graduation

Earlier this month we celebrated the graduation of the children of Kid City and StAiR after school tutoring program. Friends and family members were all invited to help enjoy this special occasion. We were so proud of our kids this year with their hard work and great attitudes.

 Throughout the year we had a lot of fun together and got to know each of the kids personally. We are thankful for all of our faithful tutors and to God for another wonderful year.

april was eggcelent!

In April our kids got together for an Easter egg hunt! They enjoyed searching for eggs at City Park together. A cookout and other games were also part of the sunny day.

We hope you had a great Easter holiday as well!!

a walk down memory lane

This past year has been a busy time for everyone, especially our Quest kids and tutoring program.

Our Quest kids were able to provide two families with a Thanksgiving meal this year. The kids enjoyed making a list of the food they would like to buy and then shopping for those items. We hope it showed the kids simple ways of serving others in the neighborhood while also being thankful for what we have.

We also had the pleasure of taking a trip to the zoo in November. There was a great turn out from everyone, with using about eighty tickets! The kids enjoyed exploring together and our volunteers enjoyed the sunshine and the animals.

Our Christmas party this year was a big hit. The kids had fun together eating lunch, singing, having story time, crafting, playing games, and opening Christmas presents! Special thanks to all from National Park Church of Christ in Arkansas!! It was a lot of fun for all and definitely added some Christmas cheer for the kids.

Fall 2011

Happy November!

With the autumn season comes the beginning of the school year, which means Kids City Ministries is in full gear. This year we have a total of fifteen students involved in STAIR and after school tutoring. We're all very excited to be working together and are grateful of our wonderful volunteers who give up their time to tutor.

A few weeks ago the kids were visited by the Soul Rebels. The brass band shared some history of brass band music in New Orleans.




Both the tutors and students enjoyed giving the instruments a try and listening to some tunes. It was a great way to end the week for everyone.

Fall 2010

Fall 2010 Updates:

* Tutoring started back at the end of September. We started with seven returning students and within a few weeks had added eight new students. It is always exciting to meet the children who within just a few months become such an integral part of our Mid-City Ministries family. We were especially pleased to begin working with our first group of kindergartners since Katrina. Rocio and Tharon are the younger siblings of some of our older students. Rhonda, one of our fifth-graders is working alongside one of our adult tutors, helping Rocio and Tharon do their homework and play games. The kindergartners bring a wonderful sense of excitement and enthusiasm to our tutoring sessions, and Rhonda's calm demeanor and quiet manner provides a perfect balance. It is always a privilege to see one of our students begin to take on a leadership role, and Rhonda is doing a great job.

* Our Quest kids went on an overnight camping trip at Bayou Segnette in early October. The kids helped set up the tents and cook our meals. We also went on a night hike and enjoyed one of the first weekends with at least a brief chill in the air. We're all looking forward to another camping trip this spring.

* We had the opportunity to catch-up with many of our campers from last summer during the Fall Family Picnic in November and the Christmas Party in December. At the Christmas Party, we did crafts, decorated and then ate upside-down ice cream cone Christmas trees, and, of course, played four-square. Thanks to our grant from First Book, each family received a copy of the book we read at the party, The Legend of the Poinsettia.

Camp- Days 7 and 8

We awoke to a very messy rain on Tuesday morning-- the day of our planned all-day field trip, including a picnic! However, we are very blessed with campers determined not to let a little rain stop their fun and counselors willing to help make everything run smoothly no matter what, and we ended up having a great day. The kids really enjoyed the morning's planetarium show-- a new experience for most of them. Each group spent time listening to stories in the library while the other half of the campers had their turn in the planetarium, and both group's behavior during this wait was excellent. We were so proud!
We found a park with picnic shelters, and the skies cleared enough to make for a pleasant, if cloudy, lunch. The junior counselors did a great job of serving Ms. Judy's delicious sandwiches. The afternoon's outing to the skating rink was a great success as always. My favorite part is watching not only the counselors, but even many of the older campers take turns helping the younger kids skate around the rink.
On Wednesday, we took turns visiting the Museum of Art in City Park. We started with the Amistad exhibit of African- American artists, but the kids also enjoyed seeing Native American art and some amazing glassworks as well. We then had time for a quick walk around the lagoon-- lots of ducks to watch and a few trees to climb.
Back at camp, the kids learned about the value of friends in helping you stand up for the right thing. After an experiment with jello (which the kids found is not very good at standing strong), they started working on their friendship bracelets. In Journeys, we began our study of the Civil Rights Movement. They painted their clay suns in art. One of the most exciting parts of the day for each camper was finding out their part in the drama program. It's one week away!

Camp- Day 6

We have enough adult volunteers this week to add a daily sports session. The kids practiced their yoga, did some ball-handling relays with the basketballs, and enjoyed some extra time on the playground. Our wonderful junior counselors spent time in the morning cutting out hundreds of circles for the beautiful pastel planet art pieces the campers made. In Journeys, the older campers graphed constellations onto poster boards that will later be outlined with Christmas lights, and the younger kids played a version of Simon Says to learn the difference between rotating and revolving- at least until we all were too dizzy to play anymore. The sun finally stayed out long enough for us to cook s'mores in our solar ovens. Delicious!!! Jenny taught about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and their dedication to God and His ways. The kids decorated dog tags to show that they too belong to God. The older campers made progress on learning their dance to "Hot! Hot! Hot!" and the younger kids are working on their "Lion Sleeps Tonight" song.