The Kids Club kick-off this month was a beautiful combination of exciting fresh starts and a comforting return to the familiar. Fresh faces of new students and new volunteers joined with returning kids and volunteers, happy to be “home again” with the rest of the Kids Club family. One of our most faithful volunteers last year from the neighborhood returned in a new position; she has been hired as the Kids Club Assistant for the school year. Even our facilities greeted us with a fresh look; the area where we meet had been beautifully remodeled over the summer, allowing a brighter and more conducive environment for studying.
With the new set-up and room dividers, we are able to do “family-style” snack, where the kids and staff sit around the table together in their homeroom, checking in about what’s going on at home and at school. After snack, the children rotate between the Study (homework room), the Library (reading and computer lab), and the Family Room (bible lesson). After the tour of new space, one second grader exclaimed, “It’s just like being in a home!”
Middle School Program Sprouts!
Our little ones have grown up! Some of them we’ve known since they were second graders. Time flies! We now have middle school students in our after-school program. We are excited the six sixth grade students are meeting regularly in the home of Rachel and Matthew Hoppe for after school tutoring and a Monday evening Bible Study. Thanks to generous donors from the YP4 CC event who gave to make educational field trips possible, we are anticipating our first Experience and Exposure trip next month.