Preparing young minds and hearts for lives of Christian leadership

Presbyterian Pan American School offers quality education in a uniquely supportive environment

by Emily Enders Odom | Presbyterian News Service

Presbyterian Pan American School in Kingsville, Texas, has recently named a new president and a new chaplain. (Photo by Emily Enders Odom)

KINGSVILLE, Texas — Gentle Gulf breezes set the array of colorful flags from many nations high aloft at the Presbyterian Pan American School (PPAS), where they heralded a sea change at the small, college-preparatory school located some 90 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border.

In recent days, the 113-year-old school — which is committed to strengthening its historic ties with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) at the local, regional and national levels — welcomed both a new president, Dr. Joey King, and its first campus chaplain in 15 years, the Rev. Suk Jong Lee.

PPAS was founded by Presbyterians in 1911 on vast acreage gifted to the church by Henrietta King, wife of Captain Richard King, for whom the city of Kingsville was named. And although the school’s original mission was to educate young boys from Mexico, today PPAS equips and empowers an international community of some 70 students — from such countries as Mexico, China, South Korea, Rwanda, Taiwan and Colombia — for lives of Christian leadership as global citizens.

Bill Rutherford, chair of the PPAS Board of Trustees and himself a career educator, took a moment to share his own “Paul experience” — referring to the Apostle Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus — while leading a group of representatives from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and Mission Presbytery’s general presbyter, the Rev. Dr. Sallie Watson, on a comprehensive campus tour.

Front row from left: Wilson Kennedy, Mission Engagement and Support; Sallie Watson, Mission Presbytery; Suk Jong Lee, Presbyterian Pan American School; Bill Rutherford, PPAS. Second row from left: Lemuel Garcia-Arroyo, MES; Natarsha Sanders, Presbyterian Mission Agency; Sara Lisherness, PMA; Juan Plascencia, PPAS. (Photo by Emily Enders Odom)

“When we were raising our family at First Presbyterian Church in Odessa [Texas] back in the ‘70s, I remember our pastor, Rev. Joe Turner, mentioned the Presbyterian Pan American School in one of his sermons and, a few years later, he mentioned it again,” recalled Rutherford, a ruling elder at First Presbyterian Church of Luling, Texas. “Then, about 20 years after that, when I was traveling for the Texas Association of School Boards, I saw a sign for the school and I said to myself, I’m going to turn off the road and see it. And I knew that when I retired, I wanted to be a part of it, whether I was mowing the lawn or cleaning the commodes. I felt a calling to volunteer. It was truly a God thing.”

Rutherford concluded his tour of the campus — which is situated on 40 of the school’s roughly 700 acres — by proudly leading the small delegation straight to the school’s spiritual heart and its Presbyterian center, the Morris Chapel.

“Most of our students are either Presbyterian or come from a Presbyterian tradition,” Rutherford explained, noting that additional, donated Presbyterian hymnals were on their way, the organ was awaiting repair, and the Sacrament of Communion would soon be celebrated in that sacred space for the first time in many years, thanks to the arrival of Chaplain Lee.

Students show off the cakes they decorated together to unify them as a community. From left are Alani Morales, Alejandra Barrera, Hiram DelRio and Mafer Arevalo. (Photo by Emily Enders Odom)

“Our students used to have to go into Kingsville for Communion, but now we’re again able to make Presbyterian worship central to the life of the school,” he said. “Chaplain Lee will also encourage our students to take part in the Offering, also central to Reformed worship, by encouraging them to give the gift of their time.”

But financial gifts, too, are important for the school, where many of its buildings and facilities cry out for repair, salaries are not competitive, and approximately 91% of its student body receives scholarship support annually.

Which is where the PC(USA)’s Christmas Joy Offering comes in.

The annual Christmas Joy Offering, a cherished Presbyterian tradition since the 1930s, distributes gifts equally to Presbyterian-related schools and colleges equipping communities of color and to the Assistance Program of the Board of Pensions, representing critical financial support for PPAS.

The Rev. Wilson Kennedy, the PC(USA)’s associate director for Special Offerings and Appeals, which administers the Christmas Joy Offering, commended PPAS, a covenant partner of the Synod of the Sun, for “reclaiming the chapel” — along with the school’s mission and ethos — “in an intentionally Presbyterian way.”

Kennedy characterized PPAS’s close-knit community and its strong academics, coupled with an emphasis on life preparation and spiritual life, as a “boutique experience.”

“This is an intense, intentional community that prepares young people for success on an increasingly challenging world stage,” he said.

And students agree.

Alejandra Barrera, a senior from Mexico, said she was quite introverted when she first arrived on campus.

“Being here, so far away from home, it helped me to have such a supportive community,” she said. “Your confidence increases.”

Dr. Juan Plascencia is pictured with his wife, Kristal, a dedicated volunteer at the Presbyterian Pan American School. (Photo by Emily Enders Odom)

Students like Barrera — not to mention faculty, staff and board members alike — also regularly look to the steady, wise and gentle leadership of Dr. Juan Plascencia, principal of PPAS, who, with his wife, Kristal — a dedicated volunteer — are pillars of the PPAS community.

In his nearly 11 years at PPAS, Plascencia has guided the school through many a transition and several presidents.

“I’d say that the two most critical people on campus are Raul Zavala, our director of maintenance, and Dr. Juan Plascencia, who keep the campus together,” Rutherford said. “In our case, one is indispensable, Dr. Plascencia.”

And although Rutherford lives some three hours away from Kingsville, he finds he just can’t stay away.

“Every time I’m here,” he said, “and I see the kids loving and hugging on each other, it doesn’t take much for me to come back next week.”