Preserving Liberty

August, 2001

It's official. I have now passed my one-year CHEACT Board service mark. If you've been reading these letters this year, you know that much has changed in CHEACT, and in many ways, we have just begun. Our regional support group role is still in its infancy. However, in the important things, nothing has changed. A certain timelessness surrounds everything that we do. Changes underway in CHEACT will better support the timeless biblical standard for our families in a world that is increasingly hostile towards us.

For most of us, summertime means less structure for our home schools. For home school support organizations, it means conferences and year-end events. CHEACT supports the Texas Home School Coalition as part of our mission to safeguard home schooling for central Texas families. Those who attended the annual THSC awards banquet in San Antonio last month, heard Dr. Marvin Olasky speak about the important and inevitable role of home-educated citizens in future American leadership.

Perhaps one of the most profound themes of the evening was raised by Governor Rick Perry. The aide who carried his message remarked that it was easy to lose sight of the real reason for education, as the public debate has moved to that of preparing our youth for higher education vs. a life of vocation. But according to our Founding Fathers, we must educate our children to raise up a citizenship that will preserve our liberty. As Dr. Olasky later expounded, the Founding Fathers were clearly thinking of our religious liberty. As we all know, part of the religious liberty that we enjoy is the freedom to educate our children at home - and children educated at home for God's glory will be some of the few who can help our country see what we are obligated to preserve, and to fight for what we have already lost.

CHEACT is in place to safeguard, promote and encourage this movement in our region. We are volunteer run, and are working diligently to develop the support network available to families committed to home school their children, to watch local and regional government as it pertains to issues that can threaten our freedom (e.g. day time curfews and truancy laws), and to be a central clearinghouse of information vital to our member families. The Board is made up of home school mothers and fathers who volunteer our spare time to CHEACT - just like many of you who lead support groups, co-ops and clubs in our region. We sincerely hope that you will begin to consider a lifetime of CHEACT membership, as we fight to preserve our liberty at a regional level. We need the involvement of home schooling families, grandparents, parents-to-be, pastors, churches, ministries and businesses.

You may be surprised to discover that membership dues barely cover the cost of printing and mailing this newsletter. Writing, editing, gathering information and layout is all done with volunteer hours. It is our summer conference that funds CHEACT for everything else that we do throughout the year, including prospective member counseling, getting started library meetings, overhead expenses, support group development, leadership training, as well as our planned web site improvements and upcoming local and regional government watch effort.

Though not without its difficulties, our summer Home Educator's conference was once again a success. I would like to thank each of the 900 attendees who went out of your way to make childcare arrangements and to brave parking challenges (sometime involving two bus rides and a long hike) to attend the biggest continuing education event of the year for home educators in central Texas. If you are one of the 65 homes school families that signed up as first time members during the conference, Welcome! You are now part of a growing organization dedicated to helping you succeed in your entire home school journey.

I would like to extend special thanks to the all of you who volunteered to make this conference a success. First thanks go to the CHEACT Board, most of who volunteered for the entire time - staying until late into the night, and arriving early each day to do it all over again. Second, thanks go to the record 91 volunteers who each gave a few hours… and to the few who gave quite a few. We could not have done it without you. Finally, Darla Jackson, Susan Novak and Teddie Austin deserve special recognition for their role in the many months of preparation required for an undertaking of this size. Thank You!

Although CHEACT has its roots in a local support group started some fifteen years ago, the CHEACT that this Board inherited is a fledgling regional support group. It is time to spread our wings and flex our collective muscle to safeguard, promote and encourage home schooling that glorifies God. Now that I have served you on the Board for a year, I submit to you that the single biggest issue standing between CHEACT and fulfilling our mission can be captured in how each of us answers these questions:

1. Am I a member of CHEACT for what's in it for me (like the newsletter or great discounts)? Or...
   
   
2. Am I a member of CHEACT because I am sold out to the cause of preserving religious liberty, building strong families and the important role that a Christian home education plays?

To the extent that you are in the first camp, CHEACT will struggle in the years to come. But as our membership base moves into the second group, we will be able to muster and leverage our collective strength to safeguard, promote and encourage home schooling for the glory of God -- A vital part in fulfilling our Founding Father's timeless dream of preserving liberty in America.


Brett Adams
Chairman, CHEACT

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