June 7, 2010
Dear Friends,
As the principal of Cornerstone Crossroads Academy, I am pleased to share with you that nine of our students are receiving their high school diplomas this year! Many of these students have been told they would never finish high school or amount to anything, but God is at work in their lives and He has graciously allowed us to be a part of His plan.
Cornerstone Crossroads Academy (CCA) exists to expose students to the hope and abundant life found in Christ, equipping them to know God and serve Him forever. The mission of CCA is to educate at-risk high school students through hands-on, real-life experiences, so that they may develop spiritually, intellectually, socially, and physically and graduate with a high school diploma.
As a 501(c)(3) faith-based organization, CCA is completely funded through donations from individuals, organizations, and churches. We are located on the campus of Cornerstone Baptist Church in South Dallas. Student enrollment comes from referrals by South Dallas Juvenile Probation Officers, counselors, churches, and by word of mouth.
Jim and Jane Beckett founded CCA in 2006. They began the school in order to reach teenagers coming out of the juvenile detention setting. They believed that students could be successful in a small family-type setting. Over the past 3 years, more than 20 students have graduated, many being the first in their families to graduate from high school. Several have come to know Jesus Christ, and all have heard the redemption story again and again. Over the next 3 years our goal is to expand the school, depending on increased funding.
For the first four years, our school was almost completely funded through one source. As of June 30, that source will no longer be available. We invite you to join with us by supporting the school with your gifts, time, talents, and skills.
There are a number of ways you can help. Since January 2010, we have raised $94K toward our $145K annual budget. God has graciously blessed us through kind and generous donors who want to be a part of the mission of CCA. We still need $50K to reach our goal for the 2010-11 school year. Giving is simple! You can donate online at www.cornerstonecrossroads.com or you can send donations to our mailing address. All donations are tax-deductible.
Another way you can help is by connecting us with community organizations and church groups who would be interested in being involved at the school. We love opportunities to partner with you for mentoring, tutoring and volunteering! Please visit our website today to download a volunteer application and find out more about the specific needs for volunteers.
CCA students experience many personal issues that present barriers to their academic success, including substance abuse, conflict at home, pressure to provide for the family, and lack of adult guidance. The majority of our students do not have an ongoing relationship with a father or father figure, and many of them are the oldest non-incarcerated living males in their extended families. Students often express concerns about pregnancies, jobs, schedules, transportation, and not having food to eat or means for clean laundry. Your donation will help make a tremendous difference in their lives. You will be helping them have an opportunity to come to know Christ and to earn a high school diploma as they learn necessary life skills to become productive and contributing members of society.
Thank you very much for your interest in our program and for taking the time to read this letter. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like more information about how to support the students at Cornerstone Crossroads Academy.
Sincerely,
Kristi
Monday, June 7, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
April 2010 Letter to Friends
April 8, 2010
Dear Friends,
I am writing to friends and family who have had an impact on my life to share information about the school where I have been working the past two years.
As many of you know, Scott and I experienced the most challenging time of our lives when our daughter, Courtney, went through a very difficult period in her life. She was only 12 years old when we first noticed the cuts on her wrist and discovered she was planning to take her own life. It’s hard to believe it has been seven years since then. God has healed our hearts in many ways. He has used godly counselors, teachers, youth workers, doctors, and friends to share the hope that we have in Jesus Christ.
Shortly after that time, I became an assistant principal at Lyles Middle School, a school where many students were hurting and on the verge of losing hope. I realized many of them had issues like Courtney’s, but very few had resources or supportive people in their lives. We started a Young Life club there and many students have since responded to the gospel through the club and through Young Life summer camps.
In March of 2008, I met Jim and Jane Beckett, who had founded Cornerstone Crossroads Academy two years earlier. They began the school in order to reach teenagers coming out of the juvenile detention setting. They believed that students could be successful in a small family-type setting. Over the past 3 years, over 20 students have graduated, many being the first in their families to graduate from high school. Several have come to know Jesus Christ, and all have heard the redemption story again and again. This year, six students are expected to graduate.
I am writing because we need your help. For the first four years, our school was almost completely funded through one source. As of June 30, that source will no longer be available. We invite you to join with us by supporting the school with your time, talents, and skills.
There are a number of ways you can help. We, like so many other ministries, need funding. We are not asking you to take away from the ministries you already fund, but would you consider making a one-year commitment to help us through this transitional year?
We love opportunities to partner with you for mentoring, tutoring and sharing your life with our students. You can also help by connecting us with community organizations or church groups that would be interested in hearing more about connecting with the school.
Would you join Team Crossroads by using your creativity, talents, and skills to help provide another chance to teenagers who desperately need it? I believe many students are served well through private and public schools. But there is a group of students who remind me of the people in Ezekiel 34 – they are broken, weak, and lost, wandering hopelessly, and in danger of attack, with no one to search or seek after them. By joining Team Crossroads, you have an opportunity to share the story of the Good Shepherd, who says, “I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. . . I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered. . . I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak. . .”
As one who strayed myself, wandering so far away I didn’t know if the Shepherd would even care to find me, I know how life-changing the hope of Jesus Christ can be. I long to continue serving and loving these teenagers in South Dallas. I hope that you will consider this opportunity to join with me!
Please complete the survey by selecting the link posted above this letter. If you would like to make a donation via PayPal, there is a link just above the photos on the right. I look forward to hearing from you!
Thank you!
Dear Friends,
I am writing to friends and family who have had an impact on my life to share information about the school where I have been working the past two years.
As many of you know, Scott and I experienced the most challenging time of our lives when our daughter, Courtney, went through a very difficult period in her life. She was only 12 years old when we first noticed the cuts on her wrist and discovered she was planning to take her own life. It’s hard to believe it has been seven years since then. God has healed our hearts in many ways. He has used godly counselors, teachers, youth workers, doctors, and friends to share the hope that we have in Jesus Christ.
Shortly after that time, I became an assistant principal at Lyles Middle School, a school where many students were hurting and on the verge of losing hope. I realized many of them had issues like Courtney’s, but very few had resources or supportive people in their lives. We started a Young Life club there and many students have since responded to the gospel through the club and through Young Life summer camps.
In March of 2008, I met Jim and Jane Beckett, who had founded Cornerstone Crossroads Academy two years earlier. They began the school in order to reach teenagers coming out of the juvenile detention setting. They believed that students could be successful in a small family-type setting. Over the past 3 years, over 20 students have graduated, many being the first in their families to graduate from high school. Several have come to know Jesus Christ, and all have heard the redemption story again and again. This year, six students are expected to graduate.
I am writing because we need your help. For the first four years, our school was almost completely funded through one source. As of June 30, that source will no longer be available. We invite you to join with us by supporting the school with your time, talents, and skills.
There are a number of ways you can help. We, like so many other ministries, need funding. We are not asking you to take away from the ministries you already fund, but would you consider making a one-year commitment to help us through this transitional year?
We love opportunities to partner with you for mentoring, tutoring and sharing your life with our students. You can also help by connecting us with community organizations or church groups that would be interested in hearing more about connecting with the school.
Would you join Team Crossroads by using your creativity, talents, and skills to help provide another chance to teenagers who desperately need it? I believe many students are served well through private and public schools. But there is a group of students who remind me of the people in Ezekiel 34 – they are broken, weak, and lost, wandering hopelessly, and in danger of attack, with no one to search or seek after them. By joining Team Crossroads, you have an opportunity to share the story of the Good Shepherd, who says, “I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. . . I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered. . . I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak. . .”
As one who strayed myself, wandering so far away I didn’t know if the Shepherd would even care to find me, I know how life-changing the hope of Jesus Christ can be. I long to continue serving and loving these teenagers in South Dallas. I hope that you will consider this opportunity to join with me!
Please complete the survey by selecting the link posted above this letter. If you would like to make a donation via PayPal, there is a link just above the photos on the right. I look forward to hearing from you!
Thank you!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
March 17, 2010
Dear Friends,
For the past two years I’ve been amazed by God’s care and intervention at Cornerstone Crossroads Academy. I have realized my complete dependence on Christ to change kids’ lives. From the way He brought just the right student at the right time to the confirmation when we had to let a student go, He has clearly shown us the next step all along the way.
Provisions from pizza for the kids every Wednesday, to international mission trips and Greg Stevenson’s Walk for the Future have confirmed His work, His presence, and His provision.
There have been conflicts that helped us refine our mission and educational approach. We are still learning how to best identify and serve kids who need another chance.
God has demonstrated His protection when bullets flew into the building a few feet overhead. He has demonstrated His grace through dozens of life stories shared with the students. He has demonstrated His love through hands that serve students food, tutor them in math and reading, teach them to use machinery and build robots, treat their illnesses and injuries, and open His Word to share hope for the future.
South Dallas juvenile probation officers have told us we are the only faith-based high school program engaging older teenagers who have dropped out of school or gotten very far behind, many with drug and gang problems and some with children of their own. These students come to school day in and day out, learn what the Bible says about the hope that is found in Christ, and make life-changing decisions. Most of them wouldn’t go to church or a Young Life club, but because they want a high school diploma, they will sit under biblical teaching and hear God’s message of hope.
Our founders, Jim & Jane Beckett, started Cornerstone Crossroads Academy four years ago, when they turned 80 years old. This is their last year to fund and lead the school. They have graciously offered to let us continue to use the materials and supplies that have been donated over these past four years, but as of January, requested that we establish a new 501(c)(3) and a new Board of Directors. We are in the process of trying to do that now, as we also try to raise our annual budget of $120K.
God has clearly led us each step of the way and we believe that He will continue to do so. Although our hearts ache to continue this mission and we feel confused while we wait for Him to show us the next step, our hope is completely in Him. He is sovereign and will accomplish His work with or without our school. It has been the privilege of a lifetime to love and serve the kids He has placed with us these past two years. I hope He will let us continue, but trust His goodness if He chooses another avenue.
Please pray for our students and our school, as we wait for Him to show us the next step.
Kristi Lichtenberg
Cornerstone Crossroads Academy
Dear Friends,
For the past two years I’ve been amazed by God’s care and intervention at Cornerstone Crossroads Academy. I have realized my complete dependence on Christ to change kids’ lives. From the way He brought just the right student at the right time to the confirmation when we had to let a student go, He has clearly shown us the next step all along the way.
Provisions from pizza for the kids every Wednesday, to international mission trips and Greg Stevenson’s Walk for the Future have confirmed His work, His presence, and His provision.
There have been conflicts that helped us refine our mission and educational approach. We are still learning how to best identify and serve kids who need another chance.
God has demonstrated His protection when bullets flew into the building a few feet overhead. He has demonstrated His grace through dozens of life stories shared with the students. He has demonstrated His love through hands that serve students food, tutor them in math and reading, teach them to use machinery and build robots, treat their illnesses and injuries, and open His Word to share hope for the future.
South Dallas juvenile probation officers have told us we are the only faith-based high school program engaging older teenagers who have dropped out of school or gotten very far behind, many with drug and gang problems and some with children of their own. These students come to school day in and day out, learn what the Bible says about the hope that is found in Christ, and make life-changing decisions. Most of them wouldn’t go to church or a Young Life club, but because they want a high school diploma, they will sit under biblical teaching and hear God’s message of hope.
Our founders, Jim & Jane Beckett, started Cornerstone Crossroads Academy four years ago, when they turned 80 years old. This is their last year to fund and lead the school. They have graciously offered to let us continue to use the materials and supplies that have been donated over these past four years, but as of January, requested that we establish a new 501(c)(3) and a new Board of Directors. We are in the process of trying to do that now, as we also try to raise our annual budget of $120K.
God has clearly led us each step of the way and we believe that He will continue to do so. Although our hearts ache to continue this mission and we feel confused while we wait for Him to show us the next step, our hope is completely in Him. He is sovereign and will accomplish His work with or without our school. It has been the privilege of a lifetime to love and serve the kids He has placed with us these past two years. I hope He will let us continue, but trust His goodness if He chooses another avenue.
Please pray for our students and our school, as we wait for Him to show us the next step.
Kristi Lichtenberg
Cornerstone Crossroads Academy
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