Partnering with a CMS Middle School – A new path for Piedmont

 

Piedmont UU Church is looking forward to a new partnership and social justice project.  Our congregation will partner with a Charlotte-Mecklenburg middle school, J.M. Alexander, for the next school year, carrying out quarterly projects with the congregation. J.M. Alexander is part of the North Learning Community and is located on Hambright Road, off Old Statesville. The leadership team for this project is co-led by Jolena James-Szanton and Amanda Howard.  Other members of the team include Rev. Robin Tanner, Elaine Deck, Karen Haag and Mimi Davis, all of whom have many years of experience in education.  Planning has included meetings with CMS Community Partners staff, attendance at a Faith Summit in April for churches involved in partnerships with CMS schools and a meeting with JM Alexander Principal, Ms. Angela Richardson.

Piedmont UU Church will collect personal items in August for use by the students, including shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouth wash, deodorant, feminine hygiene products and other similar items. These will be prepared for giving on the fifth Sunday of August for our Service Sunday project.

Members interested in serving as literacy tutors will be recruited to assist students with reading in the second quarter. Principal Richardson states on the school’s website that, “Literacy continues to be the North Star for us as it is in our district. If we can improve reading scores, other scores will naturally improve as well.”  This emphasis on literacy is system wide, led by Superintendent Ann Blakeney Clark. Members interested in helping with this will receive an orientation and visit the school to work with two to three students on a weekly basis.

We hope you can join us and give your feedback on our project proposal on either July 26th at 11:15 am or August 20th from 6:00-6:30 pm.  More information will be forthcoming.  Questions?  Please contact Jolena and Amanda at jolena_james_szanton@mac.com and amandacharle@aol.com, respectively.