Wesley Chapel Academy is a series of classes presented on a Friday evening 6-7:30pm which teach life skills to students in 1st through 5th grade. The first three classes offered teaching and practice for housekeeping basics, cooking basics, and sewing basics. The fourth class of life skills focused around using power tools. It was shared with me by a counselor many years ago that if a person learns to use power tools, they are less likely to be taken advantage off. I wanted this for the girls and boys in my world.
Two amazingly gifted tool-men in our congregation answered the invite through bulletin and newsletter to join in the fun and planning. My son-in-law broke apart wooden pallets and removed all the metal giving the project a rustic feel and a great starting product. We set up outside in the shade to help with cleanup.
Supplies: circular saw, drill, screws, saw horses, clamps, hammers, aprons, carpenter pencils, screw drivers, D-hook hangers, nails, sandpaper, safety glasses and goggles, ear plugs, measuring tape
After introductions and much talk about safety, students were taught to use a measuring tape to mark off the line to cut. As they waited and listened to the ‘circular saw talk’, each student sanded their wood piece to take care of rough edges and keep their hands busy. If hands are busy, minds are calm. Using clamps and proper hand placement, each student cut their own piece of wood with the circular saw.
Sanding continued as we took a water and story break. I shared how Jesus was a carpenter, and his earthly father was a carpenter from Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3: an apprentice is one who has a teachable spirit to learn tasks to honor the Lord. Jesus was Joseph’s apprentice. We are apprentices of Jesus.
Back outside, students discovered the difference between a nail and a screw as each student measured where to connect the cut pieces of wood and install a hanger on the back of each project.
After the group photo, students were able to keep the tool apron, a carpenter’s pencil, measuring tape, two screwdrivers, and received a certificate.
Wesley Chapel Academy is an outreach ministry of WCKids. Completing this first season of four academy classes, 56% of attendance were students who we did not know beforehand. Four of the nine adult tutors were members of our congregation, but WCA was their first experience serving at the church. With an average class of 12 students, we used $200 for all four classes. The most expensive class was the cooking basics at $125. Advertising and registration through Eventbrite brought in 12.5% of our attendance, which proved effective marketing outside our own typical social media.
Thank you notes are going out in the mail this week for all our tutors and youth helpers. Fifth graders who will be aging up have already asked to be youth helpers for next spring. Each class proved to be greater than I ever imagined. Not sure yet what we will teach next season, but this is an outreach program that is here to stay. Oh, the possibilities!
“Then Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood.” Exodus 15:25
DeDeBullReilly 
DeDe, thank you for sharing your inspiring example. My wheels are turning now. What a great way to give men a chance to shine and invest themselves into the lives of children. Many times men might feel that they have little or nothing to offer unless they can stand in front of the class and teach, so it’s wonderful that you gave them a platform to make a difference.
To God be the glory! Now to think of other skills where men can lead for next year. Thanks, Dema!
Do you have somewhere a description of how all four basic skills that you taught fit together? Is this a continuous class where the same group of children learns different skills or do you approach each life skill as a separate 4-week event? I’d love to learn a little bit more about the big picture. Also, are parents involved in any capacity or is it only for kids? Do you charge a fee? Thank you.
BTW, each Advent season our church sponsors The Manger Project where we encourage dads/grandfathers to build a life-size manger with their children to place in front of the house or Christmas tree as a reminder of what Christmas is all about. Later the manger becomes a gift basket. They fill it with baby items and drop off at a crisis pregnancy center. The Manger Project has become our annual Advent/Christmas tradition and families are looking forward to it. It provides a great bonding experience and a way for fathers and children to have a hands-on experience. I’ll be sharing all the details of the event on http://www.wearekidmin.com soon.
Each event was a stand alone. I’ve linked each one and their details in this blog post. Housekeeping skills was our first. The goal was to offer a ‘brand’ name of Wesley Chapel Academy for our outreach to build energy in our community. As an outreach, everything is free. The setup was the same for all 4 of the first season: Life skill led by tutors, water/story break to share about Jesus in the middle, certificates and group photo. Our community is high on education and sports/gross motor skills, but the students have no training in life skills at school or in other areas of the community, so we figured this would be a great place to start something new. Check out the housekeeping basics blog for more details of where our inspiration came from.
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