MCH Students Participate in 2018 McLennan County Livestock Show
Methodist Children’s Home students competed in the 2018 McLennan County Junior Livestock Show with six students receiving scholarships and five animals progressing to the sale. A total of 24 students from the charter school’s FFA program showed livestock and eight students submitted a total of 10 projects to the Ag mechanics contest.
The show took place Feb. 6-9 at the Extraco Events Center in Waco with FFA and 4-H programs from schools around the county competing. Throughout the year, Ag teachers Steve Kruse and Kevin Gibbs work with the students on showing techniques and how to prepare the animals for livestock shows.
“Mr. Gibbs and I would like to thank everyone who came out and supported the students and for our great MCH Ag boosters who help make all this possible,” Kruse said. “I had many compliments on the behavior of the students which proves we are all doing something positive to mold young men and women. Most of all, thank you to the students for the hard work, and to God for watching over us all week.”
See below for a list of results:
Market swine: BOYB – Noah (5th), Adam (6th), also participated – Julio, Danny; York – Ladarius (10th), also participated – Bryce; Duroc – KK (9th), Noah (10th), also participated – Roger, Blake; Hamp – Philip participated; Cross – Anthony (10th), also participated – Sam.
Steer: Galen (8th in class one), Marisa (8th in class three).
Goats: Lucas (7th), Triston (8th), Dustin (9th).
Sheep: Hair sheep – Layla (3rd), Duane (3rd); Sheep – Adriana (2nd), Sai (3rd), Juliana (4th), D’Nayjah (4th), Dathan (9th), Jaelyne (10th).
Ag Mechanics projects: Scholarships to Texas State Technical College received by Galen, Noah, Marisa, Chandler, Danny, and Julio.
Gate made by Danny and Julio – Blue quality, 1st in division, Reserve Champion; Electric shop bench made by Galen – Blue quality, 1st in division, Champion division; Lamp made by Marisa – Blue quality, 1st in division, Reserve Champion; Reclaimed table – Blue quality, 2nd in division; BBQ combo made by Danny and Chandler – Blue quality, 2nd in division, Reserve Champion; Hay spear made by Danny and Galen – Blue quality, 1st in division; Coffee table made by Jaelyne – Red quality, 2nd in division; Other projects – Cedar bench made by Adam, Creep Feeder made by Galen and Noah, Fire pit made by Julio.
Congratulations to our students on a great show! For more information on becoming an MCH Ag booster, contact Allison Crawford at acrawford@mch.org.
Xaivier Signs with Texas Wesleyan University
It was a thrilling National Signing Day at MCH as friends, MCH staff and members of the media watched Xaivier sign his letter of intent to play football at Texas Wesleyan University! Xaivier was a prominent member of the MCH Bulldogs six-man football team that won the TCAF state title in November. He received 1st team all-state and all-district honors at wide receiver and defensive back and is the first MCH football player to sign a letter of intent to play at the next level! Go Bulldogs!
MCH Hosts Ceremony for Texas State Senator Brian Birdwell
MCH President/CEO Tim Brown recently presented Texas State Senator Brian Birdwell with the “Champion for Children” award on behalf of the Texas Coalition of Homes for Children (TCHC) for his work advocating in the Legislature for faith-based foster care initiatives in Texas. The presentation took place at our new John E. Hilliard Home on the Waco campus and included local officials, MCH board members, staff, and member-agencies representing TCHC.
MCH Family Outreach Leads Parent Education for Residential Staff
Methodist Children’s Home staff are working together to share knowledge in order to better serve children, youth and families. Staff from MCH Family Outreach in Waco are currently leading a Circle of Security (COS) parenting course for home parents from the MCH Boys Ranch to provide them with more insight and understanding as they care for youth in the residential program.
“This is an effort to better support our direct care staff and give them more tools to help them be more effective,” explained Moe Dozier, vice president for programs. “It also includes components of self-care which will be helpful for staff.”
Dozier said the idea to train residential staff in COS came about last fall when they identified that residential caregivers deal with a lot of the same issues parents do. They first shared the model of care with unit managers. Home parents from the Boys Ranch began the training in December 2017, and classes for Waco campus direct care staff will commence in 2018.
MCH Family Outreach began implementing COS in 2016 as an additional parenting education model. The model includes an eight-week curriculum based on attachment theory and research that shows “secure children exhibit increased empathy, greater self-esteem, better relationships with parents and peers, enhanced school readiness, and an increased capacity to handle emotions more effectively when compared with children who are not secure.”
“Our hope in sharing COS with residential and ranch staff is to create a space for staff to reflect on their caregiving experiences, become more attuned to the attachment needs we all have and further support the utilization of Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI),” said Brooke Davilla, director of MCH Family Outreach in Waco.
“As an agency we are fortunate to be exposed to many quality trainings and want to ensure that we maximize those opportunities by sharing with any staff who would benefit,” Davilla said. “We have greatly enjoyed the experience of building relationships across our MCH departments.”
Home parents have shared positive feedback about the classes and collaboration with MCH Family Outreach staff.
“I really enjoyed doing the activity that helped us identify and relate to things from our childhood and how they affected us growing up and still today,” said Vivian Thomas, home parent at the Boys Ranch. “The activity brought to the forefront some issues which definitely helps me relate to everyday emotions I see within the youth we work with.”
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