3 minute read
Restoring Our Community Banquet
Guest Speaker, Best Selling Author, Dr. Michael Gurian
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Each year we have the opportunity to tell the community about the things God has done in and through Crossover Community Impact: the StreetLeader Program, the Crossover Kids Program, Crossover Health Services, Crossover Development Company, and last but not least Crossover Preparatory Academy! We call this event the “Annual Restoring Our Community” Banquet, and this year was no different. The banquet was at the Greenwood Cultural Center, and you could feel the immenseness of God’s love for our community. I think this is something we take for granted, but 2019 was truly a year to celebrate for Crossover where we were well aware of God’s grace towards us!
Dr. Michael Gurian talked about the differences in the ways that male and female brains work. It was clear that the distinction was not about “right or wrong,” but instead, it was about acknowledging the differences. Crossover Prep Academy has gained the most from Dr. Gurian’s brain research, and it was because of his book, Saving Our Sons, that we added the element of “competition” to the school. This competition is so great that middle school boys are waking up early on Saturday mornings to work on math! They do not want to let their team down, and they want to advance as well because of this seemingly small change that is based on neurobiology!
-Rondalyn Abode
Our Executive Director, Justin Pickard, talked about the need to support the Crossover Kids STEAM-based After-School and Summer Enrichment Program at Hawthorne Elementary School and the closely related program, the StreetLeader Program, that hires high school students to mentor, counsel, and tutor the elementary-aged students. These programs are where we invest
the bulk of our fundraising energy in order to see these programs expand to help more students in north Tulsa develop academically.
He also mentioned the great needs at Crossover Prep! The school currently has 120 6th-9th grade boys, and as a private school that does not charge tuition, we depend on the generosity of our partners to provide the resources needed to give our boys a high-quality education. The Crossover Scholarship Fund makes this task doable. Our state grants 75% tax credits to individuals and businesses that commit to give to the Crossover Scholarship Fund for two years. Justin also announced Crossover’s First Scholarship Prom! This will be a fun event to support Crossover Prep that will be highlighted by the crowning of the Scholarship Prom King and Queen. Because they believe in Crossover Prep’s mission, six candidates have agreed to compete to gain the most votes in support of our boys. Each vote raises $10 for our school, and each candidate has a goal to raise at least the amount of one scholarship ($6500). We have some great candidates, and we
Pictures above: 2019 Restoring Our Community Banquet
look forward to this event on April 18, 2020!
Essentially, the Restoring Our Community Banquet was an opportunity to celebrate the great things God has done. Each year we acknowledge how great His grace is and how little we deserve to be IMPACTED by it daily. He is indeed causing us to “seek the peace and prosperity of the city He has called us to. We have seen as it prospers, we prosper as well,” and it is a greatly humbling thing.
Rondalyn Abode is passionate about bringing God the most glory, and she believes that her role as the Director of Development for CCI, is instrumental in her doing just that! She has been married to “Pastor P,” Philip Abode, for 17 years, and she has the sheer joy of watching God transform him daily. She is most inspired by her two little people, Temple and Priest, and she is learning to love the “baby dog,” Rocky.
Please go to: http://crossoverimpact.org to learn more about Crossover Community Impact and the great community development work the team is doing!
