Welcome to our Unitarian Universalist community. As we travel the paths of our own life journeys, most of us experience a yearning to grow in spirit as well as in body and mind. Ours is a dynamic and growing religion, which embraces personal spiritual discovery.

Our RE Program seeks to provide an environment where spiritual growth and awakening continually unfold. Our vision is to foster liberal religious and spiritual fervor in a manner that embraces and respects all of humanity and the wondrous universe.

This promises to be another exciting year in our RE program and I invite you to share in the opportunities for inspiration, growth, and learning. We extend a warm welcome to all children and youth to participate in our program. I am looking forward to getting to know you and your children in the coming months.

Welcome!

Nadine Tringali, Director of Religious Education

"Walking the Rainbow Path"

1. Respect all people. They have dignity and worth.
2. Offer fair and kind treatment to everyone.
3. Young and old together in community.
4. Grow and find your own truths.
5. Believe in your ideals and voice your vote.
6. Insist on Justice, Freedom and Peace.
7. Value the earth and the web of life.

Children’s Chapel in the fellowship hall will be held on special occasions such as Social Action Sundays and on Santa Lucia Sunday.

We will also be inviting musicians from our congregation to join us for “singing chapel” in November and December to learn and rehearse songs for our Youth Choir performance on December 19.

NURSERY

The Nursery provides our youngest children with a warm, caring atmosphere in which to be creative, to hear stories, to play together, to just look around, or even to sleep.

The Nursery class consists of infants and toddlers through the age of two. Care is provided from 9:30 until the end of service at noon. Childcare is available for older children in the Nursery before the service during the Adult Discussion groups.

(Meets in the Green Room)
Liaison: Nadine Tringali, DRE
Nursery staff: Lisa Cox, Marge Cunliffe, Kim Dangol, Haley Mayfield, Bethany Taylor, Chelsea Turner, Laura Williams

PRESCHOOL

We Are Many We Are One, A UU Preschool Curriculum, offers young children the opportunity to learn about their religious community and tradition, as well as the freedom to discover and express their uniqueness. The four units in this program encourage children to use their minds, bodies, and emotions to develop their sense of identity and self-esteem within their Unitarian Universalist community and their world.

(Meets in the Yellow Room)
Liaison: Jane Meyer
Teachers: Holly Hanauer, Jane Meyer, Kristina Hensley
Assistants: Annie Almquist, Kristina Denton, Mary Hammons, Leilani Pearce, Bethany Taylor

KINDERGARTEN – SECOND GRADES

Around the Church, Around the Year
Around the Church, Around the Year helps children five to seven years of age feel a part of the Unitarian Universalist community and understand the faith and practices of Unitarian Universalism. The program focuses on the children’s own experiences with fundamental concerns of life and death, human relationships and personal identity – not as abstract concepts, but in ways appropriate to children of this age.

(Meets in the Red Room)
Liaison: Mary Bradley
Teachers: Mary Bradley, Meg Calkins, Nikki Winkle
Assistants: Steve Robert, John Taylor

THIRD – FIFTH GRADES

Spirit of Adventure
We will be exploring UU Identity through the themes of Sports, Medicine, Food, Winter Holidays, Science, Building, Exploration, and the Web of Life. We will be learning from physical movement and from challenge and adventure. Good sportsmanship and teamwork offer important parallels to the UU way of being in the world. We will be learning the stories of Elizabeth Blackwell, Clara Barton, Henry Bergh, PT Barnum, Frank Lloyd Wright, among others.

(Meets in the Blue Room)
Liaison: Elsbeth Fritz
Teachers: Elsbeth Fritz, Shonet Martin, Susan Taylor

MIDDLE SCHOOL CLASS

Compass Points
Compass Points will lead our youth on a year long spiritual journey. Our youth will explore their selves, their beliefs, their UU faith, and their relationships with others and the world

(Meets in the Indigo Room)
Liaison: Velvet Miller
Teachers: Kristine Cassady, Caroline Curlin, Amy Genova, Michael Mayfield, Velvet Miller

HIGH SCHOOL CLASS

Our youth will focus on developing their statements of beliefs. We will do this by exploring several important religious and peace activists. We will examine their life of action and contemplation, their life principles, and their lasting influence and impact on our current life.

We will also spend time each semester developing the tools we can use to create and articulate what we believe. During the first semester we will review Building Your Own Theology, a series that will provide opportunities to ask questions about “how” we come to a belief. During the second semester we will begin the series Credo, a set of discussions based on “what” we believe and “why”. In April we will share our conclusions.

Our goal is to begin the long journey of discovering who we are and what we believe. Our hope of studying these women and men coupled with BYOT and Credo will give a picture of people of action and contemplation with whom we can be counted.

(Meets in the Violet Room)
Liaison: Markie Oliver
Teachers: Markie Oliver, Sue Guillaud
Special Guest: Mary Bradley, Michael Mayfield, Eleanor Trawick, Rev. Perchlik,

Sunday Morning Routine
All youth will begin in the sanctuary with their parents. Following the hymn, Spirit of Life, classes will begin. On special occasions, children will begin in their classrooms so that we may hold “children’s chapel” in the fellowship hall. Please check the “RE Welcome Board” in the RE wing (east entrance) to find out what is happening in RE each Sunday morning. RE Classes end at noon. Snack is served between 11:45 and 11:55.

Student Pick-Up Policy
Parents of children in the Nursery, Preschool, and K – 2^nd must go to the classrooms to pick up their children. Please pick up your children in a timely manner, so that our teachers and aides can also enjoy coffee hour. Children and youth in all other classes will be allowed to leave their classrooms and find their parents within the church building when class is over. If someone other than a parent is to pick up a child after a church activity, please notify the teacher beforehand.

Social Action Projects, Special Events, and Intergenerational Activities
Throughout the year, Social Action projects are planned that involve all children and youth. To help end world hunger we have raised funds for Heifer International and also thru the “Empty Bowl Project”. Some of our other projects have been to make baby crib quilts, valentine cards for the Caring Committee, activity bags for children in need, Jane Goodall’s Chimp Guardian Project, and Saving Endangered Animals thru the World Wildlife Fund. Each year we also have great fun making home-made cat and dog treats as a fundraiser for a local animal rescue center.

In addition, Special Events are planned such as our RE Sunday & Open House, Goofy Olympics!, The Age of Reading Ceremony, Child Dedication, Teacher Appreciation Luncheon, Fall Festival, RE Family Potlucks, and Game Day!

Intergenerational Activities include special times together such as the Water Ceremony, Harvest Feast, Cookie Communion, Santa Lucia, and the RE Winter Holiday Play.

Discipline Guidelines

The term discipline as used here refers to its original meaning – to teach. We service a group of young people with a range of ages, interests and personalities. For the teachers to develop a working relationship with the children in only 45 minutes, a few times a month, presents a special challenge. Parents can help by reviewing appropriate behavior expectations with their children and by informing the DRE and teachers of any special learning styles, or considerations regarding your child.

Looking to our principles and purposes; we affirm the inherent worth and dignity of every person and promote acceptance of one another. In this spirit of community building, we aspire to discipline, to teach, and to expect behavior that respects self, peers and adults.

Our valued teachers volunteer their time to prepare and engage our children in discovery and learning. While, at times, any child may need redirection, occasional individuals require more than a reasonable amount of their teachers’ “re-directive’ energies. It is never in the child’s or the group’s best interest to permit disruptive behavior. In deference to our principles of respect for the interdependent web --- as it relates to the learning environment, the RE committee has developed the following guidelines:

When a child’s behavior needs redirection they will, with love and respect be:

• ‘Invited’ to sit (or stand) by the adult. (Proximity often helps)
• Given a helpful task and then reintegrated into the group.
• Offered the opportunity to read a book or draw.
• Escorted to sit with their parents for the remainder of the service/class time.
• Parents may be asked to come into the classroom.

We will always seek to determine and address any cause for discomfort that may be contributing to the child’s behavior. By informing the DRE of any special learning styles or considerations regarding your child, we can better meet their needs.

To Help Your Child Benefit the Most from Their Church Experience Consider . . .

• Being as consistent as possible in attendance. Familiarity is basic to a sense of belonging and ownership. A child’s comfort level and relationship to the community can be compromised as the group building process progresses without his or her consistent presence.
• The importance of your volunteer time in their classes. Your presence demonstrates that you feel RE is worthwhile, perhaps the most lasting and valuable message your children could receive.
• Providing continuity by incorporating some of our ritual forms.

Our church community is created and sustained through the energy and vitality of its participants.  The RE teachers and committee members are volunteers, who depend on adult support to maintain a well-rounded program.

In this spirit, registration of children into the RE Program is seen as a covenant in partnership between parents, children, the RE Committee and the church community as a whole.

We ask our families to complete a registration form each September to keep our files current.

Our Religious Education program is a cooperative, volunteer venture. All adults in the congregation are strongly encouraged to help. There are many opportunities for short or long term involvement including teaching, being a teacher’s helper or nursery helper, being an RE Host, or helping with special projects, events or services. Most adults find involvement in the RE program to be enjoyable, stimulating, and rewarding. Contact Director of Religious Education Nadine Tringali to explore ways you might help.