Saturday, September 19, 2009
Roll call for graduates at First Presbyterian Church
Stephanie Klein-Davis | The Roanoke Times
Heather Roy, a teacher at First Presbyterian Church's preschool program, draws an outline of Cecelia Parker as the preschoolers learn "All about Me!" Participant Hannah Durham watches.
An album containing pictures from the preschool was found in the attic of First Presbyterian Church, and this photo of Bev Ditman's 1969-70 class of 3-year-olds was among the pages.
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First Presbyterian Church, the tall stone building at the intersection of Jefferson and McClanahan streets in Southwest Roanoke, will educate preschool children for the 60th year this fall, and its administrators are looking for graduates of its first classes.
They'll put come-ons in the church's monthly newsletter in upcoming months to ask if any of the first preschool graduates still go to the church -- all in preparation for an anniversary party planned for the spring, said Dave Davis, a member of the school's board.
"They're out there somewhere," Davis said. "It'd be delightful to find any of them."
The program at First Presbyterian is an example of the parochial schools that opened when the U.S. Supreme Court in 1948 began delivering a series of decisions that pulled religious education out of the public school system.
Among them were McCollum v. Board of Education, where the court said time allotted for religious education in public schools was unconstitutional.
"So this church wanted to pick up some of that slack," said Patti Trail, director of the children's and music ministries at First Presbyterian. "It was purposefully, intentionally, Christian."
Nowadays, along with congregations such as Cave Spring Baptist Church, First Presbyterian remains one of the few churches in the valley to offer a weekday preschool program.
Such programs are intended as ministries. The school may have started with as many as 35 students, Trail said, and it has grown to about 100 students. Fewer than 10 of them, she said, are from families that are members at the church.
"We see families being challenged with our culture," said Greg Moser, associate pastor of Green Ridge Baptist Church, which recently renovated its Sunday preschool classrooms. "The preschool is an opportunity for a spiritual investment for the whole family."
An example of a program at a Christian preschool that wouldn't be found in a secular one is the twice-per-week chapel hour at First Presbyterian. There, a teacher talks to students about values in giving and friendships through biblical stories such as Noah's Ark or Jonah and the whale.
"We have the opportunity to celebrate our faith and holidays, and focus on some core values," said Laura Hill, director of the school. "We have the opportunity to focus on Christian values."
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