Living Hope students, teachers get new digs

Academy aims to reach at-risk kids

By Kayla Gahagan, Journal staff | Tuesday, September 09, 2008

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New students at Living Hope Academy got the same assignment many students in Rapid City got on the first day of school this year -- homework.

In an upstairs classroom Monday morning, teacher Nada Archilta wrote math lessons on a white board after a lecture and asked her students to open their books and get to work. Archilta co-teaches with Bonnie Cavallo, who was in a circle with students asking about the best way to spot a verb in a sentence.

The teachers are familiar faces for many of the students, but the building is new for everyone. The new school was started this fall after Native American Ministries closed the K-12 Lakota Christian School last year as part of a restructuring.

Living Hope Academy is a K-8 school with between 20 and 30 students enrolled, most of them Native American. It can hold 35 to 40 students, said director George Nalley, and they are hoping to fill those spots this week.

The new school is housed in a Bethel Assembly of God church building across from North Middle School on Maple Avenue. The youth of the church and the YMCA still meet in the building at night until the Bethel Assembly group moves to a different building, Nalley said.

“The church is doing all they possibly can,” he said. “They’ve been extremely helpful.”

The school has a wider mission than other educational systems, Nalley said.

“If it was just for school, there’s plenty of schools in town,” he said.

Some of the students have fallen through the cracks at larger schools, he said, and some of them have backgrounds they’re trying to heal from. Nalley and his wife are raising four foster children right now, ages 3, 2, 1 and 6 months, and he said the pain from a difficult upbringing can cause wounds in even the youngest of kids.

“It’s amazing how they can get hurt so early in life,” he said, tearing up. ‘We’re trying to make a difference in their life, so the cycle isn’t repeated.”

The students enrolled so far say they’re glad to be back in a small setting. Ahliyah Brought Plenty, a sixth-grader at the school, said she wouldn’t want to be in a public school this year.

“Too crowded,” she said.

The new building has also brought its share of challenges, the teachers and Nalley say. The to-do list takes up more than one sheet of paper, including fixing windows and doors and setting up the playground equipment.

“We’re still obviously working,” he said.

Archilta misses more easily accessible bathrooms. There are only two bathrooms in the new building, and they are downstairs.

But Nalley said he has other worries as well -- money. One example of the dedication of the teachers at the school, he said, is the fact that they have taken second jobs in case he can’t afford to pay them what they should be paid.

The school has been blessed with donations of supplies and money from community members and churches, Nalley said, and he will continue his fundraising efforts. He tries not to worry too much.

“It’s just always been there as we’ve needed it,” he said.

They’re hoping to continue to provide a much-needed service in the community -- a safe education haven for students who need it – he said.

“It’s to help the kids understand who they are, their value, and for healing,” he said.

Contact Kayla Gahagan at 394-8410 or kayla.gahagan@rapidcityjournal.com