{"id":51394,"date":"2026-06-18T18:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T22:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/?p=51394"},"modified":"2026-06-16T09:10:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T13:10:19","slug":"lifewise-academy-expands-rapidly-across-pauldingcounty-serving-hundreds-of-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/lifewise-academy-expands-rapidly-across-pauldingcounty-serving-hundreds-of-students\/","title":{"rendered":"LifeWise Academy Expands Rapidly Across PauldingCounty, Serving Hundreds of Students"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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LifeWise Academy in Paulding County announced continued growth following a banner 2025-2026 school year marked by strong local demand and expanding participation in Bible-based character education programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Paulding County, LifeWise served 1,317 students during the 2025-2026 school year across all three school districts, reflecting significant growth as more families see the benefits of released time religious instruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFamilies are clearly looking for ways to support character development and address the many challenges that children face today,\u201d said Traci Koenig, Program Director for LifeWise Academy Paulding County. \u201cWe are seeing tremendous momentum as our community comes together to offer students the opportunity to engage with the Bible during school hours.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Highlights from LifeWise in Paulding County during the 2025-2026 school year include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 1,317 students served across 3 school districts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Wayne Trace Local Schools \u2013 496 students<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Paulding Exempted Village Schools \u2013 600 students<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Antwerp Local Schools \u2013 221 students<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Partnered with 44 supporting churches<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 126 local volunteers dedicated their time to support the students and program operations<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New national polling of public-school parents and educators shows overwhelming support for Bible-based character education as a solution to the growing behavioral and mental health challenges facing today\u2019s students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The survey of 1,000 public school parents and 200 public school educators across the country was conducted by Scott Rasmussen\u2019s RMG Research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the poll\u2019s findings:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Nearly 90% favor teaching moral and character education to public school students<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Nearly 70% say voluntary, off-campus Bible-based character education programs would be helpful for their child\u2019s school<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Over 85% would favor a released time religious instruction program if it were offered<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFamilies across Paulding County are looking for solutions that help students build strong character, purpose and values,\u201d said Traci Koenig. \u201cThe overwhelming support reflected in this polling mirrors what we are seeing in our area \u2014 parents and educators want students to have access to positive moral and character education opportunities, and LifeWise is helping meet that demand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About LifeWise Academy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1952 that public school students could receive religious instruction during the school day so long as it is off school property, privately funded and parent-permitted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thirty-one states have laws clarifying the practice of released time for religious instruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since launching in 5 Ohio schools in 2019, LifeWise Academy has grown to more than 1,000 schools across 37 states \u2014 and 11,640% increase in participation. To date, LifeWise has served more than 100,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LifeWise Academy is a nonprofit that provides Bible education to public school students during school hours under released time religious instruction laws. Hundreds of communities have launched local LifeWise programs through a 10-step process that begins with collecting community signatures at lifewise.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LifeWise Academy in Paulding County announced continued growth following a banner 2025-2026 school year marked by strong local demand and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":44566,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8,6,13406],"tags":[3177,29270,6533,14906],"class_list":["post-51394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-churches","category-community","category-not-for-profit","tag-antwerp-local-school","tag-lifewise-academy-paulding-county-ohio","tag-paulding-exempted-village-schools","tag-traci-koenig"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t