As a mother of four, this is exactly what I want for my children.  I want a sure foundation for their times, however turbulent they may be

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I have had the privilege of meeting many of you; but, if not, my name is Kristie Allen!  I am married to Lee and we have 2 boys who attend Gramercy.  Cooper is in 9th grade and Caden is in 1st. We have been a part of the GCS family for 3 years now and are so blessed to be a part of such an amazing school! I have been a Registered Nurse for 19 years working at Chatham Hospital, UNC Hospital, and ECIM outpatient clinic in Pollocksville.   I have also taught Nursing at Craven Community College.  I work in the GCS office fulltime, as both the office administrator and our school nurse.   We will be including a Nurse’s Corner note in each month of our GCS Newspot. We will be highlighting different health topics that pertain to school-aged children. Please know that when we highlight a topic, it DOES NOT mean we are having a current issue at Gramercy. It is purely for informational purposes. If we do have an outbreak or something to report specifically happening at Gramercy, ...

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My eldest son graduates from Gramercy Christian School in a week.  Fresh from California and in a little bit of culture shock, Owen started GCS as a fourth grader, under the watchful eye of Mrs. Suzanne Israel.  I will never forget his first day of school.  I somehow missed the memo that the first day at Gramercy is always a half-day of school, and so I received the fateful call from the front office and began the mad scramble of loading two little ones in the car and rushing up the road to pick up the two kids I had failed to retrieve on time.  Mrs. Israel met me at the car.  She was worried Owen was behind in math, and I instantly broke down.  In the sweetest, most southern way possible, Mrs. Israel comforted and encouraged this blubbering mother of four, suffering from the stress of a cross-country move and the burden of shouldering the academic and emotional needs of four children whose lives had changed yet again.   Yesterday in the mail my graduating senior, who ...

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A number of years ago, a girlfriend of mine encouraged me to begin writing a blog.  Blogging was just becoming a "thing" of sorts,  and I gave it a feeble effort.  The title of the blog was "Good Morning VietMom,"  and I chose that title because I was becoming increasingly aware of the fact that being a mother was a serious battle.  At the time, our nation was mired in a war that began on September 11th, 2001, but I was a young mother fighting a serious war on the home front - a war called PARENTING.   This Mother's Day I am reminded of that somewhat silly blog but also of the not-so-silly reality that we face in raising our children in a war zone known as planet Earth.  As the mother of three sons and a daughter and as a full-time educator, I find myself more than ever battling for the emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being of my own children and the children in my daily care at school.  I am astounded at the difficulties and confusions facing our young peop ...

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Thirteen years ago, my family began the journey into Christian education.  Prior to having children, I had no clue what a difficult decision choosing a school would be.  In fact, in the 1970's and 80's, when I was a school-aged girl, I knew very few kids who didn't attend the local public school around the corner.  My mom had no inclination and very little impetus to even consider such a thing as private school, but times have changed.  By the time my first son was headed off to Kindergarten, we lived in a post 9/11 world, complete with an almost daily does of news about school shootings, sex-trafficking, gang wars, and drug lords.  My fragile mother's heart simply could not bear the thought of sending my son into a school system no longer interested in the Bible, prayer, or the Pledge of Allegiance.  In retrospect, I suppose my decision to send my firstborn to a private Christian school was based primarily in fear,  but times have changed.  By the time my second son wa ...

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School choice is defined as "a nationwide movement that empowers parents by enabling them to make the best possible choice for their children's education."  In the private school sector, school choice allows for publicly funded scholarship programs to redirect the flow of education funding for families.  Gramercy Christian School is a big proponent of school choice in North Carolina, and here's why: First, we believe parents are divinely equipped to make the wisest possible choices for their children.  Parents know their children better than a government, a school, or a teacher ever could, and thus parents are best able to choose a school that meets the individual needs of their individual child.  Second, we believe it is the duty of any responsible government to invest in the future stability of the nation by providing for its children's education. Currently, GCS has over 30 students receiving the North Carolina Opportunity Scholarship, which makes their educati ...

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Yesterday was the 243rd birthday of the United States Marine Corps, and tomorrow is Veterans Day.  Flags are at half mast, and Monday is a national holiday.  On Friday, the kids of Gramercy Christian School, as well as most of the towns of Newport and Morehead City, NC,  stood on the side of Highway 70 as a motorcade passed by in honor of fallen soldier Sgt. James Slape.  We had a special chapel the same day in honor of our military heroes, both past and present.  Last week, my sister attended a celebratory Marine Corps Ball with her husband, who is a Colonel in the USMC, and  today at church our local body of believers honored the men and women who have given their time in service to our country.  And all of that is appropriate.  In fact, it's more than appropriate.  It's the very least we can do.   Although I was not raised in a military family, I have had some experience with the military.  I live in a military town.  I work at a school in a ...

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I am an educator, not a politician.  I am a teacher and a taxpayer, and more importantly, a mother, which is why I am awake at 3 AM thinking about nations.  Yesterday, in what felt like a rite of passage, I took my eldest son, who recently turned 18 years old, to the polls to vote in his first midterm election.  He was a real hit.  The ladies at the polling place doted on him.  He filled out his ballot like a pro.  He got his sticker.  I took his picture.  I even posted it on Facebook, in a rare public display of parental pride.  He felt like a real American.  Over supper, my family had a heated discussion about Republicans, Democrats, and a failing two-party system.  I listened as my teenage boys schooled me on all that is wrong with our country.  We debated healthcare reform, immigration, constitutional interpretation, and the concept of legislating morality.  I went to bed mentally exhausted, a little bewildered, and legitimately concerned fo ...

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As a Christian educator, I am acutely aware of the importance of making certain that the next generation has been taught not only the fundamentals of reading, writing, and arithmetic, but also the truth of the Bible and the life-altering attributes of God.  As both a teacher and an administrator, I feel a pressing responsibility to make sure we are handing the baton of faith to the young men and women who are coming after us.   The book of Judges gives this scathing account of the Israelites failure to do just that:  "After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what He had done for Israel" (Judges 2:10).  If you know the Bible, then you know the catastrophic results of that particular failure - immorality, social injustice, war, and eventually bondage to foreign nations.  Although it would be easy to blame the younger generation for the state of Israel, there was also clearly a failure on the part of th ...

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I am sitting on my front porch, heavy sighing over yet another day of missed school due to inclement weather, and I'm attempting to remind my soul to be still.  We have barely shaken off the sadness and stress of Hurricane Florence, and I feel our community's collective distress over even the whisper of more that could possibly come.   Michael, even in the form of a Tropical Storm,  feels daunting.  To say the least, the 2018-2019 school year has been interesting thus far, but aren't they all? My eldest son is a Senior in high school.  The child was born in 2000, when Y2K had us all wondering if our entire infrastructure was going to collapse.  I had barely weaned him when September 11th, 2001 shook our nation to its core, and we realized we weren't as invulnerable as we had always imagined. In 2003, I snuggled my son along with his infant brother while I watched our country's military crash into Iraq in the days of "Shock and Awe," and my family had just moved to eastern N ...

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