About Vestal LEAH

Who We Are & What We Do - Our Purpose

We are a local chapter of the statewide LEAH (Loving Education at Home) organization. Our purpose is to glorify Jesus Christ as we encourage and equip parents to home educate their children by promoting, supporting, and protecting home education in our community and across the state.

Our local chapter is made up of families from a broad geographical area. All of us want homeschooling to be seen as a viable option and encourage other parents

to succeed as homeschoolers. We provide opportunities to meet with other homeschoolers, field trips, athletic activities, and various other events as well as resources for parents, help with getting started and the encouragement to succeed.

We begin to do this through our monthly support group meetings. These are held on the 2nd Thursday of each month at the Vestal Library. Here we strive to meet the needs of those who attend through speakers, programs, question and answer times and fellowship.

We hope you see us in this light:

"Supporting one another as we raise and train our children in Christ"

What We Believe - LEAH Statement of Faith

• We believe the Bible to be the inspired, infallible, divinely preserved Word of God, the supreme authority for all faith and life.
• We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
• We believe in the Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, His virgin birth, His sinless life, His miracles, His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood on the cross, His bodily resurrection, His ascension, and His imminent bodily return in power and glory.
• We believe that man was created in the image of God, but fell into sin and is therefore lost, and only those who put their faith in Jesus Christ alone, not trusting in any personal works whatsoever, can be saved.
• We believe that salvation is the free gift of God brought to man by grace, and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone, whose substitutionary death on the cross paid the penalty for man's sin.
• We believe that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to convict men, indwell, guide, instruct, and empower the believer for godly living and service.
• We believe in the spiritual unity of believers through our common faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that individual doctrinal differences which may exist outside of the aforementioned, should not hinder the unity of Christian home educators.
• We believe that God created man and woman after His own image and that God has ordained marriage, consisting of one man and one woman, to be the foundation of the family and to be the only legitimate and godly expression of sexuality.

How We’re Organized

The Steering Committee makes decisions for functions and activities of the group in accordance to the group’s best interest. The purpose of the committee is to relieve the support group of the day to day business decisions, thus steering the monthly meetings toward supporting one another in our homeschool endeavors. Any member’s project whose funds will be funneled through Vestal LEAH is accountable to the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee will judge each situation on a case by case basis. Steering Committee members must meet the following qualifications:

• Must have signed a statement of faith and seek to maintain Biblical standards in order to keep stability in leadership
• Must be a member in good standing (dues paid)
• Must have the recommendation of a current Steering Committee member

The following volunteer positions exist to guide and steer the Vestal LEAH support group and constitute the Steering Committee:

Co-Leaders:

They are responsible for: running support group meetings, being a contact person for homeschooling questions, running Steering Committee business meetings, contacting new members of Vestal LEAH to see if they have any questions or needs, and generally overseeing the operations of our local LEAH group as well as being our regional and state representative.

Treasurer:

The Treasurer collects dues; keeps accurate, legible records of all money spent and received; maintains the Vestal LEAH checking account and petty cash; keeps a record of members’ names and pays dues for our chapter to NYS LEAH.

Activities Chairperson:

Schedules group field trips, classes, picnics, holiday parties, etc.

Secretary:

The Secretary takes minutes at the business meetings and is responsible for mailing information to any members who have provided stamped, self-addressed envelopes. The Secretary is responsible for attendance sheet of members during the monthly meetings. The Secretary will prepare and distribute the ballot sheet to be used in voting for the new Steering Committee via email. Email ballot responses may be returned to either the Secretary or the Communications Coordinator.

Membership & Communications Coordinator:

The Membership & Communications Coordinator handles the administration of the Vestal LEAH Yahoo Group which includes maintaining a current list of e-mail addresses and a database file containing address and phone numbers; keeping the on-line calendar up-to-date; and monitoring e-mails sent. The Membership & Communications

Coordinator also submits membership records to NYS LEAH by the deadline set by them.

Legislative Contact:

Reports to Vestal LEAH any important information regarding homeschooling legislation on the national and local levels and may give verbal updates at the support group meeting. They will be listed as Legislative Contact for our group and should be available to field questions regarding the current legal status regarding homeschooling in New York State.

Representative Member(s):

Is a responsible person(s) from the chapter who has input at the Steering Committee meetings.

Elections are held annually by the June Meeting via email. Those making nominations and/or voting must be a member in good standing (dues paid). Each position may be voted for separately and those being nominated for a position must be a current member and have the recommendation of a current Steering Committee member.