Welcome to day 7of 31waysin31days!
We are live from Asbury United Methodist and I am excited to highlight the first of many church-school partnerships. Today’s idea has to do with back to school night to tell us about it, we’re joined by Cynthia Nelson who heads up Asbury’s church-school partnership. Welcome, Cynthia! I am so excited you’re joining us today! Let’s start with this- I am asking every church leader I can during 31waysin31days this question: how did you get into partnering with a school? Tell us the story.
Here's the link for the calendar we mentioned. Have a great day and we’ll see ya tomorrow!
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Welcome to day 6 of 31waysin31days!
We are live from the gymnasium at Cleveland Elementary in Sioux Falls. Today’s idea: celebrate accomplishments with your partner school. Today we’re joined by a past Sioux Falls’ teacher of the year: Gretchen Johnson! Welcome, Gretchen! I am so excited you’re joining us today! I know one of the things you were involved with the year you won teacher of the year was helping or coaching sports team of boys from Cleveland. What sparked that idea? My church partners with Cleveland and once we heard Gretchen won, we were like “this is a big deal”. We sent some ideas of how we could do a school-wide celebration and ended up going with a school wide pizza party. We called up our friends at pizza ranch, got a deal, and ended up ordering something like 90 pizzas for the entire school! That was a fun day and one thing we could do to help our school celebrate the great things happening here. One of the things I often hear when talking school partnerships is how can schools give back to their partner business or partner church? It’s a great question because the best partnerships are two ways where both the school and the church/business/nonprofit is giving and receiving. And let me tell you, the gym teacher is a good one at the school to know!
So nonprofit and churches especially, get to know the gym teacher at your partner school because that’s a potential resource for you. Before we go, comment below on ways you’ve celebrated your school, celebrated your school’s teachers or your school’s accomplishments. We’d love to hear how you’ve celebrated your school! Welcome to day 5 of 31waysin31days!
We are live from Terry Redlin Elementary in Sioux Falls. Today’s idea is about books:
Welcome, Kristie! I am so excited you’re joining us today! Let’s start with this- I am asking every teacher I can during 31waysin31days this question: why are you a teacher? Wow. Great! As the librarian, reading is a big deal for you and what you do.
I want to thank you Kristie for your time and wisdom today. Comment below with a book that's impacted you for a chance to win of the 3 books Kristie recommended! Welcome to day 3 of 31waysin31days!
Today’s idea: share a unique skill you have with a school. I need a haircut. And it got me thinking of early into our school partnership several students at the school needed haircuts. Something simple that many of us take for granted was a need for several students. So the principal contacted us and wondered if we knew anyone who cut hair and if so, if they’d be willing to donate their time and talent to cut hair. We put the word out, and lo and behold, a hairdresser answered the call and gave free haircuts to students who needed them. What a great way to share a unique skill with students who need it. The opportunities here are really endless. In our partnership and other partnerships I’m aware of, we’ve seen
Or, what skill could you or someone you know donate to a school? We’d love to hear your ideas and encourage each another in the comments section. Welcome to day 2 of 31waysin31days!
Today’s idea: mentor a student. We are live from the offices of Lutheran Social Services and are so excited to welcome our first guest for 31waysin31days Michelle Madsen who runs the school-based mentoring program for schools in Sioux Falls and schools in the surrounding area. Welcome, Michelle! I am so excited you’re joining us today! Let’s start with this: what exactly is school based mentoring?
Partnering with a school doesn’t always involve money. This idea costs you nothing except for one lunch hour per week. And the more principals and administrators I talk to, the more I keep hearing this come up: their students need a mentor. They need a reading or math buddy. They need an adult in their life who will consistently show up, week after week, month after month, and even year after year. I want to thank you Michelle for your time and wisdom on this important idea each of us should consider. If you’re community doesn’t have a program like this and you want to start one or get some ideas on how to begin one, reach out to us on email and we’d love to chat with you about what school-based mentoring can look like in your community. Ok, let’s pick two teachers this morning for winning the $20 Target cards:
Thank you for watching day 2 of 31waysin31days! See ya tomorrow! It’s day 1 of 31waysin31days and I am live just outside of Target.
Today’s idea: when you’re shopping, pick up extra school supplies and donate them.
What usually ends up happening is teachers are left to pick up school supplies and other basics for students who come to school without them. The one number I often see is that teachers spend an average of $450 out of their own pockets for school supplies and other basics for their classrooms. Target knows this. They also know how much teachers enjoy shopping here so they ran a promotion last month where teachers could save 15% off their purchases for their classrooms and school supplies. And that’s awesome- it really is- but what if Target didn’t need to do that? What if churches, businesses, nonprofits, you and I all partnered with schools to provide supplies for those who come to school without them so teachers didn’t have to? Obviously schools provide resources and supplies for their teachers and classrooms. But teachers are left to bridge the gap with their own money. I was in a meeting recently about school partnerships. And a teacher in the meeting said one of the things she hears most from her coworkers when she notices something they’ve bought for school is “don’t tell my husband” or “don’t tell my wife”. It’s a joke, but there’s truth there, right? So when you’re back to school shopping this month or just shopping this month, pick up some extras supplies and donate them. |