When students have an opportunity to step out of their academic environment and experience education outside of curriculum – whether it be a field trip to a nature preserve or an after school art program – they are given the opportunity for new knowledge to bloom.
That was the inspiration when members of First Congregational Church brought a new project home in a partnership with Mansfield City Schools.
Having helped run an art camp elsewhere, church members enjoyed it enough that they wanted to host one locally, covering all the costs. Mansfield City School District’s role was simply connecting the church with students recommended by staff.
“We wanted to offer our facility for community use and provide a quality experience for participants as well as for our generous volunteers,” pastor Bradley Bunn said.
“The more people we can connect students to that might inspire them or be a friend to them, the better,” said Holly Christie, Mansfield City Schools’ director of student support programs and member of First Congregational Church.
“When you’re inviting kids from different grade levels and buildings, you’re creating a new environment,” Christie said. The adults that are in the room are different from their schoolteachers, so they could be meeting a new mentor.”
The setting helps shape the experience. Pulled out of a regular school day, students get a different pace than the one built around covering state-mandated content.
Camp organizers were alert and affirming when kids needed to get up and take breaks, leaning into a less rigorous environment.
“The kids were engaged and enthusiastic to create works of art! It was a real joy,” Bunn said.
Christie, a Mansfield alumni, has spent 34 years working for city schools. Originally a teacher, she now is responsible for state and federal funding coming into the district, ensuring grants are being used the way they are intended.
With that position also comes making sure students have the support they need, which could be anything from tutoring to after-school programs to school supplies and hygiene products.
“I’m kind of behind the scenes,” Christie said. “I’m also responsible for some other vulnerable populations such as English language learners, students who are housing insecure, or students unfortunately in juvenile detention, things like that. I provide support to help these kids be the best that they can be.”
That kind of behind-the-scenes support often relies on partners outside the school building itself. Mansfield City Schools belongs to the Ohio Network of Partnership Schools, a program through The Ohio State University built on the idea that no district can meet every student’s needs alone.
Within the partnership model, community members with a passion for helping students can provide their services.
Christie found that kind of partnership with the members at First Congregational Church.
“It’s about pulling in anybody from the community that can help us and partner with us,” Christie said. “What’s really important is for the community to work with our students and see what great kids they are, because that’s not always the message that’s out there about our students. We have some really awesome kids that just need these opportunities.”
Reach out, ask for assistance
For Christie, partnerships like this one also close some distance between institutions that don’t always talk to each other, like a school district and a local church.
“It starts with a conversation and awareness,” said Christie. “Do you know about our students? Do you know about our population?”
On the church’s side, it offers members a direct outlet to serve. And their efforts extend beyond art camp. Donors — First Congregational among them — regularly ask Christie what the district needs, and the answers are often relatively simple, like a new shelf for school supplies.
Every gift, big or small, gets announced at the district’s board meetings, because grant dollars rarely stretch to cover them. Regardless if it’s a massive donation or just a helping hand, it does not go unnoticed.
“There’s a lot that people can complain about,” Christie said. “But when you want to be a part of a solution and want to help, that speaks for our community.”
“Sometimes we tend to think that a program isn’t successful unless it reaches the maximum amount of people. However, a child’s smile and their willingness to learn is priceless and unmatched–quality over quantity in my book,” Bunn said.
Christie says that’s exactly the kind of partner the district needs more of. Not one more program to manage, but people willing to ask what’s missing and help fill it in.
She encourages other churches and community groups considering a similar partnership to show up, ask what’s needed, and help fill that gap.
“We want kids to grow academically, but also be good people, and be good employees,” Christie said. “Having our community behind us is hugely helpful to get the work done that we have to do.”
Reach out and start a conversation with First Congregational Church by visiting their website and Facebook page.
