C. C. Thompson
One aspect of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) mission-focused strategy is to grow God’s Kingdom by giving the best for the youth and children. In order to do so, Southeastern has renewed its commitment to provide its schools with valuable resources to make them top quality institutions.
The Southeastern administration set a goal to establish a fully funded education endowment of $1,100,000. In less than two years, since its official establishment, the endowment is nearly fully funded with $1,012,069 raised to date. With only $87,930 to be raised, the administrators anticipate that the endowment will be fully funded by 2019. Nicole Brisé, retired educator, stated that, “From the first day the idea was presented by Elder Paul, then superintendent of education, my husband and I began to donate $5 from our paychecks every month — that was over 30 years ago — until my retirement. My husband still gives $5 from his paycheck every month. The funds were for the improvement of the schools, and I’m passionate about Adventist Christian education.”
Southeastern is also “putting its money where its mouth is” by funding expanded professional development and teacher certification training. The Conference educators have participated in CRISS, ESE, and ESOL trainings, with the goal of equipping educators to teach to students’ individual learning styles and needs.
Southeastern also prides itself in that the teachers continue to maintain 100 percent certification. This distinction assists in securing funding for the annual summer teacher training institute, which provides continuing education opportunities for Conference teachers. This year, Southeastern has also increased benefits for locally-funded teachers, including cost of living allowance, healthcare assistance plan, and dependent tuition subsidy.
The goal is to pour valuable resources into education. Within the past year, $400,000 has been allocated for renovations to Miami Union Academy in Miami, Florida. Also, the Conference began purchasing smart boards for every school. Each school has also received a $5,000 grant toward physical plant improvements. An additional special grant is also available to each school for new outdoor signage.
Recently, a special planning committee was organized by the SEC K-12 board to plan a major reorganization of the Conference school district. Local schools, churches, and administrators are working together to strategize for the future of education in Southeastern.
The children are the future of the Church. Southeastern is making substantive investment to ensure that they are well-equipped to meet the challenges of the future.
is the administrative assistant for human resources, communication, and technology at Southeastern Conference.
Southeastern | June 2018
Comments are closed.