FROM MY

HEART

TO YOURS

Duane Sherman, Headmaster

THE NEW!  River City Believers Academy!

16875 Jones Maltsberger (at Redland Rd.)
San Antonio, Texas 78247

A busy June positions us for a new beginning! 

Thanks to a large group of over 50 volunteers, our move to the new campus at River City Community Church was more than successful.  The move to this beautiful facility brought excitement and anticipation of the upcoming year as we begin a new journey at our new home!  I would like to personally thank all who came out to make the move such an enjoyable experience.  Thanks again to our faculty and staff for their hard work and to all the parents and alumni who came out to help us move.  A special note of gratitude goes to Wayne Hanson for leading our transition team in this most important initiative.  Wayne’s leadership is greatly appreciated.  If you want to read more about the move, or if you would like to comment, check out our blog at: http://blogs.reallife.org/believers-academy.

We also enjoyed great support for our Football Fundraiser as many turned out for the barbeque and basketball game.  Our high school basketball team really showed the pastors, coaches, and staff how to play!  I guess pride does come before a fall!  Great job team and thanks to everyone who participated.  Just in case you were wondering, Aaron Powers, Youth Director at RCCC is recovering nicely from his ankle sprain.  The rest of the old guys mostly suffered from sore muscles and bruised egos.   Thanks to the generosity of the fans, we raised over $1500 for our new football team which will make its debut this fall.

God Continues to move at RCBA!!

Mrs. Wanda Robinson, who has taught Social Studies for over twenty years, will be retiring to spend more time with her family.  She says she continues to be excited to see how God is using RCBA but now is the right time for her to retire.  We will all sorely miss her and her family as they have left a strong legacy for us all to build on.   Mrs. Robinson was not only a great teacher, but a spiritual leader at our school who positively influenced many students. 

Another noted change….

Ms. Trudie Elmer, our beloved School Administrator, is pursuing other ministry opportunities as well.    I know that this was a hard decision for her but she has sought out the Lord’s will, and is confident that God is leading her.  Trudie feels content that God is also leading RCBA in this new journey and she will continue to support our school in any way she can.  I would personally like to thank her for all her hard work and contributions in making RCBA an authentic Christian school.  She was also invaluable to me in making my first year at BA a success.  I pray that God will bless her in her new endeavors.

River City Community Church is officially our new home!

If you have not visited our new facility, I would encourage you to stop by and see us!   The school office is located in the cottage called the Chouth Room.  We would love to show you around our campus.  Just call the school to let us know your coming.

RCBA is proud to announce that Priscilla Ashburn will be joining our staff as Elementary Principal and School Administrator

We are very excited that Mrs. Ashburn is joining our staff this year!  Mrs. Ashburn brings many years of Christian Education experience to RCBA!  She most recently served at Harvest Christian School as Elementary principal.  She also taught at Shining Light Academy in Greensboro, NC.  and served as a Church Administrator at Abundant Life Church in Greensboro, NC. .  Mrs. Ashburn is finishing up her masters degree in Educational Administration at California Coast University. Her husband, Wes Ashburn, owns and operates The Music Loft of Lavernia, TX where he and his colleagues teach a variety of musical instruments to children of all ages.  The Ashburns have two children, Evan, who will be a freshmen at RCBA and Morgan, who will be a sophomore at San Antonio College.   Let’s welcome the Ashburns to RCBA!

COMING EVENTS

August 5-7……… New Teacher Orientation

August 10-18……Staff Development/Work Days

August 12………..New Parent Orientation

August 17-18……First Days of School, Half-days

August 18………. Parent Orientation

One of my favorite educational authors, Cynthia Tobias wrote this:

We believe each person is created with unique and

special strengths, abilities and perspectives.

Therefore, we are committed to the following:

♦ Identifying and building on strengths to produce positive

results rather than focusing on limitations;

♦ Appreciating the worth and value of every style,

recognizing there is no best or smartest style;

♦ Honoring individual learning style differences without

compromising academic excellence or lowering

standards of behavior;

♦ Maintaining discipline through love and bottom-line

accountability within the framework of each person’s

design; and

♦ Unlocking the potential for success in both children and

adults by teaching them…

The Way They Learn.

 When I speak about meeting students where they are, this is what I am talking about.  What a profound challenge for us all was we partner together in equipping students as world changers for the 21st century!

“For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.” 

2 Timothy 1:7

     Each year, my custom has been to allow the senior class to select a spiritual theme which we can use as a basis for our chapel services, curriculum, and activities.  At the close of the year during the Heritage Banquet, Pastor Azzaro shared an inspirational story of a father whose son had requested that he pray for protection and safety for him. Rather than granting his request, the father prayed for much more.  His prayer was bolder!  Instead of praying for safety and protection, he prayed that his son would become dangerous–dangerous to the enemy and mighty in the Lord!  What an inspirational story!

     The seniors have selected Danger Zone as this year’s spiritual theme with the idea that we are called to equip our students at such a level that they become dangerous to the enemy!   Dangerous to the humanistic and secular culture that desires to take our children and turns them away from Christianity.  In a recent article, Andy Stanley, pastor, communicator and founder of North Point Ministries, states that too often we “take people out of their natural habitat and try to tame them in the name of Christ.  We remove the risk.  We try to remove the danger.  We try to remove the struggle.  And what we end up with is a caged Christian.”

     As I read those words, they really inspired me. We get comfortable with the safety of the cage.  Comfortable with a safe and secure environment in which we are not challenged in our Christianity. We become complacent, and complacency leads to vulnerability and spiritual weakness.  If our mission at River City Believers Academy is to partner with parents to prepare students for real life for the glory of Jesus Christ, then we must open the cage and equip our students to “wreak havoc on the enemy.”

     I know what some of you are thinking.  They are just children, we want to keep them safe.  That’s why we send them to a RCBA.   Absolutely!  One of our most fundamental responsibililities is to provide a Christ-centered environment that is safe and secure.   We all agree that praying for a hedge of protection is fine, but as Stanley said, “When is the last time you asked God to make you dangerous?” 

     This is my prayer for each student this year: that they would be so well equipped that they would not only be safe, but that they would be dangerous to the enemy.  My prayer is that they would not only be able to survive in this world, but that they would also have a profound impact in shaping the cultures that they live in for the glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! 

     Let’s partner together and send our children into their natural habitat to wreak havoc on the enemy!   

 Blessings,

Duane Sherman

Headmaster

RCBA 

d.sherman@believers-academy.org

Duane Sherman, headmaster at the New River City Believers Academy, shares his perspective on events that take place at RCBA!