I love this explanation of a parent’s “unlikely” school choice. It’s exactly the way I feel about my kids’ school.
Most people know that our kids go to Downtown Elementary, which is a public school here in Memphis that happens to have mostly black students enrolled. This is not an accident.
My journey started when John suggested we submit an application for Jac to go to Perea Preschool, which is a predominantly black preschool that serves mostly those beneath the poverty line. Though we lived in an urban community, I was cautious about sending my tiny white 3 year old to a school where almost no one looked like him. So we visited the school to scope out the situation and I was incredibly impressed by the curriculum, staff, and mission of Perea. It seemed silly to pass up this kind of opportunity to we packed up our preschooler with his tiny unnecessary backpack and gave it a shot.
And here’s what I learned almost immediately – Jac didn’t care…
View original post 373 more words
Shannon Mackie 
Shannon,
Hello! My name is Elizabeth Arnold, and I work with the marketing team at Buckner International.
I have been following One Inch of Grace and your passion for adoption is readily apparent. Thank you for sharing your journey and the realities behind adoptive parenting.
In case you aren’t familiar with Buckner, we are a 135-year old faith-based global ministry dedicated to transforming lives. Shoes for Orphan Souls is our largest humanitarian aid project, and we annually help coordinate more than 1,500 shoe drives nationwide to collect new shoes for children and then deliver them on short-term shoe delivery mission trips worldwide. This year we are celebrating our 15th anniversary and counting down to 3 million pairs of shoes delivered.
We are gearing up for our annual Barefoot Run to raise awareness and support for Shoes for Orphan Souls® and would love you to join us in our quest to place shoes on the feet of the world’s orphans and vulnerable children. The Dallas Barefoot Run is Saturday, Oct. 4 and the virtual Barefoot Run Where You Live event takes place October 4-11. This is an excellent opportunity to educate your followers about the needs of orphans and vulnerable children around the world, as well as shed light on one simple way people can make a big difference – through a new pair of shoes! It’s also a little crazy and fun, too, and should make for some interesting blog content.
Would you be interested in participating in the virtual Barefoot Run Where You Live and blogging about your experiences? Don’t worry, the barefoot part is optional (but strongly encouraged!).
If you are interested, I will gladly send you a free race packet, running bib, a link to print off a photo of a child you can support and our official Barefoot Run t-shirt. We would also like to offer you the opportunity to help us select the winner for this year’s social media contest on Instagram. The person who posts the most creative picture while using #barefootrun (and liking our @Buckner_Shoes page) will win something BIG! (Think airline tickets, mission trip … we are still waiting to confirm the final prize).
Thank you for your consideration, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Arnold