Giving parents an option when it comes to educating their children, is what Steve Sommer said motivated him to finally pull the trigger on something he has wanted to do for a long time - start a faith based school. n September, the families of 10 youngsters took advantage of the opportunity for an alternative school, and enrolled their kids in the Callaway Christian Academy. It is not technically a private school, but rather a cooperative of home schoolers.

Sommer has owned and operated the Boneyard Creation Museum in Broken Bow for many years. “I had a guy that wanted to keep it going, which is what I wanted, and that allowed me to concentrate on starting a school. It was kind of an opportunity thing,” said Sommer.

Callaway is a natural fit for the location of the school as Sommer attends Callaway Community Church, and he received a great deal of support and encouragement from his church family. This past spring he purchased the building on main street that had once housed Callaway Mercantile, and began transforming to accommodate a school environment.

“We had been talking about this for about a year before we actually moved on it, and Carol Watson and Morgan Hinman both expressed interest in being involved with it,” Sommer explained. “While we are separate from the church, that was kind of our base and a lot of people in the church do help support it.”

New flooring was installed in the building and several other small projects were completed to spruce up the interior. The school opened at the same time as the public school, and operates along the same schedule.

The Callaway Christian Academy currently has students in grades kindergarten through fifth, and Sommer explained the structure of the typical school day. “We have our academic classes in the morning, then in the afternoons we have various options for the kids such as woodworking, art and music,” he shared kids such as woodworking, art and music,” he shared. “We schedule lab work and field trips for science in the afternoons as well. For example,we did a rock hunting trip, and went out on a weed and flower hunting trip.”

Though the school only has students through fifth grade at the present time, Sommer said they already have curriculum in place for the upper grades which will allow those students to remain at the Academy through 12th grade. “These are respected curriculums and most colleges and trade schools are aware of that. Normally home school and private school students do pretty well,” said Sommer.

Morgan Hinman had worked as a paraeducator at Callaway Public School for three years prior to joining the staff at Callaway Christian Academy. Her husband, Abe, has taught at CPS for nearly 20 years.

“I liked working at the school, but when this opportunity came up I considered all the variables before making a decision. We have one daughter, and saw this as a chance to be able to do something all day every day that the public schools can’t do, and that’s to bring Jesus into her life and the lives of other kids - every day, all day long,” said Hinman. “The most important thing in raising her was her spiritual life and that’s why I chose this. This was the only thing the public school could not do; it had nothing to do with the education or anything like that at the public school.”

Hinman currently has one fifth grader, one fourth grader and three third graders that she teaches at the Academy.

Carol Watson is bringing her years of experience educating children to the classroom at Callaway Christian Academy. She teaches kindergarten through second graders. Though she has not taught in a public school, Watson homeschooled her own children, and several of her grandchildren. She said she now has the privilege of being able to teach her great-grandchildren.

“I have been going to the state school board meetings for the past year and a half, and I realized that if something is going to change I am going to have to help with that change,” Watson explained. “When Steve came up with the decision to open the Christian Academy he approached me, and with my background in homeschooling and good curriculum, I was excited to provide that for children to learn creation based good curriculum. Yes, I’m older but I will continue to help children learn to read as long as I can.”

Watson explained that teaching the young students phonics is a critical piece of what they do at the Academy. “If children learn early, they will be able to spell and they will be able to read - and that is the goal,” she said. “Once they begin to read and sound out their words, their vocabulary begins to grow rapidly. And that is why I like the ground level.”

Callaway Christian Academy is an LLC and is supported by private donations and tuition. The Academy is operated by a board, and Sommer serves as the Director of the Academy.