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Bethlehem Apostolic Temple Sending Students Back to School With Smiles

Joselyn King

WHEELING -- Bethlehem Apostolic Temple's back-to-school events wrapped up with their 33rd annual "Back to School Festival," which celebrated students by giving them a final night of fun at Wheeling Park before summer ends.

The Sunday festivities concluded what organizer Suffragan Bishop Darrell Cummings calls the church's "three-pronged" approach to getting kids ready to go back to school.

Events began Friday when students could get a free health check at the church in partnership with WVU Medicine. School supplies, food and other items were then distributed Saturday to students at the church's "Adopt a Student" event at the North Wheeling Dream Center.

All these events serve "a greater purpose," said Cummings, who described wanting to care for each student's "body, soul and spirit" with these activities.

On Sunday, free ice cream, hotdogs and hamburgers were provided for kids to enjoy, with the lines for food and drinks remaining long as kids worked up an appetite running back and forth between the two bouncy castles at the festival. Parents were not forgotten, as they were able to sit back and relax at a free concert while their kids played.

The focus of the festival is "the spirit," according to Cummings, as he wants to send students back to school in a "positive mindset."

He explained that when kids go back to school in the mindset of "happiness and celebration," they are able to enter the school year with a better attitude overall.

"If they go back to school sad, they're in a negative attitude, which could negatively affect how they perform," said Cummings. "Attitude means everything, so I'm hoping the kids here see that the community believes in their greatness and supports them."

The weekend's events came at no cost for parents. Preschooler Bailey Griffith was one attendee taking advantage of all the activities the event had to offer, with the bouncy castle being her favorite activity.

"I've enjoyed spending time outdoors with her today," said Bailey's mother, Andrea Griffith. "This is her last hurrah before school starts, and I'm so excited that she got to have some fun today."

Another way the event provides for the spirit of the students, apart from giving them one last night of fun activities, is the group prayer that takes place at the end ot the event. The group prayer is important to Cummings, as it is his "favorite part of the festival to see."

Renee Schnelle, who also attended the "Adopt a Student" program yesterday with her daughter, Arianna Schnelle, was touched that such nice events were available in the area for her kids to enjoy.

"She had a lot of fun this weekend," said Schnelle. "She got her face painted yesterday, and now her arm painted today, so she's having a blast."

Apart from all of the fun her daughter was having, Schnelle was thrilled to see that her daughter would go back to school "fully prepared." Schenelle described seeing Arianna getting out all of the supplies she got at "Adopt a Student" to begin studying what she was going to be learning on her first day of school.

"It was awesome for me as a parent to see her already trying to practice what she was going to be learning,' said Schnelle. "She got frustrated at points, but that meant she was learning."

On Saturday, more than 300 kids were outfitted with school supplies, maybe some new clothing and the food for a celebratory first-day-of-school dinner. Many of the youngsters even got their hair cut, and their faces painted up just for fun.

Cummings said a total of 326 school students from 100 families were served during the church's annual distribution of back-to-school items at the North Wheeling Dream Center. The children received school supplies and had the opportunity to look through clothing items, and their families received food for an upcoming meal.

But there were a few new things this year.

As many as 50 of the children received free haircuts during the event from stylists Charles Dunn of Hair Dunn Right and Christine Suter. Cathy Hoffman, "Dum Dum The Clown," was present doing face painting on the children.

WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital, after providing free health screenings on Friday, provided each of the students with a first-aid kit on Saturday.

And for the first time, hygiene products were available for adolescent females.

"Being a man, I never realized there were girls missing school because they didn't have hygiene products," Cummings explained.

He noted that he hopes all the giving means a lot to the families, as it shows "there's a lot of love in this community."

Many volunteers turned out to help with the distribution on Saturday, including members of the Wheeling police and fire departments.

Cummings observed that many of the volunteers weren't members of the church, but were "just people who saw people that needed help."

"That is what this community is about - helping each other, and lifting each other," he said.