Hand-in-Hand School Ministries

Jonesboro UMC is part of the ecumenical ministry serving Lee County’s public school students and teachers. We interact with students and teachers at Lee Senior High and J. Glenn Edwards Elementary School.

_______________________

NEEDED NOW:

PRAYER PARTNERS: JUMC members agree to be Prayer Partners for teachers and staff at Lee Senior. This has been a rewarding experience for both those at Lee Senior who know someone is praying for them daily as well as members here at Jonesboro. If you would like to participate, please contact Brad at 498-6377 or e-mail at stogafan@yahoo.com.

TUTORS are needed at J. Glenn Edwards Elementary School. You can volunteer to help in any grade from K-5 and will be paired with a teacher to help in an area in which you are comfortable. This involvement requires only an hour a week and makes a world of difference in the lives of the children. See Bobbie, if you might be interested, for more information.

BOOK BUDDIES are needed at J. Glenn Edwards Elementary School. If you would be willing to read with a couple of students once a week and can give even as little as half an hour please contact Bobbie and she will get you started.

_______________________

J. Glenn Edwards Elementary School

JUMC members visit the school each week to tutor students in reading and math. The church also hosts an end-of-year luncheon to celebrate the partnership between JUMC and J. Glenn Edwards teachers and kids.

Lee Senior High School

Staff "welcome back to school" breakfast: Held on the staff's first day back, this is cooked at JUMC and served at the high school cafeteria.

Prayer Partners:  Every teacher and staff member who desires one is connected with a prayer partner. Agreeing to be a Prayer Partner requires only two things. First – after being given the name of your prayer partner, you are asked to pray for this person daily throughout the school year. Second – note cards will be given to you, and you are asked to write a brief note four times a year and leave your note in the office at church to be delivered to your prayer partner. A small gift on special days (Christmas, birthday, etc.) is nice but is not required.

Special Requests:  We try to fulfill requests by staff members for things not provided by the district.  In the past this has included student calculators for classroom use, a nice desk chair, a breakfast for a class of seniors who a teacher had for two years in French, notebooks for model U.N. use, and so on.

Student Assistance:  Teachers frequently ask for our help with a student’s needs, and we have helped students obtain senior pictures, yearbooks. etc.  This MUST be teacher initiated, and we have to limit our assistance, but we have been able to make a difference in the lives of several students.

Staff Treats:  Monthly "staff treats" are placed in staff mailboxes.  Each church involved does this twice.  It might be an apple with a note, a "Candy Gram" at Christmas, or something similar to let the staff know we are thinking of them.

Mid-Year and End-of-Year Staff Celebrations: Breakfast snacks, coffee, fruit trays etc. served in the school with Hand and Hand volunteers serving.

Text Books on Tape: If teachers ask we have volunteers who put text books on tape for kids with reading difficulties. To date about half a dozen text books have been.  Each book involves a 30 - 40 hour commitment by a volunteer, if not more.

Exams:   We help proctor exams and, when allowed under state regulations, do "read alouds" to kids who have that allowance in their instructional program. 

Tutoring:  Limited tutoring for kids in math and science is available to students on an "as needed" and "as available" basis.