Early in the 1970s, Pastor William P. Griffin of Fox Valley Baptist Church had the desire to start a Christian school in the Dundee/Carpentersville area near Chicago, Illinois. For many years, however, this goal was not God's will, and Pastor Griffin moved on to another ministry before God eventually took him home in 1998.

Fortunately, this dream for a Christian school did not end with Pastor Griffin. In 1996, Pastor Phil Zilinski returned to the area where he grew up to serve as a pastor. Like Pastor Griffin, he also felt that the Lord was leading him to start a Christian school. As pastor of the church and chaplain for several local police departments, his desire was not only to assist Christian parents to train their children, but also to reach the unsaved kids in the community. With the tireless work of Pastor Zilinski and Pastor Griffin's granddaughter-in-law, Beth, Pastor Griffin's dream became a reality. William P. Griffin Christian School opened its doors in the fall of 2004.

The search for curriculum was difficult. We knew that since we wanted to have all grades available, there would be small classes with only a couple of teachers that first year, so we needed to find quality curriculum that could be used for many grade levels. A few of the people involved with the development of the school had used Switched-On Schoolhouse® (SOS), so we decided to look into the curriculum offered by Alpha Omega Publications® (AOP).

The year we opened our school, we used a combination of different curricula, including Horizons, SOS, and LIFEPAC®, with the older students using primarily SOS. The diagnostic testing was a huge eye-opener. The students were able to start work "where they were" academically and progress at their rates of abilities. Students weren't pushed or dragged beyond their capabilities, and many of the students were able to excel past what they would normally learn in a classroom.

The second year, we had a few "un-churched" students. Many of them struggled to understand the doctrine in their high school Bible classes. Their reading levels were on par, but because they had no Bible background, they couldn't grasp the concepts in Bible that our "churched" students understood. With the suggestion of the helpful staff at AOP, we decided to have our un-churched high school students take SOS 6th Grade Bible, a general Bible survey.

Since we made this change, we have seen God work in marvelous ways! One young man came to us because he had been expelled from the public school. His family tried to get him into some of the local private schools that held to their religious beliefs, but the schools would not accept him. After interviewing him, we believed God wanted us to accept him. As a high school student, he was a little taken aback that we put him in 6th Grade Bible, but we explained that Bible classes at any level were only an elective at the public school, so he might as well start at the beginning with a Bible survey. Within two months he came to trust Christ as his Savior, and now, a year and a half later, he is one of the leaders in our school and our church's youth group. He is on fire for God and can't understand why others don't see the need to share their faith in Christ!

Another young man came to us because his friend was a student at Griffin Christian. This student came from a very strong atheistic home. We prayed all year for this student. He was not afraid to voice his opinions wherever he went and to whomever he spoke. However, by the end of his first year at Griffin Christian, he saw the need to trust Christ as his Savior! Recently, I overheard another student trying to convince this young man that the Bible wasn't true and the teachings at Griffin were bogus. I was concerned for him, since he was a new Christian who might be easily swayed. Yet, I was told that this young man stood firm in his faith and told the other student to search the Scriptures to find the truth, rather than surf the Internet for answers.

Our God is sovereign! His Word is "sharper than any two-edged sword" (Hebrews 4:12). I firmly believe that the changes in lives at Griffin come from prayer, faithfully teaching God's Word, and using the solid, Bible-based programs from AOP.

Tammy Zilinski
Principal, Griffin Christian School