Children at Risk Project Assignment
Using the information from course lectures, reading and research, choose one of the following three projects (newsletter, parent group meeting, or ministry plan) to complete on the topic of your choice (divorce, abuse, natural disasters, or death). Each project should include an Objectives and Evaluation section along with the Children at Risk project. Be sure to refer to the Children at Risk Project Grading Rubric before submitting your assignment.
Project #1 – Newsletter
Written communication is one tool available for communicating with parents, teachers, and/or the community regarding topics of interest to them. For this project, include the following:
Objectives and Evaluation Section
• What you want to accomplish with this newsletter
• How this newsletter will strengthen the well-being of families and children meeting their physical, social, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual needs
• How you will evaluate the effectiveness of the newsletter
(This section should be one page, double-spaced.)
Actual Newsletter
Use the course content as well as your research to create a newsletter that you could use in your ministry setting to help the “at-risk” family group that you chose. This newsletter can be written for the families or at-risk children providing them specific helps or it can be written to teachers in your ministry providing the teachers with specific background information and ideas to help at-risk children in their ministry area. The newsletter should be two pages (front and back), include appropriate images, and follow effective newsletter design guidelines.
(You may use a template of your choice (Word or Publisher, for instance, or a template used by your local ministry) to help format the letter, then save as a PDF file to be submitted.)
A Newsletter Training DVD/CD Combination is available through CEF Press®. This training will provide practical ideas to help you write and design an effective newsletter. Microsoft Publisher 2003 is used in the demonstration. Click here for information on purchasing this training resource.
Project #2 – Parent Group Meeting or Training Session
A Parent Group Meeting is a way that you can reach out to families and children face-to-face giving you the opportunity to meet with them personally. It is important that teachers ministering to kids have an understanding of at-risk children and their needs. You may choose to plan a parent group meeting or a training session for teachers about at-risk children. For this project, include the following:
Objectives and Evaluation Section:
• What you want to accomplish during this meeting
• How this meeting will strengthen the well-being of families and children meeting their physical, social, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual needs
• How you will evaluate the effectiveness of the meeting
(This section should be no more than one page, double-spaced.)
Actual Group Meeting
Use the course content as well as your research to create either a PowerPoint presentation, student notes, or a teaching outline that you could use in your ministry setting to help the “at-risk” family themselves or a group of teachers with the specific topic that you chose. The finished product should be detailed enough that you could teach from it.
(This document should be a minimum of two pages double-spaced, and a maximum of six pages double-spaced.)
If you would like to learn how to create effective and attractive PowerPoint presentations, you could benefit from the Be a Better Presenter seminar offered on CMI Online. There is a $20.00 fee for this seminar. Once enrolled, you will have unlimited access to this resource. Click here to learn more about the Be a Better Presenter seminar.
Project #3 – Ministry Plan
A Ministry Plan will help provide the structure for you as you seek to equip and mobilize your ministry team to effectively reach out to and meet the needs of families and children at-risk using the most appropriate actions for your ministry setting. For this project, include the following:
Objectives and Evaluation Section:
• What you want to accomplish with this plan
• How this plan will strengthen the well-being of families and children meeting their physical, social, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual needs
• How you will evaluate the effectiveness of this plan
(This section should be no more than one page, double-spaced.)
Actual Ministry Plan
Use the course content as well as your research to create a ministry plan that discusses specific ministry changes that you can make that will help the “at-risk” group that you chose. (Note: If you chose child abuse as your topic, be sure to include information about mandatory reporting laws that may apply and how you will help your staff and volunteers understand the process of reporting child abuse.)
Include:
• Specific ways that you will create a friendly, welcoming environment where children feel accepted, loved and respected.
• Techniques/solutions for working with families and/or children that you will implement (ex. support group, parent meetings, meeting practical needs, a resource center…)
• Specific steps that you will take to implement these changes (ex. training volunteers to be equipped to minister to children in crisis, collecting resources, etc.)
(The Ministry Plan should be two pages, double-spaced.)
After completing your Children at Risk Project, upload the document(s) in the Assignments block below.
Please submit by Monday at 11:55 PM, Central Time.