Practice Makes Perfect

As our youth settle into a new school year, our athletes are gearing up for a great fall season. This year is the first year that Boys Ranch youth are attending the Waco campus school, which means they can also participate in team sports through the Charter school. The boys are enjoying the wide variety of sports offered through MCH.

Our resident athletes are often seen after school working out all around campus. With volleyball, cross country and flag football all in full swing, our youth have plenty of athletic activities to keep them busy this fall. Here are some photos of the teams during practice.

Cooking Class

On one of the last days of summer, residents from Waxahachie gathered together in the kitchen for one more cooking lesson. This time, the lesson was in peeling potatoes for potato salad and making cheese biscuits. One of the goals of our residential programs is to help our youth become strong and independent as they move into adulthood. Cooking lessons, like the lessons taught at Waxahachie, and also on the Waco campus and Boys Ranch, help youth move one step closer to healthy independence.

Glen Lake Camp

In honor of the first week of school, here is a look back at summer camp at Glen Lake Camp in Glen Rose, Texas. Our youth had the opportunity to attend camp this summer with other kids from across the region. Last week, as a celebration of the end of summer, the Religious Education department put on a mini-camp for all of the kids from the Waco campus, Waxahachie campus and Boys Ranch. The youth were able to use the zip line, fish, bask in the sunlight, swim and play games for the day. Thank you to the Glen Lake Camp staff members for all that you do for our youth!

GAPP Night Out

For many of the grandparents connected with our Grandparents as Parents Program, having a night to themselves is not a regular occurrence. For these grandparents, their time is filled with raising busy grandchildren and staying on top of all of their activities. And many times these grandparents are still juggling other responsibilities to their work, church and community.

Seeing the need for a night of freedom for grandparents, Rehan McNeil, coordinator of the Grandparents as Parents Program organized a Grandparents Night Out event. The kids were whisked off to the Waco campus where they took part in an exciting evening of relaxation and fun. The grandchildren went swimming in the pool, held relay races, bounced on inflatables, ate snow cones, cotton candy and pizza, and even had face-painting and karaoke!

Meanwhile, the grandparents enjoyed a night of relaxation knowing their grandchildren were in good hands. Youth from the Waco campus volunteered to help with the children during the festivities, and staff from the Transition Services department were on hand to make sure everyone had plenty of food and fun. Here are some photos from the event.





Thank you to everyone who made this event possible!

Field Trip on the Wild Side

Youth from our Waxahachie campus enjoyed the air conditioning at Watkins Wildlife Museum in Corsicana during one of their summer field trips. The staff at our Waxahachie campus have done a great job investigating fun, educational opportunities in their area. After a tour of the Wildlife Museum, our kids ate a picnic lunch at a local water spray park.

Do you have pictures from an MCH summer event? Click the blue button below and share your fun summer story with the MCH community!

Water Day

On Thursday, the Boys Ranch held a Water Day. They even invited youth from the Waxahachie campus to join them. The afternoon was filled with water balloon games and relay races, all designed to help the kids cool off and enjoy the hot summer day. Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun, but we will let the pictures and video speak for themselves!

The balloon toss.

The water balloon "fight" with over 1,000 balloons!

Everyone took a break for Sno-Kones.

The bucket relay race was a big hit with all of the kids!

Pigs Galore

The Boys Ranch is proud to announce several new arrivals to the pig barn. Actually, over the past few weeks they have welcomed 41 brand new piglets, and more are on the way! Here are some pictures of the newest Ranch residents and the boys on the hog crew.

Jocolby, holding a very sleepy piglet.

Trent (right), and Hayden helping the newest piglets.

Stuart, holding the biggest piglet.

The hog crew boys.

Something for Everyone

Summer is a busy time at Methodist Children's Home! There are too many great things going on to feature only one, so here are a few bits of news from across the MCH community.

Summer School is Better with Ice Cream
Summer School students at the MCH Charter School in Waco were treated to a demonstration in ice cream making. The instructional presentation by Douglas Brown, an MCH volunteer and member of the Waco community, was offered as a part of a communications and speech class. Throughout the class students have been able to hear a variety of presentations from individuals across the Waco community. On this occasion, students learned the basics of making homemade ice cream and even got to try the process for themselves.

Volunteer, Douglas Brown, demonstrates how to make ice cream with the help of some MCH Charter School students.

Beat the Heat with GAPP
Summer is heating up and the Grandparents as Parents Program is working hard to relieve some of the pressure on local grandparents trying to raise their grandchildren. GAPP has already developed a strong support community among grandparents in the Waco area, but this summer they are doing even more to offer assistance to families.

The Grandparents Day Camp is a new summer initiative for GAPP grandchildren. The grandchildren spend at least one day a week on the Waco campus or out in the community with GAPP staff and volunteers. The Day Camp allows the youth to learn new skills, experience the city of Waco and have fun beating the heat of summer. Activities so far have included trips to the Waco Water Park, lessons in basketball skills, knitting classes and even supervised time playing children's computer games.

Te'Aerra shows off a coloring page she is working on.

Arescia (left) is learning to knit with Kari, a GAPP volunteer.

Happy to Help
When Tom Stribling, an MCH foster parent, learned that Jerome, his long-time foster child, was interested in taking a summer job with the city of Happy, Texas, he was determined to help him reach his goal. The job Jerome wanted involved serving as an assistant to city workers and would provide him with hands on experience working 40 hours a week for most of the 2009 summer.

Funded by stimulus money directed through the US Department of Labor's Workforce Investment Act, the job was specifically designed for youth from disadvantaged backgrounds (such as foster children). Jerome, a "soon to be" high school senior, thought the job was the perfect fit. And because of his responsible nature and status as an MCH foster child, Jerome and the Striblings thought he would easily land his summer dream job.

However, when the city received Jerome's application they were confused about whether he really fit the description of a foster child. Eleven years ago, Jerome's family voluntarily placed him in foster care through Methodist Children's Home. Because of the voluntary placement, city officials assumed that Jerome did not qualify for the city job.

When the Stribling family heard that Jerome was not chosen for the position because of his unclear foster child status, they immediately made an effort to clear up the misunderstanding. Stribling went to the city judge and called Methodist Children's Home administrators to help fight for Jerome's dream. After several hours of patient waiting, explanations and many phone calls and faxes, the city of Happy gladly welcomed Jerome as a member of their summer staff.


Now that he has been working for several weeks, Jerome is loving his job. Repairing city streets, helping with pet vaccinations, mowing city property and repairing equipment are just some of the activities that fill his days.

Stribling couldn't be more proud. "You know, he wants to work," Stribling said. "He really enjoys working, this was his dream job and it wouldn't have been right to not help him achieve his dreams."

Six Flags Trip

In early June, several of our Waco campus residents enjoyed a day of fun at Six Flags. The recreation department offered the trip for all of our "Off Steps" youth (for an explanation of Off Steps see below).

There is nothing quite like rewarding positive behavior with a fun day of rides and carnival food! Our youth and staff had a wonderful time on all the roller coasters and adventure rides. MCH residents Brittany and Kat even found two new "furry" friends!

Special thanks to Waco campus recreation coordinator, Matthew Maron for this photo.

What is Off Steps?
Off Steps is the final level on MCH's accountability and opportunity program, Steps to Success. The program works within our strengths-based philosophy of care to place youth on the appropriate level or "step" based on their attitude and behavior. Youth who achieve the Off Steps level are some of the best role models to other residents.

A Splash into Summer

Summer programming began with a splash at MCH!

While some of our young people are attending morning summer school at our Waco campus charter school, our other residents are volunteering their time to a variety of community service projects around Waco. And the afternoons are filled with summer fun like swimming at our Waco campus pool and field trips to local parks.

Four of our youth from the Waco campus are in Mt. Pleasant, Texas serving with Central Texas Conference Youth Missions by building wheelchair ramps, cleaning up parks and painting and repairing houses for those in need. We also have four youth from our Waxahachie campus who are currently in Louisiana serving on a mission trip with the First United Methodist Church of Waxahachie. Way to serve, MCH! Look for mission trip pictures in upcoming posts.

Here are some pictures of youth from the campus and Boys Ranch taking advantage of the hot weather to bask in the sun and spend time at the pool.




Some boys from the Ranch spent time at Cameron Park enjoying fishing and playing catch and disc golf with staff.





Respond with a Comment: If you are an MCH employee, what is one exciting summer adventure your residents are looking forward to enjoying?

Saturday Morning Fun

The recently formed MCH Student Leadership Team hosted a fun event on campus this past Saturday. The team is made up of exemplary youth from the Waco campus and Boys Ranch, and there are plans to invite participation from the Waxahachie campus as well. Currently, the group has six founding members, but they hope to eventually have representation from every home unit on every residential campus.

With a goal to serve the MCH community and be a voice for student needs, the team works in an advisory capacity - giving feedback on MCH policies and procedures. However, they are also using their influence to produce some fun events to bring residents together. Their event this past weekend illustrates their desire to provide our youth with fun ways to get to know one another.

Advised by Student Events Coordinator Denise Warren, the Student Leadership Team hopes to continue providing fun student events - all while using their influence to positively impact the administration and campus life. Now these kids are a reason to celebrate!