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Good Shepherd Christian Academy Wins Half a Million Dollars in Kohl’s Cares Contest
In celebration of the 10th year anniversary of the Kohl's Cares program, Kohl's is donating $500,000 to 20 schools for a total of $10 million. The 20 schools receiving the most Facebook votes in the Kohl's Cares Contest are winners. Good Shepherd Christian Academy is the only school in Virginia to win, completing the contest in #6.
Fairfax, VA, October 28, 2010 - You may think it would take a school with thousands of families to gather over 146,000 votes and win the Kohl’s Cares Facebook Contest but for local Christian school, Good Shepherd Christian Academy it was accomplished with only 146 students, passionate families and friends banning together to do their part in witnessing a miracle.
Good Shepherd Christian Academy (GSCA), formerly known as Little Flock Christian School, is a non-denominational private school in Fairfax, Virginia, enrolling children from Preschool through 6th grade. The school opened in 2003 with 20 students in two preschool classes. Our rapid growth has been exciting. What started 7 years ago as a tiny preschool has evolved into a full-fledged preschool - 6th grade.
The school began collecting votes one month ago. “We reached out to our parents, our congregation, friends and family. It was one of the most unifying experiences we’ve had. We were touched by all the people who rallied behind us” commented Father Anthony Messeh, GSCA’s Headmaster. Local businesses including Starbucks, Giant and Fuddruckers offered support allowing the school to set up laptops outside their stores to ask locals to vote. The response was tremendous. People were very excited to hear Good Shepherd’s story and know that a small local Virginia school had a genuine chance of winning half a million dollars.
The school has exciting plans for the money awarded. GSCA is unable to keep up with the growing demand of applicants and has to turn some families away. With the money, GSCA plans to expand the current school building in order to accommodate for more students. The expansion will entail building 6 new classes, totaling 5,064 gross square feet built on top of the current cafeteria. The school will also purchase a mobile computer lab providing students an opportunity to have technology directly in their classrooms, expand the availability of computers for projects, and allow for greater diversity in teaching. GSCA will place state-of-the-art SMART Boards and projectors into classrooms providing teacher with an interactive teaching tool proven to increase student engagement in the classroom, motivating students and promoting enthusiasm for learning.
The school hosted a Kohl's Cares Celebration assembly on Friday, November 5, 2010. Representatives from Kohl's including, Phil Smith, Vice President/District Manager D24 joined the celebration and presented a check to the school. Supervisor Cook attended and spoke at the event encouraging business, schools, churches and neighbors to work together to do great things for the benefit of the entire community.
A Special Thank You To Local Business Who Supported Us:
WAVA 105.1 FM
Prayer Support of Pastor Terry at WGTS 91.9 FM
Starbucks in Fair Lakes
Starbucks on Lee highway
Paisanos in Fair Lakes
Paisanos in Fairfax City
Burke Internal Medical
Old Cairo Grill in Burke
Chick-Fil-A in Fair Oaks
Dollar Store in Montgomery Mall
Dr. Michael Abidin in INOVA Springfield Healthplex Building
AMF Bowling in Centreville
Fuddruckers Chain Bridge Rd.
Giant Union Mill Plaza
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