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Character education is an important element of KiDs Beach Club®. It’s one of the main factors why elementary school teachers, principals and superintendents love having Beach Club in their schools.

For each of the 24 weeks of Beach Club throughout the school year, KBC volunteers teach from a curriculum designed around a different character word that is taught through the lens of scripture.

Within the hour-long, after-school Bible clubs, that word is defined from a story in the Bible and paired with a Bible verse to further illustrate the character word. KBC volunteers emphasize the character trait during small group time as well as during the review game. By the time a child leaves Beach Club, they will have learned about that week’s character word at least six different ways.

The Beach Club at Janie Stark Elementary in Farmer’s Branch, Texas, reinforces character education a very unique way. Schalee Sanchez, the club leader at the first-year club sponsored by The Branch Church, was looking for a way to not only teach about character, but to have the kids put it into practice.

“One of the hardest things, as I was thinking as a leader, how are we going to encourage good behavior?” Sanchez asked herself. “What can I do to help the kids understand the value of not just learning about these character traits, but actually putting them in practice and doing the things that we’re learning?

Before Beach Club started in September, she was watching a surfing movie where each surfer’s score from the competition was put up on a leader board for spectators to see.

She thought, “Hey, we could do that.”

Each week during Beach Club, they have a segment when the entire group leaves their tables and come together to worship God and learn that week’s Bible story. Before that gets started, they recognize children who are displaying and practicing the character traits they are learning in Beach Club.

They put names up on a “leader board” and hand out small trinkets to those who are recognized. During the week of Great Treasure Day in October, five kids were recognized and were given lanyards with the words “I love Jesus” they could attach their KBC nametags to.

Those kids were singled out for living out patience/self-control, generosity, respect, helpfulness and courage. Sanchez mentioned how they each had displayed a trait while at Beach Club.

Just as educators embrace the emphasis on character education Beach Club provides, so, too, do our club leaders and volunteers.

“If we don’t teach these kinds of character traits, they’ll grow up to be adults who don’t know about being kind and haven’t practiced it,” Sanchez says. “All of these things have to be practiced. If a child goes through their entire life without having seen examples of these things shown to them and being given opportunities to practice them, then they’re going to become an adult who is not orderly, who is not respectful and who is not kind.”

Sanchez mentioned kindness, orderliness and respect as character words that are being taught and practiced in her Beach Club. They’re among the KBC list that also includes compassion, confidence, contentment, courage, dependability, determination, forgiveness, friendliness, generosity, honesty, humility, love, obedience, patience, responsibility, self-control and thankfulness.

Sanchez offers a different perspective about why teaching biblical character is important. She moved back to the United States about four years ago after serving with her husband and children as missionaries in Colombia. At that time, they were contemplating and praying about where their kids should go to school or if they were going to homeschool them.

“My heart was extremely burdened after seeing all of the things that happen in our public schools now,” she said. “As I began praying about that more and more, I really felt like God was saying, ‘I want to teach you to fight back, but in the right way.’ I really believe that KiDs Beach Club® is doing that. That KiDs Beach Club® is a way; that in a spiritual realm, the armies of God are being able to fight against the darkness and being able to shine His light in places that are dark.”

“We really felt called that God opened a door for our kids to come to school here and that His mission in that was for us to be a light.”

Our commitment to teach Christ-like character in Beach Club is the focus of our year-end fundraising campaign. Your financial support is crucial to our mission and vision and we could not do it without you. As you pray about which ministries fit your giving strategy as we close out 2018, we request that you ask the Lord if KiDs Beach Club® is one of those.

The year-end charitable giving season officially begins with Giving Tuesday – the global day of giving – the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. This year, that date is November 27. To lend your financial support to our ministry, you can give any time at kidsbeachclub.org/give.

KiDs Beach Club® enjoys telling great stories about what is happening in Beach Clubs across the country and we are thrilled to be able to recognize a school that we have been a part of for 12 years. Carroll Elementary in Southlake, Texas was recently ranked the No. 1 Best Public Elementary School in the state of Texas by Niche.com, a company out of Pittsburgh, Pa. that annually analyzes public data to form its rankings.

“It’s certainly a great honor and quite a surprise, but a happy surprise,” Stacy Wagnon, the school’s long-time principal said. “What it tells me is that our staff, students and parents are all hard workers. We’re going to do whatever it takes to stay No. 1.”

The data team at Niche.com combines national algorithms and statistical categories to compare, score and connect millions of data points that analyze U.S. schools and neighborhoods. Test results indicated that 97 percent of students at Carroll Elementary are proficient in both reading and math, but Wagnon believes her school has a tremendous sense of togetherness and community and credits having a Beach Club there as a major reason for that.

“Right now, I think we’re at an all-time high with 150-plus students that are attending,” she said. “Beach Club gives them an opportunity to connect with others outside school hours and I know that friendships have been birthed, not just with our students, but our parents as well. It just shows them another group of people who can love and teach them and who can be in their corner.”

Another reason Wagnon says she loves having Beach Club on here top-rated campus is for the character education that they get in each and every lesson throughout the school year and how it supplements the character education program they teach during school hours.

“I think what’s really cool is that I see it transferred into their daily lives,” she said. “We’re seeing a decrease in bullying and some of our discipline opportunities that we’ve had in the past. I think that’s definitely transferred into their daily school day.”

Seeing that type of behavioral change makes Carroll co-club leader Ashley Nadeau’s heart, proud.

“Absolutely, that’s the most important thing,” Nadeau said. “We are witnesses to Jesus no matter where we go, so we absolutely expect the kids to take what they learn out into the real world whether it is at school or at home. We definitely talk about it all the time – that we want to be the hands and feet of Jesus – and if the kids are doing that, it couldn’t get any better.”

Teaching kids to be the light in a dark world, using the character of Christ as the standard, is exactly why Angelique Schlosser loves being part of this after-school Bible club.

“I think that there’s a stigma about teaching the Bible in a public school, even though it’s after-school, and I’m not really sure why, but in this school, there’s absolutely no stigma,” Schlosser said. “It’s very warmly received we have over 150 children and this isn’t a very big school, so about a quarter of the kids in the entire school come to Beach Club.”

Schlosser has a small group of boys that she leads in Surf Team time each week.

“I think it’s extremely gratifying to be a surf team leader because you get to lead an active role in these children’s lives and you’re introducing the word of God into their lives,” she continued. “You’re providing a safe environment, a community for these children and they can open up to you about things they might not otherwise feel comfortable doing. That gives you the chance to pray over them; you can help protect them and you’re guarding their sweet hearts and I think that that’s really important for them socially and emotionally. The word of God just loves you and protects you here.”

A fact not lost on the school’s principal.

“I’m thankful for 121 Community Church which sponsors us,” Wagnon said. “I’m thankful for our parents, our volunteers and our staff who are all here to love on our kids.”

How much thought have you put into your Christmas shopping this year? May we suggest a KiDs Beach Club® Explorer’s Study Bible for your children, grand-children, nieces and/or nephews that don’t have a Beach Club to attend?

The kids in Beach Club love reading the KBC Study Bible because it features many fun illustrations and study applications that make it fun reading for pre-teens and teenagers. The KBC Study Bible also features colorful tip-in pages that feature topics such as how to read the Bible, how spend time with God, the 10 Commandments, different heroes of the Bible and where to read their stories. It also features the complete gospel presentation for those children who haven’t yet chosen to make Jesus their Forever Friend, Lord and Savior.

Giving the KBC Explorer’s Study Bible reminds us of a story in December of 2014 when a group of legal assistants chose to show honor the attorneys in their office by making a donation on their behalf to provide children in public elementary schools with their very own KBC Study Bibles. Some of the attorneys said it was the best gift they had ever received.

Share the blessing of God’s word this Christmas and purchase the KBC Explorer’s Study Bible on our website in the Surf Shop or if you prefer to make a donation to KiDs Beach Club® to help place Bibles in the hands of children next spring, you can give here.

You’ve heard us talk about how easy it is to support KiDs Beach Club® through AmazonSmile and several of you have signed up this year.

In fact, in 2018, Amazon has already sent us checks from your purchases totaling $471.14 which amounts to nearly two cases of Bibles that go to children in public elementary schools.

“What a treat it is to receive a check from Amazon and the joy it brings to know that folks are thinking of KBC when they make their purchases,” KBC Finance Director Angie Hughes said. “The beauty of this program is that when our donors shop Amazon for items they regularly purchase, they don’t have to pay even a penny more to contribute to the meaningful work of KiDs Beach Club®.”

When you use AmazonSmile to make your purchase, Amazon automatically donates 0.5 percent of your purchase to KiDs Beach Club® at no additional cost to you. The company says that 10 of millions of products on their site are eligible for AmazonSmile donations without any higher prices being passed on to the consumer.

If you haven’t had a chance to sign up yet, it only takes a minute. You can start by logging onto smile.amazon.com and login with your regular Amazon account.

Then select KiDs Beach Club® as your charity and start shopping. It’s as easy as that. The hardest part is remembering to do your shopping on smile.amazon.com instead of the regular website, amazon.com but that’s what bookmarks are for!

So, when you’re doing your Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas shopping this year, please shop AmazonSmile and support KiDs Beach Club®!

Glenna Hockensmith, a club relations specialist for KiDs Beach Club®, was meeting with the assistant principal at the Second Street School in Frankfort, Ky., telling him about Beach Club and explaining how it worked, when he stopped her midway through her presentation. He had just one question.

“Answer this question for me,” he asked. “Is the purpose of Beach Club to teach kids about Jesus?”

“Yes!” she replied. “Then you’re welcome in our school,” he responded.

It’s a story that Glenna’s husband Michael, also a Beach Club volunteer, told their congregation at Peaks Mill Christian Church before it kicked off another year of Beach Club this past August. The Hockensmith’s mission-minded church partners with KiDs Beach Club® to sponsor Beach Clubs at two schools.

It is great when educators welcome KiDs Beach Club® and understand the impact the ministry can have in their schools. Like that assistant principal in Kentucky, Dr. Amanda Martin, also a Christ follower, sees the tremendous benefit of having KBC on her campus.

After nearly 18 years working in Mesquite ISD in Texas, Martin is in her first year as the principal at Rugel Elementary having come from another school in the district that had a Beach Club. Dr. David Vroonland, the superintendent of Mesquite ISD, wants a Beach Club in every elementary school in his district.

“I love being the principal here at Rugel,” she said. “I love the kids. I love the staff and I really love the community and Beach Club has certainly added to that community and I don’t think Rugel would be the same this year without it.”

Martin really enjoys the character education component Beach Club provides her students.

“I love being able to talk to the students about those character words,” Martin said. “And really having that common language with the kids because of what they’re learning in Beach Club. Then I’m able to really talk with them about those words and developing character.

“What’s even so much more powerful is knowing that our kids are learning more about the Bible. Today is Great Treasure Day and our kids are going to get their very own Bibles.  [View Facebook photo gallery]

“I absolutely love it and to know that they get to read those Bibles in their spare moments is powerful as well and I love the fact that I get to be a part of that as a principal and I love that Dr. Vroonland supports this initiative and I love that we have his support. It’s just a fabulous opportunity to really minister to our students.”

We could not do that without your continued support and for that we say thank you! Together, we’re connecting kids to Christ and putting Bibles in their hands.

“We are planting seeds in these kids’ hearts,” said Aubrey Eudy, the children’s pastor at the Mesquite Church of Christ, which partners with KiDs Beach Club® to do Beach Clubs at Rugel and Rutherford elementary schools in Mesquite. “We are teaching Jesus in public schools. Some people never would’ve thought that that would be possible.”

KiDs Beach Club® has given Bibles to 3,361 kids so far this fall. Since 2003, when our ministry handed out its first Bible, nearly 59,000 kids have been given a copy of God’s word in our after-school Bible clubs. With your help, those numbers will continue to climb.

To donate to the Bibles for Beach Club program, click here.

“What does the word ‘created’ mean?” a teacher at Tioga Elementary School asked students in a small group that was discussing vocabulary words for a book they were about to read in class.

Responses varied, but one response stood out from the others.

A student said, “All things were created for Him and through Him.”

The teacher, a Christian, was excited about the student’s response. She had him repeat the Bible verse and then used it to teach the small group.

After they were done, she asked, “What church do you go to?”

And the student replied, “Beach Club!”

Did you know that 62 percent of kids who sign up to attend KiDs Beach Club® do not have a church home? Beach Club might be the only “church” a child may experience. KiDs Beach Club® is a great way for churches to go outside their walls and into the heart of their communities to reach kids who may never attend church with their families.

After class, the teacher told another teacher, Courtney Tanguma, who attends Mt. Carmel Baptist Church and is a surf team leader in the first-year club in Tioga, Texas.

“When she came and told me I actually had tears in my eyes,” Tanguma said. “It’s so neat to see what happens here in Beach Club – what we’re doing here in club – is the right thing.”

The verse the student recited was that week’s Memory Link. Each week in Beach Club, there is a different Bible verse to help kids memorize scripture and learn the importance of keeping God’s word in their hearts.

Tanguma has seen many benefits of having a Beach Club in their school even though they only started meeting Sept. 12.

“I see how excited the kids are,” Tanguma shared after the club’s Great Treasure Day earlier this month. “I teach a younger grade, so I don’t have Beach Club students in my class, but I have them come up to me all the time saying, ‘I’m so excited for Beach Club today’ or ‘I learned my memory verse this week.’ They are really excited to be here. I love seeing them all in their Beach Club shirts today!”

Mt. Carmel handed out approximately 36 KBC Study Bibles on Great Treasure Day and the club continues to grow as more students and parents find out about Beach Club.

Character education is an element of Beach Club Tanguma thinks is most important from her perspective as both a teacher and a parent.

“They learn so much and to be able to put it with the Bible, they know that’s the truth and what we need to be doing,” Tanguma said. “They are learning vocabulary words through our verses and when we talk about these character words, you do see a change in them.”

Tanguma had another teacher tell her that a student wanted to get her Bible out and read it during class. “For some of these students who received a Bible today for the first time,” she said, “now they’ll be able have the opportunity to read their Bible in class, too.”

She makes a point to have her Bible with her during the school day and had it with her during dismissal on Great Treasure Day. She had even more kids ask how they can join Beach Club.

Mt. Carmel Baptist Church is slowly changing the culture of Tioga Elementary School and that can only have a positive impact on their community. To see how your church can partner with Beach Club, click here, or if you want to bring a Beach Club to your school, click here.