High school as an uplifting, religious experience
Christian academy bids farewell to last of original students
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer

ERIC SUCAR staff New Jersey United Christian Academy students work on the computers in the Cream Ridge school's newly installed technology center June 7.

UPPER FREEHOLD - Deanna McCarty's high school experience has been nothing short of miracle after miracle.

McCarty, 18, of Lumberton, will graduate June 15 from the New Jersey United Christian Academy, a private, Christian high school with boarding located in the Cream Ridge section of Upper Freehold. She and a couple of other classmates will graduate as the first three students to have ever gone through four years of high school at the academy.

Reflecting on the past four years, McCarty recalled painting a basement to make it into a classroom as one of her first memorable experiences with the academy, which was forged out of a passion that former King's Academy students in Wrightstown had for continuing their education in a Christian institution.

King's Academy, another private Christian high school, decided to close its doors just prior to McCarty's freshman year. McCarty was part of a group of about 20 students who didn't know what to do or where to go to continue their education based on biblical principles that they so desired after their high school experience at King's Academy. But when their parents and fellow members of the community heard their pleas for help, they decided to rent out the basement of a Jones Mill Road church near Fort Dix in Wrightstown where classes could be held.

Although the academy started humbly, with parents and administrators at first struggling to get municipal approvals and supplies, the school's earliest students say they witnessed many miracles that helped turn the school into the thriving learning institution that it is today.

Not only did the school obtain the necessary approvals it needed in the nick of time to open for the misplaced King's Academy students, but co-Principal Donna Torres said donors practically came out of nowhere to give the students desks, supplies and computers. McCarty also recalled an incident when a person with no affiliation to the students or the school walked in with a check for the exact amount the school needed for startup.

The students only had to spend one school year in the basement of the church, thanks to what they consider another miracle in the form of a misdirected letter.

"Every year we go on a mission trip," McCarty said. "A letter sent back with money for one of the students to go was sent to the wrong address. It was sent to 73 Holmes Mill Road instead of 73 Jones Mill Road."

Jae Shinn, who owns the Holmes Mill Road property, just happened to be running a similar facility on his Cream Ridge tract and already had plans to expand it with a high school portion along with opportunities for students from abroad to visit and study there.

When Shinn received the piece of misdirected mail and learned about the misplaced students, he combined his ideas with those of the leaders from the school at the church to form the New Jersey United Christian Academy.

"It's been a blessing in our lives," McCarty said.

McCarty said helping the school come to fruition has given the initial students the opportunity to take on leadership roles that they would never have gotten at a public high school. The original set of students helped oversee the setup of the school in Cream Ridge, as well as the implementation of all new programs at the academy. McCarty, who will graduate this year as the school's salutatorian, said the experiences have prepared her for further education and the workplace.

Of the nine students in the graduating class, Torres said, "They have matured so much and really have become leaders."

Co-Principal Dawn Fossnes said that in the tradition of Shinn's community service, the school encourages its students to serve other people.

"Dr. Jae Shinn wanted to give back to the community so it is important to him that the young people in his school rise up and give back to the community, too," Fossnes said.

Every year the school takes its students on mission trips to different parts of the world. Some of the students in the graduating class have had the opportunity to see areas of Hawaii, Alaska, Germany, Paris, Denmark and Mexico. While on the mission trips, the students help support local churches, provide children's ministry, perform cleanups and work in places such as food banks.

The international traveling has led to McCarty' decision to attend school in Italy in the fall while taking distance learning classes at Liberty University in Virginia. She would like to study languages, she said.

Other opportunities the graduating students believe the academy has provided them with that they might not have gotten in other high schools include a good teacher-to-student ratio that allows them to have personal relationships with their teachers; a good foundation and chances to grow in their faith with Bible classes and classroom prayer; and a social climate free of sex, drugs and other potentially dangerous teenage pastimes.

Christina Somers, 17, of Jacobstown, started attending the academy in November of her senior year. She said she switched to the school from public school mainly for the change in atmosphere.

"In public school you are exposed to drugs, sex and parties," she said. "Here when there is a party the whole school hangs out and you build friendships, and no one here does anything like [drugs]."

She added, "Everyone wants to be here."

Being in a small school environment has been better for Somers because she got a chance to know all the administrators and the entire student body at the academy.

"In public school administrators hardly know you unless you are called into their office when you get in trouble," she said. "Here the teachers pray for us by name and individually help us with everything."

Lindsey Hlad, 18, of the New Egypt section of Plumsted, who is also one of the school's original students, said, "People express their faith here and help you grow closer to God."

Hlad, who has always had a passion for children, has aspirations of becoming an elementary school teacher.

"During our mission trip to Mexico," she said, "we worked with a lot of kids, and it really refreshed my memory of how I love working with [them]."

Sam Lee, 19, whose family lives in Korea, has been at the academy for the past two years of his high school experience. He is the only male in the graduating class.

"The academy is one of the best places to grow spiritually," the valedictorian said. "Everyone here is devoted to the Bible teachings."

Lee said he wants to study international relations and may go into American government.

"I believe that a lot of the conflicts are due to misunderstandings," he said. "People are not taking a true look at things from the other perspective, for selfish reasons."

This summer, Lee will travel to Korea to tutor students there in taking the SATs. If he does not get into Brown University in Rhode Island or Harvard in Massachusetts, Lee - who is wait-listed at both schools - will attend the University of Virginia in the fall.

Having such a small class "has definitely had its ups and downs," Hlad said. "We're stuck together so we have to learn to work together."

Graduating will be difficult, though, for Hlad, who has formed a tight bond with the two other four-year students in his class.

Fossnes and Torres said the students are going to be missed.

"I have mixed feelings," Fossnes said. "I'm sad because I'm going to miss them, but I am excited to see what they are going to be in the future."

Torres said the academy, which just recently added a new technology center and gymnasium, has turned into more than its very first students along with its supporters ever thought it could be.

"We believe God always does more than we can imagine," she said. "We accept certain things God does, and this is five times more than that."

Torres added that she thinks it was important for the students in terms of their development to see from the beginning how "God provided everything."