Hempfield townlively.com
JANUARY 8, 2025
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
VOL XL • NO 40
by With education fair, local Christian Powered community schools are organizing and uniting BY ADRIAN ESCHENWALD
Students from (clockwise from top left) Mount Calvary Christian School, Lititz Area Mennonite School, Dayspring Christian Academy and Lancaster County Christian School showcase some of the activities offered at their schools.
provide information and answer “I hope that it’s upbeat and there’s lively conversation. I hope questions. Many of the Christian schools the schools encourage people to that will be represented are non- ask questions. I hope there’s kind denominational private institu- of like a family feel.” The event is free tions designed for to attend, everyone students in prekinis welcome and dergarten through “There’s no no registration is grade 12. The pressure, no required. Christian Educa“ There are a tion Fair will inform commitment; just lot of options out visitors about the come and learn.” there, and it can schools’ curricube overwhelming,” lum, athletics, arts, extracurricular activities, trans- said Armstrong. “I think there are portation, tuition, financial aid families asking themselves, ‘Do I do Christian schools? Do I do public and enrollment processes. “I hope that it’s unifying and schools? Do I do homeschooling?’ energizing,” said Armstrong of I think you’ll see families with new the education fair’s atmosphere. kindergarten-age children. I think
you’ll see parents of students who are experiencing natural transitions, from elementary school to middle school, from middle school to high school. There’s no pressure, no commitment; just come and learn.” Organizers of the Christian Education Fair sent out event invitations to 18 C hristian schools in Lancaster County to participate. “Enrollment in C hr isti an schools is growing rapidly,” said Armstrong. “I think we offer something different that families are attracted to. Most Christian schools are places of community. We want to showcase our uniqueness. But what might be See Education fair pg 3
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hristian schools in Lancaster County have never really been competitors. Now they’re working together to align their missions and streamline their efforts. The upcoming Christian Education Fair is an event that’s designed to draw strength from numbers, explore and promote the increasing popularity of Christian education and provide families with learning opportunities that are aligned with their beliefs and their children’s needs. “It’s not that we were against each other; it’s we weren’t working together,” said Jill Armstrong, L ancaster County Christian School’s events and communication coordinator and one of the organizers of the event. “I just think there wasn’t an intentional collaboration. We can learn from each other. We can grow in different ways as we collaborate. We’re trying to find ways to work as one.” T he inaugural Christian Education Fair will be staged from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 12, at Lancaster Bible College’s Good Shepherd Chapel, 901 Eden Road, Lancaster. Representatives of a dozen Christian schools in Lancaster County - Anchor Christian Academy, Dayspring Christian Academy, Hinkletown Mennonite School, Kraybill Mennonite School, Lancaster County Christian School, Lancaster Mennonite School, Linville Hill Christian School, Lititz Area Mennonite School, Lititz Christian School, Mainstay Christian Academy, Mount Calvary Christian School and Veritas Academy - will be on hand to
15 Varie t to Choosies e
For many families facing food insecurity, free lunches provided at school might be the only consistent meal their children receive on a daily basis. But when school isn’t in session on weekends, holiday breaks and summer vacations, children don’t have access to the cafeteria lunch menu, and many children won’t eat a filling meal until they return to class. That’s where Power Packs Project comes in. Power Packs Project is a nonprofit organization that seeks to eliminate hunger in schools throughout Lancaster, Lebanon and York counties. Power Packs Project partners with local school districts such as Hempfield, Lampeter-Strasburg, Penn Manor, Donegal, Warwick, Columbia and Lancaster to provide students with a meal kit called a Power Pack. The kit is stuffed with healthy ingredients for an easy-tomake meal, as well as fresh produce and a few snacks, and the Power Packs are distributed to food-insecure students to make sure they won’t go hungry over the weekend without access to free meals in the cafeteria. During the 2023-24 school year, Power Packs Project distributed approximately 440,000 pounds of food, and the Hempfield branch alone currently serves 200 families in the Hempfield School District every week. He m p f i e l d Po we r Pac k s sources most of its meal kit components from the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, where it can procure food for a fraction of the price charged by grocery stores. But according to the Hempfield chapter’s See Power Packs pg 8
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