BY TRACY LEE TATE
Times Editor
LAKE BUTLER — Light Christian Academy is now offering Christian education in Lake Butler, filling a gap left by the closure of the Lake Butler Christian Academy a couple of years ago.
The Union Campus of the academy will be a part of a group of schools in North Florida, with the other two locations being in Ocoee and Gotha. The Ocoee Campus was the first to open, for the 2009-10 school year, with the Gotha Campus coming on board in the 2020-21 year.
The schools were started by Pastor Thomas Odom, Senior Pastor of The Church of God in Ocoee. He and his wife (of 25 years this week), Wendy, have three children and wanted them to be educated in a Christian environment. All three attended the Ocoee school from the start and two have already graduated, with one still in attendance.
Odom said he was reading a publication listing the private schools in February of last year and discovered that there was not one in Union County. He said he developed a desire to have a school in the county and fed that desire by starting one.
Odom (46) is originally from Bradford County, where he graduated from Bradford High School in 1994. In high school he participated in both band and chorus. He attended the Starke Church of God (now the River of Life Church), then later the Lawtey Church of God. It was the Lawtey church he felt his calling to the ministry and surrendered to it in 1995. After working for 17 years in healthcare and the medical equipment industry, he attended Lee University, a Church of God institution, in Cleveland, TN.
Odom relocated to Ocoee in 2002 and became Senior Pastor there in 2008.
“I came from an administrative, secular world and this has helped me in both the church and the schools,” Odom said. “As a senior pastor and school administrator I find myself dealing with things like scheduling, budgeting and accounting and I can handle that because of my background.”
Odom’s children seem to be following in his footsteps. Oldest daughter, Cherith (23) (named after the River Cherith in I Kings 17) works in the ministry at the Ocoee Campus. Son, Titus (20) and his wife, Michaelyn, serve as student pastors at the Lake City Church of God and youngest daughter, Meariah (16) is still attending the Light Christian Academy.
The Union Campus actually opened in Sept. 2021 with a single group class for grades 1-5 with a single teacher, but things are now in place for the school to begin developing and expanding what it offers. Currently, the Union Campus will only offer classes in grades K-5, but plans are underway to expand to a full K-12 program in the future. A second teacher has been added for the new school year, with plans to add more teaching staff as needed. Odom noted that he was interested in hiring as many local teachers as possible.
The kindergarten will be using the Abeka curriculum – one well known among home schooling families. Grades 1-5 will be using the Accelerated Christian Education curriculum. Students will have the opportunity to compete in two academic competitions as well – the Church of God Academic Bowl in the Spring and Church of God ACE Junior Student Convention competition. Students in the competitions will compete in the areas of math, spelling, poetry, creative writing and other subjects.
At this time the school will not be offering an athletic programs, but it is a possibility in the future. Secondary level students at the Ocoee campus participate in conference sports.
With all the recent problems around the work, many parents may be concerned about the security of the school campus. Odom said the schools all have a risk management plan, including the operation of a locked campus.
“It is a sad day we live in and it hurts my heart, but the safety of all children is of great importance,” Odom said.
Currently the Union Campus has seven students who have completed the registration process, but there are several more in process and they are still taking applications, but time is short, classes start at 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 10. Parents who are interested in learning more about the school or are ready to enroll their children can call the school office at (386) 291-3100 or visit the Light Christian Academy website at www.mylcac.com and clicking on the “Union” button on the homepage. The school accepts state scholarships, and information and application for these may be found at www.sufs.org.
“One of the things that often deters parents from putting their children in a private school is the cost,” Odom said. “The state scholarships is one way to take away this hurdle and let parents see to their child’s education as they would like.”
Odom said he and his staff are all excited about the Union Campus and are looking forward to the coming school year. The school is located in the same building as the former Lake Butler Christian Academy at 475 SW Third St. in Lake Butler, across the street from the Lake Butler Church of God, which rents the property to Light Christian Academy.
“I want to make clear that our school is not here to compete with the Union County schools, which offer an excellent secular education” Odom said. “We just want to give parents another option in the school they choose for their child or children. It is up to them where they choose to send them.”
