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A PARTICIPANT in one of Buckner's after-school ministries thoughtfully does his homework.
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Buckner after-school brings new beginnings for children
___By Scott Collins
___& Russ Dilday
___Buckner News Service
___For hundreds of children across Texas who attend after-school programs sponsored by Buckner Children and Family Services, the end-of-day school bell doesn't mean their day is over.
___In many cases, what happens after school is just the beginning of much more. Sometimes it's the beginning of a new life in Christ as well.
___"This is a healthy place, a healthy environment for them to come," explained Barbara Sharp, Community Based Services Daycare director for Buckner in North Texas. "The children we have in the after-school programs really look forward to coming. They just love it. They know they are going to get a nice staff member to greet them and to give them attention. They bring their homework, and we help them. And they get a good snack."
___But that's not all.
___"We have a spiritual enrichment time where we share the word of God with them to help minister to those spiritual needs of the child," she added.
___At South Main Baptist Church in Houston, Buckner operates an after-school program in the middle of what one staff worker calls a "war zone." The church is located between rival gangs. For many children and teenagers, the South Main program is a safe haven.
___South Main Pastor Bill Turner, noting the success of the program in a recent issue of the church's newsletter, called the Buckner program a "pastoral presence to many of these kids and their families during times of crisis."
___Scott Waller, director of church and community ministries for a Buckner partnership with Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, oversees an after-school program targeting children living in Pennsylvania Place, a low-income subsidized housing community.
___The partnership with the church "allows Broadway to take an active role of putting feet to their faith--of acting out of their theological responsibility to be a good neighbor and care for those most endangered by our society," Waller said.
___"Most of these children are latchkey children who do not have access to any kind of high-quality or affordable childcare when they come home from school," Waller said. "We are offering the children an opportunity to be involved in a comprehensive, high-quality, faith-based after-school program.
___"It's not babysitting," he added. "It's a curriculum developed to impact, in a proactive way, children as they grow older. And it helps them succeed in life skills."
___Buckner officials believe the key to a successful after-school program is a well-planned curriculum with a broad vision for helping children and their families.
___In Longview, the after-school program known as STARS (short for Students Teaching and Reaching) seeks to provide a setting where improving social skills and building faith receive equal billing with boosting academics, according Sheila Arnold, director of community services for Buckner in Northeast Texas.
___"We are trying to build the assets and the foundation that they will need through the adult years," Arnold said. "Our goal is to provide these kids with a fun, safe place to go after school, where their parents know we are going to care for them."
___Faith is a key ingredient in the STARS program, she said. The program meets in a downtown building provided by First Baptist Church.
___"We pray with them. We teach them how to pray before we eat. We do Bible study with them. We talk about who Jesus is and how we're saved. All of the foundations of this program are built on biblical principles."
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