This month, the Nelson Family takes their turn in the spotlight! Dad Jon, a broker, and mom Tammy, a Team Leader at Chick-Fil-A, have six children. The oldest three—Rhane, Brittney, and Anya—are grown and married, and their fourth daughter, Lizzy, is planning a December wedding! The Nelsons’ two boys, Jon and Ian, are both students at Faith Academy. Riley the dog rounds out the Nelson bunch.
The younger Jon Nelson is 9 years old and a fourth-grader at Faith Academy, while Ian is 7 and in second grade. “The boys are both fascinated with space and have talked about becoming astronauts,” Tammy says. Jon also loves paleontology and soccer, while Ian has an affinity for basketball. As a family, the Nelsons enjoy visiting Botanica and going on bike rides. “The boys love a good game of soccer or playing checkers with their dad,” Tammy says.
The Nelsons have been part of the Faith Academy family for the past 5 years. “We homeschooled our girls,” Tammy says, “but when Jon started kindergarten we knew we wanted to find a good Christian school for him to attend.” After driving by on 21st Street and seeing our sign, Tammy called to get more information and quickly felt the Lord leading her family to Faith Academy.
“After witnessing the positive changes in our boys, we would never dream of sending them anywhere else,” Tammy says. “The teachers have always gone above and beyond in every way to inspire our children.” Jon, in particular, has been helped by our teachers’ dedication. “He’s always struggled with certain areas,” Tammy says. “No matter how much we worked with him he just couldn’t seem to grasp the material.” But when one of his teachers began employing special strategies to help him with his learning challenges, Tammy says Jon was making straight A’s within 6 months. “He is retaining more, his attitude toward going to school is better, and now he’s excited to learn,” Tammy says. “The change has been truly miraculous.”
We’re so thrilled to hear how we’ve been a blessing to the Nelson family, and to share how richly their presence at our school has blessed us as well! Say hello to the Nelsons next time you see them, and stay tuned for more Faith Academy Family Spotlights!