c
on day morning
c:c.1iI· .. school �;
womCil from Christ UDited
Mctbodi'st Church in Baltimore
will have break! t with the
. in the federally funded
bre8tIMt pr� at the �
Elmer' A. dcrsoa. FJemen
tary School. As they did last
year, the· . clw .
the school d
home. The
men will "teU the children
about � in their own Ji\les.
These are members
«Christ United's unit ofUDited
ethodist Women, which has
dopted the Henderson School
The men are tryiDg to help
the children develop positiyc at
titudes about chool, their
neighborhood, and their fu
tures. "By talking about our own
• we try to ow them tha
� has difficulties to over
come in life,· says Chris Keels,
o helped set up the Monday
morning program la t year,
when her husband was the
church minister. e tell them
we r hard at our jobs
and espect them to ork
hard at their job - hich is
chool. We continually say,
We're counting on you to do
your best."
The Mood y� morning
program· one of several ac- �
tivi . st rted t the inner-city
001 last year part of sa
ye r C mpaign for ildren
co pOD ored by United
Methodi t Women and the
Children's D fease Fund.
The campaign is designed to
devefop new and effective
children's dvocates in com
munities cross the country. It
calls on each of the 30,000 local
units of United Methodist
Women to tudy the lives of
children living in poverty in the
local community. Each unit is
ed to choose one problem re
I ted to . d poverty - school
difficulties or inadequate child
care, for example - and to plan
an ction program to attac it.
ore than 2,000 local units 1-
ready have pledged to take on
pecific projects, says Chiquita
Smith, who oversees the nation
I camp ign at the United
Methodist Women's Division in
ewYorkCity.
In Baltimore, the women of
Christ United rust had the idea
of simply tutoring children at
Hender on School for their
camp ign project. But the
chool lso needed volunteers to
'work with the children's be
havior and expose them to
newexperi ces and ways of un
derstandi the orld. So the
omen broadened their ap
pro ch.
i
In addilbOll
projc)ct, started field trips
once amooth torcwardlbM:leDts
for good in the
room. Each teacher a
different to participate
each· The also .
began a ere tive d nee
program, . ch attracted
both boys aDd girls, a "Reading
P rtaer • project to help
children • Ieadiag cfiIIimI-
ties, and a clean-
up project for the COID- .
mUDity.
The school principal $Aid she"
could sec the children respood-
iog to the women' nurturing
pre en after just a few
months. Whcoever a child be
came disruptive in clas •
teacher could call a volunteer
and her to come to school,
Sometimes the mentor j t
beside the child in the classroom
to help him or her coacentrate
on schooIwor After school the
mentor and child could talk
abo the child's behavior, d
the mentor could try to get at the
underlying causes. That ap
proach helped reduce the nUDl
ber of expulsions and keep
children with behavior
problems from falling behind
academically. It helped the
church identify children and
families that needed assistance
from the church or other com
m� orpnjubons. .
The men of Baltimore'
Christ United Methodi t
Clurch are making a concrete
difference in the lives of
children iii their community.
Like United Methodist omen
. all around the country, they are
finding . little more than
geauiac coacem, commitment
of time and orpnjzjng energy.
and the willingne to hare
W Tcn
one's talents and experience
with children. H every church in
America followed the examole
of he United ethodist
Women, many poor children
uld get a stroager start in life.
Marill1l Wright Edelnum is
president of the Children'
Defense Fund, a fIIIlional voice
lor chiJdma.
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