Friday, April 5, 2013

Family Information for Sunday, April 7, 2013



 Hello Friends and Families of Westside!

Thank you for helping me to feel welcome and supported at Westside. Last week’s installation was a beautiful experience!

K-2 parents, please dress your child for some garden activity outside this Sunday! If it’s raining hard, we’ll stay in.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1.    HEIFER INTERNATIONAL PROJECT: Our K-5 children are working together to grow funds to buy an animal that will help to sustain a family in poverty in another country. They are adding money to their own donation jars in their classrooms, and they will be talking with everyone during our social hour. In upcoming weeks they will sell cookies and note cards.

2.    WHITE CENTER FOOD BANK MILK MONEY DRIVE: Our Middle School class has also decided to stand beside people experiencing poverty. One of their projects will provide funds to support the $2000 monthly cost of milk to serve families through the White Center Food Bank. Each middle schooler has a carton to fill – loose change around the house and talking with family and friends is a good way to start!  

3.    BAND SIGN-UP AT GREETING TABLE AND IN SOCIAL HALL: Rehearsals on Sunday mornings from 9:15-10:00am. Two bands are starting that will perform at the RE celebration service on June 9th.  Our Uke Band is for 4th through 12th graders. We will be singing to ukulele accompaniment that several band members will play. We’ll also need some hand drum and percussion players. Our Youth Band is for middle and high school students who already play an instrument. Once we form, we’ll establish who’s doing what, and our genre of choice. Rehearsals will begin April 14 for anyone who’s still in town during spring break week. J Each band will rehearse twice a month – every other week. Youth are welcome to be involved in both bands if they’d like!

THIS WEEK:

Story Time: This week our children will share a story and snack together. Please let the teachers in the class know if your child has a food allergy.

Spirit Play: This week's story is called "The Butterfly and the Cocoon: A Tale from Islam" and it comes from our world religions source. Children will hear about how the struggle of the butterfly to come out of its cocoon is part of what prepares the butterfly to use its wings. They will learn that Allah, what the Muslims call God, is seen as the Spirit of mystery, awe and wonder in the Islamic faith.

Kindergarten through Second Grade: “Wonderful Welcome”: This session focuses on the interdependent web of life and introduces the intangible gift of protection – protection of the environment and all life that shares it. Learning to respect and appreciate the Earth, our home, is one of the cornerstones of our faith.

This week our K-2 class will go outside to work in the garden with some members of the congregation who care for it regularly.

PARENTS – Please consider sending your child to class with coins or money collected during the week to contribute to their Heifer International jar.

Third through Fifth Grades: “Love Will Guide Us”:  This week the class will continue to explore our fourth Unitarian Universalist Source, “Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God's love by loving our neighbors as ourselves." They will have some adventures in exploring the Bible, and they will examine mustard seeds and the story Jesus told in the book of Matthew about mustard seeds growing as love grows. 

PARENTS – Please consider sending your child to class with coins or money collected during the week to contribute to their Heifer International jar.

Middle School:  This week, our middle school class will be working on the ways they are getting the word out about their social justice project, including the development of a video.

PARENTS: Please consider how your youth can fill their carton for the White Center Food Bank Milk Money drive. Ask him/her about this project and what he/she is expecting from it.

High School: The high school class will not meet this week since several of our youth are attending the Spring Con.

Youth Group will not meet this week.

To talk with your child or youth about what they learned in RE, check out our blog at www.wsuureligiousexploration.blogspot.com.

See you Sunday!

Betsy

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