Offering a Choice in Education… Roberta Hunter

 

“Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works in man’s behalf.” *

This verse from Psalm 66 sums up how Roberta Hunter feels about working with children and youth in the setting of a Christian school. Roberta is the founder and administrator of two private Christian schools, one in Delano and one that recently opened in Porterville, California.

After growing up in Pasadena and getting her education through both public and private schools, she attended Point Loma College in San Diego. She went on to pursue further education after getting married and moving to Delano.

Roberta has received an impressive number of degrees and credentials, the most recent being a Doctorate of Organizational Leadership, with an emphasis in Special Education. She also holds a degree in Ministry, a California Teaching Credential and a Special Education Credential, making her well qualified for founding and directing a Christian academy!

In 1997, the first Sequoia Christian Academy was established in Delano as a means of providing the choice of Christian education to the families in the community. Roberta says, “I have always had a heart for private schools.”

The Sequoia Christian Academy of Delano has been very well received, offering instruction to students from pre-K to eighth grade. Because the number of students per teacher is very low, individual needs can be addressed.  As posted on the Academy’s website, “The school is open to students from all racial and ethnic backgrounds and from all walks of life, including the poor, disadvantaged and those with special needs.”

At the time of the COVID crisis in 2020, Roberta and her husband were living in the Springville area. Because the public schools were shut down, there was a cry for help from families in the community. Roberta responded to the need and began a hybrid Christian school, combining online instruction with personal instruction.

Thus, in 2020 the second Sequoia Christian Academy was founded. When the opportunity opened up to use a church facility in Porterville, the new school moved from Springville to Porterville.

 Mrs. Hunter has invested her time, energy and expertise in getting the SCA Porterville up and running on the campus of the Grand Avenue United Methodist Church. Not only are the students in both schools receiving special services as needed, they are also getting a Bible-based education and are learning the importance of developing a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Roberta’s mother taught her about Jesus and the Bible as a young child, taking her to church regularly as she was growing up. “God has been with me every step of the way, through good times and in difficult seasons…This is how I want children to know Him; as a loving, never-failing friend that will walk through this journey of life with them.”

The importance of developing strong interpersonal relationships is also stressed at both schools through Bible stories, instruction from scripture and also by example. Learning how to apologize when they have hurt someone, how to forgive someone who has hurt them and how to be kind are valuable life lessons for the students.  According to Roberta, “Kids come back to us and say, ‘You taught us how to live.’”

 A few years ago, a mother came to Mrs. Hunter at the academy in Delano with her son, after he had been expelled from middle-school. The mother was in tears as she explained that her son was getting into trouble with gangs while she and her husband were working long days out in the fields.

            He was enrolled in Sequoia and in six months did a complete “turn-around.” Upon his eighth-grade graduation, his mother returned to thank Roberta, this time with tears of gratitude. The young man went on to graduate from high school, got married and was able to successfully provide for his family.

            This is just one story, one example of the miracles that happen every day, according to Mrs. Hunter. From the success of a child learning how to read, to the life-changing transformation of an attitude, God works in wonderful ways in the lives of the students, teachers and volunteers too.

            Thank you, Mrs. Hunter, for your love for your students and your dedication to seeing that they receive a well-rounded, Christian education, one that will prepare them to be successful in life.

For more information, go to the school’s Facebook page or to the website: www.sequoiachristianacademy.org

*Psalm 66:5 NIV