Baptist Temple’s Early Learning Center receives top rating

Often praised as among the best childcare centers in San Antonio, Baptist Temple Early Learning Center’s (ELC) has raised their level of care. They recently received a Four-Star Texas Rising Star program rating (the highest) from the Texas Workforce Commission. This means that they have been recognized as being above and beyond the strict minimal standards for licensed childcare facilities. “We are aiming for best practices,” said Baptist Temple Executive Pastor Jonathan Clark. “These include additional training for teachers and staff, optimizing the environment for children, and a focus on teacher/child interactions.”
 

Director Corchelle Mabry and her staff performed well as they prepared for the evaluation. “It’s a step in the right direction,” Mabry said. “It's only the beginning. Now we have to maintain it. I know we can do it. I have the right staff. They're willing to get the training that they need, and we'll keep it going.”

Pat Mejia, who has been working at the ELC since 1999, expressed excitement over receiving the highest grade. “We all worked very hard,” she said.

Mabry has only been director for a little over a year, but she brought a clear vision of building on past successes to improve the ELC image as more learning center than daycare. Her thirty-six years of experience in the childhood education field have prepared her well for this task.

“This is a learning center”, said Mejia. “Lessons begin at four months.”

It begins with classroom decoration. “The wall decorations need to reflect the curriculum and change with the lessons,” Mabry said.

The appeal of our facility is immediately noticeable. “It looks and smells clean,” said Cindy Mendez, who has been employed at the ELC since 2008. “It is a pleasant place to work.”

Parent Eric Estrada (not the actor) is particularly pleased by the almost daily pictures he receives of his child while at the ELC. He was initially impressed by the quality of facilities, the longevity of the staff, and the noticeable way the teachers cared about the children.

“Our original plan was to keep the baby at home with a family member. When that didn't work out, we found the ELC. Here, it feels like she's with adults who care about her as much as we do. We should have done this from the start!” said Estrada.

Loving children goes beyond just liking to be with children. “I'd rather have people here that love to do the job because anybody can come in the door and say I love children,” said Mabry. “If you love kids, you're paying attention to them.”

That’s the reason why generations have been served by the Early Learning Center. It is not unusual for someone who received care from us to return with their own children and find their teachers still here.

Faith lessons are also part of our teaching, with age-appropriate lessons that focus on God as Father, creator, and Lord of all. There is a chapel service every Wednesday in each classroom.

The ELC was established in 1970 to meet the growing need for childcare in our community as moms were entering the workforce in increasing numbers. Over the years improvements continued to be made. The building that houses the ELC was gutted and remodeled in 1989, updating the 1930s era classrooms to contemporary standards.

In 2012, the ELC began accepting vouchers from Child Care Services (CCS). These scholarships are available to help working parents who make less than a living wage and those who are searching for work or attending school. This allowed the ELC to increase the level of service to our community. Furthermore, they started accepting infants and offering after-school care, in response to community needs.

The ELC continually expands its scope to fill unmet needs. Grants from the Charity Ball Association, the Baptist Mission Foundation, Baptist Health Foundation, HEB Tournament of Champions, fundraisers, local businesses and individual donors helped them build an accessible playground where children with disabilities and typical abilities can play together. It was the first of its kind in the Southside.

Perhaps the biggest challenge came during the COVID-19 pandemic. The ELC retooled and retrained and remained open to serve the needs of parents who were essential workers. In the aftermath of COVID, many childcare centers failed to reopen, and it became difficult to find childcare workers. Grants from the Small Business Administration, the United Way, and others helped them to stay open and fill the gap that was creating a crisis across the nation.

Mabry says our next growth step is NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) certification. The goal of NAEYC is for the early childhood profession to exemplify excellence and be recognized as performing a vital role in society.

A good and faithful servant

David Sexson at the
SABA Hunger Walk

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I first met David Sexson in the loading area of the San Antonio Food Bank. He was there with a crew from Mayfield Park Baptist Church. I was picking up for Baptist Temple’s Food Pantry. We would talk as we waited for our food, comparing notes about serving the hungry families of our respective communities.

David was an unchurched teenager who had come to know the Lord at age 14 when a church planting missionary invited him to a new church start. David's life was headed in the wrong direction, but he found a new life in Jesus that set him on the right path.

Serving 26 years as a Dental Technician, David retired from the US Air Force and then worked for another 21 and a half years at the UT Health Science Center Dental School. He greatest joy, however, comes from serving God. “I consider it a privilege that He works through me,” David said. 

David has served churches in a variety of administrative and teaching capacities, always ready to pitch in when needed. He’s been on numerous mission trips both near and far, but the most memorable one was to a leper colony in Thailand. There he witnessed a level of human suffering that he had never seen before or since.

Baptist Temple made a strong first impression on David. He said, after his first time worshiping with us, that he truly felt God's presence and that the people were very welcoming. He was also impressed by the level of activity and the many opportunities for him to serve. “I'm not going to a church where I can't do things,” he said.

He loved to work in our food pantry. We would meet at the Food Bank and load up our vehicles. I was amazed as to how much he could fit into his small car. David would pick up food, stock the shelves, and speak with each client as they came in. He would take time inquiring about their physical and spiritual needs, praying with them, if they requested. Afterwards, he would restock, clean up, and update records.

David had to step back when his health began to fail. The cancer that slowed him down soon took his life. His fellow workers stepped up to help, but the Food Pantry clients missed David. They missed his gentle spirit, warm smile, and genuine concern. And so do I.

Then the King will say to those on his right,
“Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance,
the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat…”
Matthew 25:34-35

Grow Up

Ephesians 4:11-15

“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-12).

Church is not a spectator sport where a crowd of people desperately in need of exercise watch a few people desperately in need of rest. God's intention for His church was for all of us to work together to spread the gospel, instead of having a few hired guns do all the work. The pastor and staff are directed by God to recruit, train, and empower church members to do the work of ministry.

Service builds the church. It gives people purpose and fosters friendships. It helps people feel like they belong. Equally important, service builds the individual members of the church to be stronger Christians. “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.” (Ephesians 4:14)

Mature Christians have an unshakeable faith. The highest level of spiritual maturity is experienced when we become like Jesus in attitudes, perspectives, and actions. Most life's problems could be solved if people became more like Jesus. We need to grow up.

Truthful, loving communication is a key element to spiritual growth for individual Christians and the church. This is the opposite of the malicious gossip that can so easily infiltrate the ranks of “the body of Christ” and diminish it’s witness to the unchurched.

“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ” (Ephesians 4:15).