Little Light shines at new school site
Religion Editor chinton@oklahoman.com
With the help of a $1.6 million donation, a unique private Christian school once housed in a small church building has moved to a sprawling property in northeast Oklahoma City.
Little Light Christian School, an education center for children whose parents are incarcerated, recently dedicated its new campus at 3301 N Martin Luther King Ave.
Robin Khoury, the school’s founder and principal, said the school moved from the Lone Star Baptist Church building at
1805 E Hefner Road to the new 9-acre property on Martin Luther KingAvenue through a generous donation from the Jasco Giving Hope Foundation. The move was made in August, and the start of school was pushed back to September to accommodate the change in location.
The new school campus includes five buildings, a basketball court, playground and physical
education “hut.” Khoury said the property formerly housed a program for autistic youths and before that, once was the site of an orphanage.
Little Light Christian School leaders, teachers, volunteers, students and their families gathered on Oct. 7 for a special dedication ceremony on the school’s expansive front lawn. The event also included tours of the campus and a picnic.
Giving Hope
Khoury hosted the ceremony, sharing how her dream of a larger campus for the school became reality.
She founded the school five years ago as a tuitionfree private Christian school for children who have at least one parent who is incarcerated or who has been incarcerated. The school leased space at Lone Star Baptist and has operated on funding from a Giving Hope grant from Jasco Products and
the donations of a group of committed donors called the Dream Builders group.
Khoury said Steve Trice, owner of Jasco Products, knew of her vision for the school and called her up one day to tell her that the Jasco Giving Hope Foundation wanted to give the school the necessary funding to purchase the larger campus.
“I was overwhelmed. Speechless,” Khoury said.
She and the school’s board of directors knew that the property had come on the market, and they had raised about $110,000 for their building fund when Trice phoned about the donation.
Khoury said the school was allowed to keep the money they had raised to help with transition and operation expenses. She said the school’s volunteers and supporters had only 10 days to ready the property for the start of the new school year, but they managed to get it done.
As part of the dedication ceremony, two Little Light students presented Steve Trice and his wife, NeAnn, with a shofar from Israel in appreciation for the donation. A shofar is a hollowed-out ram’s horn typically blown at sacred Jewish ceremonial events during holidays like Rosh Hashana or other special times. Steve Trice said Jasco was “extremely blessed” to be a part of the school effort.
‘A real blessing’
Meanwhile, Khoury said the new campus comes at a great time for the school because it has grown from six students in its inaugural year to its current 32 students. She said the school always will be grateful to Lone Star Baptist for allowing Little Light to open its doors there, but she and other school leaders knew a long-term site would be needed. “Just as we were splitting the seams, this property came on the market,” she said.
She said the school now has enough space to offer an after-school program that includes chess, cooking, life skills and an archery program. Students also are learning gardening because the new campus includes a garden that was prepared for the school by men from Greater Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church.
Juanita Robles was one of the grandparents and other caregivers who participated enthusiastically in the day’s activities.
Robles said she was grateful when her grandson, Kevin Wilson, 8, was accepted into the Little Light school. She said his mother is incarcerated.
“He was struggling in
Oklahoma City School, and he needed a foundation. He needed one-on-one (attention), and they can give him that here,” Robles said. “This is God-sent.”
Ron McAfee, president of Little Light’s board of directors, said seeing the school move to a larger place was “heartwarming.”
“Kids, if they’re given some hope, they will progress and go with it,” he said. “When you see it on their faces, it’s a real blessing.”
McAfee said the school’s goal is to obtain sustained funding for continued operations.
Susan Fowler, a kindergarten and transitional first-grade teacher, said she taught at Christian Heritage Academy for 28 years before joining the staff at Little Light. The Lord has been “wonderful” to the school, she said. “We’re taking baby steps,” Fowler said. “I had one of my kids ask to take home a Bible this weekend, so I’m thrilled.”