In-Person Religious Education programs Coming Your Way!
K-6 Experiences With The Web of Live class: These nature lovers will meet again Sunday morning, 3/20, IN PERSON! We’ll start in the Great Hall with the service beginning at 10:30, and we’ll stay through the Story for All Ages; then we’ll cross the street with adult supervision and head to our first-floor Waters House classroom! Masking and social distancing will be required, and we will have an air filtration unit in the classroom.
4/4: K-6th Celebrating Spring–6-6:45 pm! Movement and stories to share. Location TBD dependent on COVID numbers.
7/8 The Fifth Dimension class: Their next meeting is Sunday morning, 3/20, IN PERSON! We’ll start in the Great Hall with the service beginning at 10:30, and we’ll stay through the Story for All Ages; then we’ll cross the street and head to our second floor Waters House classroom—the large classroom with the TV! Masking and social distancing will be required, and we will have an air filtration unit in the classroom.
8/9 OWL: This group’s next in-person meeting is Sunday evening, 3/13, from 7-9.
Senior Youth class (9th-12th): Our next Senior Youth meeting will be IN PERSON on Sunday, 3/13, at noon! We will, of course, gather in our Youth Room for the first time in two years! Masking and social distancing will be required, and we will have an air filtration unit in the room.
GREETINGS FROM THE ANTI-RACISM TEAM!
You may have heard recently about the UUA’s 30 Days of Love Campaign that takes place each year around February. This year, week 3 focused on the topic of Decriminalization & Racial Justice. In honor of this topic, the Anti-Racist Team has collaborated with the RE Team to bring a belated Valentine’s Day gift, Stamped (For Kids): Racism, Antiracism, and You, to families with children in grades K-6. Members of the Anti-Racism Team will soon be delivering copies of the book to all K-6 families.
In 2020, the RE Team hosted a book study of the book Raising White Kids, by Jennifer Harvey. One of the conclusions I came to, after these discussions, was that many UU parents want to talk about race issues with their children, but it’s often challenging to find the right words and situations. We hope that this book, Stamped (For Kids), will provide an opportunity and structure for our intention to live our anti-racist ideals.
The UUSS Youth Group read an adaptation of this book meant for older youth about a year ago. My son, Blake, received the book and began reading it independently. He doesn’t talk a lot about what he’s reading, but he did mention it several times, commenting that it was very good. He also doesn’t always finish books, but he said it was easy to read and understand.
Last December, I was in the Open Door Bookstore looking for a book for my 8-year-old daughter. Blake was browsing the shelves with me, and he saw the Stamped (For Kids) book. He plucked it off the shelf and brought it over to me. When a teenager recommends a book about antiracism, I take notice!
This is a book that is meant to be read with your kids. It is intended to foster discussion and a common background of knowledge. As you can imagine, this is a heavy book. The publisher recommends it for ages 6 and above, but obviously you are the best judge of when your child is ready to read it with you.
If you are interested in participating in a discussion involving the book or your experience reading the book with your child(ren), Erin Piotrowski will be hosting a book discussion sometime this spring (May?). You are welcome to join with or without your kids to talk about our experiences.
Thank you to the RE Team for providing funding for the books and support for our antiracist mission!
-In solidarity, Erin Piotrowski, Kat Wolfram, Tom Comparin, UUSS Anti-Racism Team
ICE CAVE TRIP FOLLOW-UP! After a couple of rescheduling’s, we finally had our ice cave adventure this past Saturday! Ten of us embarked on a beautiful day of hiking, playing, exploring, and laughing. A huge THANK YOU to Randy Jennings for converting his work van into a passenger van so that we could all travel to Vermont together (while masked) and for leading us on this magical adventure! A huge THANK YOU also to everyone who joined in and made it the special day that it was! It felt SO good to be together in person, being amazed and astounded by the ice and rock formations and all the beauty Mother Nature graced us with. Some of us ice skated, some of us snowshoed, some of us used yak-tracks to navigate our way on the ice, some of us just trusted in our boots, and some of us opted to try some of everything. We joyfully slid and climbed and ooh-ed and ahh-ed. There might have even been an awesome snowball fight! Definitely a success!