Family Information for Sunday, August 25, 2013

Hello Friends and Families of Westside,

Hope everyone has been doing well these past few days!

Contrary to what the eNews said, this week is not a multi-gen service and there will be a class downstairs! Not just any class however, we have a special session this Sunday regarding animal adoption.  Regina Brennan and Joe Nabbefeld will be leading this awesome session with heartwarming adoption tales, some engaging “animal” songs, and some intriguing discussion set to clarify the misconceptions of pet adoption.  

As always the nursery is open for kids aged six weeks to four years. On the opposite end of the spectrum our teens/young adults are always encouraged to come and enjoy the service.  

Have a good weekend, hope to see you Sunday!

Mackenzie 

Announcements:

Teaching and Advising in our RE Programs: We are less than a month away from the start of our fall RE program, and we have open spots on our teaching teams from toddler age to grade five. If you are interested in learning more about this opportunity, or if you have an idea about someone we might invite for this opportunity, please see Betsy!

Middle School Con Registration: Families of middle schoolers –  Fall Con registration is open! September 27-29, Vashon Island. I encourage you to register in August to get the cheaper rate. Please make a copy of your registration for Betsy so she has accurate medical information. She will be attending Fall Con with our middle schoolers. Also, contact her directly if you have any questions (Betsy Lowry, dre@wsuu.org, 410-274-2018). 

OWL Update: We are offering two OWL classes this year, our Junior High OWL for 7^th and 8^th graders, and our elementary OWL for 4^th and 5^th graders. The Junior High class will likely begin in October and end in April, meeting from 5-6:30 on Sunday evenings. The elementary class has eight sessions, and will be offered starting in January. OWL is a significantly important experience for our children and youth, and requires a serious commitment on the part of families. We look forward to rich experiences with bonding and community building, trustbuilding, and learning in our OWL adventures this year. Attend an information session to learn more, and see Betsy Lowry (dre@wsuu.org) if you have any questions. Elementary OWL information sessions will be offered in the fall.

Junior High OWL Information Sessions:

·       Sunday, August 25: 12:15-1:00 in the Library on the 3^rd floor

·       Sunday, September 8: 12:15-1:00 in the Library on the 3^rd floor

Coming of Age Program: Coming of Age (COA) is a program that marks the transition from childhood to young adult. UU’s generally emphasize four areas in the COA experience: pairing youth with adult mentors; discussions and retreats that emphasize self-awareness and confidence-building; service to the church and community; and a culminating affirmation ceremony. We are offering a COA program this year for any high schoolers from grades 9-11 who have not yet had this experience. Our class will start and end with retreats, and will meet on Sunday mornings every other week. We have a teaching team in place who is planning the curriculum and experiences for this program, and we invite youth and families to an information meeting on September 15^th from 6-7 p.m. See Betsy Lowry (dre@wsuu.org) if you have any questions.

Teacher Training: Our annual RE teacher training session will be offered on Saturday, September 7^th this year, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. New and veteran teachers, please put this date on your calendar! Our alternate date for anyone who is not able to attend on the 7^th, is Saturday September 14^th from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Youth Room Seeks Stuff! We are in the process of creating a dedicated space for our youth to gather, connect, learn, share, powwow, congregate, meditate, and otherwise make their own. So far, it is not the beautiful or cozy place they deserve. YOU can help! We are looking for the following items, let us know if you have, or have a line on, any of the following: Please remember to only offer items in excellent condition. (Would you send it to Goodwill or post it on Craigslist? Only Craigslist worthy will do!). If you are, or can provide, a resource for these items, please contact Lorelei Amato at whosthere@loreleiamato.com.

Sectional sofa

Beanbag chairs or large cushions

Microwave oven

Wall-mount option speakers with mini connector (head-phone cable)

Carpet or rug, 5x7 or a little larger

Thank You!

WSUU Youth Adult Committee

Youth Group Kick-Off: Our high school Youth Group getting-to-know-you sleepover to kick off the year is happening September 6-7 at the church! We’ll start at 6pm, and we’ll wrap up at noon on Saturday. Details coming through email to youth and families.

Youth Room Painting Party: Calling all high school youth who are willing to do some serious painting in our youth room! Join the fun on Saturday, September 7 from 12-3, after our sleepover. Contact Betsy or Shelby Greiner with any questions. 

Family Information for Sunday, August 18, 2013

Hey Friends and Family of Westside,

Can you believe this week we are only a month out till the last program? Not only that, this Sunday will be our last multi-generational service for this summer. I just can’t believe how fast summer has flown by!

However do not despair; we still have four great Sundays coming up. Starting with our multi-generational service this week!

A brief summary of the service:

“Congregation Member, Keo Capestany, will share lessons we can all learn from this story of what is different between us, and the assumptions we form. All ages will appreciate Keo’s masterful storytelling and the reflections we gain from the concept of “walking a mile” in another’s shoes.”  

As some of you may know this means no classes downstairs this week. However our nursery will still be open during this time to kids ranging from six weeks to four years old. I know how some kids get restless during the service (no matter what age!), in order to combat this we have grab bags available and pens and papers in every pew.

I personally recommend all families and kids to come and experience this kid-friendly version of a very thoughtful and important message.

Have a good weekend, hope to see you all on Sunday!

Mackenzie

Family Information for Sunday, August 11, 2013

Hey Families and Friends of Westside,

How is everyone doing on this hot week? Hopefully not melting yet, I know how we Seattleites have a very narrow window of a comfortable temperature zone (can I get a 70 to 75 anyone?).  And well clearly this weather has no idea how to take a hint.

Unfortunately this is not due to change, however the silver lining? We have an exceptionally fun Sunday planned for the kids! Kevin Lane-Cummings, Shannon Day, and your kids (ages 5-12) will be exploring the science, art, and magic of rainbows. Rain or shine -- or both! -- there will be lots of color in the social hall. As you might expect, there will be prisms and several different renditions of "Over the Rainbow," but did you ever think you could hear a rainbow? Come and find out!

For kids younger than five (but older than six months please!), we have our lovely Nursery open. As always I highly encourage teens and young adults to come join us for our service, or if they want, help out with the kids downstairs.

This Sunday we do need a little extra help from the families of the 5-12 group. We currently don’t have enough incandescent flashlights, so if each family could bring one that would be just lovely. Along the same lines if anyone could lend a glass prism that would be fabulous!

Thanks guys, hope to see you Sunday!

Mackenzie

Family Information for Sunday, August 4, 2013

Hi Families and Friends of Westside,

 

Hope everyone is well and enjoying this refreshing cool Friday. 

Lucky for the kids they will get to continue the music theme set up by last week’s service.  This week our guest speaker will be Carmen Ficarra, and our teacher will be Julie Forkasdi.  Carmen and his friend Greg Canote will be playing some old-time music on the fiddle, guitar, and ukelele. There will be interactive songs, and the kids will even have an opportunity to freestyle it and make music that speaks to them as well!

As always the Nursery will be open to kids aged six months to four years. On the opposite side of the spectrum we encourage all teens/young adults to join us for the service, or if they want to, help out with the kids.

Just a quick recap from two weeks ago, I’m trying to set up a more efficient way to sign the kids out. So if you guys would come to the stage (it will be enclosed) to pick them up and sign them out, that would be incredible. For parents who think their kid(s) are old enough to sign out, please come see me.

Have a great weekend and hope to see you on Sunday!

Mackenzie  

Family Information for Sunday, July 28, 2013

Hello Families and Friends of Westside,

 

Hope everyone is doing well this lovely Friday evening, and has enjoyed this magnificent week of sunshine!

 

Just a quick reminder that this Sunday there is going to be a multigenerational service (one of only two this summer). This means there will be no RE class this week, however the Nursery will be open for kids ages six months to four years old. All kids over four are encouraged to attend the upbeat service centered around drumming and rhythm. Below is the description of the service to get a better understanding of what it will be like.

  

"In this multigenerational service, congregation member John Britt, along with the beat of our Westside drummers, will remind us of some simple life lessons from the drum circle in this all-percussion service. Both the individual impulse and the united beat of community fill the cycles of our human experience. In this service, our youngest and our eldest community members will experience joyful rhythms and diverse rhythms together, from different cultures."

 

Hope to see everyone there!

Mackenzie

 

 

Announcements:

Middle School Con Registration: Families of middle schoolers –  Fall Con registration is open! September 27-29, Vashon Island. The registration form is attached here. I encourage you to register in August to get the cheaper rate. Please make a copy of your registration for Betsy so she has accurate medical information. She will be attending Fall Con with our middle schoolers. Also, contact her directly if you have any questions (Betsy Lowry, dre@wsuu.org, 410-274-2018). 

Teaching and Advising in our RE Programs: We like to say that our children are our future. Well, Westside is making beautiful contributions to the future, as we help our children and youth to navigate their hearts, their self-confidence, their faith development, and their social justice sensibilities. Our children and youth come eagerly to our Sunday classes, to our special events and youth groups, and multigenerational worship and other activities. They blossom – from infant and active toddler size to middle and high school youth – in the safe and nurturing environments of our RE classes and programs. They grow and learn by being in relationship with their adult teachers. WE NEED TEACHERS! We want to offer our best to these precious gems of our community. Come talk with anyone on the RE Council, or anyone who has taught before to learn more about the connections you will make with other teachers and the difference you can make in kids’ lives. Let Betsy Lowry (dre@wsuu.org 410-274-2018) or Julie Forkasdi, RE Council Chair (julieforkasdi@email.com) know of your interest to contribute to our RE ministry.

OWL Update: We are offering two OWL classes this year, our Junior High OWL for 7^th and 8^th graders, and our elementary OWL for 4^th and 5^thgraders. The Junior High class will likely begin in October and end in April, meeting early on Sunday evenings. The elementary class has eight sessions, and the time of year will be determined with the teaching team and parent input. OWL is a significantly important experience for our children and youth, and requires a serious commitment on the part of families. We look forward to rich experiences with bonding and community building, trustbuilding, and learning in our OWL adventures this year. We now have solid teaching teams in place, and we will offer informational meetings for families in August. See Betsy Lowry (dre@wsuu.org) if you have any questions.

Coming of Age Program: Coming of Age (COA) is a program that marks the transition from childhood to young adult. UU’s generally emphasize four areas in the COA experience: pairing youth with adult mentors; discussions and retreats that emphasize self-awareness and confidence-building; service to the church and community; and a culminating affirmation ceremony. We are offering a COA program this year for any high schoolers from grades 9-11 who have not yet had this experience. Our class will start and end with retreats, and will meet on Sunday mornings every other week. We have a teaching team in place who is planning the curriculum and experiences for this program, and we will invite youth and families to an information meeting in August. See Betsy Lowry (dre@wsuu.org) if you have any questions.  

Family Information for Sunday, July 21, 2013

Hello Friends and Families of Westside,

 

Good evening everyone, hope you all had a fantastic week. And if not, well at least it's the weekend!

 

Speaking of, we have a great Sunday session for the kids group (ages 5-12). Tom Townsend and Amy Hance-Brancati will be teaching about an organization called Wild Burro Rescue, which as the name implies rescues wild burros (aka donkeys) from Death Valley National Park. Our own Tom worked for them for two years, where he was deeply impacted by the burros' gentle nature and intelligence. His lesson for Sunday is to relay his passion for the organization and the animal through a cool PowerPoint, art, and some games!

 

For kids aged 6 weeks to 4 years the Nursery will be open. All teens are encouraged to come, and can either help out downstairs (for service hours!!), or enjoy the service. This weeks service we'll hear from Marcus Green about finding heroism in an ordinary man's extraordinary actions, rather than an extraordinary man's (think Superman, Black Widow, Capitan  America) unrealistic actions. Should be quite interesting!

 

Hope to see you then!

Mackenzie

Family Information for Sunday, July 14, 2013

Hey Friends and Families of Westside,

Hey everyone this week is going to be super fun! Thomas Terence and Jeanette Hitch are going to lead our multi-age (usually 5-12) group in some adrenaline pumping and teambuilding games!! Through the games and Thomas and Jeanette's guidance they will learn more about the Unitarian values of acceptance, support, and feeling love from the community just the way you are.                                                                                                                                                                                

For children ages 6 weeks to 4 years old we also have an amazing nursery open. However all youth are encouraged to attend our service, which is about how Unitarian Universalists discern our own beliefs about spiritual, ethical and theological issues under an umbrella of shared principles.    

Hopefully we'll see you Sunday!

Mackenzie