Zirkle Gym Groundbreaking: Higher Than The Highest! Elder Charles A. Tapp, President of the Potomac Conference and chair of the Shenandoah Valley Academy (SVA) Board of Trustees, shares a message at the Zirkle Gymnasium Renovation Groundbreaking Ceremony, May 14, 2021: Reflecting upon the impact Shenandoah Valley Academy has had and continues to have on the lives of students, these words of Ellen White came to mind: “Higher than the highest thought can reach is God’s ideal for His children” (Education, p. 18).
bold promise—as an institution and as a board—that no qualified student will ever be turned away from our campus because of the lack of finances. And God’s people said… [Amen!]! Again, living up to the ideal “higher than the highest.” I’m not sure any other school in the entire Seventh-day Adventist system can make a claim such as that, that no qualified student will ever be turned away because of their financial situation.
Now the evidence of this support is seen again in the Zirkle Gymnasium Renovation Project that will provide a new entrance and lobby with a “Higher than the highest.” If reception and concession area, new it is already the highest, then Students prepare to break ground. restrooms and locker rooms, and what can be “higher than a terrace with a firepit for evening the highest”? The message gatherings. It makes you want to come back and be a student White desired to convey was limitless possibilities, made clear again, doesn’t it? when she adds, “Before the student there is opened a path of continual progress.” In other words, never-ending possibilities. I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge that this is the first new build at SVA in 45 years, the most significant This is the goal of SVA: to provide students with limitless funding required for possibilities. “Higher than the highest.” Principal Short and Elder Tapp a building project in celebrate groundbreaking. The highest she refers to is that of godliness and god-likeness. SVA history. It is the Yes, we want our students to be proficient in the rigors of result of the generous education, but the primary goal is to educate them in what it contributions of Alumni means to be a follower of Christ—to be a disciple. Since 1908, and Friends—96 percent the vision of SVA is threefold: to serve Christ; to value this thing of gifts from Alumni— we call knowledge, and to accept a life of service. Again, God that the project is fully is calling us to “higher than the highest.” funded once all gifts This is made possible by the dedication of faculty and staff and pledges have been who are committed to the mission and vision, providing received. This means SVA will incur zero debt, which allows us students with limitless possibilities inside and outside of the to remain a 100 percent debt-free school. To this I simply say: classroom. Then there are generous Alumni and Friends whose To God be the glory! “Higher than the highest human thought unwavering financial support make it possible to declare the can reach is God’s ideal for His children.”
The foundation is poured. More progress to come!!
Shenandoah Today
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