Date: Fri, 04 Feb 2005 22:40:06 -0500
To: puptcrit-driftline.org-AT-lists.driftline.org
Subject: RE: [Puptcrit] NCLB


    I've been catching up on some old E-mails, and I realize this topic is
pretty much over.  But, I wanted to share about a local success in relation
to arts for students.

    I have recently started a regular arts program at a local christian
youth minstry center.  This is a privately funded place purchased and
maintained by some local churches.  It's focus ministry is the "at risk"
teen.  There is one full-time staff member, and about 25 volunteers for the
80 or so kids that are regularly involved at some level.

    Personally, I will be leading a puppet related workshop (mostly black
light performance), for a group of 10 kids who meet friday nights for 4
weeks to get a show together.  We will probably do this 3 or 4 times a year. 

    I heard a very encouraging story a few weeks ago. One of the kids blew
up at one of the events, and of course was suspended from activities for a
few weeks.  In a follow up call to the kid's mom, she told the staff the
following.  She ask her son, why he would do this with our group, who are
all volunteers who organize this center for him to enjoy.  His reply was
that we were the only people who loved him unconditionally. It seemed, that
we were successfully reaching this guy's heart in a way that the
institutions he attended could not.

   There are other similar stories about other kids.  I can certainly vouch
for the love these volunteers have for the kids and their commitment of
time, study, and effort to make this an effective ministry.  But beyond any
of that, I think very act of volunteering communicates their love in an
unmistakable way.

  Schools, by their very nature as government institutions, will always be
crippled and weak in their ability to reach many kids.  As our culture
continues to relegate the task child raising to institutions and the tv,
there are going to be consequences.  No program in the schools, whether is
it one offered by the Democrats or one by the Republicans, can really change
this very  much.

  I am honored to be part of a volunteer program that reaches some of these
kids.

Joe Dunfee  joe-AT-dunfee.com
Gordonville, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.


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