Texas Border Business
By Roberto Hugo Gonzalez
We indeed live in a fast-paced world where technology is rampant and growing by leaps and bounds. Technology is bringing significant advances to humanity and enormous distraction for everyone. In the middle of it all, we leave God out of the equation.
Covenant Christian Academy, a small Christian school in south Texas with a dream and a desire to start a high school is about to see its dream come true. After months of planning and a considerable time of communion with God, they will finally begin the first high school class at The Janet Vackar Distinguished Leadership High School at Covenant Christian Academy (CCA).
CCA is a private, nondenominational school that provides an education of academic excellence from a distinctly Christian perspective. The school’s leadership knew and felt that this upgrade to the school was long overdue.
You might ask, how did the Vackars come into this equation? Milton Gonzalez, the Head of School at CCA, said the Vackars considered the academy for one of their grandchildren. Later, they attended an event where they were touched by one of the students of the academy. She was educated through scholarships provided by CCA. Privately, the Vackars offered to help the young lady to continue her studies. Those close to Janet say she lights up when she’s around young students and loves investing in them and seeing them enjoy great opportunities.
During the first quarter of this year, the Vackars attended the first CCA Gala after the pandemic. They had sponsored a table, and Milton mentioned that because of the Vackars’ contribution to Covenant Christian Academy, they were finally able to open a high school.
Milton said, “The very mention of it, humbled them. Janet Vackar came up to me after, and she said, ‘Milton, I wasn’t expecting you to mention any of that’, and I said to her, ‘But how could I not? Honor is given to those who deserves the honor.”
Milton told Texas Border Business in Exclusivity, “I made it a point to say that God was using Janet as a vessel to bless the school. As a channel conduit of God’s grace extending it to our school so that we could start something bigger and bless more children in our community. But no, she’s always very humble about those things. I think that she blushed as I was watching. I couldn’t tell she blushed, but, for sure, she was very humble about the mention.”
The Vackars’ contribution will benefit students directly. By the time they graduate high school, the students will have a biblical worldview integrated into all their classes in high school, as well as a separate Bible class in each of the four years that they’re here at CCA.
CCA Mission Statement
Milton said, “The academy’s purpose is to follow Proverbs 22:6 (KJV) – Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
He pointed out, “This will hopefully help them to formulate their beliefs as to what they believe about scripture, about God, about Christ, and then be able to go out and defend their faith to the world,” he added.
A coincidence or divine confirmation? The school’s mission statement has been and is also Janet’s favorite Bible verse for many years.
Anyone could miss the message, however, the verse in Proverbs 22:6 served a purpose. It united and fulfilled the need for the Covenant Christian Academy to become a high school and gave the Vackars’ a chance to create significant opportunities in the future of young students.
The Vackars’ generosity also moved Milton, so he took a group of students to the BMW dealership to give Bob and Janet Vackar recognition for their contribution and to put a smile on their faces.
“The recognition is a small little bronze statue called the Sower. It’s a farmer sowing seeds into the ground. And it has a scripture from Matthew 28:19 (NIV) when Jesus instructs them saying, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
Milton said that Bob and Janet Vackar are funding the school for five years. “They’ve already written the first check. They have assigned an amount per year to help fund the salaries of our staff.”
The generosity of Bob and Janet Vackar will help to continue to uphold the mission of CCA which is to equip learners for excellence, embrace biblical worldview principles, and empower servant leaders for Christ.
It is essential to mention that CCA is the only dually accredited program in the upper Valley through the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) and COGNIA. Dual enrollment for college credit is vital for students to continue their higher education wherever they choose.
