Teaching the old-school way

In 2014 two sisters were praying together when both were struck by the same epiphany at once. Their concerns regarding their children, grandchildren, the world and the public-school system turned into a journey neither were sure they were ready for.

“My sister and I were praying together, and decided we should homeschool her children, my son and my grandchildren together,” said older sister Michelle Lowry. “It had to come from God, because it was way out of our comfort zone.”

Michelle is married to Donnie Lowry, and Linda is married to Donnie’s brother Troy Lowry. They both live on the same big property with their parents, Tommy and Betty Donley. Michelle has three grown daughters, six grandchildren and one teenage son. Linda is the mother of five children, the oldest of which was the first graduate of Lowry Christian Academy (LCA) in 2018.

With the family all in agreement, Donnie transformed a large storage building in their yard into a schoolhouse and that September the 2014-2015 school year began, at home for the first time. Since then they have taught nine students, had one graduate, and they have two under the age of five that will be coming up.

The pandemic of 2020 has not affected their students or lessons. While other parents were struggling to help their children with homework or give them a nutritious hot lunch every day, LCA made no changes at all. “Mimi,” as Michelle is called, makes lunch for her kids every day.

“We do have the freedom to not have school if one of us are sick,” she said.

The sisters divide the teaching duties, with Linda teaching the younger ones and Michelle teaching second grade and up. They use the PACE method, ordered from Accelerated Christian Education. Each subject consists of 12 PACE books, and students must pass a test after each book in order to advance. This allows them to move ahead or take more time if needed.

Subjects studied with PACE are math, English, literature, word building, science, social studies, and Bible class. The older boys take a shop class twice a week, taught by Tommy and his brother Jerry Donley.

Each of the children has been allowed to pursue their extracurricular activity of choice, whether it be dancing, gymnastics, baseball, or anything else they wanted to try.

“Some have taken karate, guitar lessons, dancing, gymnastics,” said Linda. “They are all very socially active.”

One of the biggest obstacles they overcame was Michelle’s fear of “not being educated enough.” She received her GED in place of a high school diploma, but she later went on to receive her Associates Degree from Texarkana College with honors.

A lot of her confidence building was a result of the support they found in two local homeschool groups. TEACH -Texarkana Educators Association of Christian Homeschoolers – meets once a month and holds a high school graduation ceremony at Moores Lane Baptist Church each year. The group sponsors bowling days, park days and parent meetings.

The Cass County Homeschool group meets each Friday, 1-3 p.m. at the Atlanta Church of God. The group offers support for the parents, as well as activities for the children.

One of the best advantages of homeschooling is that field trips often turn into family vacations. The extended family group has traveled to Glen Rose, Texas to see the Creation Museum, and to Kentucky to tour The Ark, as well as the Mary Todd Lincoln Museum.

“No matter where we go, I always include something educational,” said Michelle.

Although they are homeschooled, the students still have access to the same things public school students have. A speech therapist makes regular visits for one of the children. And dual credit high school classes are available online.

“The biggest difference is that the students have parents and grandparents here to minister to them when needed,” said Michelle. “You can’t do that in public school.”

Another big difference is how they begin their day at 8:30 a.m. – with the Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag, the Texas Flag, the Christian Flag and the Holy Bible. A sign on the wall beside the flags lines out the rules: Think good thoughts; trust in God; say I’m sorry; believe in grace; try to do better; love one another; dream big; pray always; never give up; and show respect.

For this teacher/Mimi, the bad days are when all the kids need her at the same time. But the good days balance it out.

“The best days are when you’re working with one of them and it just clicks – like a lightbulb,” said Michelle. “Most parents don’t get to see that.”

Because Linda teaches the younger ones, she teaches them all how to read. “It’s wonderful when they finally get it,” she said.

When they started this journey, Linda’s son, Cory, was in the second grade in public school. He is now a sophomore at Texarkana College where he is studying Computer Technology Information Systems.

“I feel like homeschooling more prepared me for college than public school would have,” said Cory. “Because when you’re homeschooled you have to learn to teach yourself, and the same goes for college.”

When Cory, now 20, graduated, Troy and Linda were on stage to present his diploma to him, with a video collage of his photos on the big screen. Michelle’s 14-year old son, Dylan, celebrated his eighthgrade graduation last year with an end-ofyear party.

Cory’s younger brothers and sisters have a big pair of shoes to fill. Joel – 17, Elijah – 11, and Holly – 10 are both doing well in class. Threeyear old Adeline is looking forward to having her Mom teach her to read.

The other students belong to Michelle and her daughters. Her son, Dylan, starts his freshman year when LCA opens September 7. Chloe is the 10-year old daughter of Lillian and Johnathan Clevenger.

Macie, the seven-year old daughter of April and Mike Martinez, has opted to attend school at Queen City Elementary. Kayla and Nathan Hill are parents to the other four grandchildren: Raenee – 8 (who has skipped ahead in her studies), Zeke – 6, Eli – 5, and Cadence – 1.

Not only do the children enjoy school, but the cousins have formed strong family bonds.

They may argue and fuss like all family does, but at the end of the day, they have each other’s back, with the kind of love that only family can have.

And there is no doubt that love flows from the teachers to each child, and back. So, the journey that started with prayer has been blessed as only God can do, and the evidence lies in the students smiling faces.

“The best thing about school is that I love the teachers very much,” said Holly.