South Lansing Ministries
Welcomes You to our
Youth and Family Programs:
Community Builders and
Breakfast with Books
Community Builders is a program, developed by South Lansing Ministries, designed to help students cultivate a strong sense of self, positive values, healthy relationships, and community problem-solving skills so that as they mature they will have the courage, confidence, and conviction to positively impact their communities. If you would like to see Community Builders in your school, please contact us at vickinichols@comcast.net
Breakfast with Books is a new program as of the 2019-2020 school year. Caregivers of preschool, kindergarten, and 1st grade students bring their children to school 30 minutes early once per week to work on literacy skills such as Phonemic Awareness (the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds in spoken words) while they eat breakfast together. After the children start school, the caregivers remain to learn additional ways they can support their child's literacy development at home.
This program was developed in collaboration with the Engaging Families in Early Learning (EFEL) Coalition which consists of SLM, the Ingham GSC, WKAR, Refugee Development Center, and Greater Lansing Islamic Society. Breakfast with Books is made possible by a grant from the Capital Area United Way.
If you would like to bring Breakfast with Books to your school, please contact us at (517) 882-0661 or vickinichols@comcast.net
What is community?
Our 2018 Community Builders defined "Community" as follows:
Community is a group of people working together to help each other make good choices, to protect each other, to make sure everyone is equal and has what they need, and to make the world a better place.
what does a healthy community look like?
Our 2018 Community Builders identified 9 characteristics of healthy communities:
1. Good rules;
2. Members follow the rules;
3. Members are generous;
4. Members accept each other's differences and are respectful of each other;
5. Members keep the environment clean (no vandalism/littering/polluting)
6. Members are allowed to and do use their voices;
7. Members are truthful;
8. Members are peaceful and do not use physical or emotional violence;
9. Leaders are strong but also kind and calm (well balanced).
What makes someone a good community leader?
I am a Community Builder
Many people lead.
They lead their peers to drama.
They lead people to hate and isolation.
But what kind of leader will I be?
I will help people see the good in themselves.
I will help people make good choices.
I will listen when they need to share.
I will be there for them when they need me.
I will lead by example.
I will speak truth in love, be kind and fair.
I will be respectful, helpful, and polite.
I will do the right thing, even when it’s not easy.
For the good of my community,
I will learn to communicate effectively.
I will hone my creativity so that I can be a great problem-solver.
I will learn what I need to know to make a difference.
I will build people up.
I am a Community Builder.
~ Wexford Community Builders, 2018