Nicky Schleihauf: First Christian High School in Muskoka

Muskoka, Ontario is known for lakes, cottages, and tourism. It is not known for Christian education. In fact, the region has never had a Christian high school. Nicky Schleihauf decided to change that.

The vision is ambitious: establish the first Christian high school in the Muskoka region. Not a small Sunday school programme. A full high school that would provide Kingdom-centred education to the next generation of leaders in one of Ontario's most beautiful — and spiritually underserved — regions.

Visions like this require resources. And resources arrived in a way that can only be described as breakthrough. Nicky received a $1 million donation. That single gift transformed the project from aspiration to reality. It provided the financial foundation to begin building.

The school is part of a broader vision — a 30-year plan to create a transformational educational institution that shapes leaders across generations. That kind of long-term thinking is rare. Most people plan in quarters or fiscal years. Nicky is planning in decades.

This story connects to a larger pattern in TOWC's network. Education is one of the seven spheres of influence, and it is one of the most strategically important. The leaders of tomorrow are being shaped in classrooms today. When those classrooms are grounded in Kingdom values, the ripple effects extend far beyond graduation.

For marketplace leaders, Nicky's story demonstrates that financial breakthrough often follows vision and faithfulness. The $1 million did not arrive because of a fundraising campaign. It arrived because someone had a clear vision, communicated it with conviction, and trusted God for provision. That is a pattern that applies to business as much as it does to education.