Family Information for Sunday, May 12th

Hello Friends and Families of Westside!

Happy Mother’s Day Weekend! We are bustling with activity this spring in our programs for children and youth – check out the announcements below to learn more.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1.    BAND REHEARSALS: This Sunday the Uke Band meets in the social hall from 9:15 to 10:00. The Youth Band meets next week, May 19th.

2.    MIDDLE SCHOOL: This is a big month for middle school activities! Check below for more detailed information.

a.   May 17 (Fri) – Social Fun Night from 6:00-8:00pm

b.   May 18 (Sat) – Community service at White Center Food Bank from 10:30am-1:15pm

c.    May 21 (Tues) -- Community service at White Center Food Bank from 6:00pm-8:00pm

d.   May 30 (Thurs) -- Community service at White Center Food Bank from 6:00pm-8:00pm

e.   June 7-8 (Fri, Sat) – Northlake Mini Con

3.    DATE NIGHT JUNE 1, 6-9pm: The RE Council is sponsoring a date night for our WSUU parents to raise funds for two of our youth and a sponsor to attend General Assembly in Louisville this June. Your school-age children (ages 5-12) can have a fun night together in the social hall while parents go out for a nice dinner! $25 per child, $35 for two or more kids. RSVP to Kim Frappier (kimberly.frappier@gmail.com).

4.    CHILDREN’S CHOIR: To all families of young singers! We are reconvening the kids’ choir to sing for RE Celebration Sunday on June 9th. We rehearsed on May 5^th and we’ll meet again on June 2^nd from 12:00-12:30 in the Fireside Room. Contact Lisa Maynard (l.maynard@comcast.net) or Liz Bucklew (liz.bucklew@becu.org) if you have any questions or if you would like to add your child to this choir.

5.    SOCIAL JUSTICE PROJECTS IN RE: This Sunday during social hour you can purchase beautiful greeting cards painted by our K-5^th grade children, to support their social action initiative with Heifer International! Also, you can continue to send extra change from around the house with your children to their classes on Sundays. They have a class jar and they track their progress every week. Also look for the Milk Money social action project table, organized by our middle schoolers!

6.    MAY IS PARTNERSHIP MONTH IN RE: In our Chalice Chapel on April 21^st, our children and youth saw a video about our partner church in Transylvania, and their community. It was made by Marilyn Mayers who also joined us that day to share more about our partnership. She presented us with an original piece of art from the youngest children in that community, and we will be framing this for our children to see. In the next three weeks, our children and youth will hear from other kids who recently traveled to Romania, and they will be part of creating a video that we can share with our Romanian partners.

7.    HIGH SCHOOL OVERNIGHT: June 7-8 (Fri-Sat) our high school youth will have an overnight in the church! See Shelby for more information.

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: In our remaining weeks before the summer program begins, we will revisit some of our favorite stories and themes in our Spirit Play class.

Kindergarten through Second Grade: “Wonderful Welcome”:  This Sunday’s session will focus on the gift of learning together. As Unitarian Universalists, we use this gift in affirming and promoting our seven Principles. We cannot strive for justice, equity and compassion in human relations, nor work toward the goal of world community, without being willing to learn what others feel and need. To pursue a free and responsible search for truth and meaning, and to accept one another and encourage one another’s spiritual growth, we must be open to what we can learn from one another’s experiences, as well as from teachings of other peoples and faiths.

Third through Fifth Grades: “Love Will Guide Us”: This session focuses on the fourth Unitarian Universalist Source, expressed in children’s language as “Jewish and Christian teachings which tell us to love all others as we love ourselves.” The story from Hebrew scripture of Jacob and Rachel meeting for the first time highlights the importance of questioning gender stereotypes and of experiencing and showing emotions. Participants engage in dress-up and role playing to encourage discussion about gender issues. They explore how they communicate their feelings and how they understand the feelings of others.

Middle School: “Riddle and Mystery”:  This week’s big question is “Do I have a soul?” The word “soul” appears in Unitarian Universalism in the names of some congregations, in hymns and in readings, in articles, sermons and books. “Soul” is a word that means different things to different people and within different faith traditions. Sometimes “souls” is simply used as a synonym for “people.” But as a religious term, UU youth have a right to wrestle with its meaning for them and a right to know that it is a concept UUs can find meaningful. For some UUs “soul” refers to the center of individual self – one’s most true self. To some, it stresses the connective nature of the spiritual self to the Divine or to all other life. To some it means one’s inner light or inner life.

High School: “Our Name is Earl”: No class this week! Our next class is next Sunday, May 19^th.

Youth Group will meet this week in the social hall from 7:00-8:30pm with Shelby and Cole.

Have a fabulous Mother’s Day Sunday!

Betsy 

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Middle School Events:

1) Middle School Social Fun Night: Friday, May 17^th from 6:00pm-8:00pm in the social hall – calling all middle schoolers to come join the fun for a night of community, pizza and hide-and-seek adventure! RSVP to Betsy (dre@wsuu.org). A donation to help cover pizza costs would be much appreciated!

2) White Center Food Bank Community Service: As part of their spring social action project, the middle schoolers can offer service to the food bank on one (or two, or all three) of these dates:

·      May 18 (Sat) –10:30am-1:15pm (we need two chaperones for this) Please plan to stay the whole time, as we will be handing out food to clients.

·      May 21 (Tues) -- 6:00pm-8:00pm (Wendy Swyt and Betsy will be helping) Come for the whole time if you can, or part of the time if needed to sort and bag donations.

·      May 30 (Thurs) -- 6:00pm-8:00pm (Wendy Swyt and Betsy will be helping) Come for the whole time if you can, or part of the time if needed to sort and bag donations.

3) Middle School Overnight Event -- June 7th and 8th at Northlake UU Church. It's a mini middle school con for local congregations! The space will go fast, so please let me know if your 6th-8th grader would like to attend. And parents, we need a couple of adult sponsors -- let me know if you're interested! I have reserved space for two middle schoolers so far.

4) Middle School Fall Con -- Here is the fall con announcement:

Middle School Conference 2013!

·      September 27-29, 2013 at Camp Sealth on Vashon Island.

·      Join 70 other UU 6^th, 7^th and 8^th graders from around the Sound as they enjoy a weekend of fun, sharing and living our UU Principles.

·      Sponsored by Liberal Religious Educators Association’s Puget Sound Cluster.

·      Cost $120 before August 31 or $135 after August 31 -- includes meals all day Saturday, breakfast & lunch Sunday, lodging, all camp activities: Archery, Boating, Talent Show!

·      For more information please contact your Director of Religious Exploration or Lori Fernholz-Hartman at dre@tuuc-wa.org or 253-476-2799.

·      Final registration deadline Sept. 6, no exceptions.

·      Half-scholarships are available for early birds only.