by New Light Academy Director Adam Mahdavi

An argumentative and cynical spirit is eclipsing American youth.  America’s identity and memory is under assault in its most vulnerable institutions, particularly the institution of education.   This spirit is critical only for the sake of critiquing. This spirit is not one of progress and this spirit of deconstruction continues to slither into every area of American society. Bad actors teach in bad faith aiming to transform American society. 

Movements of pride and clenched fists aim to challenge the American social order. Places of employment, sports teams, and even places of worship now challenge the natural principles of progress, liberty, and success.  In these tumultuous times, we need an institution of light, new light.   Now, America needs strong pillars of light erected, now more than ever.  New Light Academy is the institution to make each student a pillar of wisdom.

Since America offers a great amount of freedom to her citizens, our citizenry needs to stand on the shoulders of Western Civilization, not misrepresent it through a racial consciousness or labels of oppression.   An honest history of America is a history of liberty as it happened. That is not saying America is perfect or has been without fault. However, acknowledging social progress gives hope for more progress. An honest look at history attempts to make students more intelligent and humane, less cruel and more persuasive, less critical.  Otherwise those that cannot think for themselves will have others thinking for them, making decisions for them that the ignorant would not otherwise make. To prevent this kind of slavery, students at New Light Academy are molded to become responsible for the liberty they have been entrusted to uphold and to cherish their right to obtain their American heritage of progress.  By this standard, our students become shining lights in America radiating liberty for themselves and those after them.

South Carolina Preparatory Academy wishes to partner with New Light Academy to build into each and every student in the commercial, family, and public virtues. This partnership aims to break the education mold to uphold and elevate education. We truly believe we need to break the tradition of education in order to preserve education in South Carolina.

So what is New Light Academy and what does it look like?  There is a beautiful answer to that. New Light Academy is a biblical mentoring program.  We partner with an online public charter school that uses a classical curriculum.  We mentor each student to meet their educational potential while developing each heart to be more like Christ. When students come to the New Light Academy campus, they are invited to discover the wonderful ideas that advanced Western Civilization.  They complete their school work, then are encouraged to participate in a biblical approach to government, moral imagination, and cultural reasoning sessions.  These sessions take place after classes which are around lunch time for most public schools.  Students can participate in that civic leadership program or they can go home for whatever they want: basketball, baseball, football, musical instruments or every child’s favorite activity: house chores. The civic leadership sessions are not mandatory.

The way New Light Academy works is with full time mentors enhancing student academic achievement. For four days a week, students come to the New Light campus, accomplish and succeed in their free, online, public, classical charter school classes with a mentor giving them encouragement, individual attention and support each day and each moment. Mentors learn the personality and individual learning needs of each student that enrolls into South Carolina Preparatory Academy, challenging each student to be independent thinkers. 

At the end of each day, students have the choice of returning home via parent pick-up (we are a drop-off only school) or they can participate for a two hours civic leadership training session.  Mentorships are carried out by biblically minded and trusted adults with New Light Academy. At the moment, we are just starting out and are in the developmental stages of New Light Academy. Many logistics have to be worked out with committed parents about schedule times and the location for the campus.

An average day at a New Light Academy campus begins with a Bible devotion every morning. Then students either log onto their computer, put on their headphones to attend their online classes or work on other classwork from another class, getting ahead of the rest of the week (in a perfect world). I heard of one student finishing all their work on Monday and having the rest of the week to become a better musician.

New Light Academy also holds these civic leadership sessions for those not enrolled in South Carolina Preparatory Academy, but those times have to be worked out with the majority of the parents who commit their children to the program.  We plan on having these separate sessions two days a week, three hours each day, focusing on Constitutional videos, civic (and civil) discussions, developing students’ moral imagination and cultural reasoning skills through online courses offered on Hillsdale College, Patriot Academy/Wallbuilders, Thomas Sowell lesson plans and Answers in Genesis online masters classes.  Why wait until the end of high school to train your child to ask and find answers to big questions about life?

Imagine the amount of repetition the average baseball, football, or basketball player exerts to become advanced in their craft.  In order to be great, not just in practice or average game, but when the game is on the line and when it matters the most.  New Light Academy believes students will be better at their unique craft when they have answers to their purpose in life. The big questions about origines, destiny, meaning, and morality matter.  New Light Academy aims to develop young leaders with similar training patterns of practice but in civic knowledge and virtue so that when those students eventually get a job, an internship, a college professor, or a position on a sports team that they radiate as shining lights by having outstanding moral character and work ethic.

At this point we have a lot of interest but very little commitments.  If there are parents who have their kids enrolled into the public school system and are looking for another option to educate their children, they are encouraged to contact New Light Academy director Adam Mahdavi. In order to become a mentor organization, at least 20 students must enroll in South Carolina Preparatory Academy by June 30th, through New Light Academy, which mentors 6th graders through 12th graders. We are working on finding a location as well as enrolling the primary 20 students into SC Prep. However in some areas, we are going to have to get the cart before the horse.

In such a day where most education institutions advance politically leftist ideology on their students, each child, whether homeschooled or private schooled, will have an attempt to challenge, critique, or interrupt their worldview.  At New Light Academy, we mentor students to weather the storm, no matter how high the floods, how hard the wind and rain blows, or how hot the fire roars; we set them to be pillars of light on the solid Rock for stormy nights. At such a time as this, we need strong pillars that shine their lights, burning brightly through each night together and forever more.

For more information about New Light Academy, visit newlightacademy.com or email Adam Mahdavi at lifelonglearnadam@gmail.com.

Proverbs 9:1

Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars:

1 Timothy 3:15

But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

Matthew 5:14-16

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is heaven.