Portable classrooms may be in academy's future

CHILLICOTHE – Dan DeGarmo climbed atop a picnic table and shared his five-year vision for the future of the Ross County Christian Academy with the more than 100 people gathered around him Saturday morning in Yoctangee Park.

"This morning is just the first step in my hopes of raising money and awareness for this school so that what I have prayed about, and others have begun praying with me, that in the year 2020, we will have our own land, we will have a school that is built with at least 500 students," DeGarmo said to a round of applause.

Those first steps, quite literally, were taken Saturday morning during the inaugural Walk for Christian Education. The event was designed to serve the dual purpose of raising awareness of what the school has to offer and to raise funds that could be used toward purchasing property or an existing building as a permanent home for the school.

The academy is housed over two sites at Brookside Church and Lighthouse Baptist Church. While school officials are grateful for the partnerships with the two churches for the space and help with the growth of the academy – Ross County Christian will be offering a freshman high school grade for the first time in the fall – their dream is to one day secure a place of their own.

The goal of Saturday's walk was to raise $20,000, and in advance fundraising done in the weeks leading up to the event, a little over $9,000 had already been collected. As of Saturday evening, 72 percent of the goal had been reached, leaving organizers a little over $5,500 short of their target.

DeGarmo, who has four children at the school and who signed on in January as the school's new marketing director, said he was pleased to see so many extended families at Saturday's walk and acknowledged the road to meeting his 2020 goals will take sacrifices of time, money and resources. Toward that end, he said several plans are in the works, although he could not yet offer specifics.

"A lot of exciting things are going on, and I hope that excites you," he told the crowd.

Mike MacCarter, president of the academy's board, said there may be an intermediate step between now and what is hoped for in the next decade.

"We're looking at several options," MacCarter said. "There's the possibility of getting portable units – we're looking at four-classroom and six-classroom portable units and we can get into those for $100,000 to $300,000. Of course, if we buy land and look at building a building, we're into the millions, so unless we get a big donor, we're looking at the portable units."

If the academy goes the portable route, a move could be made in the next year or two, he added.

The academy presently has 205 students enrolled for next year in its preschool through freshman classes – a 50-student increase over this year – and expects more enrollment before the start of the next academic year.

cbalusik@nncogannett.com

740-772-9360

Twitter: @chris_balusik