Sometimes I struggle with how to paint a verbal picture for you of what I hear and see every day at SCYM. There are little moments that happen in ordinary spaces with ordinary people, and stories that unfold over a long haul, that you know are eternally significant because hope has entered. At SCYM we […]
10 Practical Ways not to Take Our Kids for Granted When I picked up my first-grade daughter from school last Friday at 3:00 in Springfield, Ohio, the world was radically different than it was when I dropped her off that morning. The normalcy of a school day in Connecticut, the innocence of children, had been […]
From a very young age I have fond memories of my grandmother looking me in the eye and saying to me with a big smile, “I can’t wait to see what you grow up to be!” My grandma was a great Christian lady, and though she went home to be with the Lord before […]
From a very young age I have fond memories of my grandmother looking me in the eye and saying to me with a big smile, “I can’t wait to see what you grow up to be!” My grandma was a great Christian lady, and though she went home to be with the Lord before […]
Perhaps it’s my inner 12-year-old, but one of my all-time favorite movies is The Princess Bride. (Or perhaps I just haven’t seen that many movies.) One of my favorite scenes in the movie comes when a ragtag band trying to thwart the evil Prince Humperdinck visits the village miracle man, Miracle Max, to bring their […]
I just returned from a city elementary school, where the 5th grade girls in the group I work with each week are very excited about a project. I asked them, “What is one thing you wish kids in your school would do differently?” and “What is one thing you’ve learned in our group this year […]
Last fall I began meeting with a group of 5th grade girls at a Springfield school. These girls are considered at-risk of not graduating because of their low state-mandated test scores. Each week we talk about respecting and listening to others, setting goals, and other activities designed to help them learn social and emotional skills […]
A couple weeks ago during staff devotions we had an interesting conversation about justice and righteousness and how that relates to what we do here at SCYM. Typically, when we think about our programs (such as STARS, Wise Guys, or Girl Power), justice isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. Mercy, compassion, or love […]
On a hot, muggy evening on the west side of Springfield, six 13- to 15-year-olds arrive at the Hannah House, a home for single moms. As the sun is setting, people appear on their front porches, driven outside by the lack of air conditioning and stifling heat. Some eye the kids suspiciously, wondering what a […]
We’re excited to announce that SCYM recently received a grant from Antioch University McGregor to support the GirlPower After-School Program in 2010. Through a unique partnership between Antioch McGregor, Learn and Serve America, and the Ohio Campus Compact, a class of 12 students solicited grant applications in the areas of health, homelessness and hunger for […]