K-12 educational institution ‘committed to showing Christ to children and planting seeds of hope.’
By Bobby Ross Jr. | The Christian Chronicle
NAPLES, Idaho — An eye-catching sign featuring a Christian school’s Rams mascot greets logging trucks along heavily traveled U.S. 95, about 40 miles south of the Canadian border.
Just off the highway, tamarack and ponderosa pine trees dot the landscape as K-12 students gather outside each morning to pray and recite the Pledge of Allegiance and the pledge of Foundations School.
“We pledge to serve God first in everything that we do, be a friend to people and live a life worthy of our calling,” the campus community vows.
While missionaries often move around the globe to fulfill their calling, Charli Turner, 48, found her mission field right here in rural North Idaho — at the site of a former greenhouse and garden center known as Moose Valley Farms.
“Our community has faced challenges — church scandals, splits and growing disinterest in faith — but we are committed to showing Christ to children and planting seeds of hope,” said Turner, founder and executive director of Foundations School, which is associated with Churches of Christ.
As she describes it, the Bible-based, trade-focused school equips students with practical skills and spiritual roots.
Launched three years ago with 18 students, the educational institution emphasizes individualized learning plans tailored to each child. The school has tripled in size to about 60.
A year after the K-12 opening, Turner persuaded Julie Montgomery, 44 — the founder’s longtime friend and fellow Christian — to relocate from Texas and serve as Foundations’ principal.
This story appears in the September print edition of The Christian Chronicle.
Photo by Ephraim Rodenbach
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