Speaking Team Update

The Speaking Team has made leaps and bounds since I first saw them about a year ago. Since last fall, the team has added a few 6th graders and one 8th grade student. Like I have shared before, each student uses their talents from God to bring their part to the team and together they work really well. I don’t want to say that I have a favorite leadership team because I really do love them all, but I ALWAYS enjoy sitting and watching the students at work on the Speaking Team. The energy in the room, though sometimes very, very high, is pleasing and I usually laugh every time I am with them. The students have been working on a play about the Big Bad Wolfe and the Three Little Pigs. Each student has a part which they have been practicing on for quite a few weeks now, and they have gotten quite good! Last time I visited they were working on things like projecting their voices, slowing down when saying their lines, and pronouncing their words clearly. After every read through the audience gets to give critiques, like speak louder and don’t look at your script all the time. Everyone was working really hard for their performance in July for the Kiwanis Club. I can’t wait to ask each student how it went, and then come back and tell all of you what I find out!

Remembering

Quite a few weeks back, the Social Justice team was talking about fun and practical ways to make a difference in the lives of others around the world. One of the students had shared about a website called freerice.com. Freerice.com is a site you can go to answer questions and after you answer so many questions correctly a bag of rice is donated to a third world country. I came across this journal entry from Cameron the other night.

Internal
Asset Category: Positive Values
Asset #: 27

“I will play on freerice.com (which donates rice to people in poverty) in my free time.” Cameron 6-8th grade student

I really thought it was neat to see the parallel between something Cameron had learned about a few weeks prior to writing this journal entry and apply it to his life. To me it was just another example of all the things these young students are retaining, it really does set in!

A Special Visit

A visit was made by three men and three women from Omaha, who came to see what City Impact’s Impact Leadership Academy is all about. These individuals work in ministry in Omaha and also attend Bridge church together.

They joined the 6-8th grade boy’s and girl’s classrooms, and later split up and attended different Leadership Teams. During worship Myron (works for Abide and also is on staff at Bridge church) asked students from each Leadership Team to stand and share a bit about what they are currently working on. Mercedez, Zach, Vadoll, CC, and Cameron all shared on behalf of their Leadership Team. They all did a wonderful job describing what each team does. Myron went on to ask some more detailed questions, and I was very pleased to see how respectful each student was when responding to each question he had.

It was fun to have the group from Omaha there with us on Sunday, and from what I could see the students enjoyed getting to know them a bit.

High School Boys learn about the gift of TEACHING

On Sunday, the High School boy’s classroom was quiet, only containing two students and one leader. Sometimes these small groups are the best kind because discussion can be deep and students get that one on one attention. It is also good because each student gets the opportunity to share, and feels as though what they are saying is important because it is not drowned out by others.

The topic tonight was Building Up the Church (gift of teaching and the gift of pastoring). Before I go any further, I just want to mention how awesome it is to see the commitment some of the student’s show by coming to ILA every week. It is very rare when you don’t see TJ or VaDoll in their High School Boy’s classroom.

These boys along with Mr. Ty (volunteer classroom leader) went over many questions concerning teaching. Questions like, “Who is a teacher who has taught you a new skill?” VaDoll shared that a man named Shawn Stewart taught him how to play drums. If you know VaDoll, you know that drums are something he is very passionate about. TJ shared about a teacher who taught him a skill to use in math to better understand it. Another question was, “Who has taught you something about life?” TJ shared that he was taught to not take anything for granted, and VaDoll shared that he was taught by his mother to not talk to strangers when he was young. When asked, “Who taught you about faith in Jesus?” VaDoll shared that Mr. Todd (6-8th grade boy’s classroom teacher) taught him that if you always believe in Jesus and believe he is with you, you will be saved.

The boys went on to talk about verses in Matthew and Mark, which talk about Jesus humbling himself to teach by not taking credit for his knowledge, but also teaching with authority so that people may listen. They also talked about Jesus teaching with compassion. The boys brainstormed how they might teach with compassion and TJ shared that you would need to teach with compassion to someone who has treated you bad. VaDoll pointed out that Jesus spoke from his heart and that he cared about these people he was teaching. Next week the boys will continue their discussion on the gifts of teaching and the gift of pastoring.

Later in the evening, I had the chance to grab TJ and VaDoll. I was hoping they would share with me what they had learned earlier that evening in class during their Bible study. They were both eager to share with me what they had learned. I asked them to share with me what they had learned and how they were going to use what they learned in their own lives. VaDoll shared, “I learned about the gift of teaching and how I can be a great influence on others, like helping them to build their confidence. If I were to teach I would teach someone drumming to carry on the legacy of drumming.” TJ shared this, “I learned how to separate teaching with authority and teaching with compassion. I would like to volunteer to teach younger children things that I enjoy like math and football.”

Pressing On

The Philanthropy team is still hard at work making efforts toward raising money to help fund the playground project for the Friendship Home. Currently the plan stands to raise money to provide matting under the playground, re doing the play house, padding around the sand box, and hopefully benches for the mothers to sit on while they watch their kids. The dress down day was a success and brought in $400.00. Students are still pushing the coin jars and plan to re launch the idea to get Bible Club students excited again. The students have written grant letter to Youth Inspire and later learned that at this time Youth Inspire can’t fund the $2,000 they were asking for, but did tell the students to please keep them in mind for help with future volunteer efforts. They did not let this discourage them, they got right back on the ball and are just finishing up another grant letter, which will soon be reviewed and sent off. A date in July has been set to stop all fundraising because they hope to start with the project in August. More to come later!

Encouragement through Stamps

From: Radious
To: TT

“You look very nice today and you are a great friend.”

From: Mrs. Miriam
To: Javaen

“I am so glad you came tonight! It has been a while since you have been at ILA and we have missed your smiling face! I hope your summer is going well and that we get to see you a lot.”

From: CC
To: Radious

“You look really pretty today in your little hoop earrings.”

From:TT
To: Mrs. Miriam

“Thank you for being such a great bible study teacher.”

From: Mrs. Bert
To: Radious

“It’s nice to see your smiling face. Your attitude brightens the room.”

UPDATE

Oh, do I love visiting the writing team, where personal experiences mix with feelings on pages of notebook paper.

The girls who are participating on the team are dedicated to the skill God has given them and are eager to write from the heart. God truly has given these students a gift, and it is so fun to see them put it to practice. Currently they are working on putting a magazine together. Their inspiration is a book, which they have been reading called Red (the next generation of American writers, teenage girls- on what fires up their lives today). This book is compiled of essays written by teenage girls on their own personal experiences. The pieces the students of the writing team are currently working on are, “Describing a family member” and “Various thoughts on beauty”. The girls have already written rough drafts and are working on reading and critiquing each others pieces. They girls hope to have their first pieces published in the magazine by the banquet in October. They would like to have it available to give to City Impact’s supporters, so they can share what God is doing through the writing team at the Impact Leadership Academy.