In 2012 “Giving Tuesday” was founded as a response to what many felt was the over-commercialization of the holiday season. Between sales, commercials, “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday,” it was beginning to feel like the holidays were less about the joy of giving and more about the thrill-seeking of getting. But getting never rewards as much as giving.
Did you know that Brentwood gave out $830,790 in Financial Aid and discounts to our families last year? In fact, when all of the aid given by Brentwood families is added together it represents over 15% of the actual income to the school. Why do we do this? Because we have exceptional students who should be at Brentwood and they work hard to earn the opportunity to learn in a Christ-centered academic environment. Last year, 53 students from 38 families were able to stay at Brentwood because they received financial support. Praise God!
This brings me back to “Giving Tuesday.” Did you know that we have such great microscopes in our labs because we have a family that wanted our students to have the best equipment possible for their STEM studies and gave a gift to the school specifically for STEM? Did you know we have the athletics “Gator” that moves equipment between the fields and drags the baseball fields because a family wanted to make the baseball field more accessible for the coaches and managers? Did you know we have 3D printers in every building because a family wanted our students to experience advanced technology in all of our classrooms? The campus is covered in gifts from families who wanted to make the learning experience special for our students.
Brentwood stands beside other schools in Austin that operate with tuition two to four times more than ours. However, our academic, arts and athletics achievements and, most importantly, the spirit of our students, stands tall among and above any school in central Texas.
We have a proud community of middle-income families whose children achieve incredible feats. Think about this for a second, our seniors last year received $3,129,872 in college scholarships. That is quite a return on the investment of our financial aid when a single class can bring in scholarships for advancing their education, and therefore their reach, into our society. God will continue to be praised!
So for “Giving Tuesday,” there is no place you can give that will give you a better and more grateful return than Brentwood Christian School. If you have a passion for a subject, one of the arts, a sport, or you want to support our financial aid program through our “Blessing Our Bears” initiative, Brentwood is a great place to give today. As you settle your taxes, as you budget your monthly gifts, and as you plan your estates – think about Brentwood Christian School and how many students you can affect. Your gifts go directly to educating our Bears in the knowledge and love of Christ, and preparing them for lives of Christian leadership and service while giving them the tools to excel academically and become the industry leaders of tomorrow.
It is a great day to give to the Brentwood Bears!
Jay Burcham