ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, June 25, 1996 TAG: 9606250023
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: PULASKI
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
A summer program for young black people in Pulaski and beyond will be in full swing today, with participants being picked up by bus for activities lasting from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
This second annual Cultural Awareness Redemptive Education program will continue through Aug. 3 for youngsters between the ages of 5 and 17. Letters of acceptance for those who signed up for the program went out last week.
"I almost wish I was a kid signing up," said Pastor L.P. Johnson Jr. of the Pentecostal United Holy Church. The program, funded by an $8,000 grant from the Pulaski County Department of Social Services, will be held at that church, the Randolph Avenue United Methodist Church
and the First Baptist Church on Magazine Street on a rotating basis.
Johnson, vice chairman of the CARE board, said participants in the first program last summer dramatically improved their performance in school. The program's emphasis on values, behavioral training and cultural understanding paid off.
"We don't want to baby-sit your children. ...They should be a different child in some way or form when this program is over," he told family members at an orientation program last week. "A lot of positive things have come out of this program ... and we believe that it's going to be even bigger and better as we go along."
It is already expanding beyond the town of Pulaski, he said, with some participants from Dublin expected this year.
"We had a wonderful time last year and learned a lot," said Tammy Boyers, who is returning as a co-director of the program this summer. "We're going to work a little on self-control. We're going to learn a little bit about responsibility."
She said the program will include some reading, social skills, learning about the African-American cultural heritage, and some field trips set up by the participants themselves. Last year's program included a trip to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
Richard Lewis, a Pulaski County teacher who will be the other co-director, said he heard a lot of good things about last summer's program and decided to get involved this year. "I didn't want to do just anything during the summer. I wanted to do something worthwhile," he said.
"This is a great idea for a community," Lewis said. "I'll learn from them and they'll learn from me."
Johnson said parents or guardians of participating children will be asked to work at least four hours with the program while it is under way. There is no charge for participation, but parents or guardians were required to come to the CARE orientation program and have any questions answered.
"This is a family program. ... We want to ask for some volunteer time from our parents," Johnson said. "I know everybody works," he said, but "if you don't know what your children are doing in this program, you can't reinforce the good parts."
He said volunteer time can include chaperoning field trips and other support. "There's plenty to do," he said.
Johnson said CARE "is a program that can not only touch this community, but touch this part of the country." He said a foundation grant is being sought to make it a yearlong program.
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: PAUL DELLINGER Staff. Kids play with balloons whileby CNBsigning up for Pulaski's CARE program.