Welcome Legacy Community
Summer Greetings Legacy Community!
I hope you are enjoying some time off or a new rhythm during these summer months that allows you to reflect, refill, and renew. While there's always work to do, be it projects to complete, daily chores - I encourage you to make time to play with your kiddos, hang with your teens, and thank God for His presence, provision, and protection.
Each summer is full with preparation for our new school year, but one of the most important things I do each summer is reflect on the year, refill by spending time with the Lord in solitude, reading His Word, reading works from great thinkers, writing, and praying. In this practice, Renewal comes in times of resting but also in this process of solitude, reading, writing and praying. I don’t think there’s a recipe for these 3 R’s but I do know it is more in the intention and action of surrendering my will to the Lord’s in order to listen and be led by Him. Sometimes it's a struggle, sometimes it’s seamless-but it always keeps me [us] under the authority of the One who is the Creator of the Universe and knows us intimately.
I hope that encourages you.
Each year, we send our high school seniors out to complete their senior internships in a vocational field of their interest. These internships are an “over the shoulder, through the heart” apprenticeship experience. It’s how we best learn to do something- by experience with an expert or master (Garber).
Discipleship is apprenticeship. When Jesus says, “Come, follow me.” He’s asking us to apprentice under Him. To spend time with Him, to become like Him, to do the things He did. It’s the “over the shoulder, through the heart” experience we need with Jesus. The only way this happens is through spending time with Him, reading His Word, and doing what he did (Garber).
We are now serving both Generation Alpha (born 2013-2025) and Generation Z (1995-2012). We have great opportunities with both these generations to train them up (Deut. 6) to be followers of Christ.
Gen Z is known as “the Open Generation”. They are open to God and conversations about God, they’re willing to talk about hard things, they value happiness and health, and financial security, and they desire meaningful relationships outside of technology. The Barna Group’s research of Gen Z “reveals that teens who have a confidant of any kind stand out from their peers who do not have such a relationship.”
Generation Alpha is the first generation to be entirely born in the 21st century and expected to be the largest generation in history. They are more globally connected and more comfortable with diverse cultures and perspectives and were significantly impacted by the pandemic (Barna).
Now more than ever, we have a unique opportunity to know these students/learners well and how they view themselves and the world around them. We know that parents and other adults in their lives make a significant difference.
At Legacy, we are intentionally a discipleship model - a covenantal model, meaning that we exclusively serve families who are committed to following Jesus and making disciples.
Our mission is making disciples.
Our strategy is our partnership with parents.
Our service is education.
Education that is intentional, relational, and founded on God’s Truth. A type of learning that is totally different from the Western Cultures idea of education - that is founded on the belief that God uniquely created every child to learn and for a specific purpose. This education starts in the home - just as the original jewish education of the Old Testament, children learned in the home and then some were sent to learn under a Rabbi as their apprentice.
Each season of development, elementary, middle school, and high school years, brings its unique rewards and challenges- but in each unique season, the parent does not decrease in their importance. In fact, I would argue that the roles of the parent in a University-Model® school look different in the academic roles of the parent, gradually releasing to more independence of the student but the discipleship role increases in importance - in other words, they need you more than ever to navigate and prepare for the coming challenges of the adult world but also to seek God’s purpose for their lives.
This is the “over the shoulder, through the heart” apprenticeship that they desire and need. This is the “over the shoulder, through the heart” apprenticeship that Legacy’s mission of partnership is ready to do.
You, the parent/guardian, are the primary educator - academically and spiritually, but you are not solitary. Legacy Christian Academy is here to support and equip you. Legacy is also here to build strong relationships with your students to partner with you in discipleship - apprenticeship.
What is the best environment for learning, the best way of teaching? One in which a child’s core needs are met- Security, identity, belonging, purpose, and competency (Koch). What is the best structure or system to accomplish this learning? One in which the parent has more time with their children.
We begin to transition children from protecting them from the “world” and training teens to live in the world as Jesus did, loving others who are different, lost, hurting. This is where they find their purpose and use their gifts to impact the world.
As an educator and parent, I can say with confidence,
It’s not about just making sure your children are the best academically so they can get into the best college
It’s not about keeping them safe and making sure they have the right friends
It’s not just about meeting graduation requirements
It’s not just about taking Bible courses
Choose Legacy because you want to intentionally train and equip your children to be college-worthy Christ followers for a lifetime of leadership- to impact the world for Christ.
Apprenticeship & Community
As a young teen, God orchestrated a unique set of people in my life to give me that “over the shoulder and through the heart” experience. These amazing people along with my parents made an indelible impact on my life which prepared me for a lifetime of service to the Lord- even when I didn’t realize that is what was happening at the time.
There’s a difference in a University-Model® education- and it is because we educate and make disciples in community. Community is only made possible through the foundation of Jesus Christ. We are unified only by Him- We can only be an educational community with Him.
In the past 13 years- LCA parents, students and staff consistently share how they love LCA- that they feel a part of a community, loved, cared for, safe. We recognize that the only way a community like this exists is because of the unity we have in Jesus. We can create a friendly school, an excellent academic program, lots of activities, and a thriving sports program but we can only have a Christ centered community when the One we follow is Jesus, our Great Apprentice.
Dr. John Turner, founder of University-Model® schools shares, “In a partnership with parents, followers of Christ, faculty/staff who are followers of Christ, curriculum with a Biblical worldview, 20-30 hours of apprenticeship teaching…..
Legacy is not just a school with Christian values - Legacy is an educational community of Christ followers who are on mission to make disciples.
Yes, there are other educational models and options to choose but with deep conviction and confidence I can say, outside of your home, Legacy provides what is needed to prepare Generation Alpha and Gen Z - to make an impact in this world.