Merry Christmas to all!
Cartoon by Jerry King for the Toledo Free Press.
Special Report: What is LifeWise Academy?
Ohio nonprofit offers Bible education during public school hours
Part 1 of a limited series about Ohio-based LifeWise Academy.
By Laurie Bertke
OHIO – If LifeWise Academy has not yet come to your public school district, the odds are good someone is currently working to introduce it in the near future.
Headquartered in Hilliard, Ohio, the nonprofit that brands itself as providing Bible education to public school students during school hours has rapidly spread from two schools in Ohio to more than 600 schools in 31 states since it launched in 2019.
Joel Penton, founder and CEO of LifeWise Academy, estimates it will soon be confirmed in 40 percent of all school districts in Ohio. The organization is working to replicate this success across the country and reports national enrollment at 36,574 students.
“We’re investing heavily to build out capacity to grow to bring LifeWise to the nation,” Penton stated in the Lifewise “State of the Ministry” report for November 2024.
If you are scratching your head and wondering how Bible education during the public school day is possible, here is the condensed pitch shared by proponents of LifeWise:
In 1952, the Supreme Court ruled that students can be released from public school during school hours to attend religious classes. This is known as released time for religious instruction (RTRI), and 26 states have an RTRI law on the books. Ohio passed its RTRI law (Revised Code 3313.6022) in 2014, giving local school districts the option to develop these policies.
The Supreme Court ruling stipulated that programs must meet off school property, be privately funded and can only be offered with parental permission. The Ohio law requires parents to provide written consent for participation and states that no public funds may be expended and no public school personnel may be involved in providing religious instruction.
Until recently, RTRI was used on a limited scale by small, local programs. Penton, a former OSU linebacker and self-described “nonprofit entrepreneur,” learned about one program that was operating successfully in his hometown of Van Wert and developed the idea of creating a “plug-and-play” model that could easily be replicated in other public school districts.
For supporters who want to bring school-day Bible classes to their district, LifeWise lays out a 10-step process that begins with collecting 50 signatures and raising $500. Coalitions of local churches partner with LifeWise to provide funding, classroom space and volunteers. Large, branded red buses transport the children from school to churches and other off-site locations to study the Bible during the school day.
While LifeWise Academy is not affiliated with any one Christian denomination, its website says its teachings align with “historic, orthodox Christian beliefs.” Its curriculum is based on The Gospel Project, which comes from the publishing arm (Lifeway) of the Southern Baptist Convention.
The local proliferation of LifeWise & changes to RTRI law
In the metropolitan Toledo area, the program is currently enrolling elementary students from the Anthony Wayne and Perrysburg school districts, and it is in various stages of being introduced in virtually every other district in the region.
Current Ohio law says public school districts may adopt a policy that authorizes a student to be excused from school to attend an RTRI program. But that is soon expected to change, as state legislators passed a bill during the lame duck session this month that would make adopting an RTRI policy a requirement for all public school districts.
Gov. Mike DeWine is expected to sign House Bill 8 into law before the end of the year, clearing the way for programs like LifeWise to start up in any district with relatively few barriers. When similar legislation passed in Indiana, the number of LifeWise programs tripled.
Rachel Coyle, policy director for Honesty for Ohio Education, said LifeWise representatives lobbied legislators to change the law when districts began rejecting LifeWise, or even rescinding their existing RTRI policies due to complaints and concerns about the organization.
Districts in Ohio that have rescinded RTRI programs due to issues with Lifewise include Huron, Westerville and Worthington. “There’s going to be some very angry parents in the districts where they have removed RTRI programs because they have seen them go poorly already,” said Coyle.
“Right now school boards and parents have the ability to determine that this is not a good fit for their district,” she added. “If passed, the law would require every school district to allow religious release programs in some capacity.”
In northwest Ohio, public school boards in Bowling Green and Sylvania have already blocked LifeWise Academy from entering their districts.
LifeWise proponents presented the program to the Sylvania Schools Board of Education and requested permission to operate in the district earlier this year. The meeting drew a larger crowd than usual, and included public testimony that predominantly came from residents opposed to the program.
On March 18, the Sylvania Board of Education ultimately chose not to adopt a policy to allow release time for religious instruction. Board members cited concerns about liability, disruptions to the school day and opening the door to other programs requesting excused absences. They suggested it would be more appropriate to offer the program after school.
“It’s not about whether we’re allowing LifeWise,” said Tammy Lavalette, board president. “It’s about whether we’re allowing any religious instruction program that wants to come in. And that could be at different times of day. It could turn into an even larger disruption.”
Public schools as a “mission field”
Why doesn’t LifeWise want to offer its religious programming before or after school?
Penton has described public schools as a “mission field” and and Lifewise supporters see public schools as a place to encounter families that aren’t coming to church on Sundays. According to the Lifewise website, its vision is “To reach unchurched public school students with the gospel through a replicable released time religious instruction program.”
Coyle said several school boards in Ohio have attempted to work with LifeWise on setting up a before or after school program, to no avail.
LifeWise programs are typically held during lunch and recess or during “specials” classes such as art, music, gym and library. In some Ohio districts, the number of children attending LifeWise is so large that schools have replaced a class with a study hall because so few students are left behind.
Coyle said this means students who don’t participate in LifeWise are missing out on classroom activities, too. “So, we see the goal being to disrupt the public school day,” she said.
Critics have also accused LifeWise of rewarding students for attendance with candy and other treats and boosting enrollment by offering incentives for students to recruit friends to attend. While LifeWise proponents claim the program promotes character education and improves mental health, others counter that LifeWise is abusing release time for religious instruction policies.
“It’s absolutely true that RTRI has existed for some time,” said Coyle. “But the disruption has only been caused by this new group.”
With passage of House Bill 8 likely, Coyle said the next step for Honesty for Ohio Education is to develop a sample policy to help districts think through all the potential issues that may arise.
Many unanswered questions remain about the details regarding RTRI programs. How can districts ensure people taking kids out of school for religious education have been properly vetted with background checks? Who is driving the buses that transport the children off site for class, and have they received proper training? Do the facilities where classes are held need to have supplies such as epinephrine injection devices and fire extinguishers?
There are dozens of basic everyday things parents should be asking that the bill does not require the districts to do, but then the district would have to do that on their own for these policies.
Rachel Coyle, policy director for Honesty for Ohio Education.
School districts might want to define how often programs can remove students, or require programs that remove students during lunch to feed the the children. Coyle said there could also be a defined process for “kicking out” programs for violations, such as repeatedly failing to return students to school on time.
Larger questions are also raised by the lack of definition in terms of what qualifies as an RTRI program. “We absolutely are concerned about who else is going to attempt to use this to their advantage,” said Coyle. “Is there any kind of validation or accreditation that has to occur for someone to be a full religious release program? That kind of thing is going to be important as well for the local policies to have.”
The end goal is for districts to have thorough policies that keep children safe and minimize disruptions to the school day, according to Coyle. “It’s going to be every district having local parents come in to advocate, essentially, for what they’re going to end up with.”
Confessions of a rock ‘n’ roller girlaholic
Reaping the benefits, backlash of a rock band life
On a cold winter’s night (Feb. 9,1964, to be exact) a whole lotta television sets were tuned to CBS’ “The Ed Sullivan Show” to witness first-hand the American arrival of the four lads from Liverpool, The Beatles.
The musical landscape, and for that matter the world at large, would never be the same. What many thought would be a flash-in-the-pan phenomenon grew to be a cultural revolution, in the true sense of the term. Though the band played by the rules initially (suit and ties, “yes sir/no ma’am,” clean shaven with coiffed mop tops), they and a lot of other people slowly found it much more fun to taunt the social norms of the time.
And in addition to all the high-falutin’ academic, sociological, genre-bending aspects of the British Invasion, there was something that bubbled underneath – for me at least. It was all but indiscernible at the time, like a slow-moving, raucous weather system that hasn’t hit yet.
I was there, a distant witness to it all, itching to be in the fray, rebelling against authority (my parents), hungry to emulate my new found heroes. Goodbye Elvis. Hello, John, Paul, George and Ringo.
It wasn’t till recently, I suppose, that I recognized what that undercurrent was that I couldn’t put my finger on at the time. As those of us who were there recall, the cameras would switch from The Beatles performing to the audience’s reaction during the show. And that audience was majorly screaming girls.
So, sure, I wanted to be on stage singing and whoopin’ it up, but it hadn’t occurred to me, at the age of 10, that one of the major reasons for my interest and excitement was girls. Rock’n’roll was an indistinguishable path to girls!
Fast forward to Columbus, Ohio, around 1965. My Dad worked for the railroad, and he and the family got transferred to the capital. We lived in a suburb called Forest Park, an enclave of stucco homes and middle class families. By that time, I had been Beatle-ized: I had a six-foot poster of McCartney in my bedroom, I had all the Beatle albums at that point, and a mass collection of Beatle cards – the whole whammy. More than all o’ that, it was in this ‘burb that I first used my vocal cords to ‘spress myself.
A kid my age lived directly across the street. Don King was his name, and he played a beige hollow-body guitar that was almost bigger than him. In no small part because of Beatlemania, we decided to get a band together, but because of certain restraints, we had to rehearse as a duo in the garage of my home. So, Don would drag his guitar and amp to my place, and we’d go at it, with the garage door open.
For whatever reason, we only knew one song: “Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got A Lovely Daughter,” by Herman & The Hermits. Over and over we’d do the tune – musta drove the neighbors nuts!
But the only neighbors that mattered to me were two sisters of my age, who lived kitty-corner across the street from me. I would literally fix my eyes on their upstairs bedroom window and croon, like a poor boy’s Romeo and Juliet. Try as I may, though, it was for naught, but I still felt that rock ‘n’ roll was my vehicle to get female attention and L-O-V-E!
Eventually, puberty, testosterone and my sexual id came into being. I succeeded a couple of times in obtaining girlfriends in the years that followed, but probably the most memorable of my encounters happened when I was in my early 20s. I had already taken the cue from The Beatles and the screaming girls and formed a few rock bands. At the time, I was in a “blues” band called Strongheart, and I was also enrolled at the University of Toledo, working to become a commercial artist (a term that eventually morphed into graphic artist.).
Part of the course study was a beginner’s psych course. I liked the class well enough, but what I really liked was the young lady who sat in front of me. A true beauty (she still is) who made my heart go wingy-wangy (a technical term.)
As luck (and fate) would have it, she came to see Strongheart one night. I was on her like wings on a bird, and we chatted up a storm. One thing led to another and we consummated our love. Our bumpy relationship lasted many years.
So, in the late ’60s/early ’70s I found that with my “position” as lead singer/goofball of a rock band, people (read “girls”) would come up and talk/flirt/entice me into their auras. But I also took the initiative, feeling more cocksure (pun intended) to talk to women I would heretofore never approach.
One incident that I remember was on Halloween. The band (Wet Shavers, I think) was playing at Howard’s Club H in Bowling Green. It was wild, with all kinds of costumes, liquor flowing, cocaine up the nostrils – I’m surprised I survived those days! Towards the end of the evening, a tall, red-headed woman approached the stage. Dressed as some sort of S&M dominatrix, she grabbed my arm and handcuffed me. She didn’t unlock the cuffs till the next morning.
As I look back, something happened. I can see that things got a little out of hand. I became addicted to the female charm. I was no prince, that’s for sure, a plain somewhat chubby dude, but as the center of attention on stage, it was easy for me to talk to girls. I became a “girlaholic.”
My ego soared out of control, and I became reckless and ruthless. The huge, elephant-in-the-room irony was that this was supposedly the norm for the job. In those days, rock ’n’ rollers were supposed to be womanizers! Hell, we weren’t makin’ any money. Why not?!!
All of those incidents, though they may have been a whole lotta fun at the time, seem to ring mostly hollow now. Yeah, I say “mostly.” I mean, after all, what am I without all the bad-boy shenanigans that accompany rock ’n’ roll? Like I said, this is a lot of what rock ’n’ roll is/was about. I can’t deny it; I can’t take it back, and I won’t. To what avail? But it’s not where I am now.
This went on for years – nay decades. Self-centered, thinking with the wrong head. I hurt people. I am painfully aware that I’ve done multiple dumbshit things in my Life, but I’m still a true believer in Karma – what goes around comes around – whatever you wanna call it. So, for all of the stupid stuff I did, and however much time I have on this orb, I’m hoping to make amends, and for some semblance of redemption.
But as we all know, there are no guarantees, just death and taxes.
Merde.
Susie’s Coats, other charities collect warm clothes for TPS students
TOLEDO – Changes in weather make for changes in wardrobe, but quickly sprouting kids can easily outgrow clothes from the previous year. As it gets colder, there is a pipeline of organizations at the forefront of providing warm clothes for kids.
“We held our distribution in November, when 904 children passed through our doors, and it [their supply] wasn’t enough,” said Susan Perry, executive director of Susie’s Coats for Kids, about the need in the Toledo area.
Rising to meet the need, Susie’s Coats teamed up with Holland, Ohio company Designetics, which specializes in fluid applicators for manufacturing companies, and their humanitarian arm, Care for Kids, a nonprofit founded in 2020.
Sydney Williams, president of Designetics, said their first year getting Care for Kids up and running included a Trunk or Treat in the fall, but by the next year, “they [the kids] didn’t need candy, they needed coats.”
Perry became aware of northwest Ohio’s need to clothe children two decades ago and has worked doggedly to provide more resources to children.
The nonprofit’s main goal is to make sure kids have well-fitting and presentable coats without holes or tears when winter rolls around. Susie’s Coats’ primary storehouse is based in Millbury, but the nonprofit has 35 ‘coat closets’ within a 45-mile radius of Toledo, most of them based in elementary schools.
Perry said her nonprofit has experienced exponential growth since it began, and just last year merged with Hannah’s Socks, who shares a similar goal. Between the two nonprofits, Perry said 224,102 items of warm apparel, including coats, gloves and socks, have been distributed this year.
One distribution site was at Escuela SMART Academy in south Toledo, where Susie’s Coats, Designetics and the Toledo Zoo on Monday handed out winter-wear, along with other holiday items, during the Escuela holiday party.
“We know there’s a big need in our community, and we know it’s cold,” said Martha Ohashi, school nurse for Escuela SMART Academy.
Ohashi reminds teachers to be aware of kids consistently coming to school without warm clothes. “When the child comes into my office [after being recommended by a teacher], I make a call to their home, and I try to connect them to resources,” she said.
Linda Ruiz-Bringman, assistant superintendent of student, family and community engagement for Toledo Public Schools (TPS), is focused on meeting the needs of children throughout TPS, so that the students can perform well in school.
“The need is great within the Toledo area,” Ruiz-Bringman said. Because of this need, all TPS nurses have essential items on hand, ranging from clothes to hygiene items. “We are always engaging with families. Families will reach out to us and our department.”
The Community Engagement Department deals with a host of different issues, including students lacking food, access to internet, clothing or even basic access to utilities in their homes.
Information from schools and classrooms largely impact how aid gets to children. Perry’s organization has its hands full partnering with nonprofits and businesses to provide items, but relies largely on TPS’s reporting to decide where to distribute items and setup closets.
Natasha Allen, principal of Escuela SMART Academy, is well aware of the needs of her students, and estimated about 180 of her 285 students were in need of coats this year. Over the past four years at the academy, she said there is always a need for coats, and that each year at least half of the students need them.
“We’re just grateful to have them … so our kids can do well,” the principal said, and firmly added that “the students in need of coats are getting coats.”
As students at Escuela filed into the holiday party, grabbed holiday items and colorful socks, nurse Ohashi checked the names of students who needed coats with the size of coat that would fit them. Volunteers from the Perrysburg Knights of Columbus sorted through boxes of warm clothing items, and then handed them to students, who received them with smiles.
“We won’t stop,” Allen said resolutely, adding that the school would find other ways to support their kids if the need increases or the support dries up.
“We support the whole child, and that includes their family,” she said.
Unorthodox Christmas movie list
A few years ago, my wife had the great idea of watching what we jokingly termed the ‘Not-So-Christmasy’ list. Since then, our tradition has caught on with friends and family. Some of those recommendations are listed below should you ever wish to veer off the beaten path.
Caveat – I must confront the elephant in the room and forego the obvious argument for Die Hard as a Christmas movie. Because deep down in the depths of our hearts, we can all acknowledge the 1988 action classic is the new gold standard for the holiday must-watch. I mean, is it really Christmas unless we see Hans Gruber fall from the peak of Nakatomi Plaza and see John McClane emerge victorious? I don’t think so.
Eyes Wide Shut (1999): Stanley Kubrick’s swan song has garnered heaps of praise and rebuke since its release for its cold temperament; matching the cool hues of the Christmas lights and décor, which fill almost each individual shot of the film (a technique of on–screen lighting Kubrick used in his films). Between the sexual doubt sown between Bill and Alice Hartford (played by Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman) and Bill’s odyssey into the abyss, the film is a masterful tale about the pitfalls of marriage gone awry.
Stalag 17 (1953): An all-time personal favorite, this chamber piece from Billy Wilder portrays the lives of American POWs in the German camp of the title name. As Christmas approaches in 1944, the occupants of Barracks 4 play cat and mouse to find if there really is a spy hiding amongst them in the wake of a botched escape of two of their comrades. Led by William Holden as the acerbic and opportunistic Sgt. JJ Sefton (the role that nabbed him the Oscar), this beautifully scripted comedy/thriller builds to an unforgettable climax where the ultimate Christmas present is gifted at the feet of the camp commandant.
Bad Santa (2003): Speaking of Oscars, I will die on the hill that Billy Bob Thornton deserved a nomination for his performance as scuzzy con-man Willie T. Stokes in this early 2000s comedy gem from Terry Zwigoff. With the help of his hilarious counterpart, played by Tony Cox, Thornton looks to make one last score as a drunken mall Santa before retiring to a life of buggery and cirrhosis. That is, before meeting the adolescent Thurman Murman – arguably the most endearing slab of innocence put on screen.
Fanny & Alexander (1982): For Swedish auteur Ingmar Bergman, whose repertoire was heavy with themes of psychological despair, war and the psyche of the sexes, this late-career landmark may be the most life affirming film he ever made. Centering on the eponymous siblings, the film plays out in the dreamscape of childhood while traversing familial issues in the early 1900s. Having only engaged with Bergman’s work within the last decade, I expected the usual emotional sledgehammer but found this film to have a delicate touch, even given the similar terrain.
Batman Returns (1992): The argument for this being a Christmas film has been the sequel to the argument for Die Hard in recent years. Even as it’s the darkest of all the Batman movies, the themes and mise-en-scene are all in place for a favorable argument. From the Penguin (a brilliant Danny DeVito) and evil Max Schreck (Christopher Walken) as the Krampus of Gotham City, the belle falling into the exploding tree, Michelle Pfeiffer’s scene stealing role as the anarchic Catwoman and Michael Keaton’s Batman shoveling his hero complex through the snows of Gotham, the film proves a worthy sequel to the 1989 blockbuster.
Trading Places (1983): One-part A Christmas Carol and one-part satirical send-up of early 80s Reaganomics, this social experiment in class was the peak of director John Landis’ run that began with 1978’s Animal House. Dan Aykroyd as the soulless stockbroker is a masterclass in one-arc storytelling. Together with prime Eddie Murphy as the lowly grifter, Jamie Lee Curtis as the hooker with a heart of gold, and a strong comedic supporting cast, this film holds up to the test of culture due to its always timely comedic punches.
Black Christmas (1974): Lastly, a cult classic from director Bob Clarke, the same director who gave us A Christmas Story a decade later. The film’s plot is as simple as can be: an unnamed, faceless killer stalks sorority girls, mainly Olivia Hussey and Margot Kidder, while on Christmas break in a “the call is coming from inside the house” scenario. Taking its cues from both the Italian Giallo genre and the Alfred Hitchcock school of dread, this low–budget horror film was a great influence on later classics like John Carpenter’s Halloween (1977) and Friday the 13th (1980).
Toledo Firefighters Local 92 donates to MLK Kitchen for the Poor
TOLEDO – The Junction neighborhood, just west of downtown, has been the focus of numerous revitalization efforts, but one of the lifelines to this community has stayed active since 1969.
The late reverend Harvey Savage Sr. didn’t need a sign from above to start feeding the poor; he looked out his back window.
“He was inspired by a man eating out of the garbage in the back yard,” recalled Harvey Savage Jr. “He invited the guy inside, and said, ‘We need to be feeding people.’”
Out of that moment, Savage Sr. decided to start the MLK Kitchen for the Poor.
More than 50 years later, the mission is the same, but Savage Jr., executive director for the MLK Kitchen at 650 Vance St., said that it, “seems like the need is greater now than then.”
Savage, Jr. puts the rough estimate of the amount of people fed by the kitchen each day at 300, and the increased need in the community has been “somewhat gradual. You see more people you haven’t seen before.”
Seniors are the demographic he noticed were most affected. “To live off of social security is not enough with the cost of food and utilities,” he said.
To help offset the increased need, the Toledo Firefighters’ Union Local 92 donated $7,000 on Wednesday as the kitchen heads into a busy time of year.
“I can’t remember not getting a check [from the firefighters’ union],” Savage Jr. said, but noted this check was much more substantial than what the firefighters regularly give.
Generally, the union takes a percentage of the firefighters’ checks and uses the money to support numerous charities in Toledo with those funds.
Phil Moline, vice president for the Local 92, said that usually the amount is between $500-1000, but this year a retired union member’s mother passed away and allocated $3,500 to be given to the MLK Kitchen.
“He [the retired union member] asked for it to be given and matched,” Moline said. And the union was happy to help out.
“We go into a lot of homes and environments, so we know this neighborhood,” Moline went on to say. “We’ve always had a lot of people in this neighborhood, and we know this charity.”
The union body elected to match the $3,500 to the MLK Kitchen, and Savage Jr. said the funds would go to operating costs and paying utility bills for the kitchen.
“This is our backyard,” said Joe Cira, president-elect and current secretary treasurer of Local 92. “Their [the kitchen’s] margins are so thin, and they’re not a business. When the cost of groceries goes up it affects everybody else.”
With that, Cira encouraged people to give to local charities and thanked the MLK Kitchen for their work in the Junction neighborhood.
“Firefighters have been great within the community, no matter what happens,” Savage Jr. said.
Food distributions occur Monday through Thursday, and the Kitchen is planning a large Christmas party on Dec. 23 at noon.
“All kids will get a gift, and we’ll have a Santa Claus,” Savage Jr. exclaimed.
To donate or volunteer with the MLK Kitchen for the Poor, go to kitchenforthepoor.org, reach out to them at 419.241.2596, or email them at mlk.kitchen@att.net.
