This year the Children’s Program did an academic enrichment for twenty minutes each day Monday through Thursday. The Monday activity for our 2nd and 3rd graders through the year was ''scripture searching.'' In this activity the children learned the difference between verse and chapter numbers, where you can find the table of contents, how to find a verse in the Bible, and some bible basics, such as, the fact that there are are two Testaments, Old and New. This is an exciting activity because the children work on their reading skills and they get to encounter God through God's Word. At the end of the year, we celebrated all that the children had learned about hhe Bible and the children got to take home their own copy of God’s Word. This activity highlights a few aspects of our mission at Wesley Chapel Mission Center – We minister to our Over-the-Rhine children and families by demonstrating God’s unconditional love, nurturing personal relationships with Jesus Christ, providing educational programs, guiding social and moral development, and collaborating within the community.

The 4th-8th graders welcomed Sergeant Elena Moton, from the District 1 Criminal Investigation Section of Personal Crimes, to their January Builders Club meeting! The Builders Club is a middle school service club sponsored by the Cincinnati Kiwanis Club.

Sergeant Moton spoke with the youth, sharing her background and experiences as a police officer. The youth were very interested and attentive, and they asked many thoughtful questions!

They thanked Sergeant Moton for coming and gave her several dozen bags of homemade chex mix and "thank you" cards to take back to the District 1 Office. The youth had made the snacks and cards at their previous meeting as a service project to thank the police officers who patrol each day in the neighborhood around Wesley Chapel Mission Center.

The junior staff met in January for a day of job training and team-building. Miss Casey lead worship and training. The staff then prepared a yummy pasta (both alfredo and marinara!), salad, cheese bread and homemade brownie lunch in Miss Becky's wonderful kitchen.

Our Junior Staff Program gives the students the opportunity to apply and interview for a position as a paid Junior Staff member, assisting the adult staff in the K-3 KLASS classrooms. They open checking accounts and learn how to manage their money.

The youth must maintain their grades, have good attendance at both school and WCMC, and fulfill their job responsibilities to stay in the program.

There are currently nine students who work two days per week and learn important life skills as part of this program!

The number of students attending our KLASS (Keep Learning After School Stops) and High School after school programs continues to grow! To ensure that the students have the space and dedicated staff to meet the needs of each age group, we have added a new building location for the High School program and made changes to the structure of the K-8 programming. It is an exciting time at Wesley Chapel Mission Center!

The High School students now meet in a newly-rented building on Main Street at the East end of McMiken. The High School activities include homework help, career development, budget planning and leadership skills. High School students are also given the opportunity to apply and interview for a position as a Junior Staff member, assisting the adult staff in the K-3 KLASS classrooms.

The 4-8^th Grade students meet in the youth building at the corner of McMiken and Vine. The Youth Coordinator, Tiffany Barr, plans activities for the entire group as well as for 4-6 grade and 7-8 grade groups that split for Bible study and enrichment activities which are led by adult staff members.

The students in Kindergarten through Grade 3 meet in the original classroom building, and are led by the Children’s Coordinator, Regime Willis. They have a gathering space where they come together for Bible Study, music and special programming. Grades K/1 and 1/2 have their own classroom where they meet for homework help and other age-appropriate programming under the guidance of adult and Junior Staff members.

Four of our High School students attended the Spring Key Leader Weekend, sponsored by Kiwanis International.  Congratulations to Harry Ballard, Dwayne Calloway, Jaevon Allen and Giovanni Wright for securing scholarships from the Cincinnati Kiwanis Club to attend this exciting weekend!

Harry and Dwayne attended for the second time, and were selected by the Key Leader organization to serve as student facilitators, leading discussion groups of students from around the state about leadership skills and issues.  This was a very big honor!

Key Leader is a weekend experiential leadership program for today's young leaders. This life-changing event focuses on service leadership as the first, most meaningful leadership-development experience. A Key Leader will learn the most important lesson of leadership—it comes from helping others succeed.  The youth attend group workshops, discussions and team-building activities take place over the course of the weekend. Students have opportunities to learn leadership skills that will help them to change their schools, communities, and world for the better.   They also make amazing new friends and have experiences they will never forget.

Since April 2005 Key Leader has served more than 26,000 students at 553 Key Leader events in 40 U.S. states, 7 Canadian provinces, Malaysia, Brazil, Cayman Islands, El Salvador and Singapore. Click here To learn more about Key Leader.

The 5th through 8th-grade students held a walk to raise money for the Cincinnati SPCA. The youth selected this as their first project in their new service club, the "Builders Club".

They made signs and picked the route for the walk, which started at Wesley Chapel Mission Center and took them to Washington Park and back. They cheered enthusiastically all the way, had hot chocolate to celebrate at the end, and raised $220 for the SPCA!

The Builders Club is sponsored by the Cincinnati Kiwanis Club. The youth elect officers, hold meetings, raise money and select service projects to conduct during the school year. They learn valuable leadership skills while having a great time!