Schertz UMs help kids pass
school tests with flying colors

By Rachel L. Toalson
Staff Writer
Barbara Ricks of Schertz UMC looks over the shoulder of a little girl, examining her finished math problems. Every now and then, Ricks circles a set of numbers and says softly, “Go check these more carefully.”
The elementary student returns to her seat, where another adult waits with counting aids to help her check her math problems.
They are “homework helpers” for 13 students selected by officials at Watts Elementary School in Cibolo to participate in “Flying Colors.”
The Schertz UMC program aids children from economically disadvantaged families who “lack the support needed to be successful in school,” said Alice Sutherlun, program director for the 393-member congregation.
“There’s no one around to help these kids do their homework at home,” Sutherlun said. “Some of them are monetarily disadvantaged. Some of them aren’t. But they’re all kids who don’t get help at home.”
Students in grades 1 through 4 receive 90 minutes of homework assistance at Schertz UMC three days a week.
An elementary substitute teacher for years, Ricks, program coordinator of Flying Colors, said the idea arose when she was chatting with another Watts Elementary teacher, Deborah Badrak. Ricks noted that her church had many unused classrooms during after-school hours.
A pilot program began in the last six weeks of the 2006-2007 school year. Thirteen students entered the program—the maximum number that could fit into the church van. Ricks picks students up from Watts Elementary.
Only four students from the original 13 returned to the program this year, Ricks said.

“The kids from that group just blossomed,” she explained. “They had benchmark testing, and most of them didn’t need (Flying Colors) any more.”
Sutherlun said, “The school deemed the rest not at risk any more. It’s wonderful, if this program had anything to do with it.”
Word about the program has spread among the elementary school students, and those in the program “come running out to the van when school is over,” Ricks said with a smile.
Sutherlun said homework helpers have seen students pass spelling tests for the first time and turn in projects when previously teachers reported that youngsters would come to school on project day with empty hands.
The only current limitation to the program, Sutherlun said, is the ability to transport students. Leaders have applied for a grant through the Texas Methodist Foundation that would help them purchase a bus.
“If that happens, (the program) will expand greatly,” Sutherlun said. “Right now, we can do only so much.”
The current 13 students will stay until December, and then another group of students will move in, Sutherlun said.
She said she is trying to raise awareness among other churches about the program—in hopes of beginning more programs to help more students.