There are a lot of great church and school partnerships in our community and across the US in various cities, but at One Life Church we consider it a great privilege for one of our campuses to partner with a school in Henderson Kentucky called South Heights Elementary.

We launched this journey near the beginning of our One Life Church plant in Henderson on 10/10/10 when the church leaders determined that they wanted to work towards serving the families in a declining area of the city called the “East End”. South Heights was the main school in the area and so we ask the principal-Rob Carroll if he could come talk to us about how we could partner.

We expected that he would share a few ideas and we would share some ideas and maybe we could connect. But what happened was Rob brought a vision on a powerpoint called “Launch 1199” that had been bubbling up inside him that included some amazing things about the future of the school.

We never got to our ideas because the vision was so compelling that we decided that we were in.

Here is a snapshot of our relationship with Rob and the “1199”…

There are some things that we have learned in our partnership with this great school in our community that we would suggest to any church developing a church/school partnership. Again none of this is profound and many churches have great church/school partnerships and we have a long way to go to engage people at deep levels, but here are some takeaways that have served us well:

1. Start with the school’s dreams- so often as churches we think about a school in our area and go around the table and talk about how we can serve and then arrive ready to deploy. But I am convinced that every Principal has things they want to accomplish and the realities of daily responsibilities and limited resources tend to bury big ideas. What if we dreamed with a principal about what could happen in their school? What would be some giant wins for the kids over the next 5 years, 10 years and beyond. It’s important to keep it kid focused, but what would it take to see a vision like South Heights shared to see 100% of the kids succeed..no exceptions..no excuses?
2. Go time not just money- While financial resources are always important, there are lots of things that can be done beyond finances. Tutoring, chaperoning activities, classroom support, special treats for teachers or other celebrations, personal notes of encouragement to kids and teachers, helping with events, etc.. The truth is, serving well is not a budget issue.
3. Just show up- In Rob Carroll’s words, don’t make the simple complicated. Ball games, music events, open house nights, Christmas parties…sometimes just showing up to serve or even clean up after an event is a significant way to build relationships and serve a school.
4. Add value- This is huge. Our bent is to create ideas to deliver. And while creativity is always appreciated, the best partnership is to listen and add value to the efforts of the faculty and staff at a school. What are they trying to do that we can help by giving support and building capacity? It is significant to approach our partnership realizing that we are not the educators. Nobody knows what needs to happen better than the professionals that are teachers and administration at our schools and we are there to serve.
5. Leverage influence- While local educators work hard to make their classrooms and learning environments efficient and effective, there are a lot of factors beyond the school that effect their capacity to impact a student. Neighborhoods, housing, safety, after school options, parks, playgrounds, health resources, food sources, jobs, parenting skills and the list goes on and on. As churches and individuals we have influence in our communities and skills that we can bring to the table to improve the opportunities for students to succeed. Figure out where you can make a difference in the community support structure of a school with your gifts and influence.

And I want to conclude with one of the most important contributions we can make to our local schools.

My wife likes to walk and we live across from a local high school. So she often would take a walk around the sidewalks on the streets surrounding the school and pray for the faculty, staff and students of that school. As violence was dominating the news across the country, she decided that her and a friend would take their walk through out the city and prayer walk around other schools. In the last few months they have prayer walked 24 schools in our city and asked God to bless every student and faculty member and keep them safe as they shape the next generation.

What if we prayed for every school in our city on a regular basis? Or better yet, what if we prayed for and there was a church partner for every school in our city?

Our kids are our future. Adding value to our schools is the gift that keeps on giving.