onto the other side, David ended up hitting the drop ceiling in their basement!

When asked to think of his teachers at LCA, David told two additional stories.  In Mrs. O’Rourke’s class one time, David ended up eating a dog treat thinking it was beef jerky.  He had been so proud of himself for handling the tough meat until learning what it really was!  David reports that the class did not get any more work done during that class period!

One time, Mrs. Parker asked the class what kind of wax was used in candles and David quickly responded, “Ear wax!”  David reports that no more work got done the rest of the day!

David’s best memory of elementary school was in participating in the NYACS Fine Arts competition when he was in fourth grade.  He entered the preaching competition and ended up with a love for preaching that has only gotten stronger to this day.  When David realized the impact he was able to have on others, he reports, “You just want to keep doing that.”

David keeps very busy today.  He loves his job at Texas Roadhouse, one he has had since the restaurant reopened in June 2020.  He enjoys running trays of food out to his customers and plans to become a server once he is old enough.

In addition, David loves music.  Mrs. Mansfield’s mother instilled a deeper love for music which has been further kindled by two other close friends.  David sees music as a type of therapy and says he is always either thinking of music or making music.  He especially loves Gospel music and prefers instrumental music as he studies the piano and guitar himself.

David’s spiritual testimony is very important to him.  He grew up in a Christian home.  His father had been a preacher when he was younger and his great-grandfather had also been a preacher.  Sometimes his grandmother would play a CD with Gospel music in the car and David would sense a peace with this kind of music.  Eventually he approached Mrs. Walter, his pastor’s wife, and said that he wanted to accept Christ as his Savior.  Mrs. Walter gave David a tract which helped him understand the message of salvation and David was saved when he was 8 years old.  He was baptized by Pastor Walter when he was 11 years old.

David plans to serve as a pastoral intern at Electric City Baptist Church this summer until college begins.  He hopes to become a server at Texas Roadhouse to earn money while he attends Northeastern Baptist College in Bennington with either a major in Pastoral Ministry or in Church Planting and Evangelism.  His goal is to attend Dallas Theological Seminary after completing his undergraduate work.  David has a burden to serve as a travelling evangelist, maybe even around the world and would want to host large crusades.

David’s life verse comes from 1 Corinthians 1:18, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.”  David also loves 1 Corinthians 15:55, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”

Upcoming Events

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March 30 – Away Basketball vs. Perth

April 1 – End of Third Quarter

April 1 – Home Basketball vs. Lakeshore

April 2-9 – NO SCHOOL – Easter Break

April 12 – Classes Resume

April 14 – Report Cards Sent Home (All Grades)