Past Principal Points

I know that many of you attended the Banquet, and so some of this won't be new, but for the others, I want to share some of my sense of where we are heading. First, let's review the past. We began in 1987 as a K-7 school with 54 children. We spent eight years next door at Living Springs Fellowship Chapel where we grew to 125 students, added grades eight and nine, and two portable classrooms. In 1995 we moved to our present location with Faith Community Baptist Church. In the year we moved, we had a record increase and grew to 165 students while adding grade ten and seven more portables! We didn't know where we were going, but people signed on to enjoy the ride! We are now a school 207 from kindergarten through grade twelve, operating with twelve portables, two of which have two classrooms each. And, it is time to get ready to ride again!

We are now at the point where we have finished adding new buildings. We have room for a few more students, and will need to remodel Bldg. K next summer to accommodate them, but essentially we are done with building projects at our present site. It is now imperative that we find land, and begin the process of developing a core building. Let me share what I want in that building: I want a LARGE gym. I want a well-equipped kitchen. I want a stage for drama, and a proper music room. I want a shop, a library, a well-equipped science room, and administrative offices. Just the core alone is going to be a very large complex, but I believe that it is what God has in store for us, and I want what He wants.

I believe that God wants these things for us because He wants us to grow. I believe He will be bringing more children our way, and so we must begin to prepare for them. For years people have given very generously to the school at our Annual Friendraising Banquet. In our first year, we received about $8,000. The year we moved to the new site, we raised a record $23,000 which was matched with an additional $20,000 anonymous gift. Over the years, we have used all of that money to buy the classrooms we now enjoy. By careful stewardship, it is all paid for, and so we are sitting poised with a school just waiting for a site. (Have School; Will Travel!)

This year, including gifts received before and since the Banquet, we will probably set a new record. So far, we have received $22,800! Those of us who were at the Banquet sensed the enthusiasm, and I think sensed the moving of the Spirit of God. We have been promised a gift of 25 to 30 Pentium 166 computers with lots of memory, new monitors, etc. These will come towards the end of January next year, and are worth another $25,000 or so. We have people willing to donate twenty acres of land! Is it the right spot? Can we afford to level it? We have an individual who is willing to donate the lumber we will need for our new school! All of it? A portion? I don't know all of the details, I do know that the time is at hand!

God is putting in place all of the pieces to the puzzle. Bit by bit it is beginning to take shape. Keep praying for great things! I believe that when it happens, it will happen quickly, and perhaps sooner than we think. Thank you to all who have responded to this year's Banquet appeal. Every penny will go into our long term Building Fund. God is going to provide the land and the resources very soon, and we will be moving before you know it. It has taken much longer than I thought to get here (and "soon" may not come as quickly as I think), but it is going to happen! We can either sit on the sidelines and watch or get in the game and be a part of it. The blessings will go to those who roll up their sleeves and get to work now. The harvest will go to those who start sowing now. I encourage your: Be Ready; Get On Board, and Enjoy The Ride!--BH

Brian Hazeltine, B.Ed., M.A.
Principal, Airdrie Koinonia Christian School