January 28th was a good day at The Rock. We had our 5th Good Grades Banquet! We had over 50 people attend, ate dinner together, met new people, and celebrated the accomplishments of nine of our students.
Let me explain very briefly...The Good Grades Banquet is our way of honoring the students in our youth group who go against the grain and do well in school. In order to receive the award they must earn all As, Bs, or Cs on their report cards.
This is fairly easy for some, but can be difficult for others. We have many students who speak English as a second language....their parents often cannot help them with their homework because they do not read or write in English. Some of the African refugees lived in refugee camps where education was minimal. One high school boy had to flee rebel soldiers and did not go to school for almost four years. He then came to the US where he had lots of catching up to do. Other students live in chaotic homes where it is very difficult to focus on school.
Kids in our neighborhood face so many challenges and some are rising above those challenges and succeeding in school. We want to honor that.
This year was very special because Centenary UMC, a large church here in Lexington, heard about what we are doing and wanted to help. They raised money for Wal-Mart gift cards (each student received a $15 Wal-Mart gift card), two ladies came and decorated, and others cooked food and helped with set up and tear down. The folks at Centenary reiterated that they wanted to serve us and help where needed. They had no agenda, they just came and served us. It was incredible.
We also were able to take our students to Champs to roller-skate and play laser tag on Tuesday evening. The owner of Champs was generous enough to let us bring our students free of charge!
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