Four Ways to Support Booker T.
FUMC has been a Partner in Education to Booker T. Washington Elementary School since 2016.
In that time, we’ve searched for ways to show our love and appreciation for the teachers, staff,
and children at our PIE school.
Reverend Georgia Harrison oversees this partnership. She explains that our relationship with
the school is important and necessary because “Booker T. serves many families who are
struggling to get by and keep a roof over their heads.” These families are in special need of love
and support, and that is where our church comes in.
Below are four ways that our church serves Booker T. – and you can, too!
Blessing Buddies
Blessing Buddies find small ways to encourage the Booker T. teachers and staff throughout the
school year. This year is my first as a Blessing Buddy, and it’s been a fun experience. I was
partnered with a fourth-grade math and science teacher and was given a list of what sorts of
things she likes. About once a month, I stop by the school to drop off some sweet treats or a
small gift card. I always include a heartfelt note to let her know I’m thinking of her and wishing
her well.
This is also Jessie Smith’s first year as a Blessing Buddy. She’s found that “something as simple
as dropping off [her] Blessing Buddy's favorite Sonic drink on a Friday afternoon has meant the
world to her.” Even though she’s never met her Blessing Buddy in person, her teacher has been
“so appreciative and knows that she (and her students) are being prayed over.”
On the other hand, Joan Gray has been a part of this ministry for years. She works as a team
with Diane Hoskin and Sue Yingling to support Booker T.’s office staff and brighten their days.
Joan knows that the principal offers treats, toys, and small gift cards for kids who earn a reward
through their achievements and sees being a Blessing Buddy as a similar arrangement. “They
are rewarding the kids, and we’re rewarding the teachers,” she explains.
Currently, there are still seven staff people in need of a Blessing Buddy. Contact Georgia
Harrison for more information.
Leopard Bags
Leopard Bags are colorful drawstring bags filled with a handful of small gifts, including a book.
Every December, church members fill Leopard Bags for each student at Booker T. Then, during
the last week of school before Christmas break, we hand out the bags directly to the kids to
bring them some Christmas cheer.
Pat Deal usually fills ten bags a year. While getting “the right age level book and toy for each
child” can be a challenge, “the examples and suggestions the teachers give are very helpful”
and make the process of filling the bags easy. As a former teacher, she gets special enjoyment
from choosing the books, saying “I love to read and I want them to love it, too!”
This year was Jessie’s first experience with Leopard Bags. She enjoyed filling them with her kids,
using the experience as an “opportunity to talk to them about giving back and how FUMC
serves the community.” Her kids were “most excited about picking out the fidget toys to put in
the bags.”
Delivering the Bags
When it came time to distribute the bags, the church staff and a couple of volunteers loaded them
into vehicles and headed to Booker T. We set up in the school’s atrium, where the students
were brought to us one grade level at a time. As the children filed in, the volunteers took turns
handing out bags and we all wished the children Merry Christmas as they went by – receiving a
chorus of adorable “thank yous” and “Merry Christmases” in return.
Many of us volunteers donned festive Christmas apparel, including Pat, who wore a Mrs. Claus
sweater. With her white hair, glasses, Santa hat, and warm cheery demeanor, she fit the part
well, to the delight of the younger children. One little girl came up to her with wide eyes and
asked in wonder, “Is it REALLY YOU??” Pat just grinned and said, “Yes, it’s me!”
Jessie’s favorite part of the experience was the “smiles, high fives, and hugs when handing out
Leopard Bags” It warmed her heart that “the kids were so grateful and proud to wear their new
backpacks.” Pat notes that the younger kids often want hugs, while the older kids are “often
too cool to show excitement, but like fist bumps or high fives—then immediately begin peeking
into the bags as they walk away.”
Pat cares so deeply about this ministry because she knows that “for some of these kids, this
may be the only gifts they get.” She asserts that “our time and money are well spent in this
endeavor,” saying, “I come away feeling that this is one of the ways that our church is providing
opportunities for us to be involved in God’s plan for us to ‘Love One Another.’”
Look forward to more information about Leopard Bags in November 2024.
Read 2 Learn
Read 2 Learn (R2L) is WFISD’s reading initiative that aims to help children build strong reading
skills so that all children are reading at grade level by the end of the third grade. The goal: by
the time each student walks into their fourth-grade classroom, they will be reading to
learn rather than learning to read.
Several church members volunteer for Read 2 Learn, including Pastor John McLarty. To become
an R2L volunteer, John reached out to a counselor at Booker T., who assigned John a reading
buddy and suggested some times of the day when the student could slip out of class for a bit.
Once a week, John meets with a second grader for about 30 minutes and listens to this student read, offering help with words when they’re struggling. They are working their way through a
folder of short practice passages that the counselor put together for them. If there’s time at the
end of their session, the students will pick out a book for John to read to them.
John explains why R2L is so important: “Nothing is more crucial in education than a person’s
ability to read. When students struggle to read, it impacts their confidence and makes it less
likely that they’ll push themselves academically. Read 2 Learn puts another caring adult into the
lives of students and encourages them to work on their reading skills.”
John’s favorite part of being a Read 2 Learn volunteer is “seeing [his] student’s confidence
grow.” Over the months they’ve worked together, John has “seen them trying harder and
enjoying the praise they receive for their hard work.” He says that working with this student is
“a highlight of [his] week’ and “a fun way to spend half an hour.”
To volunteer for R2L, reach out to the Booker T. office at (940) 235-1196.
Project Transformation, formerly Reading with Friends
For the past three years, FUMCWF has hosted a summer reading program called Reading with Friends, a four-week summer reading program for students first through fifth grade that aims to build self-confidence and self-awareness through one-on-one literacy engagement, creative art, and recreational play and exercise. This program brought in 30-40 children from local elementary schools Booker T. Washington and Scotland Park to work on their reading skills, and to have some fun while doing it! Sarah Pellikan designed this program after Project Transformation (PT), where she worked for several summers as a “member” (college-age intern) and was so impressed that she wanted to do something similar here in Wichita Falls. As a second-grade teacher at Booker T., she saw firsthand how children were losing their reading skills over the summer, so she worked with volunteers at FUMCWF and put together her version of PT.
Over the past few months, we have been having conversations with the leadership of Project Transformation and decided to apply to be an official PT site for the summer of 2024. We are very excited to announce that FUMCWF has been approved! So, this Summer, Reading with Friends will become Project Transformation.
What Will Change?
What will change? Most importantly, the children will be coming for an 8-week program (all of June and July). By joining PT and extending the program (from four to eight weeks), we will have more time and resources to engage with the children of our community and foster a love for reading. Since Julia Lamberth has continued to grow and improve the Children’s Library in the Rec Lobby over the last year, the church has a welcoming environment to bring young students into this summer.
We will also be expanding our volunteer base, asking all of the other local United Methodist churches to join us in this endeavor. Sarah, who directed Reading with Friends for the last three years, stresses the important role that volunteers play in the program: “The biggest impact this program has on the students is that they see encouraging volunteers who see the importance of reading… [This helps] students realize that reading is not just something they do for school or to learn, but a way to connect with others and build community.”
Volunteers can sign up to read with a child Monday-Thursday, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Volunteers may also sign up to help with dinner for our Members on a Sunday, Monday, or Thursday, and to help with our Family Fun Nights (June 27 and July 18) which include dinner and games.
We are very excited about the possibilities opened up by becoming a PT site. All of the hiring of local staff, registration of children and volunteers, writing of curriculum, and more will now be handled by the amazing staff at PT.
Information to sign up as a Project Transformation volunteer or to apply to be a Member is now available online.
Partners in Education
According to WFISD, the goal of the PIE program is to “encourage academic and personal
achievements, foster a conducive learning environment, cultivate and nurture community
support, and bolster staff morale.” Through Blessing Buddies, Leopard Bags, Read 2 Learn, and
Project Transformation, FUMC has strived to support these goals at Booker T.
As Georgia explains, “The volunteers who read with a child help them progress in their reading
skills, but also provide another trusted adult in the life of that child. Everyone who fills out a
[Leopard Bag] shows a child that they are important and deserve a brand new book. And finally,
the Blessing Buddies who encourage and support a staff member at Booker T. remind the staff
how important their work is.” These programs allow our church to show how much we value
the children of our community and the educators who are building our future. In these ways,
we can actively participate in uplifting our community and loving our neighbors.