Be the change you wish to see!

Big Creek People In Action, Inc. was founded in 1990 by citizens of McDowell County, West Virginia. Since that time, this nonprofit organization has been serving the community of McDowell County in the realms of education and literacy, leadership development, volunteer service, service learning, arts and culture, housing, recreation, and collaborative partnerships. BCPIA's vision of McDowell County is one of empowered and self-sufficient people living in communities that are economically vibrant, democratic, and socially just. To learn more about the history of Big Creek People in Action, please Click Here!

 

2012 PROGRAM REPORTS

 

 

2012 Education/Literacy Program

 

One of our greatest successes and most rewarding program we have is our afterschool program.  39 kids have participated in our year-round program with an average attendance of 16 kids per day.  There are 3 teachers that work with them each day and parents have reported that the children’s grades have been improving.  We also have Afterschool during the summer months and were able to take them on a few field trips. 

 

We have Reading Coaches that work 4 days a week in the schools.  One Reading Coach works with students at the vocational school and another works with elementary students at Southside K-8 to improve reading and academic skills.  Another Reading Coach works with the Afterschool program.  They all work with the afterschool program and Super Why camp during the summer months.  The literacy camp is held for four weeks and each week is held at a different community in the county.  A total of 45 children attended the camp.

 

LifeBridge AmeriCorps and VISTA members have worked on the following projects in 2012:

 

Tutoring at Southside K-8 and the McDowell Career and Technology Center

Working with the Afterschool program

Literacy activities at Southside K-8 school; War Cove, Endwell, Big Sandy, and    Raysal Head Start Centers; and the War and Welch Libraries

4-Week Super Why Summer Literacy Camp at Caretta, War, Bradshaw, & Welch

Make a Difference Day

Dr. Seuss Read Across America

Family Fun Nights

School Supply Giveaway

Hop on Pop Youth Dance

Martin Luther King Event

Operation Remembrance (Working with other LifeBridge members to prepare 500 care packages for soldiers overseas

 

 

2012 Housing Rehabilitation

 

McDowell County reports the lowest standard of housing in the state of West Virginia, with age being the primary factor affecting the quality of housing. Sixty-seven percent of the houses were built before 1940 and  half are rated below normal quality levels, but many people don’t have the resources to make the needed repairs.

 

In 2012, BCPIA served 132 individuals with housing rehabilitation services plus hundreds of others with special community projects including painting and repairing the War Public Library playground, cleaning a gymnasium for a Southside K-8 school event, and projects at our Center including painting, installing sheetrock, repairing floors in shower stalls, and installing two dropped ceilings.  In addition to the special projects, 67 work projects were completed on 41 homes with the help of 342 volunteers.   Types of assistance included installing 4 new roofs, repairing other roofs, painting, several handicap ramps, vinyl siding, windows, insulation, plumbing, new bridge built over a creek, flooring repairs, bathroom repairs, and others.

 

College groups that visited during 2012 included:  University of Richmond, Emory and Henry College, two trips by University of Notre Dame, University of North Carolina – Wilmington, Centre College, Warren Wilson College, Berea College, Adrian College, and Davidson College. Church groups included:  Upshur Helping Hands from West Virginia, Sidwell Friends from Washington, DC, Christ United Methodist Church from Yorkana, PA, Saints Peter & Paul Church, from Hamburg, New York, Red Bank Baptist Church, Convent Baptist Church, South Lexington Baptist Church, Samaria Baptist Church, and Smyrna Baptist Church from South Carolina, Unitarian Universalist Church from Alexandria, VA, and Unitarian Universalist Church from New Hampshire.

 

2012 Service Learning Program

 

Service Learning is a method of teaching through which students apply their academic skills and knowledge to address real-life needs in their communities. Service Learning teaches the skills of civic participation and develops an ethic of service and civic responsibility.

 

Students have a variety of service opportunities here from which to choose a meaningful placement. Included are alternative college breaks, community service weekends, summer placements and internships, community and higher education linkages, and special events.

 

2012 Computer Lab

 

Our computer lab offered free access to the Internet and many specialized programs and learning activities to 82 people in 2012 to enable them to enhance their quality of life through access to communications and information technologies. Future Generations helped to set up the lab that offers self-paced courses to people of all age groups and skill levels, whatever their technology needs are. They can access information on life skills, driving tests, beginning and advanced computer skills, job skills, financial information, and a variety of other courses. There is always a teacher present to answer any questions and give individual help when needed.

 

Ten youth participated in the one-week Tech Camp in the Computer Lab to learn about technology.  Activities at camp gave them opportunities to use digital photo cameras and learn new software to turn their photos into creative projects. Activities included photo scavenger hunts and lessons on digital drawing, photo editing, and video game animation.   The computer lab staff demonstrated the components of a computer and then let the children take apart a computer and assemble it together again. 

 

We added three lap top computers to the lab this year to better accommodate the afterschool program.

 

 

2012 Healthy Lifestyles Program

 

In collaboration with Future Generations, we started the CHERP program this year to help community members gain access to health care and develop a healthier lifestyle.  Big Creek People in Action’s Healthy Lifestyles Program challenges participants to take better care of their body through proper diet and exercise, smoking cessation, health checkups, and more. Youth in the afterschool program exercise 30 minutes each day to combine fun and fitness as they play games that require them to move and get their heart rates pumping.   Community members have attended a variety of workshops on many topics including diabetes management, prenatal and early childhood care, drug abuse awareness, nutrition, and more.

 

 

2012 Special Events

 

Big Creek People in Action hosts many special events throughout the year that support education, family events, entertainment, and holiday observances. These events give families a chance to spend quality time together in a wholesome atmosphere. Events during 2012 included the following:

 

Annual Spring Carnival – Who doesn’t like an old fashioned carnival with twenty-five cent games and plenty of great prizes and food? The Spring Carnival held each year in April, gives the community an opportunity to have some fun in a family environment. There were many activities for the young and the old. Emory and Henry College students helped to financially support the Carnival and run the games.  139 people came to the Caretta Community Center to enjoy this year’s event.

 

Healthy Mom / Healthy Baby Shower – Twenty-five mothers or mothers-to-be participated in workshops to provide them with health and wellness information to help them before and after the birth of their children. They enjoy a luncheon and each receives gift bags with a variety of supplies such as diapers, baby hygiene needs, and other useful items.

 

Diversity Day / Senior Celebration – For the first time, the McDowell County Board of Education allowed school students from Southside K-8 to be bussed here and participate in the Diversity Day Celebration to promote and celebrate our heritage and the diversity found in our coal camps. The gym is full of displays of artifacts, information, and foods from many different cultures throughout the world. We always invite the area senior citizens to participate in this event and speak about their heritage.

 

Mountain Music Festival – Showcasing local talent and giving the community a day and night of free family-style entertainment is what this festival is all about. We sold great home-cooked foods and staged carnival games and raffles. Hundreds of people enjoyed the music from the parking lot, gymnasium, and even the Coal Museum located on the first floor, including those who were in front of the stage flat footing and dancing the night away. Great fun for everyone… and admission, as always, was free.

 

Annual Community Christmas Activities – With a lot of help from three Baptist Churches from South Carolina, a church from Virginia, and many other generous people, Christmas was made a little brighter for many children, families, and seniors who attended our annual Christmas Parties. Over 564 people attended the three parties on December 7th.  Each child and senior received gifts, children picked out gifts to give their mom and dad, all families received food boxes, and everyone enjoyed a hot Christmas meal.   We hosted a separate Christmas Party for the War and Endwell Head Start Centers as well as a party for our afterschool kids.

 

Big Creek High School Alumni Prom – We were proud to host the 3rd Annual Big Creek Alumni Prom in August for all people who graduated from Big Creek High School.  People enjoyed great food, a video presentation from yearbooks, music, dancing, and a great night out with old friends.

 

BCPIA sponsored a variety of other events throughout the year including:  

 

Two Barter Theatre Productions

Family Fun Nights

Free Hair Cuts by a beautician with a work group

Book Bag / School Supply Giveaway at Southside K – 8

Workshops on Drug Abuse, Breast Health, Dental Hygiene, Parenting, Cyber Bullying,   Nutrition, Children’s Health, and Diabetes

Coats, Blankets, Diapers, Hygiene Kits, Shoes, and Socks Giveaway

Food Boxes distributed to 60 Veterans

Youth Lock-In

Veteran’s Appreciation Dinner

Tal Stanley’s Book Signing

Haunted House

 

 

TECH CAMP

 

In collaboration with Future Generations Graduate School, BCPIA hosted a one-week technology camp in July for area youth. Each of the 10 participants increased their computer skills and learned about technology.

Activities at the camp gave them opportunities to use digital photo cameras and learn new software to turn their photos into creative projects. Activities included photo scavenger hunts and lessons on digital drawing, photo editing, and video game animation.  

The computer lab staff demonstrated the components of a computer and then let the children take apart a computer and assemble it together again.  The children learned a lot and took some beautiful photographs, which are hanging on our Computer Lab wall.

 

SUPER WHY SUMMER LITERACY CAMPS

 

    BCPIA co-sponsored with West Virginia Public Broadcasting a very successful 4 week summer literacy camp.  Each week was held at a different community in the county and a total of 45 children attended the camp.

 

    Super Why was created to help children ages 3-6 learn to read through interactive story adventures. SUPER WHY features a team of literacy-powered super heroes: Alpha Pig (with Alphabet Power), Wonder Red (with Word Power), Princess Presto (with Spelling Power), and Super Why (with the Power to Read).

 

    SUPER WHY focuses on reading fundamentals. A comprehensive literacy curriculum incorporates key skills identified by the National Reading Panel: letter identification, word decoding, phonemic awareness, word encoding and phonics and reading comprehension.

 

SUPER WHY's signature educational approach includes:

■promoting books as a resource for solving problems kids face in preschool and in life

■interactivity that facilitates practice and learning

■seamless integration of story and literacy content

 

    In each episode, the Super Readers experience a preschool-related problem, fly into a book to find the answer and apply what was learned to resolve the problem.

 

    Camp activities reinforce knowledge through repetition and multiple modes of learning — art, music, movement, dance and games — and also use multiple media types, including CD's, DVDs, worksheets, and more. Camp attendees showed significant improvement (at the 95% significance level) in their literacy skills thanks to this multimedia approach.

 

    The SUPER WHY Reading Camps build on the signature early literacy approach of the popular SUPER WHY television series, extending its unique interactive reading approach into the community. Each day at Reading Camp, children transform into one of the SUPER WHY characters and take part in reading-based, branded SUPER WHY crafts, games, and songs that practice the targeted early literacy skill of the day: Monday–letter identification, Tuesday—rhyming with word families, Wednesday—letter sounds and spelling, and Thursday—vocabulary and comprehension. On Friday, families are invited to join the campers in celebrating the accomplishments of the week.

 

    During each week of camp, campers watch a SUPER WHY episode (the same episode all week) and then engage in a variety of interactive early literacy activities that build on the literacy skills taught in the episode. Each day of the Reading Camp follows the same sequence of activities, but every day has a particular reading skill focus.

 

    Children received extra resources to take home with them every day.  Research has shown that the literacy attitudes and practices in the home are instrumental in helping children become successful readers. Three informational handouts shared these findings with parents and encourage them to enjoy books with their children, visit the library together, and include their kids in their everyday reading and writing activities.

 

Big Creek People in Action offers a variety of Positive Parenting Workshops   

 

    During early spring and well into the summer months, BCPIA will offer workshops for parents on many different topics.  We realize that no-one can be that “perfect mom or dad” and we all can use some guidance or have some questions. This is why we will have knowledgeable trainers offer workshops discussing things such as:  Caring for and/or recognizing the signs of Drug Addicted Children; Medicine or Candy-Can your child tell the difference?; Time Management for new moms; Child Abuse and Neglect; Child Sexual Abuse; Shaken Baby Syndrome; and so much more.

 

    Feedback from many of the workshops that have already passed was very positive. Parents walk away with a lot of information and are ready to attend other workshops. “ I always try to offer incentives for the parents to attend the workshops.  I have distributed diapers, parent gift bags, new shoes, smoke detectors, and more. The gifts are an added bonus, and we want the parents to attend for the information, not just for gifts.”

 

    We invite you to attend upcoming workshops. For more information, contact Annetta Tiller at 304-875-3418.

       

        

BCPIA SPONSORING 3RD ANNUAL BIG CREEK ALUMNI PROM    

 

    Big Creek People in Action, Inc. is excited to be sponsoring the 3rd Annual Big Creek Alumni Prom on Saturday, June 9, 2012 from 7:00 pm ‘til midnight at the Big Creek People in Action Center in Caretta. The Prom is open to anyone that graduated from Big Creek High School and their invited guests.  The Big Creek High School Gymnasium in War has been damaged to the extent that it can no longer be used for the Prom.

 

    Music will be provided by a DJ, dress is semi-formal, and food and drinks will be served.  Admission is $20.00 for singles and $30.00 for couples.  Graduates of the 1932 through 1945 classes are invited at no charge.

 

    You must purchase your tickets in advance so we can plan accordingly.  Our gym will be beautifully decorated and we are hoping each of you will plan to spend the evening with us reminiscing, eating, dancing, and partying with old friends. 

 

    We will have a “Chill Room” set up with Big Creek High School memorabilia and yearbooks to look at if you need to take a break from the music.  A photographer will also be available to take photos.  Give Marsha Timpson or Dyanne Spriggs a call at (304) 875-3418 if you have any questions.  Big Creek High School was a wonderful school and we all have many memories of fun times.  Let’s celebrate and keep the “Owl Spirit” alive. 

 

               

                     NEW AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAM STARTED

 

    To expand our services as a Family Resource Center, Big Creek People in Action began an afterschool program this fall called “EXTRA SCHOOL HANGOUT.”   Parents can instruct the school bus to let their children off at the Center after school and we provide transportation home.  There have been 28 students signed up for the program so far.

 

    Many children in McDowell County, WV come home to an empty house after school.  Reasons can be that the parents work, have appointments, or simply just don’t care what their children are doing.  The issue we want to address is the fact that when children have to take care of themselves, there are more accidents and injuries, behavior problems, and lower academic achievement.  Big Creek People in Action, Inc. has created an afterschool program that is safe, healthy, enriching, and enhances young people’s social, emotional, physical, and academic success.

 

    Our afterschool program is from 4 – 7 pm four days a week.  Kids get off the school bus at our Center, and if necessary, we provide them transportation home.   The children are around caring adults in a warm and safe atmosphere and are fed a nutritious supper.  The program offers homework support, crafts, exercise, computer time, learning activities, and recreational time to improve their physical and mental health.   They have the opportunity to form close bonds with other children and have more positive relationships with their peers. 

 

    The only hot meals many of the children in our area receive are the ones they receive at school.  When they attend our afterschool program, they get to eat a healthy supper with foods from all of the food groups so they don’t have to go to bed hungry at night.  The actual rate for Free & Reduced lunches at our area school is 89%, but we are part of a pilot program where 100% of our students get to eat free meals at school.  A hungry child is not able to concentrate and perform up to their potential at school.

 

    We collaborate with our local Department of Health and Human Resources by having them refer families to us who are at risk of child abuse or neglect.  We offer these families our services through our afterschool program to get the children out of the house to reduce family stress.

The goals we have set for our Afterschool program are: 

 

·         To provide a safe, culturally diverse, and a positive atmosphere to the students.

·         To promote pro-social behaviors that will lead to improvement in the participants’ self-concept and provide numerous opportunities for their academic, social, and personal growth.

·         To provide students with supplemental academic activities.

·         To provide opportunities for students to develop physically.

·         To provide a nutritious meal.

·         To increase computer skills.

·         To promote family and community involvement.

·         To transport students to and from the Center when necessary.

 

    Our program is offered free of charge to all participants.  It is financially supported by the WV Department of Health and Human Resources, May & Stanley Smith Charitable Trust, and Max & Victoria Dreyfus Foundation.  We accept any school-age student into our afterschool program, but are targeting those from at-risk families and those who may need extra support in order to succeed.

 

 

NEW COMPUTER LAB OPEN

 

    Through collaboration with Future Generations Graduate School and the Coalwood Caretta Volunteer Fire Department, Big Creek People in Action has a new 10-station computer lab connected to high-speed internet that has opened in our Center.  It is open to the public Mondays from 9 – 12 noon, Tuesdays from 1 – 4 pm, and Fridays from 4 – 8 pm.  It is also used by our Afterschool Program four days a week and at other times when needed.

 

    Courses include Beginning Computer Classes, Advanced Computer Classes, Career Skills, Microsoft Programs, Substance Abuse, Emergency Services, Money Management, Student Support, Digital Photography, and many others.  The classes are taught by the computer program so participants can progress as fast or as slow as they want and learn at their own pace.  Additional courses may be offered if requested.