Jeff Kotash (right), an elementary school teacher, reads with first-graders in a Sunday school classroom at Christ Lutheran Church, Allentown, Pa. Kotash set up a language arts classroom at Christ as part of a cooperative effort to provide summer learning opportunities for neighborhood children. Ruth Grim (photo at right), a volunteer, helps Yameli Guerrero and Angel Mella in the Book Nook at St. Stephen Outreach Center, which is also used in Christ Lutheran’s outreach to the community.
‘Summer school W
By Wendy Healy
hen Christ Lutheran Church, Allentown, Pa., wanted to help its changing inner-city neighborhood, all it had to do was look across the street. Proximity to the Allentown Library is beneficial for a church committed to improving literacy— and might very well have provided the inspiration needed to launch a summer school program last year. Christ embraced the program after the principal of McKinley Elemen- tary called and said the school had neither the space nor budget for sum- mer school. So William “Woody” Maxon, a pastor of Christ, asked the congrega- tion to step up and hold the summer program at its facilities and help offset the costs. “We want to do lit-
36 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
Pa. church opens doors—and books—to community children
eracy,” he said. “We think that’s what will change our neighborhood.” The summer effort is a natural outgrowth of the church’s weekly reading program, which has been underway for several years. Library books are easily acces- sible to the 20 church volunteers who have read to first- and second-grade McKinley students every Tuesday for the past five years. Maxon recently read Cloudy with a Chance of Meat- balls to the students on his birthday. The pastor, who inherited the program when he arrived at the church three years ago, said work- ing with children has invigorated the aging, but large, congregation. With
ummer school with a flair’
160 worshipers on a Sunday, the once German Lutheran church has witnessed a rapidly changing neigh- borhood, where many families are Latino and struggle to read English to their children. “We really believe that literacy can change people’s lives,” he said. The students walk over to the church after school, accompanied by a teacher, and enjoy being read to by members. After about 25 minutes of reading, they play language-building games and then return to the school at 4:45 p.m., in time to go home. “It’s a win-win-win,” said Amy
Jahn de Torrez, community direc- tor for McKinley, who founded the church’s reading program when she was its community outreach director. The school district has been belea- guered with budget cuts, finding it hard to meet even the basic needs of students, she said.
While several churches work with the school district, Jahn de Torrez said Christ’s partnership is among the strongest. Small groups and one- on-one time give the program a high retention rate, she added. And with its large facility, the church can do things the school simply can’t man- age because of the budget cuts. The church’s gym provides a place to do art, play sports and hold school events.
And when Christ merged with St. Stephen Lutheran Church last year it kept that building open as an outreach center for more school programs. The center makes additional money by renting its building to a Latino con- gregation for worship.
The St. Stephen Outreach Center
LINDA K. MAXON
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