As Louis and Mary Jones enter Mrs. Grady’s second grade classroom on the first Thursday of the month, they sit in the chairs in a corner of the room. Quiet and attentive, the children arrive and settle on the rug around the couple, patiently waiting for the story to begin. This story-time has become a routine for them. Today, Mary and Louis are sharing the book Forget Me Not about a baby elephant looking for friends.
Mr. and Mrs. Jones reading to the students
Mary and Louis are part of the “Eager Beaver Readers” who share stories with the class once a month at Westover Hills. “Ms. Grady and her class have become dear to Mary and me as a result of this reading program,” says Louis Jones. The Jones’s have two children of their own, now adults. Mary recalls that when her children were in school, she was very active in the classroom. She says, “Just being here with the kids brings back so many memories of being someone who cares for the kids.” Louis remarks, “It’s good to be around young children again.”
Mary and Louis Jones connected to Westover Hills Elementary School and became Eager Beaver Readers through the Micah Initiative. Members of Gravel Hill Baptist Church, where Louis is the pastor, support the school as readers, lunch buddies, tutors, and through special donations. Reflecting on the City-Wide Micah Initiative, Rev. Jones says, “When you’re a smaller kind of church, it’s harder to do outreach. Micah provides an intact, structured program that allows us to support [the school] in many different ways.”
By volunteering themselves, Pastor and Mrs. Jones have led their congregation at Gravel Hill Baptist into the school. “We volunteer at Westover Hills Elementary School, basically because we believe that it is our duty to give back to the community,” explains Pastor Jones, “God has blessed us, and if our giving a portion of our time that some young child might come to realize that there are those who care about them, then our efforts are well worth it.”