REACHing out Brings in Joy!
By Amanda Bowers
City Councilwomen and Texas High School teacher, Christina Page, places great importance on paying it forward. She spends her limited free time
volunteering with her 11yo daughter, Katie Jo Alcorn, and her students. Mrs. Page teaches the R.E.A.C.H. program – Rigor Encourages Academic & Career Heights. The REACH class encourages academic excellence, emphasizes good citizenship, and encourages volunteerism in many forms, particularly among underserved and underrepresented populations.
Katie Jo is a prominent figure in many of the service projects for Mrs. Page’s R.E.A.C.H. students. She spearheaded a project with the Texarkana Independent School Distric (TISD) Student Lighthouse team to raise more than $10,000 for improvements to the city animal shelter. “In a small town, every little thing makes a big difference. When people volunteer, they make new friends, help their community stay strong, and show others how to be kind,” said Katie Jo.
Annual Trunk or Treats, visiting nursing homes, picking up trash along Texas Boulevard, and ringing the bell for the Salvation Army at Christmas are just a few of the ways Mrs. Page, Katie Jo, and the R.E.A.C.H. students serve their community each year. A popular annual volunteer project for the R.E.A.C.H. program benefits the Randy Sam’s Outreach Shelter. The students gather new or gently used hoodies for the unhoused citizens served by the shelter. Katie Jo is there to volunteer alongside her mom every step of the way.
“Luke 6:38 – Give and it shall be given unto you” is a scripture that Mrs. Page says she tries to live by and has instilled in her daughter.
As a councilwoman, full time teacher, and mother of two, Mrs. Page is grateful to be a part of so many volunteer projects throughout the city with her students and Katie Jo and to give back her to community. “Life is not always about receiving” Mrs. Page and Katie Jo find reward in the joy their volunteering brings.
For more information on the R.E.A.C.H. program offered at TISD, please contact Lakesha Taylor or Brittney Brooks at 903-794-3651.
