Ten at-risk children, all second and third graders from Jefferson Elementary School in Winona Lake, Indiana, had a graduation ceremony this afternoon upon completion of the year-long Discovery Club program sponsored by Grace in Action (GiA).
The graduation exercises, held in the Fireside Room of the Winona Lake (IN) Grace Brethren Church, featured the children being awarded certificates of completion, presentation of prizes earned throughout the year in a variety of performance areas, and words of encouragement from the mentors and adults who have worked with the children this year.
The coordinator of the program, Lindsey Eilbacher, is a junior counseling major from Ohio at Grace College, Winona Lake, IN, and she conducted today’s meeting, which was followed by a picnic and games at the Winona Lake town park.
The children met twice a week during the first semester of the school year and once a week during the second semester. In addition to working through the curriculum which focused on life skills such as making choices, personal care, how to use money, and more, they also had some special occasion activities throughout the year such as attending a Grace College soccer game, having a pumpkin-carving contest, and staging a dinner party for their sponsors at which they practiced their table manners and telephone manners.
Each child is sponsored by adults who contribute $250 for each child’s materials and supplies during the year. Several of the sponsors attended today’s graduation ceremonies.
The LifeTime Learning curriculum is an integral part of GiA’s mission: to educate (life skills) and enable (job skills) employment and/or economic development. The curriculum includes six learning units: Making Choices, Developing Character, Learning to Love, Personal Care, Money Matters, and Personality and Potential. The lessons are offered in three sections: Discoverers, ages 5-8; Achievers, ages 9-12; and Leaders, ages 13-16.
For more information about Grace in Action USA or the LifeTime Learning curriculum, contact Gladys Deloe, who founded the program and wrote the curriculum, at 574-372-6317 or gdeloe@comcast.net or visit the website www.graceinactionusa.org. Grace in Action is a cooperating agency with the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches.