The 9/11 Children’s Chapel was such a delight! Our first Children’s Chapel in 2.5 years. A great big THANK YOU to Stephanie Maslanka for joining us to share her time and storytelling talents with Juliana Post-Good, me, and 9 Children! Turns out, we have a lot of storytellers among us!
RE 2022-2023—OFFERINGS REVISED!
RE classes will resume Sunday, 9/25!
To register your child(ren), click here: https://uuschenectady.breezechms.com/form/newfamilyreg17-18228245152117
Below is a list of this year’s awesome RE offerings. Please note: There have been some class changes made with a goal toward all classes having 3-teacher teaching teams. (Still looking for one more special person to complete the 4-6 grade teaching team!) During this transitional year, we are doing some REimagining of RE! If your Child or Youth was registered in a class that’s no longer listed on the schedule, not to worry, they are still registered! They may be working with a different curriculum, but they are still registered for RE. Please reach out if you have any questions.
OWL! (Our Whole Lives sexuality education): Sexuality education programs change lives. Honest, accurate information about sexuality changes lives. It dismantles stereotypes and assumptions, builds self-acceptance and self-esteem, fosters healthy relationships, improves decision making, and has the potential to save lives.
We are once again offering 7/8 OWL classes this coming church year. We will not be offering OWL next year (2023-2024) but returning to our tradition of offering it every other year the following year.
K-3 Wonderful Welcome: Our Terrific Teachers for this class are Joel Best, Juliana Post-Good, and Sarah Tyo!
In this class, children identify intangible gifts central to Unitarian Universalism such as friendship, hospitality, and fairness, and share these gifts with others.
4-6 Love Connects Us: Our Terrific Teachers (so far) for this class are Leah Fagerstrom and
Dyana Warnock!
Love Connects Us celebrates important ways Unitarian Universalists live our faith in covenanted community. Moved by love and gathered in spirit, we embrace our responsibility toward one another and the world at large. We encourage one another’s search for truth and meaning. We strive to be active in peace-making and other efforts to improve our world.
7/8 OWL (begins in November and will run through late May/early June—day and time to be determined): Our Fabulous Facilitators for 7/8 OWL are Sue Brunelle, Ash Trotter, and Donald Whisenhunt!
A sexuality education program for youth that models and teaches caring, compassion, respect, and justice. A holistic program that moves beyond the intellect to address the attitudes, values, and feelings that youth have about themselves and the world.
Unlike many other sexuality curricula currently available, this program is comprehensive and progressive. In an inclusive and developmentally appropriate manner, it addresses sensitive topics that are typically excluded.
9-12 Coming of Age (COA): Our Awesome Advisors for COA are Emma Joy Maher-Horvath,
Erin Piotrowski, and Aaron Tyo!
Coming of Age is a yearlong curriculum that helps teens learn more about Unitarian Universalism and articulate their own beliefs. This year’s COA program is offered to ALL high schoolers. (Senior Youth will return next year.) Our COA program is sensitive to culture, race, class, gender, and theological/philosophical diversity. Workshops for youth include social justice projects and rites of passage. Participants explore theology, spirituality, and history through discussion, drama, music, writing, and art. The program concludes with a ritual that features the youth sharing their statements of personal belief (credo statements) with the congregation during Sunday morning worship.
For some of the youth, taking COA might feel repetitious, as the 2019-2020 COA class did attend some classes but had their year cut short because of COVID. This year’s COA will give them the opportunity to complete the COA program from a more mature perspective, and to (hopefully!) make the trek to Boston in the spring.
Nursery Reopening!
The UUSS nursery reopened this past Sunday, 9/11! Returning childcare provider Dawn Armour and recent bridger Blake Bender helped to bring the nursery back to life! Children talking, laughing, and playing—just the way it should be!
Childcare will be available going forward from 10-12. If your child wears diapers or pull-ups, please bring some of theirs along, as well as wipeys, and maybe a change of clothes, just in case.
We also still have some nursery staff positions available. If you know someone 18 or older who is fabulous with children and might like to earn a little extra cash, please have them contact Director of Lifespan RE Robin Ahearn at dlre@uuschenectady.org.
Do You Want to Help Support RE?!
Volunteering your time with our UUSS Children and Youth can be an incredibly rewarding and spiritual experience that can make such a difference! There are lots of ways you too can help with RE! Perhaps you might like to teach RE—we still need one more! Or be a substitute teacher? Be a member of the RE Team? Lead a Children’s Chapel (a one and done—at least for the moment!)? Be a Sunday Supervisor—only on the job occasionally? If you’d like to support our Children and Youth in any of these ways, please contact Director of Lifespan RE Robin Ahearn at dlre@uuschenectady.org.
9/13 Evening Canoe & Kayaking CANCELED due to inclement weather!
So glad we got two successful paddles in this summer! Unfortunately, Mother Nature has had a tendency late to bring rain on Tuesday evenings for the past several weeks. We shall try again next summer!
***Family Paddle Saturday, 9/17!***
Our all-day youth paddle originally scheduled for 9/17, has been rescheduled to Saturday, 9/17 (rain date 9/18 right after Ingathering) and expanded to include all families! Youth 11 and up may attend on their own with a completed permission slip (to be sent in a parent email). Children 10 and under must be accompanied by an adult caretaker. If you’d like to join us, be sure to bring along a water bottle and packed lunch.
RSVP is appreciated.
If you need equipment, please indicate this to Randy & Robin.