A group of parents in California’s Kern County have started their own collaborative nonprofit organization as an alternative to sending children to public school.
Kern Resource Center (KRC) aims to provide K–12 students with a Christian-based education, life skills training, and a curriculum free of critical race theory and certain other ideologies.
Troubled by school shootings, COVID lockdowns, and hostilities toward conservative parents and teachers in schools, Bakersfield resident Melissa Wheeler decided to do something about it.
Wheeler had experience with homeschooling, as she had taught all five of her children—who range in age from 9 to 18—at home. She spoke at a school board meeting about her ideas, and Florence Flesche and another attendee joined her in starting their own resource center.
With the collaboration of teachers, parents, and many volunteers, KRC opened with the motto “Education Outside the Box.”
“It started out as nothing, and it keeps growing,” Flesche, who is now a teacher at KRC, told The Epoch Times.
What Makes KRC Different
KRC’s mission is “to come alongside families to take back control of their children’s education,” Wheeler told The Epoch Times.A flier on KRC’s website states that the organization offers a Christian curriculum free of critical race theory and with no Common Core math or LGBT ideology. It states that KRC has no vaccine mandates, always welcomes parents on campus, and does not allow boys in girls’ locker rooms.
The KRC website states: “The battle for our children’s minds is currently in tow. We, at KRC, made a decision to fight on the right side, and take action to invest in the hearts and minds of the future of this country. And that begins with teaching the next Generation.”
The resource center aims to offer an education without government oversight. Wheeler explained that KRC is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.
The website describes KRC as “a group of passionate, God-fearing, country-loving people.” It states that KRC aims to train the future leaders of our nation.
The resource center is situated in a remote location and is fenced in for safety. Every parent who has a student at KRC is a registered homeschool educator.
The website adds: “Our vision is to unite the like-minded families of Kern County by establishing a parallel educational structure.”
Teacher Emily Wingle, who taught at a public school for 8 years, now teaches a 3rd–4th grade history class at KRC. She said she joined KRC primarily because of the liberal ideologies that were being pushed on kids.
“At my last school, Hueneme High School in Oxnard, California, I was one of five conservative teachers,” she told The Epoch Times. “The liberal teachers were allowed to have their clubs, but mine, a Bible club, was an issue to the other teachers.”
Wingle said that going to school daily put a heaviness and stress on her, because, she said, she knew she was not able to be free.
She said she was forced to do things she disagreed with, like making kids wear masks.
Another reason she wanted to leave public school is that they were allowing male students to use girls’ bathrooms. They also started teaching sex education in kindergarten, which she was completely against.
“The books that were being shown to the kindergarten students could be seen as pornography,” Wingle said.
She said she teaches at KRC because of “the philosophy, personal freedom, and parental rights.”
“I can teach history with emphasis on the Constitution,” she said. “In a public school, you are told exactly what to teach and you are teaching for the [standardized] test.”
At KRC, Bible study happens every day in first period. If a student does not have Christian beliefs, he or she is able to skip first period.
Parents are always welcome in the classrooms. Parents are asked to volunteer as much as they would like, but at least one time per month.
The resource center’s funding comes from fundraising, donations, and tuition. Tuition is $5,000 per year for each student, but scholarships are available for those who cannot afford this amount. There are additional fees for certain extra activities.
Besides the core classes, such as English, math, science, and history, the resource center has what is called “Life Skills Friday.”
During this class, students learn valuable skills such as changing a tire, survival, first aid, and making controlled fires. They often use this period to go on field trips to further learn life skills.
A Student’s Perspective
A 12-year-old student, whose name her parents wish to be kept anonymous due to her age, gave insight on what it was like to be in a public school versus going to this new school alternative.“The great thing here is the small class size. In my public school when there was a huge classroom full of other kids, if you had a question, it was hard to get it answered,” she told The Epoch Times. “I can work hands on with the teacher and get individualized attention.”
She said they have a garden onsite, and students plant and take care of it. She said that is just one of the activities KRC offers.
“We run the mile on Mondays and Wednesdays, and we play basketball and volleyball,” she said. “The classes are productive and short, 35 minutes long, so the teachers get to the point and don’t waste time.”
As for safety, she thinks it’s a good idea to have teachers armed with weapons.
“The media is saying that it would be traumatic for students to see an armed guard outside of schools. I feel it would be more traumatic to see one of my classmates get shot,” she said.
Future Goals
The program has grown by 50 percent since September 2022. Wheeler said they went from 50 to 75 students and anticipate that they will have 150 this coming fall.Wheeler said the program “is in development now.”
“If approved, it will be an outline that other schools can use to help develop their own similar program that best fits their needs,” she said.
For athletics, KRC currently competes against smaller Christian schools. In the future, they hope to compete against larger schools and for students to be able to apply for sports scholarships for college.
They also aspire to have a new soccer and football field, a pool, and a theater program.
