Hope For The Future

Cornerstone Christian College Prep: A Small School That Makes A Big Differences

C-Prep Class of 2022

Education is the key to success, and there are limitless possibilities for those with a thirst for learning. It’s no secret that youth are the future. As the founder and headmaster of Cornerstone Christian College Prep Day and High (C-Prep) located in Fort Wayne, Indiana once said, “the youth are the barometer of a nation’s future.” Therefore, if anyone wants to see what the future holds, he or she should look at the direction of our youth, and direction is guided by education, which is built on the premise of knowledge. Our youth can only go in the direction of and choose according to the degree of knowledge that they know.

So, how do we know there’s hope for the future? Let’s examine Cornerstone Christian Prep Day and High School which will be celebrating 32 years of excellence in the fall of 2022. C-Prep, GOD’S I AM Possible School of Hope: the school without walls, limitations to achievement, and success in life under the leadership of “The Father of Possibleology'' and “Possibility Education,” Dr. Oscar J. Nelson Dowdell-Underwood, who has been developing young leaders from grades Pre-K through 12th grade to make an incredible impact in the world by spreading hope. C-Prep is more than just an institution that teaches students how to pass a standardized test or to prepare students for the next grade. It’s a school that teaches the necessity of sustainability, not only in academic achievement, but in life as a way of life. The Underwood model that is the foundation of C-Prep's academics is designed to mirror what Dr. Nelson Dowdell-Underwood calls GOD’S of Law Possibility, “That all things are possible to Him who believes” (Mark 9:23). Having this understanding equips each student with perceptions of "mattering" that when it is coupled with C-Prep’s 5 Possibilistic Environments (Verbal, Intellectual, Social, Emotional, and Physical) it enables students to succeed in any endeavor beyond the educational realm. Moreover, it creates a possibilistic transformative experience.

In its 32 years of existence, C-Prep has made some notable accomplishments, that include the graduation of students from universities such as Taylor University, Arizona State University, Oral Roberts University, Santa Clara University, Saint Mary’s College of Notre Dame, and Pittsburgh Mortuary Science College to name just a few. Those accomplishments are as follows: 0 percent of the students are involved in the judicial system, acts of violence, or drugs. It has a 99 percent graduation rate, and 100 percent of the graduates have been accepted to a college or university with a 70.1 percent college retention rate. Graduates of Cornerstone Christian Prep have distinguished themselves all over the world from their education to the workplace. Among these metrics are the graduating class of 2022.

This year, the C-Prep graduating class shares two Co-Valedictorians; Malila Smiley and Olivia White, both of whom will attend prestigious colleges. Malila will be attending Hope College in Michigan with a concentration in biochemistry and molecular biology on a pre-med track. Malila aspires to become a dermatologist with aspirations to become one of the few dermatologists to completely heal different types of skin diseases, with a focus on treating eczema and acne. At a young age, Malila like the rest of her cohorts at C-Prep has been distinguished among many of their peers. Malila plans to use her gifts and dreams to change the world by pursuing the vision GOD has given her. Furthermore, she will use her gifts to create answers and solutions for those who’ve lost hope concerning their skin conditions.

Co-Valedictorian Olivia White plans to attend Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio with a concentration in animation, photography, and graphics design. Olivia aspires to start her own animation business that will allow her to create a studio that is centered around black stories that people of color would have something to look up to. Olivia wants to travel the world, learn different foreign languages, and behold the beauty of GOD’S creation through landscape photography. Olivia wants to use her gifts and dreams to help her generation identify with the people they see on television. Therein, they would have a greater appreciation for themselves as people of color. Furthermore, Olivia just wants to use her gifts to give hope and touch hearts with her stories while building a brand name for herself. When it comes to Olivia’s future she sees no limitations, but only possibilities that will allow her work to inspire others.

Edyn Moore, The Salutatorian of the Class of 2022 will be attending Goshen College in Indiana to study business management and marketing. Edyn aspires to obtain her Bachelor’s degree and Master's degree, and travel the world to speak the truth of GOD’S Word while running her own multi-millionaire business. Edyn plans to use her gifts and dreams by releasing the principles GOD has given humanity to build a successful and wealthy new generation, through business and life.

Honor student and member of the 2022 graduating class, Bri’Nasha Moore plans to attend Purdue University or Indiana Wesleyan in Indiana. She plans to study nursing and go into real estate. Bri’Nasha aspires to become an entrepreneur, real estate agent, and nurse. In addition to being a nurse, she hopes to combine her two aspirations into providing real permanent homes for the homeless, that are not shelters. Anthony Kelly, another member of the distinguished class of 2022, plans to attend Ivy Tech in Indiana as a Culinary Arts student. His dream is to have his own business or restaurant where people can taste his amazing cooking and experience Christ's love through it.

Dr. Oscar Nelson Dowdell-Underwood and C-Prep are undoubtedly developing global leaders to be solution-oriented and possibilistic-minded rather than problematic-focused. Co-Valedictorian, Malia Smiley stated, “Dr. Oscar Nelson Dowdell-Underwood and C-Prep have prepared me to make an incredible impact in the world while giving me a competitive advantage in the 21st Century by teaching me GOD’S way of how to live my life.” She further said, “They have given me the principles needed to create and sustain solutions in this ever-increasing, changing, world.”

In addition, Dr. Oscar Nelson Dowdell-Underwood and C-Prep teach their students from Pre-K through 12th grade the importance of having a relationship with Christ. It is through that relationship with Christ that connects all other relationships including the relationship with knowledge. This enables students to be amphibious and learn how to operate and sustain under any situation, especially in times of global pandemics, such as the pandemic that we currently find ourselves facing. Therefore, whether on the physical campus or the cyber campus the students and their education are not compromised, but are in actuality elevated to the next level.

“They have taught me how to manage a crisis and spread hope around. And for those reasons, I have an advantage going into the real world and it’s because of Dr. Nelson Dowdell-Underwood and the C-Prep staff,” said Malila Smiley. Malila, alongside the rest of her cohorts, understands and agrees that GOD, Dr. Nelson Dowdell-Underwood, and the C-Prep staff have developed them to make an incredible impact in the world.

Despite what many may say negatively about this generation and the future, The class of 2022 and the students at C-Prep show that there’s hope for the future. Thank you, Dr. Oscar J. Nelson Dowdell-Underwood for your deep deposit of education and for your commitment to developing the next generation of Global Leaders for the Glory of GOD. Thank you to the staff and students of C-Prep for allowing GOD to use you to display His Glory, and to make a difference in this world. Thank you to the graduating Senior class of 2022 for allowing GOD to stretch you to a place where you were able to believe GOD for the best in you so that you could make the incredible deposit you were born and called to make!

To learn more about Dr. Oscar J. Nelson Dowdell-Underwood and Cornerstone Christian College Prep Day and High, please visit https://www.cornerstonecollegeprep.org