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Schools

Ready for School?

Miracle Temple Church's fifth annual school supply drive at Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School got kids geared up and ready for the first day of school.

Hurricane Irene dominated the news over the weekend but while the storm forced the cancellation of many events, ’s annual back to school celebration wasn’t one of them. Despite wet weather on Saturday, about 200 people showed up at to gear up for the first day of school.

This is the fifth year Miracle Temple Church has hosted the annual school supply drive and each year it gets bigger and bigger. This year’s sponsors included , the , , , Wal-Mart and Coca-Cola--which provided sodas to go with the free lunch of burgers and hot dogs--to name just a few.

One of the main gifts came from the service fraternity Phi Beta Sigma, of which Miracle Temple Church Senior Pastor Larry DeLong is a member. It distributed 300 book bags bearing the slogan, “There is no failure in my future,” each of which contained a notebook, pens, pencils, erasers, and a file folder.

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“The goal is to help alleviate some of the financial stress in the household,” explained John Watts, Phi Beta Sigma’s co-chairperson of the school supply drive. “It’s a great opportunity for kids as they return back to school.”

Lucky students also walked away with backpacks and two computers, donated by the New London Public Schools, which were given away in a raffle. To make sure returning students looked their best, the event also offered a barber station, courtesy of barber Roscoe Davis, Jr., who offered free haircuts for boys, and there was a manicure station set up for the girls. New London Police Officer Patricia Tidd was on hand to help with that.

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As the new school resource officer, Tidd will be doing much more than painting fingernails. Her job is to help keep students safe and to provide education on topics such as bullying. “We want to let them know they can come to us,” said Tidd. “We’re trying to be positive role models. If we can save one child from going down the wrong street, it’s well worth it.”

Ledge Light Health District attended the event to provide health information to parents and the New London chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was there too. “Education is a major focus, not just for us, but for the state conference,” said New London NAACP Chapter President Donald Wilson. “We want to help the community and the school to come up with a system that produces good, outstanding, working citizens.”

As a former teacher, education is issue near and dear to Shirley J. Gillis’s heart. Gillis, who retired in 2004 after 33 years teaching at , is a member of the New London NAACP chapter’s board of directors.

“One of our goals is to make sure we attend our Board of Education meetings to make sure we’re on top of what’s going on and to see what we can do to help the teachers,” said Gillis. “We have great teachers and they’re dedicated, else they wouldn’t be here but they need power. Parents need to be ready to participate.”  

Sarah Riley was one of the many parents who attended the back to school event. “My kids are going to New London Public Schools for the first time so we came to interact and meet people,” she said, smiling as her 6-year-old daughter, Ella Ortiz, sat down to get a glitter tattoo. Between a basketball game in the gym, dancing to the Cupid Shuffle, coloring books, face painting, and jewelry making, there was certainly plenty to keep the kids amused, even on a rainy Saturday.

“Our young people want to learn. They want to make their dreams come true but they get so discouraged,” said DeLong. The purpose of the event, then, was to make sure kids left feeling excited and ready for the first day of school. 

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