eight years earlier. The UMS model is by far the best educational model I have ever seen. Our family has tried many other models, including co-ops, tutoring programs, and even public school when my oldest daughter was in kindergarten. UMS is the only one that I have found that partners strong academics by knowledgeable teachers with the parents and students in a way where everyone is committed to strong communication, the Lord, and the students’ best interest. Our school registrar, Brenda Debor, and I visited Audra May at Legacy Prep in The Woodlands and Aaron Weast at Logos Prep in Sugar Land. Both Audra and Aaron have been gracious and very helpful. When we first visited the Legacy campus, we prayed in the car and asked God to give us either peace about going forward or a clear no. After having the tour, meeting staff, students and getting many questions answered, we walked out of the wonderful facility with an amazing feeling of peace. We knew without any reservations that this was where the Lord wanted us, and we are very thankful. What a blessing it has been to be a part of a program where staff throughout supports, encourages and even prays for one another. When we went to training with Barbara and the amazing NAUM’s staff it solidified even more our commitment to continue forward. It has been very exciting to see the Lord’s hand of provision throughout the process. We are thrilled about this upcoming year and the wonderful classes, teachers, and activities we as a community have planned as the Lord directed. My husband and I know we will be even better equipped to prepare our daughters the best we can for whatever the Lord has planned for them. Of course, all of our children will eventually benefit from the program. I am looking forward to the day when we can sit on the sidelines and watch our now chubby two-year-old as a teenager playing linebacker for the Covenant Crusaders. You had a whirlwind of activity after making the decision to join NAUMS. God blessed you with teachers, student families, and even a building in a very short period of time. Describe how some of these amazing blessings came about. Where do I start? God is so good! The second the word went out that we were starting a new UMS in Katy, I received many phone calls from people saying they had been praying for a school like Covenant. When we hosted information meetings, often the room was packed and 2012 • Issue 2
afterward many people came up and asked how they could register their students, so we knew we were on the right track. God has continued to amaze us throughout. He has provided incredible and passionate teachers that have all come to us through paths that the Lord had started long ago. One example is our 7th/8th grade science teacher, Mrs. Riordan, who came to us because she wanted to share about creation in the classroom; she prayed about it, quit her job at a prominent private school, was hired by Covenant, and has been eager about everything including the wonderful teacher training at the NAUMS conference. One day at 9 a.m., I called Church of the Holy Apostles to see if they would consider our school meeting at their church. That same day, at 11 a.m., I went to the church for the appointment, and by 1:30 that afternoon we had a contract signed and an amazing church location with plenty of room to grow, storage areas, and a wonderful supportive staff! Every time we have had a need, God has met it! I asked our group for financial donations so that we could do some advertising, and the next day I received $1,500. Even when we weren’t looking for blessings, God blew us away! One day I received a call from another private school in Houston that had received a donation from Staples office supply Store. They asked us if we wanted to come with a truck and take whatever we wanted from two large rooms filled with donated supplies. Throughout this process, God has put the right people and resources in our hands and we are eagerly anticipating what He will do next. In December of last year, you were diagnosed with cancer. How did that impact your development period? December 27th I was diagnosed with stage 3B Her2 positive breast cancer. My life was a whirlwind for several months. I did 12 rounds of chemotherapy from January to April, started holistic treatment, put up a cancer blog, and kept active with my family. I actually think that having the new school preparations and work ahead of me www.umsjournal.com
was a blessing because I had no time to focus on the negative feelings or worry. It really did not affect our school’s development too much, because even while I was at chemo treatments, I would be writing, reading, planning, and getting excited about the future. I have always had a strong support group, and many people continue to pray for me. You have a unique pay strategy for your teachers. Can you describe that for other developing UMS schools that may be struggling with that? God blessed us in this area as well. My husband and I are the only founding members of the school, and we feel strongly that the Lord has called us to keep the school debt-free. Fortunately, our teachers have strong passions for their subjects and money was not their main objective. We pay our teachers a percentage of each student’s tuition. The beauty of this plan is that it prevents us from going into debt and encourages teachers to get the word out about our school. It’s a win-win for everyone. What types of extra-curricular activities are you planning for this year, and maybe the next few after that? Our extra-curricular activities this year will be solely our electives at the end of each school day. We offer two different types of electives: year-long and fiveweek. Our year-long electives are Biblical Worldview, Art, Spanish and Latin. Our five-week classes are communitydriven programs in which we ask individuals in the area to share their knowledge and talents with our students. Examples of this are the military tactics class, and the survival training class, which will be led by two different US veterans. Some other examples of the classes we will offer are photography, geology, an election class, and an economics course. In the future, we also hope to add clubs, athletics, and a praise band. How can folks contact you with questions or find out more about Covenant? Our website address is www.covenantprepkaty.org and all our contact information can be found there. UMS 15