TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Suncoast Pasco News

Ferrari Top Prize In Christian School Drawing

Cheryl Bentley/SUNCOAST

On Oct. 25, First Christian Academy Learning Center in Tarpon Springs will raffle off this 2002 Ferrari 360 Modena Spider two-door convertible.

ADVERTISEMENT

By Cheryl  Bentley | The Suncoast News

Published: October 11, 2008

It is stationary now. But like a stallion at rest, speed lives behind its shiny hard exterior of metal and chrome, ready to gear up with the flick of a key.

This 2002 Ferrari 360 Spider two-door convertible, with only 7,000 original miles, seems an unlikely car to appear in a church yard.

But, as believers might say, God works in mysterious ways. These days, this play toy of the jet set, officially appraised at $108,000, is doing the humble work of the spirit. It will be the grand prize in a drawing on Saturday, Oct. 25, that will benefit the First Christian Academy and Learning Center, in Tarpon Springs.

With tickets going for $100 a pop, the school hopes to raise money for much needed renovations.

The school's soft-spoken principal, Ramita Buckley, appears a low-keyed contrast to the flashing Ferrari, with its 3.6-liter V-8 and 185 mph top speed. In what is surely a minor miracle, during the end-of-the-day bustle, she manages to find a quiet place among the school's 17 classrooms in which to talk.

That Ferrari, a gift from a donor who wishes to remain anonymous, came at the end of many prayers, she says. Generations Christian Church, formerly First Christian Church of Tarpon Springs - the school shares seven acres on Keystone Road with the church - will relocate to the Trinity area next year. The academy began as a ministry of the church.

That left a dilemma for the 13-year-old school. Would it go with the church to its new home in southwestern Pasco County and have to build facilities there?

Or would the 250-student school stay put, buy the property from the church for $4.5 million and eventually have room to grow?

The latter option appeared to be more in keeping with the academy's vision of its future. Although nothing is concrete, there has been talk of expanding to include high school grades, Buckley noted. Classes now run from preschool through eighth grade.

"After a lot of prayers, we decided we would step out in faith and try to stay here," Buckley remembers. The prayers seemed a comfortable fit for a school with a fundamentalist Christian bent and daily Bible classes and weekly chapel.

The school signed the agreement to buy the property last year and now has its own tax-exempt status.

But before school leaders can even think about expanding with a high school, they have first to work on middle-school classrooms. Those classes are now held in what was once one large room that has been divided into classrooms by portable walls.

Remodeling the classrooms will cost more than $80,000, Buckley said. She hopes her school can make enough to foot the bill through raffling off the Ferrari.

One school parent, Chad Steinorth, has been working on publicizing the prize drawing. He brings the Ferrari to the school parking lot and carefully watches as people stop to admire the sleek two-seater vehicle.

Steinorth's wife, Kathan, teaches at First Christian, and their daughters attend the school.

The school is worth the work Steinorth has put in, he says. He speaks of its family-friendly atmosphere and recounts how faculty and families came together and shored up his family when Steinorth had a medical issue.

"The school surrounded my family and helped us through those times," he recalls. "With prayer, and even by delivering our dinners, they fed us emotionally."

He pauses, as if finding words to describe how the Ferrari fits in with the school.

"It's people who care about other families," Steinorth says. "There's not a family here who says, 'This is about me.' This is about how much money we can raise. This is about growing our school."

Feeling lucky?

The drawing for the 2002 Ferrari 360 Spider will take place 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25, at First Christian Academy, 2795 Keystone Road, Tarpon Springs. Ticket holders need not be present to win. Tickets can be bought on line via the First Christian Academy and Learning Center Web site or by calling 727-943-7411.Tickets are $100 each.

The first prize in the drawing is the Ferrari. Second prize is four days and three nights in a Clearwater Beach condo. Third prize is the use of a Porsche Boxster for a weekend and dinner at a Capital Grille or Salt Rock restaurant.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT