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20/20 Vision for School (Part 4 of 4)
By Jeremy | January 10, 2008
SIDEBAR: "Case Study: How one church adopted a neighborhood school"Â
In July 1996, thirteen youths from Abounding Grace Ministries established Generation Xcel as a neighborhood youth center. Despite drawing 75%-80% of its students from the public elementary and middle schools across the street, Xcel's attempts to formalize a relationship with the school "pretty much failed beyond the fact that we shared so many students and prayed consistently for the school."
Then in 2006, Xcel co-founder Jonathan Del Rio and former Xcel program director Dorothy Rivera joined the middle school's faculty as dean and a math teacher. Jonathan, who is the youth pastor at AGM, had applied for a Teaching Fellowship specifically with the goal of being placed in the school where he already knew so many students. Six months later, AGM received a Paint the Town grant, and for the first time had something tangible to offer the school.
All summer, PTT volunteers helped beautify the building's interior. Then in July, six artists immortalized everything that Xcel represents in the school's playground on four walls and six column surfaces -- ten paintings in all. Collectively, the murals communicate the mission, values, and opportunities that Xcel empowers kids to realize.
AGM's adopt-a-school experiment came full circle in September, when MS 34 invited Xcel to present the meaning behind the murals at the first middle school assembly ever conducted by an outside group. Four of the artists and two former students shared about the power of creativity in pursuing one's dreams.
Topics: 2020 vision, abounding grace, adopt-a-school, coalition, dorothy rivera, generation xcel, jonathan del rio, youth ministry | 1 Comment »
November 11th, 2008 at 10:16 am
[...] How one church adopted a public school. More pics like this here. [...]