The King’s Academy
SCHOOL PROFILE
Grade Levels: 9–12
Enrollment: 383 students
Year Founded: 1991
Chief Administrator: Paul Spates
Contact Name: Carol Schultz
Mailing Address: 562 N Britton Ave, Sunnyvale, CA 94085
Phone: 408.481.9900
Fax: 408.481.9932
E-mail: cschultz@tka.org
Website: www.tka.org
PROGRAM OBJECTIVE:
to foster the spiritual growth of students by giving them opportunities to serve and sacrifice
PROGRAM SUMMARY
Every year at The King’s Academy, we provide service trips. Our students spend the week before Easter building homes in Mexico or repairing homes for people in need in the Gulf Coast and Kentucky. We have built 207 homes in Mexico so far. We also provide a Kid’s Club for children in Mexico, and 200 to 300 children attend the club each year.
Mexico Service Trip
During the service trip in Mexico, the Advance Team, or A Team, sets up the 95 tents; puts everyone’s sleeping bag and luggage in the assigned tents; digs and sets up 10 outhouses; builds an amphitheater from old garage doors, cinder blocks, and two-by-six-foot boards; and helps the cooking crew organize the 70 large ice chests, the 2 freezers, and many boxes of food. The rest of the group members spend their first day traveling to Mexico in 16 caravans, each made up of four to five vans full of students and adults.
Each day, we start with a devotional time. Then we drive to the work sites, work until noon while a subset of the group runs a Kid’s Club for local children, have a one-hour siesta for lunch, work all afternoon while a subset of the group runs another Kid’s Club for the children in a different area, and return to camp for dinner. We finish each day by having an evening worship time, which consists of singing, listening to a speaker, and sharing testimonies. This service project lasts for four days, during which time we complete the houses—19 this year. The last day, the students hand over the keys to the new houses to the families in a special ceremony. That final night, we share with the whole camp what God has done during the week in our lives. We make the drive home in two days as everyone is very tired.
Gulf Coast Service Trip
The service trip to the Gulf Coast consists of our flying to the Gulf Coast and participating in the rebuilding effort that has continued since Hurricane Katrina. We stay at a church, where we sleep on the floor. Each day, we work with our work crew, which consists of five students and one adult, to complete as much as we can in one week. The church provides our food. Each evening, we have a worship service consisting of listening to a speaker and singing. This service trip allows us to get to know the people and the culture of the Gulf Coast.
Kentucky Service Trip
For our service trip to Kentucky, we fly to the Appalachian area of Kentucky and participate in the rebuilding and cleanup required for the poor people there. Each day, we work with our work crew, which consists of five students and one adult, to complete as much as possible in one week. This year, we built wheelchair ramps for six homes. We stay at a nearby campground, which prepares food for us. Each evening, we have a worship service in which we listen to a speaker and sing. During this time in Kentucky, we are able to get to know the Appalachian people and culture.
ESP_Service Trips 12.1