Chapter 7: Summer Camps Expand

September 2004-August 2005

School got off to a great start, with the Micah Committee receiving a letter from Mrs. Taylor thanking St. Paul’s for help and prayers. She continued as principal, with Betsy Carr as Outreach Coordinator and Phyllis Moyer as On-site Coordinator. Micah volunteers welcomed students and parents back to school. Camp students had enrichment experiences during the summer and were eager to return next summer.

The Micah Committee, headed by Buford Scott, and volunteers looked forward to building on the successes of 2003-2004. Two successes were the hiring of a full-time social worker for the school and the media center’s new librarian. The P.T.A. re-organized. Teachers and administrators had a successful retreat at Richmond Hill, facilitated by Tammy Jackson.

Under the organization and direction of volunteer Page Luxmoore and thanks to generous grants, cultural experiences for students were greatly expanding.

A Scholar Reward and Incentive Program, also spearheaded by Page Luxmoore, encouraged student leadership and academic achievement. Scholar Roll students (students who achieve no lower than two A’s and two B’s on report cards) in first through third-grade and their parents attended Lewis Ginter Botannical Gardenfest of Lights, the Harlem Boys Choir, the Children’s Museum, a play about the Underground Railroad, the Peking Acrobats (second grade), Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Egg Event, and Pocahontas State Park. Fourth and fifth-grade Scholar Roll students and parents visited the State Capitol and Pocahontas State Park and attended a concert by the Harlem Boys Choir. They also took part in pottery classes at the Visual Arts Center. An end-of-year trip to First Landing State Park, Virginia Beach for full-year Scholars and their parents was established. For the entire school year, 130 students, 55 parent participants, and 27 volunteers participated in the Scholars Program.

Honor roll students and their parents went to the Children’s Museum and Asian American Festival.

Page also instituted and coordinated Class Enrichment Trips and Activities by grade for all of Woodville. These extra field trips or in-school activities were selected by the teachers. All students in the grade were eligible to participate and parents were also invited when space allowed.

The following trips were enjoyed by each grade: 

Woodville received a passing inspection visit from the State Department of Education, the Governor’s PASS team and the School Turnaround Specialist. For the second year, Woodville had passed the SOLs with full accreditation. Teachers seemed more comfortable with Micah volunteers in their classrooms and many were requesting mentors/tutors. While our volunteer base was good (combined volunteer force of St. Paul’s, Good Shepherd and Overnite), we needed to address the issues of volunteer attrition and burn-out and to find ways to attract new volunteers. Also, six volunteers chose to continue working with students who had left Woodville. The Micah Committee re-committed itself to remain grounded in one-to-one relationships.

Holly Antolini continued as Micah chaplain and led quarterly spiritual reflection opportunities for Micah Ministry participants to explore the spiritual learning their Woodville experiences had provided.

In January, Lisa McKnight announced a large grant of $10,000 from Overnite which helped fund Phyllis Moyer’s salary and supplemented transportation costs for summer camp.

Betsy Carr, St. Paul’s Outreach Coordinator, was honored in the spring, as she was named one of the Outstanding Women of the Year by the YWCA because of her work with the Micah Ministry. Many committee members and friends attended the luncheon in her honor.

SUMMER 2005

Summer Camp

This summer saw a huge expansion of the Summer 2004 camping experience, with 86 students having 112 camp experiences at 21 different camps (8 residential; 13 day) over a six-week period. Students were matched with their specific interests for camping experiences. This wonderful program provided cultural enrichment activities desperately needed by Woodville students and also volunteer opportunities for 46 St. Paul’s members. Members who couldn’t help during the school year now could volunteer. The camping program also brought back some earlier volunteers to Micah.

Camp scholarships and transportation were provided by individual donors, St. Paul’s, Woodville Presbyterian Church (a new Micah partner), and Overnite. Many camps provided full or partial scholarships. Since we picked students up at their homes and returned them at the end of the day, summer camp provided an opportunity to connect with parents and to have a greater positive visibility in the Woodville community.

We hired Mary Banks, a school-year bus driver with a dynamic personality, to drive the St. Paul’s van each day. The planning, coordination and implementation of this program could not have happened without the amazing full-time efforts of Page Luxmoore, assisted by Adrian Luxmoore. Adrian created fantastic bulletin board displays of photos and information about camping experiences, which kept the entire parish up-to-date week by week during the summer.

Leadership Training

Teachers, staff and administrators attended a retreat at Willow Oaks Country Club in August, led by Tammy Jackson. Mrs. Taylor showed outstanding leadership and engaged everyone in the positive efforts going forward. Contracts were signed which affirmed the modeling of positive behavior and respect.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS:

OTHER CHALLENGES: