As you may know I work at a high school. My cover is campus supervisor but I am really there to minister to those who feel disenfranchised. In 2006, I had a conversation with the principal in which he told me that the black students ( 3-4% of the student body in an upper middle class community) did not have many staff that looked like them and some felt that no one there understood them or cared about them. I wanted to spend the second half of my life "giving back" to the black community and saw the campus supervisor position as way to get into the school so I could do that.
My first year, the principal gave me opportunities to interact with the students so they felt that I was an advocate. My second year he asked that I focus on the blacks in the sophomore class. While we had some success, I felt an all girls group would be less challenging. Partnering with the two other African American women on staff and one year with a non African American woman, we had a girls group. We met weekly to discuss subjects like the importance of embracing education, boyfriends, dealing with female drama, self esteem and respecting others. We had black female professionals come in to share on their careers. After a couple of years, one of my partners retired and the other's job assignment no longer allowed her to help out. Next, there was a directive to discontinue serving food due to food allergies, food was a big draw. The group stopped meeting.
A couple of years ago I was asked to work with the step team, I saw this as a way for my ministry to continue. Many of these girls feel this is the only activity available to them as other groups have people with different races, social economic levels and interests. My connection to this team helps me to meet other students not just black, who feel like they do not fit in. My goal is to show them unconditional love and support and help them see that they can have higher dreams than what they currently see around them.
Being with these girls helps me to grow as a woman as I try to practice patience and discipline to restore and not just punish. I am blessed to have a godly young woman working with me this year. She is not African American but she can actually step. She also helps me to see things from another angle which makes me think and that makes me grow. Pray that God will use me to be the encourager that these girls need.
