In 2008, the Georgia General Assembly passed the Qualified Education Expense (QEE) Tax Credit bill (HB 1133), and Governor Sonny Perdue signed it into law. The legislation was further amended in 2011 (HB 325), 2013 (HB 283), and 2018 (HB 217). The law provides for the creation of student scholarship organizations (SSOs) to which Georgia individual and corporate taxpayers can contribute in exchange for a state income tax credit and possible federal charitable income tax deduction. The SSOs use the contributions to award scholarships to students from K-12 public schools so that they can attend the private schools chosen by their parents. Georgia GOAL Scholarship Program, Inc. was the first SSO to be recognized by the Georgia Department of Education.

 

Because there are limited tax credits available each year ($100 million for 2019), a taxpayer who is interested in contributing to GOAL must be pre-approved by the Georgia Department of Revenue ("DOR"). This simply means that the DOR sets aside a certain amount of the available tax credits specifically for the respective taxpayer. 

 

So, the taxpayer will submit his or her 2019 tax credit application to GOAL. Then, GOAL will take care of every remaining step, and will remind the taxpayer when action is required. 

 

We, at Athens Christian School, hope that you will prayerfully consider making a donation to The GOAL Scholarship Program and direct it to students here on the ACS campus.

There is an easy way to donate to ACS and at the same time minimize your taxes – take a Qualified Charitable Deduction (QCD) withdrawal from your IRA.  Here is how it works.

 

Dr. Buhl Cummings, Co-Founder with his wife, Dr. Lois Cummings, of Athens Christian School, went home to be with the Lord on September 15, 2021, at the age of 93. Dr. Cummings was preceded in death by his wife, Lois Cummings of Darlington, Pennsylvania, his parents, Mr. and Mrs. A.B. Cummings of Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and older sister, Mary Elizabeth Whittemore. Dr. Cummings is survived by his children Tim, Susan, and Steve, all who serve at Athens Christian School, 11 grandchildren, and 7 great-grandchildren; and two younger brothers, Malcolm Cummings of Mocksville, NC, and Bradley Cummings, of Montgomery, AL 

Buhl Cummings was born on December, 26, 1927, in Pittsburgh, PA. After serving in the US Navy in WW2, Buhl married Lois Tyson (04/18/1931) of Darlington, PA. The couple met at Bob Jones University where they both felt God's calling upon their lives. After marrying in 1955, they began an adventurous lifetime of Christian service together that spanned 60 years. The Cummings' were called to post-war Seoul, South Korea, to serve as short term missionaries at the Korean Bible College under the TEAM mission board. 

In 1958, God led the Cummings' to Athens, Georgia, where they opened the Athens Bible Book Store to serve local churches. About this same time, the Cummings' were approached by a group of local businessmen with the burden of ministering to a downtown housing project, and a home on Waddell Street was purchased and served as the Athens Bible Mission where Buhl pastored and Lois began the children's ministries. Shortly thereafter, the Cummings' began a Saturday evening youth ministry for NE GA teens called the Christian Youth Crusade, started with the help of Christian couples who shared the calling. In 1960, Buhl and Lois began hosting a live 30-minute Sunday morning radio broadcast, entitled, "Chapel Time." The Cummings' started their family, Tim (57) Susan (58) and Steve ('63). The Lord used all of this to prepare the couple for the greatest adventure yet to come - the founding of Athens Christian School. 

In 1962, when the U.S. Supreme Court removed prayer and Bible reading from public schools, local Christians began seeking an educational alternative for their children. With their backgrounds in education, the Cummings' again felt God's call and responded in faith by starting NE Georgia's first private, Christian school. Confirmation for this leap of faith came when an aged widow, Mrs. H.G. Logan, sacrificially gave the couple a $100.00 check, explaining that she too, had been praying for years for such a school. On Easter Sunday 1970, Buhl placed an ad in the Athens Banner Herald announcing this new venture with the motto, "A Quality Education in a Christian Atmosphere." Athens Christian School opened its doors that fall, with 13 faculty and 125 students in grades 1-8, all housed in the Hunnicutt House, a large antebellum home on Milledge Avenue. The next year the school doubled its enrollment adding two more grades. This fledgling endeavor took flight and adopted as its mascot quite appropriately, the Golden Eagle. In 1972, God moved on a local dairy farmer and former Clarke County school board member, to sell 36 acres of pasture on Hwy 29, which became the campus of Athens Christian School. Truly a miracle of God! 

In year two, ACS started its athletic program with Dr. Buhl coaching many of the girls' teams. He was blessed with great athletes and success, and in 2003, was inducted into the Athens Athletic Hall of Fame for his exceptional record as a coach with over 1,000 wins in girls' volleyball, basketball, softball, and track. In October, 1973, the academic center housing classrooms, offices, library, cafeteria, and gymnatorium was completed. Other additions include Bicentennial Hall (76), for Chapel services; Sports and Music Complex (89); Preschool/Kindergarten facility (95);and a high school classroom building ('04). In 2014, Founders Hall was dedicated which overlooks football and baseball stadiums, as well as the track, cross country, softball, soccer, and tennis facilities. Athens Christian School resides on 84 acres as a testimony to God's wondrous blessings and the vision, work, determination, and unparalleled faith of Founders, Drs. Buhl and Lois Cummings; living proof of the school verse chosen from Psalm 126:3 "The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad." 

Lois Marjorie Tyson Cummings was born on April 18, 1931, in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.  She attended a one-room school for her first eight years of education and graduated from Beaver Falls High School in 1949.  She then received a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from Geneva College in 1954.  She went on to complete her Masters degree in Elementary Education at the University of Georgia in 1973, and finished her Doctorate in Educational Leadership at Pensacola Christian College in 1989.  Dr. Lois was named the 2004 Alumnus of the Year, on her 50th anniversary of graduating from Geneva College.

On June 25, 1955, Lois became the bride of Buhl Cummings of Scottdale, Pennsylvania.  Together, they went to Korea as short-term missionaries and served as educational instructors at the Korean Bible College. They returned to Athens, Georgia in 1957 to start a family and to begin their ministry in Athens and in the Northeast Georgia community.

 

Prior to the founding of the School, Dr. Lois served as a co-laborer with Dr. Buhl as they started several ministries in Athens.  These ministries included the Athens Bible Book Store, the Athens Bible Mission, a radio broadcast called Chapel Time, and the Christian Youth Crusade.  On April 18, 1969, Dr. Lois’s 38th birthday, the Cummings placed an advertisement in the Athens Banner Herald announcing the opening of Athens Christian School.  Athens Christian School was the first private, Christian school in Northeast Georgia, and it began in rented facilities on Milledge Avenue.

 

In 1973, the School relocated to facilities on Highway 29, North.  During her 43 years at ACS, Dr. Lois served as the Business Manager, as the Elementary Principal, and as a key adviser to Dr. Buhl as he served in the role of Headmaster.  Her passion to share the Good News of Christ continued as she spoke in the elementary school’s chapel services, using Child Evangelism’s Wordless Book to lead many into the Kingdom.  Dr. Lois was awarded the Lifetime Achievement in Education Leadership Award upon her retirement from Athens Christian School in 2013.

 

Dr. Lois was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.  She was also a gifted educator, an exceptional financial manager, a faithful servant leader and missionary, a talented musician, a gracious host to hundreds of visitors to her home, a prayer warrior, and most importantly, a dedicated follower of Christ.  All gifts to the Dr. Lois Cummings Memorial Fund will be used to support the mission of sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the students and families of Athens Christian School, and with the broader Northeast Georgia Community.

 

On May 22, 2019, Athens Christian School lost our longest serving faculty member, Mrs. Betty Stone Weatherly.  Mrs. Weatherly touched the lives of thousands of students and families over the course of her 47 years of service here at ACS.

 

Miss Betty Stone came to ACS in 1971 to teach Math, and that she did  so until the last week of January, 2019, when she was diagnosed with leukemia.  She battled that insidious disease at Northside Hospital, and with God's healing Hand, she had gone into remission and was scheduled to go home just two days before her death.  Then, quite unexpectedly, Mrs. Weatherly suffered a traumatic brain bleed which immediately took her life.  While Heaven is rejoicing, we are acutely aware of our own personal loss.

 

Mrs. Weatherly's family has established the Betty Stone Weatherly Memorial Scholarship Fund to honor her life in a meaningful, beneficial way.  They have established this scholarship as a matching-gift opportunity which will double your gift and have twice the impact on qualified existing and future ACS students, with the following purposes:

It is very likely that Mrs. Weatherly taught you, your children, or even your grandchildren over the course of her 47 years at ACS.

 

What a tremendous way to express your gratitude for the countless hours Mrs. Weatherly spent teaching us so many things about God and life, besides just Math. Your gift to the Betty Stone Weatherly Memorial Scholarship Fund can be in the form of cash, check, gift-in-kind, stocks or bonds, or you can donate online by clicking below.  Your gift is 100% tax-deductible.

 

Box Tops for Education - Please clip your Box Tops and send them in to the front office.

www.goodshop.com - (enter Athens Christian School for "who you support") and you help ACS everytime you shop.

 

Office Depot - 5% Back to Schools Program.  Support ACS by making purchases from Office Depot.  Find out more at www.school.com  and click on the 5% Back to Schools Program link. Use the Program ID number 70024619 and ACS gets 5% back!

 

Amazon Smile - Do you shop on Amazon? When you shop at smile.amazon.com,  Amazon will donate to ACS, at no cost to you, 0.5% of your eligible purchases. 

 

Choose Athens Christian School as your charitable organization and every time you shop at Amazon do not forget to put smile.amazon.com as the website for ACS to receive the donation. To help keep AmazonSmile on mobile apps you will need to renew AmazonSmile twice a year to “turn on” AmazonSmile on your mobile device.  Learn more HERE.

 

Kroger Community Rewards -  Thanks to our ACS parents that participate in the Kroger Community Rewards Program.  We received over $1000 last year from this program.  Please visit www.Kroger.com/communityrewards to enroll, be sure to have your Kroger Plus card handy and register your card with your organization after you sign up.  To verify you are enrolled correctly, you will see your organization's name on the right side of your information page.  Please remember you must swipe your registered Kroger Plus card or use the phone number that is related to your registered Kroger Plus card when shopping for each purchase to count.  

 

Ingles - School ID #11841. Link your card so you can support ACS every time you shop. Just link your card and every time you swipe your card when you shop the school benefits.  It's easy!  Click HERE to link your card.

 

While cash and pledges are the most common methods for giving, the following gift options are also available, and many offer considerable tax benefits:

 

Appreciated Securities – Giving stocks and bonds that have been held for more than one year provide even greater tax benefits than giving cash. If the appreciated security is given to a qualified charitable organization, such as Athens Christian School, the donor avoids capital gains tax and most likely will qualify for a tax deduction on the entire value of the charitable gift.  The simplest way to transfer securities is to have your broker contact the School Office.

 

Life Insurance Gift – Give a life insurance policy with Athens Christian School as owner and beneficiary.

 

Estate – Leave a legacy by making a gift in your will to Athens Christian School.  A bequest is one of the simplest ways to remember those you care about most.

 

Athens Christian School is a private, non-profit, 501-c3 corporation which is not supported by church funds or government funds.  We set our tuition and fees to an affordable level so that we can serve as many families as possible. For example, this includes capping tuition to 2 and ½ students for larger families.

 

We have a wonderful group of faculty and staff with great ideas for improving the educational and extra-curricular opportunities that we can offer at ACS.  We invite you to become more involved as the Lord has blessed you. We encourage your support for building projects, to purchase equipment, and to support operations.  Your gifts are tax deductible as allowed for 501-c3 organization. Many companies and businesses have matching giving programs for qualified organizations. This is an excellent way to multiply your giving.  We are happy to help with documentation for these matching funds.