Dream Big is a summer school program at Glenwood Elementary that was started this past year by Providence in partnership with the Summer Arch Program.
Providence partners with Glenwood through the Kids Hope Program and Kids Life Bible Clubs. We were looking for ways to continue that partnership through the summer and through many conversations the idea for Dream Big was born. We partnered this summer with Glenwood’s Summer School and ARCH Program and Dream Big took over the programming every Tuesday Afternoon during ARCH. 50-60 kids attend Summer School at Glenwood and their days consist of Summer school in the morning and ARCH in the afternoon. On Tuesdays we put on Dream Big for all 6 weeks of the program.
The vision behind Dream Big was to offer kids a new vision for their future – to help them Dream Big in what they might become when they grow up. Each Tuesday a different profession, trade or career came in and presented for the kids. After this presentation and a chance for questions, the kids got to do some hands on activities that helped them get a feel for each career. The careers that were presented included pilot, firefighter, plumber/engineer, landscape maintenance, cosmetology, and nursing.
At the end of the year we invited all the kids and their families to come to Providence for a year end celebration. We had a nice meal in the gym with many members participating and serving and some entertainment by the Conquerors International Strength Team. We were also able to share the gospel with those who came. It was a wonderful end to a great summer of learning and getting to know many kids! We had probably 50 – 60 people come out for the celebration 🙂
I think one of the things that was awesome was what I noticed at the end of the year. By the end of the year I could just see a difference in the kids comfort level with the many volunteers who came every week. The kids just longed to be near those volunteers and the impact was visible. I think it strengthened relationships with our Bible Club and Kids Hope volunteers as we did not have a summer apart with some of the kids.
Then at the end of the year celebration the kids were attentively listening to the gospel presentation and seemed to respond.
We will continue to pray for the fruit from these efforts and look forward to moving forward with the program again next year. We will possible consider how to expand the program as well.
