Page 5A
Powhatan Today, July 21, 2021
SUMMER Continued from pg. 1
More than 600 Powhatan County Public Schools students will participate in some type of summer recovery or summer boost program to help them move forward to their next steps by the end of summer. The bulk of the classes were scheduled for two two-week sessions, from June 21 to July 1 and from July 12 to 22, with a week off in between. Powhatan Middle School, where the secondary classes are being held, also added a third session solely focused on math recovery from July 26 to Aug. 5 to help keep class sizes down. While numbers are up across the board, the largest impact by far is being seen at the elementary level, which is serving 323 students in pre-K through fifth grade in the midst of several large modifications to the way it was run this year. Elementary summer school in 2020 had 106 students and had 201 students in 2019. The elementary program, which is being held over four weeks at Powhatan Elementary School this summer, transitioned to a full-day of instruction from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for students this year, said Dr. Cheryl Thomas, director of elementary education. The division had received feedback from parents that participating with a half-day summer school program was difficult for working families. “We had gotten that information over some time, but recovery money allowed us to do it …. and then it extended the children’s learning time as well,” she said. The longer day led to several other changes to summer offerings, staffing, food services, and transportation, said Isabella Worrell, assistant principal of Powhatan Elemen-
SECOND ANTIOCH BAPTIST CHURCH
tary School. All of those changes presented some challenges, but she added the “challenges came from the operational side not from the academic side. The teachers rock out the academics.” While the numbers aren’t as high at the middle and high school levels, they are still higher than in the past. Christine Phaup, assistant principal at the middle school, said she will have 32 students in recovery classes over three sessions and 13 students in an optional boot camp for students who wanted to have some enrichment to be prepared for next year’s grade level. At the high school level, 88 students are coming to the middle school for face-to-face recovery courses and 161 are doing online credit recovery, said Mike Barak, PHS assistant principal. Although there are higher numbers than usual, he said the summer is going well. “Summer school has been a wonderful experience, and our staff have worked tremendously hard to engage our kids and help make them successful,” he said. In the midst of all this, the school division learned halfway through summer school that the executive order regarding mask wearing in K-12 settings had been extended through July 25. Previously, PCPS made the decision that masks would be optional. The state health commissioner issued an order “finding that a public health emergency due to COVID-19 continues to exist, and requiring all individuals aged five and older to wear masks when indoors at public and private K-12 schools in order to inhibit the spread of the virus.” The order does allow for certain exceptions depending on the person’s health or what activity
they are doing. Dr. Eric Jones, superintendent, said at the July 13 school board meeting that families may contact the schools about any exceptions applicable to their children. He added that despite the unwelcome news about masks being added back at summer school, the school division is planning for the 2021-2022 school year to have masks as optional rather than required.
Summer reading in the Great Outdoors
Elementary students As they do every summer, the academic portion of elementary summer school connects with the gaps teachers have seen with the students participating, Thomas said. With rising kindergarteners, whether they attended pre-kindergarten or have never been in school before, the summer program is considered a learning booster. Called Countdown to Kindergarten Camp, it is focused on skills the student screeners have identified as areas where they need more preparation before they start kindergarten, she said. PCPS partnered with the United Way of Greater Richmond this summer - a new step that allowed the school division to expand from two to three classes. Kindergarten through fifth grade classes are focused on recovery in reading and math, she said. Each child arrived with information from their end-of-year screening tests that helped identify the areas summer school teachers need to focus with them. She added that staff put together kits that expand the reading and math programs and provide some highly interactive activities that focus on different skills. “It is a targeted focus on the skills the students need to have prior to going to the next grade,” Thomas said. see SUMMER pg. 7
Powhatan County Public Library held an Outdoor Storytime on July 14 on the grass by the picnic table as part of the summer reading program. New youth services librarian Anne Blankman had a captive audience, including 35 young children, as she read ‘Lola at the Library,’ “Caps for Sale,’ and ’Is Your Mama a Llama?’
CHURCH DIRECTORY
Contemporary – 8:30 a.m. Sunday School – 9:45 a.m. Worship – 11 a.m. Children’s Worship – 11 a.m. Prayer/Bible Study – Wed. 6:30 p.m. 2095 Red Lane Road Children’s Worship (all ages) – 1/2 mile off Rt. 60 on Red Lane Road Wed. 6:30 p.m. 804-598-2455 New Generation Praise & Worship – www.redlanebaptist.org Sunday 6 p.m. Worship Service 9:00 a.m. Lighthouse Youth – Wed. 5:30 p.m. Small Groups 10:30 a.m. Miracles of God Sp. Needs Service: 2 p.m. the 2nd Sat. of each month Wednesday Night Classes for all ages at 6:15 598-3481 • 975 Dorset Road Dr. James Taylor, Pastor www.gracelandbc.org
Reverend Mark A. Divens, Sr. Pastor
Praise and Worship Service Sunday School 9:45-10:45 Sunday Morning Worship will begin at 11:00 a.m.
“God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things. We walk by faith and not by sight” – Pastor Darnell Carruthers
Sunday School: 10:00-10:45 a.m. Worship Service: 11:00 a.m. 4731 Bell Road, Powhatan, VA 23139 804-598-5491
Holly Hills Baptist Church www.HollyHillsBaptist.org
(Independent Bible Believing)
Randy Blackwell, Pastor Sunday School - 10:00 a.m. Sunday Morning Worship - 11:00 a.m. Evening Service 6:00 p.m. Wednesday Prayer Meeting 7:00 p.m.
379-8930 1659 Anderson Highway 3½ miles east of Flat Rock
5680 Cartersville Road Powhatan, Virginia 23139 Pastor Gregory L. Beechaum Sr. “The church where Jesus is Alive” 9:00 a.m. ---- Sunday School 9:45 a.m.----- Prayer & Praise 10:00 a.m.--- Sunday Morning Worship 5th Sunday at 11 a.m. Hour of Power 7:30 p.m. ---- Tuesday Night Worship & Bible Study
Baptist Church “A Church Where Love Never Fails!” Pastor Otis B. Lockhart, Jr. Sunday School at 9:30 a.m. Morning Service at 11:00 a.m. Bible Study Every Wednesday Night at 6:30 p.m. 3964 Old Buckingham Road
Sundays 10:00 a.m. Wednesday 6:30 p.m. Experiencing the presence, power and person of Jesus Christ
Sunday School - 9:45 a.m. Worship - 11 a.m. Wednesday Bible Study & Prayer Service - 7:00 p.m.
3920 MAIDENS RD., POWHATAN
2591 Ridge Road Powhatan, Virginia 23139 804-598-2051 Rev. Bryan Stevens, Pastor
Pastor Jeff Beard, MA, MBA
10 a.m. – Worship Service 8:30 a.m. – Church School
3470 Trenholm Road www.muddycreekbaptist.org
375-9212
3619 Huguenot Trail Powhatan, Virginia 23139 www.finecreekbaptist.org Sunday School: 9:45 a.m. Worship Service: 11:00 a.m. Traditional Vern Gilmer, Pastor
Evening Bible Study 7:00 p.m.
Service times are 8:30 a.m. and 10:15 a.m. Worship online at 10:15 a.m.
2202 Old Church Road www.powhatanbaptist.org
Loving, Investing, Fulfilling, Empowering Senior Pastor Justin Wilson Sunday Service 10:30am 2410 New Dorset Circle www.Communitylifechurchpowhatan.org Feeding Powhatan Open 3rd Wednesday of the month
Sunday 10am, 11am & 6pm Wednesday 7pm
804-598-2301 Sunday School 10:00 a.m. Sunday Morning Service 11:00 a.m. Wednesday Mid Day Bible Study 11:30 a.m.
Brad Russell, Pastor 598-4241
“Your Community Church”
598-2763
FIRST ANTIOCH BAPTIST CHURCH
OLD POWHATAN BAPTIST CHURCH
Family Worship Center 2901 Judes Ferry Road Powhatan, Va 23139 804-379-8223
Muddy Creek Baptist Church
BAPTIST CHURCH
Advertise in Powhatan Today’s Church Directory. Call 804-746-1235 ext. 2 for details.
804-375-9404
Hollywood
MOUNT ZION
Graceland Baptist Church Dr. Ronald Wyatt, Jr., Pastor
1059 Dorset Road Powhatan, VA 23139
GREENBRIER BAPTIST CHURCH
PHOTOS BY LAURA MCFARLAND
Travis L. Keith- Pastor Church Office: 794.7054 1530 Cook Road (Rt. 636)
www.glbcpva.org
Just Across from South Creek Shopping Center!
