Program canceled in some schools

The schools became concerned when they learned the motivational program is sponsored by a coalition of Christian churches.

By BARBARA BEHRENDT

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 21, 2001

INVERNESS -- A group of former professional football players and other athletes will be cracking bricks and smashing baseball bats to urge Citrus County students to make good choices with their lives as they visit area schools this week.

Capstone Educational Services will visit three Citrus public schools to deliver a message to say no to drugs, alcohol and tobacco and to choose abstinence from sex. The hook of the presentations is a display of metal bar twisting, brick bashing and telephone-book tearing designed to catch and hold the students' attention.

The educational program will be presented at Crystal River High School, Lecanto High School and Citrus Springs Middle School.

Other schools were originally slated to host the group, which travels the nation giving similar motivational talks, but they backed out because the presentation is sponsored by a coalition of local Christian churches. As the school district struggles with its current church and state separation controversies, school officials say they want to stay out of the fray.

"I can understand what (the schools) are going through," said Ottis Barnett, a youth pastor at Calvary Christian Center, one of the groups organizing the event through C.C. Vision, a coalition of local Christian churches.

But Barnett said the group is careful to offer lessons in right and wrong that are not presented as religious doctrine but as making good choices.

"This is what they do for a living and they have a reputation to protect," Barnett said. "They're not going to hurt that by beginning to preach the Gospel at a school. That's not what they're about."

One of the schools that canceled a presentation was Inverness Middle School, which has been at the center of part of the religion controversy.

Before the winter break, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes sponsored a Christmas party during school time at IMS while all other students had to be in class. The event, which reportedly included calls for students to testify to their faith in Jesus Christ or face hell, prompted questions from an adult who attended and from School Board member Carol Snyder.

Snyder also has asked the board to switch from saying strictly Christian prayers before board meetings and instead offer a moment of silence to be more inclusive to the public.

Those issues have spawned a deluge of community discussion about the proper role of personal faith in public schools.

While Barnett said he understands why Inverness Middle and other schools are concerned about being in the middle of another related controversy, he is also sorry to see the students there lose out.

"We wanted the kids to get the message," he said.

The strong-man activities are really just an attention grabber to get the youngsters focused, he said. "They're really showing that you can be cool, and you can be an athlete, and you can make the right decisions," Barnett explained.

C.C. Vision is sensitive to the school officials' concerns and during the Capstone presentation, they will not mention the additional events the group will be participating in while they are in town, he said.

During the day Thursday through Saturday, they will be in the schools, including Seven Rivers Christian School and the Cypress Creek Academy. In the evenings from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m., they will lead a crusade pairing their athletic feats and testimony about their faith as Capstone Family Ministries Outreach at the Vineyard, 960 S U.S. 41.

Barnett said he thinks students will benefit from seeing the presentation.

"They really stress the importance of teachers, parents and administrators being in their lives because kids can become so isolated," he said. Once they feel that isolation, they can turn to other influences and bad decisions.

The anti-drug, anti-alcohol and pro-abstinence messages are already being taught in the schools. Delivering the Capstone message to students apart from a particular religious doctrine will not be a problem, Barnett said.

"There are principles that transcend anyone's personal denomination," he explained. "We know that right is right, and we can make a positive impact on our kids' lives and the community."

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