United Methodists in the Sound District of the North Carolina Conference have teamed up with the AME Zion churches in the area to change the lives of children and their families by providing an educational program that not only benefits children, but their parents/guardians also. Points 4 Partnership was born about two years ago when Sound District Superintendent Linda Taylor and the Reverend Avery C. Brown, presiding elder of the Beaufort District in the AME Zion Church, began having conversations about the need for supporting schools and students.
While volunteers and teachers provide extra reading assistance to the children, the community colleges provide parents/guardians with GED training, assistance in resumé writing or interview skills. The goal is to make the home an environment for learning, where parents and children are studying, a place where education is a priority.
Now serving in three sites (J. T. Barber Elementary in New Bern, Roger Bell Elementary in Havelock, and Newport Elementary in Newport) and with the assistance of Craven Community College and Carteret Community College, Points 4 Partnership is designed to offer accelerated learning opportunities to children who struggle with reading; offer parents/guardians learning opportunities and support to improve their quality of life; build partnerships between parents, children, faith-based organizations, communities, public schools and community colleges; and most importantly, restore hope where hope may be lost.
Taylor sums it up this way, “We’ve just scratched the surface of what we are going to do together in ministry because we have discerned and we know, without a shadow of a doubt, that as we do ministry together, we’re going to be stronger and the Holy Spirit is going to lead us in places we have yet to imagine. I’m excited about that because every step of the way, we are impacting lives.”
