It does sound a little too good to be true–you can give money to help students attend private schools without really paying a dime? Yes, you can!

It’s actually really simple! Just look at last year’s tax return to find out how much you owed, give that amount to a tuition scholarship organization, then you’ll get it all back in your refund.

Perhaps you aren’t aware of how much you can donate. If you are a single, you can donate the first $500 that you owe in state tax. Couples can donate up to $1,000!

It only takes a few minutes to donate online and fill out the additional one page tax form.

Maybe they haven’t heard that the contribution deadline has been changed from December 31 to April 15, giving another four and a half months to contribute! But don’t wait too long–needy students already enrolled in private schools are depending on timely contributions to scholarship organizations in order to stay in school.

Actually, it saves the state millions of dollars because less is spent on educating a child in a private school.

Donors can give to multiple tax credits (public school, working poor, and private school) and still get the credit as long as it does not exceed their tax liability.

Many of the students at GBA are here because of the sacrifices their parents have made. Sometimes that isn’t enough though; sometimes outside help is needed to keep kids in a Christian school. What a difference it makes for a Christian child to be enrolled in a school that honors God and has a biblical worldview.

Maybe you don’t personally know a student at GBA who needs money. That’s no excuse! Fill out the form and put “needy Gateway Baptist Academy student” in the appropriate spot. There is a scholarship committee that will make sure the money gets to a worthy student.

You can help spread the word by forwarding this email or posting it on your Facebook page and talking to your friends about it!

1. Find out how much state tax you owed last year
2. Donate that amount (up to the limit) to a school tuition organization
3. Fill out AZ form 323 when you do your state taxes
4. Cash your refund check to get every dollar back

Our student-athletes had planned a fundraiser at the Chandler Chick-Fil-A. The proceeds were to help pay for their athletic uniforms. However, somewhere between the time we established the date and the actual event, an earthquake devastated the country of Haiti. Unbeknown to me, our students were desiring to help but were not quite sure how to go about it. Then it was decided in a meeting with all the student athletes. Why don’t we give a portion of the proceeds to the earthquake victims of Haiti?

Let’s be honest- not every teenager thinks this way. They think about their social status, their cell phone, their hair, and so many other things- but not usually others. This was when God said to me, “Yes, it’s worth it! It’s working!” Friend, remember that “soon this life will soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.”

For some reason, extracting the square roots of large numbers was more difficult than expected. For forty minutes or so, I labored to explain and demonstrate the proper method in square root extraction. The process can be very tedious. Attention to detail is necessary. Patience is definitely helpful. Yesterday was undoubtedly one of the harder days for this class.

I wonder how we’re doing when it comes to “extracting potential” from our students. It can be frustrating at times, at the very least difficult. Yet like square roots, it can be tedious, attention to detail is needed but our patience will yield our desired fruit! Satan is as a roaring lion, seeking to devour our young people. We must do all that we can, by God’s grace, to show our students that they are loved by God and that He desires to use the potential He has instilled in each and everyone of them.

Today, my students came in with a little trepidation because of yesterday’s experience. I very patiently demonstrated the method again, making sure they understood each step. Then it happened- the light bulb came on! The smile on their faces made my day as they realized where they were stumbling and made the necessary adjustments to properly extract square roots. And that’s just math!

Imagine the eternal impact when we learn to extract the potential out of our students. So don’t delay and start today and witness the effect one young person can have when they wholly yield their life to Christ!