We have two daughters with very different personalities. Our oldest went to public school and did well, but we knew our youngest needed something different — a smaller, more personal setting that offered more than just the basics of reading, writing, and math.

The schools our daughter attended gave her a safe place to discover who she is in Christ. She started out very shy, but because of the love of her teachers and staff, she blossomed and came out of her shell. She learned what it meant to have a faith of her own and develop her own relationship with Christ. Every teacher and staff member knew her name and poured the love of God into her, every single day.

ACSTO helped us have a choice in where to send our daughter to school.

Knowing these scholarships were there gave us peace of mind when health issues hit our family that could have derailed our educational plans for her. Without the scholarships, we truly would not have been able to keep her in private school.

Our advice: attend the ACSTO seminars to learn how to get started, and talk to everyone you know about the program, whether you think they’ll donate or not — even if they don’t, they may tell someone else who will. The biggest thing we can say is don’t give up. God will bless your efforts.