Deanna has a heart for helping her local public schools—even though her children are enrolled in a Christian school. Her journey began, one day, when she thought about how difficult it must be for Christian students in a public school setting that sometimes seems hostile to their faith. She determined to help them.

What Deanna and her friend Bonnie, a public school mom, did next, changed the school district and impacted the lives of its students. The two began to partner not only in prayer, but in deed. They first focused on getting history teachers to teach about the President’s proclamation of Thanksgiving. They quickly realized that the teachers were afraid to teach about the subject.

As a part of a prayer group, they began praying for the situation. Their prayers resulted in a meeting with the school superintendent who approved reading to all the students not only the President’s Thanksgiving proclamation, but also his Christmas, Hanukkah, Passover, and Easter proclamations!

"I thank God for Gateways and the difference it is making in our children’s lives," she says. "It is the only organization I know that encourages me to look at my public school as a garden for planting seeds and nurturing growth rather than being a battlefield," says Deanna.

Next, the two moms obtained permission from the superintendent to have every school post Gateways’ "Free to Speak" flyer documenting students’ religious liberties.

The other parents in the prayer group are beginning to notice a real difference. The school principals now are thanking them for their prayers, and teachers are reading the Christmas story from the Bible.

Thanks to the prayers and consensus-building action of Deanna and Bonnie, the school district has included the Bible in its Accelerated Reader program. Students can now earn rewards for reading the Bible.

The week before Christmas break, the two moms initiated an innovative approach to religious released-time. Religious released-time is a state-approved accommodation for students who voluntarily want to leave campus during the school day to attend religious education for one hour without being counted absent. Deanna and Bonnie received approval to host a one-time, released-time event for high school students. Twenty students attended and five students accepted Christ as their Savior! The moms are planning to repeat the event for Easter.

What Deanna & Bonnie Found Helpful

Expressing God’s Love at School: 52 Successful Ways to Bring a Godly Influence to Your Child’s School and Classroom. Click to order.

Free to Speak (one-page flyer summarizing students’ religious liberties) To download the PDF file, click here.

Holiday Restoration Cards (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter material) Click here to order.

Presidential Proclamations for holidays Visit www.whitehouse.gov.

Religious Released-Time. You’ll find everything you need to get started at www.releasedtime.org.