LEMS, Christ Church's Nearby Middle School, Needs Our Assistance. You Can Be That Help.

Last Sunday, Lake Elkhorn Middle School Outreach's Cathy Whittaker caught us up at church on plans for this coming fall. Here's what she said:

"We had the pleasure of meeting with the new LEMS Principal, Tony Esposito, last week. He has been a teacher and principal for over 20 years in Howard County and is excited about his new position.

We also met with Cindy Drummond (our liaison), and we talked about possible ways that we can work together over the coming school year. The committee is so pleased to have Cindy in the position of Community School Site Coordinator, as she knows what the students and teachers actually need for the upcoming school year and helps us avoid duplicating the efforts of other organizations that help support the school.

The first thing that we discussed was purchasing Agenda Books for all the middle school students. In the past, the district provided these, but that is no longer the case. Agenda Books would be very helpful as they provide a standardized year-long planner in which students would record their assignments and other school events.  

We will also be funding appreciation events for the teachers to support staff social-emotional health and well-being. There is no money in the county budget for teacher appreciation. Therefore, it is up to the PTSA to raise funds for such activities. As you can imagine, most schools have a much bigger PTSA budget because families in those schools are able to contribute much more. We could partner with the PTSA for things like breakfasts, cook-outs, and the health bags that we distributed last year. We will be putting together health bags and delivering them to the teachers. We would be welcome to actually come to provide a breakfast or other event, or just fund it.

We also will be ordering school supplies that are on the school supply list. The amount that we can provide is dependent upon your contributions. Last year we were able to purchase enough items to help 125 students start out the school year. We will not be putting the supplies in backpacks since other organizations provide these and the school actually has backpacks left over from the previous year.

We will continue to help with the monthly pantry as we have in the past.  We distribute protein boxes of fresh food from the Roving Radish after school on the third Wednesday of each month. We also deliver non-perishable food on that day that is distributed by school social workers to families who are particularly challenged economically.  

Volunteers are always welcome. They include one-time and weekly commitments for activities such as:

• Lunch and recess monitoring

• Classroom tutors

• Mash-Up Day (6th Grade August)

• Turkey Trot (November) 

• National History Day (January)

• Field Days (June)

There are other activities that we don't quite have the funding for right now without your help. For example, Liz Thurston is the teacher in the Academic Life Skills class (ALS). This is a self-contained classroom for students whose IEP team has determined they would benefit from this program. Liz needs funding for two enrichment programs:

• Kind Cafe - The students sell coffee and treats to staff for a minimal cost. They learn to interact with others, keep a budget, and other activities related to running a small business.

• Best Buddies - LEMS "typical" students are paired with students in the ALS class about 4 times a year and they have parties with a variety of activities. It helps the ALS student feel more a part of the school and teaches the buddies to better understand students with disabilities.  

If you would like to give financially to LEMS, you can write a check and put "LEMS" in the memo line, or you can give online using the LEMS drop-down label.

We need your help for the School Block Party on Friday, August 21. That is the day the school supplies will be delivered around 10:00, so you could help load supplies and drive over to the school. We also need people to be at the table from 11:00 to 2:00 to let attendees know about CEC church activities.  

Cindy is always very generous in offering ways that LEMS can support us as well. She will advertise church events (e.g., the flea market, dinners) in the weekly LEMS Heart Smiles Bulletin. Finally, she offered to help with a Clean Up Day at CEC, if we give her some lead time. If you are on a committee that might benefit from LEMS student help, please let us know.

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Apologies for the very long message. If you have questions, please contact us! You can email LEMSPC@christchurchcolumbia.org to reach us directly, or speak with me, Jenny Cecil, Jan DeBoissiere, or Sara Kirkpatrick at church any time! We deeply appreciate your strong commitment to this partnership and are excited to have you join us in this endeavor."

Christ Church has a beautiful and long-standing relationship with LEMS, assisting them in many times of need. You can see your fellow parishioners' generous work on our website's many LEMS-related blog posts. The fact that there are more than one hundred posts speaks to the loving-kindness and unconditional action that Christ Church puts behind its LEMS ministry. Click that link to read those, and thank you for your prayerful consideration in 2026!