A Call to Action
by Luke McConnell
Pastor Rick recently spoke about the church restoring shalom where it is broken. He talked about the problem of illiteracy in our community. Here’s the quote from his sermon on March 8:
“Most of the systemic problems you find in poverty are a problem of illiteracy. If a child reaches a certain age and is still illiterate, the chances are that child is going to remain in poverty the rest of his life. The problem of illiteracy is a real issue in our community. It’s incumbent upon the church to get involved in that, to plunge into that. Using our lives, using our resources, using our abilities to weave in and through that problem so we can restore the weave of the broken shalom.”
At the time, we were already in the process of figuring out how we could utilize the CUBE to offer an after-school program to combat this very issue.
I’m very excited to announce that we will be working with Whiz Kids in partnership with Council Grove Elementary and Reaching Our City to do our part in addressing the problem of illiteracy in our community this fall.
Whiz Kids is a faith-based, tutoring and mentoring program designed for first through fourth graders in areas of high dropout rates and low socio-economic conditions in Oklahoma City. They have an amazing track record due to the one-on-one relationships they establish between a tutor and a student. After one year of tutoring, kids in the Whiz Kids program score an average of 37 points higher on state reading tests than their fellow students.
This will bring us a new partner school and strengthen our relationship with ROC. Council Grove and ROC worked together this past school year as a Whiz Kids site, but a variety of circumstances prevented it from flourishing. Rather than set up a new site with another school, we were approached about coming alongside ROC to preserve the tutor-student relationships already in place and build on an established foundation.
Here are some statistics that illustrate the huge task we face in battling illiteracy. Approximately 71 percent of fourth grade students in Oklahoma read below proficiency level, and percentages are worse in schools in high-poverty neighborhoods. Meanwhile, one in three children are living in poverty or extreme poverty in Oklahoma City. Countless studies and research have shown illiteracy is a root problem of poverty and many other issues in society.
This partnership with Whiz Kids will be a blessing not only to our community, but also to our church. What an amazing way to be a part of our church's mission to love all people to Christ!
To begin serving as a Whiz Kids site, we need a minimum of 20 volunteers, including a site coordinator, a club time leader, meal prep team and tutors. We’re thrilled to announce Jenna Laine Price has agreed to be our site coordinator! Jenna Laine is a former teacher at Putnam City West High School and has a huge heart for kids and teaching.
Volunteers serve one day a week for about three hours—that’s it! While not designed to be an everyday program, a Whiz Kids site is a big undertaking, and it’s much more than just sitting and reading with a child once a week. A typical Whiz Kids schedule includes a meal for the kids, a club time that can be used for Bible stories, recreation and games and a minimum of 45 minutes of one-on-one tutoring time focused on reading.
As a team, we have a lot of big ideas about how we can make this new partnership successful, fun and most importantly, Gospel-focused. But we can’t do any of those things without you.
We know many of you already serve at a high capacity somewhere at Council Road, and for that we are thankful. We are targeting those who may still be looking for a place to serve or who may need to re-connect. The church is "us," and together we can make a difference. We are asking you to pray about being part of this life-changing ministry.
Again, we need 20 volunteers to get started. But because we serve a big God, and we have a church committed to serving our community and combating the forces of poverty around us, we’re praying for 50 people! There is no shortage of kids at Council Grove who can benefit from this program. In the 2017-18 school year, just 12 percent of third graders and 27 percent of fourth graders at Council Grove scored proficient or above in reading on state testing. And we have an incredible space at the CUBE just waiting to be utilized to its full extent.
These partnerships, these programs, these opportunities are life-changing, life-GIVING things. We believe there are many of you reading this who are called to be part of this with us. Your ears have perked up, your heart is stirring, and you're already being prompted by God to step forward.
Wouldn’t it be amazing to see the CUBE filled with 100 or 200 kids having fun together, being invested in by our church members, learning how to read so they can go to college or even graduate high school, or even just to know they won’t be living a life of poverty in the future? The thought brings tears to our eyes.
We want you to volunteer, yes, but most importantly, we want you to pray and see if God lays it on your heart to be part of this opportunity. Pray, pray and pray some more.
If you’re interested or need more information, please reach out to Jenna Laine Price at jenna.laine.price@gmail.com.
Author Bio
Luke serves as the Cube Director at Council Road. He previously worked at Channel 9 as a sports writer and an account executive. He also serves as the play-by-play voice for Southern Nazarene athletics. Luke graduated from OU in 2011. Luke and his wife, Mary, have been members at Council Road since 2012. They have two-year-old twin boys, Jackson and Cameron. Mary teaches third grade at Wiley Post Elementary. They also serve in the Student Ministry and help lead a home group.