Project Transformation–Rio Texas Partners with San Antonio Youth Literacy Program to Decrease ‘Summer Slide’ Among Youth

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, May 15, 2015

Project Transformation–Rio Texas Partners with San Antonio Youth Literacy Program to Decrease ‘Summer Slide’ Among Youth 

SAN ANTONIO (Friday, May 15, 2015)–The Rio Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church’s newest ministry initiative, Project Transformation–Rio Texas, is proud to announce a partnership with San Antonio Youth Literacy Program (SAYL), the city’s premier literacy program for children in the Bexar County area. 

SAYL volunteers, as well as local church volunteers, will have an opportunity to read with children at one of three local-area church sites where Project Transformation programming will be held for neighborhood children to help decrease ‘summer slide,’ the idea that students drop a level or more in reading during the summer break. 

“Summer Slide describes what happens when our students do not read over the summer break, which can result in the loss of one to two months of reading progress and which then requires teachers to spend the first part of the school year helping students catch up to their earlier reading levels,” said SAYL Program Manager Robyn Myers. “Project Transformation will help to not only put a stop to summer slide for their students, but can also provide the opportunity for their students to actually improve their reading level, which will allow them to return to their schools in the fall ready to learn. This is a huge step in the right direction for school success. “

Project Transformation–Rio Texas is a program with three focus points, the three C’s: College-aged students, Church and Children. Project Transformation, a program birthed from the Greater Dallas area in 1998, aims to promote literacy by trying to solve three problems:

1. How to meet the academic, physical, and spiritual needs of children from low-income communities.
2. How to provide meaningful ways for college students to explore ministry opportunities and develop as young adult leaders for the church and the world.
3. How to help revitalize struggling urban churches.

“Project Transformation is a solution to three predominant problems that we see in churches, children, and college-aged students in our communities,” said Nathaniel O’Dell, Executive Director of Project Transformation–Rio Texas. “We are excited to break ground in the San Antonio-area, but expansion in South Texas is prayed and planned for in the upcoming years.”

San Antonio-area families will have an opportunity to sign-up for this free, church-based literacy summer programming on the following dates: 

First United Methodist Church–Boerne
205 James Street
Boerne, TX 78006
May 15 – 5:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.
May 16 (if needed) – 9:00 a.m.-11a.m.

Asbury United Methodist Church
4601 San Pedro Ave.
San Antonio, TX 78212
May 18–May 21, 2015
10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. 

Laurel Heights United Methodist Church
227 West Woodlawn
San Antonio, Texas 78212
Register on-site any time. 

The literacy program for children will be held at these church sites Monday-Thursday from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. starting June 8 and ending July 30. 

Volunteer opportunities are available for all three church sites. Reading volunteers are needed to read to children in the mornings from June 15 - July 23. Volunteers will need to submit a background check to the Rio Texas Conference. 

About Project Transformation Rio Texas:

Project Transformation Rio Texas is excited to introduce this problem-solving initiative to the San Antonio-area during the Summer of 2015. Project Transformation aims to promote literacy by using college-aged interns to teach literacy, health and nutrition and arts and crafts programming. The interns, in turn, will be exposed to many different types of church ministry. 70 percent of Project Transformation college interns come back to work in some sort of church ministry. Project Transformation provides local church sites the opportunity to engage with their nearby communities and families in an innovative way. Children who have participated in Project Transformation elsewhere have seen a 96% improved or maintained reading level. To learn more, please visit http://www.projecttranssformation.org/riotx or http://riotexas.org. You can follow Project Transformation Rio Texas on Twitter @ProjTranRioTX. 

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CONTACT: 

Nathaniel O’Dell
210-408-4500 Ext. 510
nodell@riotexas.org 

Volunteer with Project Transformation - Rio Texas

Project Transformation-Rio Texas is beginning its first summer of programming in the greater San Antonio area, and we need your help! Project Transformation’s mission is to engage young adults in purposeful leadership and ministry, support underserved children and families, and connect churches to communities in need. To accomplish our mission, this summer 24 college aged interns will live in community in San Antonio, and will plan and lead a summer enrichment day camp for 80 underserved children at three site churches in San Antonio and Boerne. Project Transformation interns provide high-quality, structured summer day camp programs that focus on developing the mind, body and spirit of our participants. Interns in turn build leadership skills by serving as positive role models for the participants. For more information, please visit our website at www.projecttransformation.org/riotx

There are many ways to get involved with Project Transformation’s work in the Rio Texas conference:

1)     Read with our kids! We need volunteers for each week at each of our site churches to read with our elementary-aged participants for two hours each day. Our goal is for each child to read with one adult, every day. This is key to building literacy skills for our participants.

To sign up to read with our kids, please contact Stacey Porter, Project Transformation-Rio Texas Program Director, at sporter@riotexas.org.  You can also sign up individuals or groups on our sign-up sheets for each site church.

Asbury UMC, San Antonio: http://vols.pt/9HCP6y

Laurel Heights UMC, San Antonio: http://vols.pt/V2AFBB

First UMC, Boerne: http://vols.pt/A5uvSU

Note: Volunteers with our participants must receive a background check. Please contact Stacey Porter with any questions regarding this policy.

2)     Feed our interns! Our college-aged interns work hard each day planning and executing the summer day camp program. Help them feel welcomed in the Rio Texas conference community by providing a dinner for them. We are seeking groups to provide dinner for 24 interns and our house pastor, each Sunday-Thursday night between May 30 and July 30. This is a great opportunity to get to know our interns, and to hear about the work that they do every day. To sign-up to provide a dinner, please visit http://vols.pt/o9Z4EE or email Stacey Porter at sporter@riotexas.org.

3)     Donate supplies or books! Please contact Stacey at sporter@riotexas.org if you or your group would like to donate a week’s worth of supplies for a site—we give you the specific things we need for each week of fun and learning with our participants.

You can also donate by visiting our two Amazon wishlists:

Books: http://amzn.com/w/3DIS5GN7VZQV3

Supplies: http://amzn.com/w/2NILIZY1EV8PO

To learn more information about Project Transformation, please click on the logo above for a short video. 

Want to Learn More about Project Transformation?

Watch this short video. If you want to learn more, visit www.projecttransformation.org/riotx or email Nathaniel O'Dell.

TUMCA Scholarships Awarded to Rio Texas Conference Students

The Texas United Methodist College Association (TUMCA) has awarded scholarships to seven Rio Texas Conference Students for the 2023 school year. These scholarships represent a personal use of funds contributed to TUMCA by the local churches of the Conference. Scholarship recipients must be United Methodist students from the state of Texas. We are proud of our Rio Texas students…Congratulations!

TUMCA scholarship recipients for 2022 -2023 from the Rio Texas Conference are:

     Name                            University                     Home Church

1. Caleb Bush McMurry Sierra Vista UMC, San Angelo, TX

2. Metts Grant McMurry FUMC Nederland, TX

3. Nolan Steelman McMurry Utopia UMC, Utopia TX

4. Bryan Maxwell SMU University UMC, San Antonio, TX

5. Kaleb Knighten Southwestern St. John’s UMC, Austin, TX

6. Sterlin Rivers Huston-Tillotson Metropolitan AME, Austin, TX

7. John Gilleland Huston-Tillotson First UMC, Bastrop, TX

We at TUMCA are proud of these scholars from churches in the Rio Texas Conference.

James C. Lewis TUMCA President

Calling All (Singing) Clergy

Everyone knows that Methodists are known as a singing group, and Methodist clergy are particularly fond of singing.  So, do we have a deal for you!  This year at the ordination service on Sunday, June 14, the music will be provided by a choir made up of any clergy who would like to participate.  Plans are still shaping up, but here’s what we can tell you now:

• Music will be selected and made available ahead of time.
• Area-wide rehearsals may be available before conference time.
• At least one rehearsal at conference will be required.  That time is still being determined.

Interested?  Please send an email to Rev. Russell Miller with your name, appointment, and voice part.  You will be contacted as plans develop.

rmiller@fumc-boerne.org

UMCOR Celebrates Anniversary by Helping, Giving

Most congregations in the Rio Texas Conference may not know the extent to which United Methodist Committee of Relief (UMCOR) supports disaster response and immigration programs in the conference. During the past six years, UMCOR has made 17 grants through the conferences formerly known as the Southwest Texas Conference and Rio Grande Conference totaling $502,500.  In addition, they have made a grant to the Austin Chapter of Justice for Our Neighbor (JFON) for $100,000, bringing the total to $602,000. 

UMCOR has important international disaster response programs as well as international development programs that work alongside communities to develop water sanitation and hygiene, sustainable agriculture, and community-based primary health care. 

Grants from UMCOR provide many additional services to the Rio Texas Conference at no cost. 

UMCOR has provided expert consultants to work with Disaster Response leadership as well as pastors and congregations in areas devastated by disasters. They send experts to teach courses needed to carry out our disaster relief ministry. 

UMCOR Academy at Sager Brown, LA is held each year and offers advanced training to Disaster Response leadership in the conference. UMCOR provides assistance to the South Central Jurisdiction to offer an annual Disaster Response academy.  Dozens of United Methodists from the Rio Texas Conference have attended these workshops. UMCOR has developed tools to assist local churches as they develop their own disaster response plans, such as coaches to help start these programs. 

UMCOR supplies flood buckets and health kits when the supply in the Conference is insufficient to meet the demand during a disaster. They also help certify Early Response Trainers within the conference so that more than 500 ERT team members have been trained and credentialed under UMCOR guidelines.

During the past six years, UMCOR has offered Spiritual and Emotional Care workshops to people within the conference on four occasions. They have even offered Case Management Training nine times.

The Rio Texas Conference’s relationship with UMCOR is also enhanced by our cooperative relationship through the Martinez Disaster Response Center in Kerrville, TX.  It is one of six warehouses that are part of the UMCOR Relief Supply Network. 

UMCOR is celebrating 75 years of being with those in crises around the world this month. The One Great Hour of Sharing Special will take place on Sunday, Mar. 15. Proceeds will benefit UMCOR’s administrative costs.

For information on UMCOR’s work in the Rio Texas Conference, you can contact  Eugene Hileman, Conference Disaster Coordinator at aehileman@riotexas.org, 210-557-8698.