Massie receives LifeWise award for faithfulness and excellence

In 2019, LifeWise began at Conesville Elementary as one of two pilot locations in Ohio. Cindy Massie was the program director for River View and the program moved to River View Elementary when the district combined schools. Last year, third grade was also served at the intermediate school. More than 200 kindergarten to third grade students were served last year. Starting this fall, fourth through sixth grade students will be able to join LifeWise.

LifeWise is character education using the Bible. All public school students and families can join and the program is free. The program is held during school hours by holding the classes off of the school grounds. All students have their parents’ permission to attend and it is funded through private donations. No school money is used for it.

All volunteers with the program must pass a background check and are trained for the position they will hold.

LifeWise held its annual summit in July and Massie was recognized as a pioneer for the program. She received an award for her faithfulness to the program and her excellence. She retired as the River View LifeWise Director in June.

“I started this journey with fear, trembling and tears. But, God compelled me – it’s all been Him. I have loved the students and the gracious, faithful volunteers I worked with. I always felt honored and privileged to teach the students and watch God touch their hearts and improve their behavior,” Massie said.

She shared that she witnessed a class bully change how they reacted with the other students. “They also became a class asset who willingly shared and answered questions. A challenged child stopped having meltdowns and began self-regulating. Overall classroom behavior greatly improved over the last year.”

Massie said the students were excited to be at the program and that parents told her their children would come home from school on LifeWise days excited and ready to share what they had learned that day. “Every class, students would go home with a recap card with the Bible story, verse and applicable character quality to share with their family,” she said.

LifeWise has experienced a huge growth in the last six years. This fall, the program will be in 1,000 schools in 34 states.

Enrollment is now open for Coshocton Elementary students with classes starting in October. An open house will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 20 from 4-8 p.m. at the LifeWise Coshocton location. They are in the Coshocton Baptist Church at 1631 Denman Ave. The community is welcome to tour the facility, see curriculum samples and meet the staff.

For information, contact Nicole Hostetler, program director, at nicolehostetler@lifewise.org or call 330-260-2574. If you are interested in donating to the program, you can contact Hostetler or LifeWise Chairman of the Board Jeff Poland at polands82@yahoo.com.