Editor's Note: Check out the Up to Serve event this Sunday to learn more about many of the serving opportunities below.

By Linda Kozacek

As the shadows get longer while the days get shorter, it is easy to tell that fall is right around the corner.  Labor Day is now behind us, and our schools are in full swing.  With school supplies and uniforms successfully delivered to the schools, students have the tools to get the year off to a great start! The staff at each school is busy changing over to the Common Core Standards that have been adopted in Kansas and Missouri, and we are all busy seeing ways in which Resurrection can provide support for students and staff. Sign-ups have begun for tutors, bakers and helpers at large. We appreciate your willingness to help—we could not do this  ministry without a dedicated group of willing servants. Thank you.

Reading programs have also begun as we are working on a variety of ways to promote literacy.  We are excited to announce that author Jarrett Krosoczka visited each of our schools on Sept. 11-12 to get students excited about reading.  Jarrett, author of the Lunch Lady series of books, was the author that Scott Chrostek referenced in one of his summer sermons.  In addition to his presentation, each student was given a new copy of one of his books to take home that day. So much is happening—we are off to a great start.  Read below to see what is going on at each school and find out how you can plug in to this awesome mission that we are on!

Quindaro Elementary School

Liaison Linda Kozacek    kozacek@aol.com     ​

Quindaro is off to a busy start, and I need lots of hands to help with the work to be done.  Check out the list for ways to get involved. Most events are not until October, but I need names of interested people now to ensure each event is staffed. There are a variety of tasks, so pick one that suits your needs:

•  Bakers:  I need bakers to help with staff appreciation. We are providing treats for the staff once a month. We have a few bakers on our list, but we would like a few more to call on throughout the year.
• Book Fair:  I need 5 volunteers to help with the set-up and execution of the book fair on Oct. 31-Nov.1.  Although it’s a few months off, I would like to know that I have this staffed.
• CAKES, CAKES, CAKES!!!  I need lots of them!!  Quindaro has a carnival on Oct. 16th.  Each year, we provide the baked goods for a cake walk.  It is their most popular event.  Please let me know if you would be able to provide some purchased baked goods—cakes, cupcakes, cookies, brownies, and any yummy deliciousness that you would like to provide.  I’ll take names now and contact you as we get closer to the event.  I will also need some drivers to help collect and get them down to Quindaro.
• Speaking of drivers, I am looking for 20 or so people who would be willing to do an afternoon Trunk or Treat at Quindaro on Oct. 31 around 1 pm.  Just drive on down with some bags of candy, open your trunk, and watch as the students parade in costume!!

Are you participating in Sacred Steps? Be sure to look for us.  One of the Quindaro staff members coaches a girls track team made up of Quindaro students as well as students from other KCK schools.  16 of them will be running to help support the efforts in the Congo.  Resurrection members have sponsored them by paying their registration fee.  And now these dedicated runners have the chance to help someone else around the world with the gifts that they have—their legs.  Come cheer them on!!

Contact me with any questions.

Linda 913-400-3595  kozacek@aol.com

Welborn Elementary School:       

Liaison Ann Carter    anngcarter@gmail.com

Welborn News:

• 299 Reading logs submitted each week for the second and third weeks.  Reading logs are distributed and collected every Friday.  We begin at 9 am and finish around 2.

September:

• Attendance of 200+ for the first family fun night.  We donated two food baskets for a raffle.
• Family fun night scheduled for September 26.  One of the family fun nights will be a Math Night.  I will be collecting addition, subtraction, multiplication flash cards.
• Tutors will be meeting for a tutor coordinator on September 12 at Welborn to discuss preferences prior to beginning tutoring.
• September the 13th, my wonderful reading log team is going to be gone, and I am in need of a couple of volunteers any time between 9 am and 2 pm to help process reading logs.
• Perfect attendance rewards will be distributed Sept. 30, Monday at 9 am.

October:

• We have a community carnival planned for October 10th.  We will be providing pizza for parents and students.
• October 16th--book fair.
• If you would like to help with any of these events, please contact me...Ann Carter, anngcarter@gmail.com, 913.707.7209
• I am looking for legos and pedometers, for projects.  If you have any of either, I will be happy to come get them--or they can be left on my porch.
• Also I am interested in scout troops or classes who might want to penpal with a class at Welborn.  Let me know if you are interested

Ridgeview Elementary School

Liaison Jennifer Cutler    cutlerj@olatheschools.org

• School supplies for every child at Ridgeview Elementary were donated by the Resurrection West congregation.
• What a fantastic outpouring of love and service to our partner school. Thanks to all who generously donated school supplies, and gift cards to help Ridgeview families purchase new shoes for their children.

An exciting new project will launch Tuesday, September 10th ~ the Ridgeview Pre-School Academy. On the second Tuesday of every month, twenty 4-year-old siblings of Ridgeview kids, and their families, will be invited to dinner, and to participate in special Pre-School Academy activities that promote:

• Help provide child care for siblings 5-and-up, as well as 3-and-under, from 7:00 to 8:00 PM each month. Adults and older teen-agers (17 years or older) may serve.
• Help setup, serve, and clean up dinner, from 5:30 to 7:00 PM.
• All meals will be provided by Kids Bistro of KC and Youth Development Services (YDS) of the YMCA.

Other service opportunities at Ridgeview:

Read with Me, Lunch Buddies, or Pen Pals - Weekdays, 8:30 to 5:30

• Do you have 30-60 minutes a week to give to a child who needs YOU?

Thanksgiving Meals - November

• Help distribute meal bags as part of JOY in Serving.

Ridgeview Christmas Shop - December

• Wrap donated gifts, decorate the store, or work a shift on "shopping day, December 17".

Ridgeview Elementary, in Johnson County, is located less than 10 miles from Resurrection Leawood - but over 80% of Ridgeview students qualify for a subsidized lunch program, a commonly used federal proxy for poverty in the elementary grades. More than half the students are Hispanic, many receiving ELL (English Language Learner) and Title I Reading and Math services. Ridgeview children MUST succeed in school to break out of the poverty cycle. You will be richly blessed by sharing your gifts, talents and TIME with students at Ridgeview.

Heed God's calling ~ Ridgeview needs YOU.

Contact Jennifer at cutlerj@olatheschools.org<mailto:cutlerj@olatheschools.org> to get  plugged in!

Wendell Phillips Elementary School

Liaison Claire Jepson   clairejepson@sbcglobal.net

August was a busy month for folks at Wendell Phillips as staff and volunteers prepared to begin school.  Cheryl Jorgensen and Mariam Fleming helped me deliver the wonderful abundance of school supplies to faculty and staff.  After the initial requests were delivered, we set up a supply bazaar where faculty and staff could browse and select items which would be helpful in the classrooms.  Hearing the “ohhhs” and “ahhhs” from the ladies as they picked out supplies made me think they were children in a candy store. Many thanks from Wendell Phillips folks for helping them begin the year with extra items to make life easier.

The other big August event was the Ice Cream Social that the church provided to families who attended the Back of School Open House.  As the temperature was hovering around 100 degrees folks really enjoyed the cookies and ice cream after visiting the classrooms.  We served over 180 folks qualifying the evening as a great success.  Many thanks to Miss Cheryl for helping me serve.

The Reading Log program also started up for the year the first week of school.  Students who read at least 100 minutes per week are rewarded with a new book courtesy of The Church of the Resurrection and a small snack such as a granola bar or Rice Krispy treat.  The first week we had 79 logs returned out of a student population of around 260 students.  Last week we had 103 logs returned!  Our Wendell Phillips students are readers! Starting in September students will receive Tiger Bucks (the school’s incentive program where students with positive actions earn “bucks” which can be redeemed for items from the school store) instead of the snack.  Principal Brown is excited to have our program dove tail into their behavior program for the benefit of the students.  I can’t wait to see how many readers we have this Friday.

With a new month starting we look forward to many more positive happenings at Wendell Phillips.  We always welcome tutors and volunteers.  Please consider joining us.

Claire Jepson

Troost Elementary School

Liaison Doug Harris     pjh223@sbcglobal.net

The 2012-13 and 2013-14 seemed to have blurred together at Troost!  After a busy June with the wonderful “Bless the School” refurbishing, July was busy with final touches and August with a whirlwind of back-to-school activities.  Resurrection sponsored a day of professional development for the Troost staff as the principal met with staff members and began planning for the new year.  Teachers were each given a box of student and classroom supplies to start the year with pencils, crayons, markers, glue, etc.  We then supported “Back-to-School / Meet-the-Teacher Night” by passing out free books and backpacks to students, and serving ice cream to the whole family!  After the first week of school, students in grades K-6 were provided with two free books to celebrate the start of a great new year!  At the end of August, all students who had been at school every day, on time, were surprised with an ice cream treat as we work on increasing our daily attendance rate.

As we move into September we are placing volunteers with classroom teachers, hoping to provide each teacher with classroom support and working with small groups and individual students.  A birthday bulletin board recognizes the students who are celebrating birthdays each month.  Resurrection is sponsoring a visit by children's book author Jarrett Kroscozka this month as we support the school's literacy program.  Another exciting activity anxiously awaited by the students is the construction of new playground equipment!  Scheduled for the latter part of September, children of all ages—plus the neighborhood—are pleased to soon have an inviting playground for recess time, after school, and weekend fun.  A community picnic was held in July on the site to share the news and help develop community support.

Wheatley Elementary School

Liaison Ann Hays    ann@hayshome.com

The students at Wheatley School started classes on August 12. They are quickly adjusting to their new teachers and the school schedule.

Wheatley recently received the results of the April MAP testing and is happy to report an increase in test scores for the first time in 4 years.  They have put several new programs in place to help students improve in both reading and math.  One of the programs the church started last year was the reading incentive program where the students read 100 minutes per week and get a free book.  We plan to continue the program starting in September.

All of our partner schools will receive a visit on September 11 or 12 from Jarrett Krosoczka, author of many children’s books including The Lunch Lady superhero series (mentioned by Scott Crosteck in one of his Super Hero sermons).  Each student will receive one of his books thanks to the Church of the Resurrection.

We need several small groups to volunteer to be Room Buddies for some of the classrooms as well as tutors to read with students (especially those in Kindergarten).  Please contact Ann Hays at ann@hayshome.com for details.  We want to make it as easy on the groups as possible to help.  You will make a difference in the lives of the Wheatley students!