Small school flourishes with Christ at the core
http://tri-statedefenderonline.com/articlelive/articles/4715/1/Small-school-flourishes-with-Christ-at-the-core/Page1.html
By Tri-State Defender Newsroom
Published on 03/11/2010
“It started with just a dream to help youth,” recalls Carolyn Bibbs, founder/CEO of Creative Life Incorporated, a community youth development organization reaching out to children of all ages.
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“It started with just a dream to help youth,” recalls Carolyn Bibbs, founder/CEO of Creative Life Incorporated, a community youth development organization reaching out to children of all ages.
Small school flourishes with Christ at the core
by Amy Rosenberg
Special to the Tri-State Defender
“It started with just a dream to help youth,” recalls Carolyn Bibbs, founder/CEO of Creative Life Incorporated, a community youth development organization reaching out to children of all ages.
Bibbs’ labor of love began in 1988 as a mission to use theater to reach out to at-risk youth. She traveled the Mid-South with a troupe of young actors performing skits that kept them busy and safe. The she discovered something that would change her whole course of action.
“They couldn’t read,” said Bibbs, her voice reflecting the frustration that accompanied the realization.
“These children had made it so far, but most of them couldn’t even read close to their grade level.” Motivated to make a change, Creative Life Inc., was born.
“We saw so many kids falling through the cracks and thought they could benefit from an environment that offered smaller classrooms and a focus on Christ at the core of our curriculum,” she said.
Today, Creative Life Inc., includes a day care facility, an accredited preparatory school, a church – intentionally for youth and children, after-school activities, sports, drama and dance groups, and a long list of other support programs. The school enrolls up to 100 students in pre-kindergarten through 10th grade annually. Through its varied outreach and educational programs, the organization touches more than 1,200 lives each year.
Leonzo Arnold, 20, said he believes he would be dead, if not for Creative Life.
“In my neighborhood, there are drugs and gangs. If it wasn’t for Creative Life, I might be in the next obituary people read.”
Arnold came to Creative Life as a seven year old with anger management issues and a problem dealing with authority figures. With consistent support from the staff and his peers, he learned to embrace positive ways to deal with his anger.
Today, Arnold is a striving college student who participates in mentoring after school nearly every day. On Saturdays, you can find him leading The Hook Up, a high-energy church service that packs the seats with praise-filled teens and young adults who worship through song and dance.
From prayer-filled church services and abstinence education to social development and college prep, Creative Life Inc., moves to teach the whole child and ensure that each is armed with the inner-strength it takes to succeed. Bibbs said she couldn’t do it without the donors who have consistently given to help the ministry.
“We can pull these kids out of poverty and create a new path for their lives,” she said. “If enough people invest in these little minds, we can change the world.”
(This Amy Rosenberg story distributed by Kingdom Quality Communications.)
Special to the Tri-State Defender
“It started with just a dream to help youth,” recalls Carolyn Bibbs, founder/CEO of Creative Life Incorporated, a community youth development organization reaching out to children of all ages.
 |
| From prayer-filled church services and abstinence education to social development and college prep, Creative Life Inc., moves to teach the whole child and ensure that each is armed with the inner-strength it takes to succeed. (Photos courtesy of Kingdom Quality Communications.) |
“They couldn’t read,” said Bibbs, her voice reflecting the frustration that accompanied the realization.
“These children had made it so far, but most of them couldn’t even read close to their grade level.” Motivated to make a change, Creative Life Inc., was born.
“We saw so many kids falling through the cracks and thought they could benefit from an environment that offered smaller classrooms and a focus on Christ at the core of our curriculum,” she said.
Today, Creative Life Inc., includes a day care facility, an accredited preparatory school, a church – intentionally for youth and children, after-school activities, sports, drama and dance groups, and a long list of other support programs. The school enrolls up to 100 students in pre-kindergarten through 10th grade annually. Through its varied outreach and educational programs, the organization touches more than 1,200 lives each year.
Leonzo Arnold, 20, said he believes he would be dead, if not for Creative Life.
“In my neighborhood, there are drugs and gangs. If it wasn’t for Creative Life, I might be in the next obituary people read.”
Arnold came to Creative Life as a seven year old with anger management issues and a problem dealing with authority figures. With consistent support from the staff and his peers, he learned to embrace positive ways to deal with his anger.
Today, Arnold is a striving college student who participates in mentoring after school nearly every day. On Saturdays, you can find him leading The Hook Up, a high-energy church service that packs the seats with praise-filled teens and young adults who worship through song and dance.
From prayer-filled church services and abstinence education to social development and college prep, Creative Life Inc., moves to teach the whole child and ensure that each is armed with the inner-strength it takes to succeed. Bibbs said she couldn’t do it without the donors who have consistently given to help the ministry.
“We can pull these kids out of poverty and create a new path for their lives,” she said. “If enough people invest in these little minds, we can change the world.”
(This Amy Rosenberg story distributed by Kingdom Quality Communications.)