Children
& Youth Ministries-- Welcome back!
We
are happy to welcome back all of our wonderful families
and some new families to the upcoming CYM (Children and
Youth Ministries) program for 2009-2010! We had a
fun and uplifting opening service on September 13th, which
included a water ceremony. The children also made
homemade musical instruments and later delighted the congregation
by playing their instruments with Allison accompanying on
the piano.
How to Register and When Classes Begin
Class start September 20th at 9 am. (Please note childcare
for younger children is provided at both the 9am and 11am
service in the nursery). You will need to register
your child(ren) with the CYM program.
Click
here to download the registration form.
Or pick up a registration form in the office.
We
are also asking for a $10 per family fee for supplies.
It's very important that you register your child as soon
as classes start so we can get an accurate count of children
in each classroom.
Some Important Information and Some Changes
We are moving some of our Sunday evening classes to
Sunday morning at 9:00 am. The 7th and 8th grades
will be affected by the time change this year. The
OWL program will meet from 9:00 to 11:00. OWL's first
class is on October 4th. Parents should drop OWL students
off directly to the Barn. All other students will
start in the Sanctuary, and the children will go to their
classes after the Family Homily, as they are sung out by
the congregation.
This Year's Focus
Our focus for the year is going to be Community.
But rather than lots of talk about defining and explaining
what Community is, we want the kids to feel their community
around them, to experience it firsthand, and to live it.
Preschool to 7th Grade, will come together once a month
for a session of projects, fun, crafts, games, or experiences.
In addition, we will be inviting members of First Parish
to share their special skills and talents so that our younger
church members can appreciate the wonderful community.
IF you have a skill you would like to share, be sure to
let us know.
Our Wonderful Program Leaders
We have a terrific line up of program leaders this year.
As of this writing, our program leaders will be as follows:
Mary Cronin, Ronda Sigel, Carlyn Carey, and Judy Ellis will
lead the Preschool to 1st grade class. In our 2nd
througn 4th grade program, Janet Albahari and Laura Gill
will be returning. Our 5th and 6th Grade program will
be headed up by Diane Pansire, Sue Trask, and Suzanne Requa-Trautz.
In 7th Grade, Lauren Elliot-Grunes, Sue Montgommery, and
Pat Gubbins will be leading the group. Kevin Lowey
and Audrey Miller will be teaching the 8th Grade OWL ("Our
Whole Lives" Human Sexualilty program) class, and Carol
Chichetto, Candy Hammond, Mark Kirkpatrick and Judy Harrison
will be the guides for the Senior High Youth Group.
Thank you1 Thank you for giving the gift of yourselves...your
energy, love and dedication is what makes the program great!
If you have any questions contact the Director of
CYM, Kathy Cronin, at 508-896-9290. Carol Chichetto,
Youth Advisor (heads up the Senior High Group and is advisor
to the OWL Program Leaders) can be reached at 508-896-9290.
CYM Committee ~ Janet Albahari, Rich Elliott-Grunes,
Tavia Ossola, Jennifer Reif, Denise Walters (chair), Cindy
Wood.
The
Mission of Children and Youth Ministries
We,
the members of the Children and Youth Ministries committee,
pledge our commitment to building and sustaining a loving
and spiritual community for the children and youth of First
Parish. Our mission is to continue to explore and create
innovative ways to promote our UU values to our children
and youth. We promise to provide support and resources to
parents and adults who volunteer and mentor our children
and youth. We affirm that both the children and the youth
of First Parish have a unique ministry of their own to share.
We will continue to ask for their opinions and listen to
their voices. We promise to incorporate their energy and
ideas into all our CYM programming, whenever possible.
Our
vision for the children and youth participating in all our
programming is to foster:
- Deeper
Respect for oneself, and all of humanity,
- An
understanding of the importance of both giving and receiving
Love in our lives,
- The
quest for Truth by personally examining the truth
about ourselves and our relationships with others,
- Recognition
of the value and importance of giving Service
to others and to the larger global community,
- A
deeper relationship to and appreciation for the Sacredness
of Life.
Kathy
Cronin, Director of Children and Youth Ministries
Carol Chichetto, Youth Advisor
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