A Community Adopts A Classroom

WEST POINT, Miss. (WCBI) – As the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child.

That’s why one local elementary teacher asked her community to adopt her second grade class.

The goal behind it all is to encourage students and let them know they have someone they don’t even know rooting for them.

This will be Crosby Miller’s fifth year teaching at Church Hill Elementary, but it will be her first year to have personal cheerleaders for her students.

Miller got the idea from another teacher on Facebook, and decided to create her own “Adopt A Student” post on her page.

“I’ve asked for all of them to be adopted by someone to, you know, cover them in prayer throughout the school year and even give them a book on the first day of school, so like it will be on their desk when they come in and they’ll have like a sweet encouraging note inside of it.”

Within six hours, all twenty-three of her students were adopted and assigned a sponsor from the community.

Miller’s mother, who teachers right next door, is one of those sponsors.

“It’s taken off, you know, even in other cities too and I think it’s amazing the impact it’s going to have throughout our state, you know, because there is a need everywhere for the prayer even, you know, that’s not monetary,” says Michelle Estes.

West Point Consolidated School District Assistant Superintendent Reita Humphries believes “Adopt A Student” is a wonderful idea.

“Not only does it impact academics, but their attendance, it boosts their self-esteem. It’s just as important to open that line of communication between the school and the parents.”

Miller says she and her team of sponsors are planning different activities throughout the year for the second graders.

“We’ve talked about having holiday books, like on Halloween and on Christmas, and those kinds of things and implementing a pen-pal system through our writing units and even one of my former teachers said that he would come in and do an art lesson with all of us. There is just so much that can go from this and the relationships the kids will get from it.”

But the teacher says this is the most important thing her second graders can take away from the experience.

“There is someone out there that cares about them individually and you know, to have a note of encouragement every so often, or there’s just a, I mean, some students, it’s nice for them, but some students really need to know that there is an adult out there that cares about them and wants to help them.”

Miller says other teachers in the district are also doing “Adopt a Student” in their classrooms.