PictureRobertsville students play a balloon game at their first YOKE club.

YOKE launched its 27th club on Tuesday, February 21, 2017, at Robertsville Middle School in Oak Ridge. Like clubs that have opened in the past, this club has a unique and really special God-story. 

For some time teachers and community members wanted to start a Young Life club for middle school kids at Robertsville Middle. After meeting with the teachers at Robertsville, Anderson County Young Life Director Devin Accardi told them that YOKE was already serving the Anderson County community. He worked to schedule a meeting between YOKE and the community members who were passionate about bringing something like Young Life or YOKE to Robertsville kids. After much prayer, those in that initial meeting and YOKE decided to move forward with plans to start a YOKE club at Robertsville.
 
​One of the first questions was, “where do we start.” YOKE’s response: we need to get prior approval from the school district. Mr. Scott (a teacher at Robertsville) volunteered to seek the needed approval. Fifteen minutes after agreeing to that, Mr. Scott called with the news that not only had Oak Ridge approved for YOKE to have a club at Robertsville, but Oak Ridge had agreed that Jefferson Middle students could attend club at Robertsville until they could have a club of their own. That’s the fastest school approval in YOKE history!

While the approval was unprecedented, perhaps the neatest thing that occurred was that the central office staff person responsible for approving YOKE had called YOKE more than 10 years before inquiring what it would take to get a YOKE club in Oak Ridge middle schools! Some members of the community and the YOKE staff had been praying for more than 10 years that YOKE would be able to go to Oak Ridge.

God faithfully answered those prayers a couple of Tuesdays ago when YOKE met for the first time. Club is going well at Robertsville and between the first and second club the number of students attending doubled!

Will you pray for the success of the Robertsville club? We are still looking for volunteers. If you are interested in helping at club, involving your church, or providing a camp scholarship for an Oak Ridge student email stephanie@yokeyouth.com and check out YOKE’s Volunteer Page. To donate to the Robertsville YOKE club you can go to YOKE’s Giving Page.