Family Information for Sunday, May 19th

Hello Friends and Families of Westside!

As part of our partner church focus in May, we are having special guests tomorrow, including two children and two young adults, who recently visited our partner village in Romania. All of our RE classes will spend half of their time in their classrooms, and half of their time in the social hall for this event. Come join the fun! Our guests will also share a Story for All Ages in the service.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1.    WSUU Youth Ministry Conversation: We have a special opportunity to meet with our Regional UU Youth Coordinator, Jennica Davis, next Wednesday, May 22^nd. She lives in Arizona, but will be in Seattle that week and agreed to be available to us that afternoon. Come join an informative conversation from 5:00—6:30pm in the Fireside Room, where she will share information about local, regional and national opportunities and events for high school youth. She will also help us to shape our youth programs for next year. All youth, their families, and anyone who is interested in supporting our youth programs are welcome to join! Contact Betsy with questions.

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

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.    BAND REHEARSALS: This Sunday the Youth Band meets from 9:15 to 10:00 – we’ll meet in the preschool classroom again this week. The Uke Band meets next week, May 26th.

5.    MIDDLE SCHOOL: I think everyone is up to speed on our middle school happenings for now! If you have any questions or want more information, please contact me (dre@wsuu.org).

6.    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.

7.    SOCIAL JUSTICE PROJECTS IN RE: Thank you for wonderful support of our K-5^th grade Heifer International project! Last Sunday our card sales added $263 to our collection! Also, you can continue to send extra change from around the house with your children to their classes on Sundays. This week you’ll hear more about the middle school class and their work with the White Center Food Bank.

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: Our Spirit Play class will start in the social hall with our special guests who will share experiences from their recent trip to Romania and our partner village. Back in their classroom, this week’s story is called “Butterfly Friends,” which is a Green Promise story – “grow by exploring what is true and right.” In this story, three butterflies make friends with red clover, who is not afraid of their differences.

Kindergarten through Second Grade: “Wonderful Welcome”:  Our K-2 class will start in the social hall with our special guests who will share experiences from their recent trip to Romania and our partner village.

Back in their classroom, this Sunday’s session will focus on the gift of spirit, which we give and receive as members of a faith community when we worship together, celebrate together, and support and comfort one another. At its best, a Unitarian Universalist faith community nourishes all members with affirmation of their spirit and acceptance of their unique spiritual paths. 

Third through Fifth Grades: “Love Will Guide Us”: Our 3-5 class will start in the social hall with our special guests who will share experiences from their recent trip to Romania and our partner village.

Back in their classroom, this Sunday’s session will focus on our fifth Source, which “…counsels us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science…,” through Unitarian Universalist Cecelia Payne, the first person to be given the title “astronomer.” We will learn about Cecelia’s love of learning and do a mini science investigation to illustrate that UUs value discovery throughout life and use reason as a source of strength in our faith.

Middle School: “Riddle and Mystery”:  The middle schoolers will spend the first half of class in their classroom, and the second half in the social hall with our special guests who will share experiences from their recent trip to Romania and our partner village.

This week’s lesson is about life as mystery, focusing on the big question, “can we ever solve life’s mystery?” The typical answer will be “no,” but our kids will examine this seemingly obvious answer by revisiting a few of the big questions from previous sessions.

High School: “Our Name is Earl”: Our high school class will spend the first half of class (from 10:30-11:15) in their classroom, and the second half in the social hall with our special guests who will share experiences from their recent trip to Romania and our partner village.

This week’s lesson is “O Karma, Where Art Thou?” – Agents and Prophets. Some of our discussion questions include:

·      Do you believe people, in general, get what they deserve? Why or why not? Can you give an example of a time when you saw a person get EXACTLY what they deserved, good or bad? What about a time when someone didn't get what they deserved, good or bad?

·      How far do you think you have to go to make something up to someone? How much would you sacrifice to make things right?

·      Who or what do you turn to in times of crisis?

·      Can you think of a time when your faith in something or someone was challenged? What did you do? How did you feel?

Youth Group will meet this week in the social hall from 7:00-8:30pm with Shelby and Suki. The next few meetings are important – our YAC members (Mia, Henry and Lewis) will be leading the group through some planning for creating our youth room (starting in a couple of weeks), our upcoming overnight (June 7-8), and visiting other youth groups (this summer).  

See you tomorrow!

Betsy

Taking It Home for Sunday, May 12th

Grades K-2: Wonderful Welcome

Taking It Home, Session 13: The Gift Of Learning Together

Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em, 'Certainly I can!' Then get busy and find out how to do it.

— Theodore Roosevelt

IN TODAY'S SESSION... The children explored the intangible gift of learning together. They heard a story about a rooster that did not know how to do its job —waking up the farmer and the other animals. The other farm animals attempt to teach the rooster what to do. Ultimately, the rooster realizes that he knew how to crow all along, but he needed his friends to help him learn. The children learned a new weaving skill and experienced learning from and with each other.

EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Talk about... what it means to learn together. What are some of the things you learn together as a family? What else would you like to learn together?

EXTEND THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Try... Choose an activity that the family has never tried before and learn about it together. For example, if you have never cooked as a family, choose a recipe that could involve all members of the family. You may want to try to weave something together. Use the instructions from Activity 4 of this session to make a belt together. If you give the belt to an extended family member or a friend, make sure you let that person know they are also receiving an intangible gift — the gift of learning together.

A FAMILY ADVENTURE

Visit a working farm in your area. There might be a dairy barn or goat farm near you that offers tours. When you go, find out how the different parts of the farm work together.

FAMILY DISCOVERY

Younger and younger children are accustomed to doing research online and this is a great way to learn together. Sit down with your child(ren) at a computer and research a topic together. You might investigate places where you all want to travel, animals you have always wondered about, a sport you would like to learn, the history of your own family's ethnic group(s), or upcoming schedules of family activities in your local area. If you find out about a course you can all take together, such as a local ecology or an ethnic dance course, consider signing up!

Grades 3-5: Love Will Guide Us

Taking It Home, Session 8: Love is Accepting

Learning to live with what you're born with/is the process,/the involvement./the making of a life. — Diane Wakoski, American poet and essayist, in The Motorcycle Betrayal Poems

IN TODAY'S SESSION... the children learned from our fourth Unitarian Universalist Source, "Jewish and Christian teachings which tell us to love all others as we love ourselves," and explored gender stereotypes through a story based on Jacob and Rachel, from Hebrew scripture. While we may wish to believe the damage of gender bias belongs to the past, there is still much to be learned about gender identity. We talked about gender as a feature of identity we find on a continuum, rather than a binary (male/female).

Another topic explored today is one of expressing emotions. The group role played expressing emotions and how they react to those emotions.

EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER. The story "The Strong Man Who Cried" challenges gender stereotypes. Jacob cries whenever he sees something beautiful. Rachel would rather tend sheep then stay home with other women. Use this story for a teachable moment in your family. Ask about Jacob and crying. Ask about Rachel and the way her father responds to her. The children learned that this story was written a long time ago, when gender roles and expectations were rigid. Talk together about what, if any, gender stereotypes exist today—at home, at school, or in the media. Name specific people who do not fit a gender stereotype. Talk about how a gender stereotype can hurt everyone—the person whose behavior does not fit it, as well as people whose behavior does seem to fit. Talk about how stereotyping can prevent people from giving and receiving the love and acceptance we all deserve.

Family Discovery. Try this session's Faith In Action activity at home, with items you have around the house. If more than one gender lives in your home, examine who plays with which toys. If there is only one gender represented, what toys do you have? Are any toys which, according to stereotype, "belong" to the other gender? Invite everyone to play with a toy they do not usually play with.

Middle School: Riddle and Mystery

Taking It Home, Session 13: Oh My Soul

If there is light in the soul, there will be beauty in the person. If there is beauty in the person, there will be harmony in the house. If there is harmony in the house, there will be order in the nation. If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world. — Chinese proverb

Talk about the quote. Do you agree with what it says? What does it mean to have light in your soul? Is having light in your soul the same as having love in your soul? How do you get light into your soul? How do you get light into somebody else's soul?

WHAT WE DID TODAY

Today's Big Question asks, "Do I have a soul?" We began with a meditation and talked about the general meaning of soul. We talked about what other people say about soul, and reacted to their ideas. We heard the story "Why and Where God Hides," and learned that some people think God or the Divine is in each of us, maybe even in our souls. During WCUU, we heard about what various UUs have said about soul in different times and places. Our NUUs Analyst said that many UUs today use the word "soul" when they speak of their deepest, nonphysical selves, but they do not think of the soul as something that lives forever and goes to Hell or Heaven when we die. Most UUs are more concerned about what we are and do in life than in death. Finally, we made masks to explore our own inner selves and souls.

FIND YOURSELF

Did you ever hear about people "finding themselves"? Talk to your family about what that means. Some people say that finding yourself means learning to know your deepest self. Other people can support you while you do that, but in the end, you are the only person who can really go inside yourself, and you are the person who can understand yourself best. Do other members of your family agree with that? Do they think that "soul-searching" is a way to find yourself? Can meditation help with that?

REFLECT ON YOUR BELIEFS

Here is a traditional prayer poem that children have sometimes said just before going to bed:

Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

If I should die before I wake,

I pray the Lord my soul to take.

Are you familiar with that poem? Have people in your family ever said it? How do you react to it? What do you think would happen to the soul in the poem, if the person died in the night and the Lord took the soul? What sort of religious belief about soul does the poem reflect?

SHARED SEARCH

Travel to a place where the word "soul" or the idea of "soul" is important. Maybe it is a church or a cemetery. What do you find there?

PHOTO CHALLENGE

Photograph the spirit of yourself. How do you do that? Maybe you photograph a place where you have made a difference. Or maybe you photograph something that represents an idea of yours. You decide.

FAMILY FAITH IN ACTION — DEEPER CONNECTIONS

As a family, reach out to another family of people you like but could get to know better. Try to connect, and to understand each other. (Do this together with adults, because not everybody is safe and easy to get along with). Making better connections with other people can be very rewarding. You and they get to know more about who everybody really is inside.

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 

_______________________________________________

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. 

Family Information for Sunday, May 5, 2013

Hello Friends and Families of Westside!

Woo hoo – we’re in the sun! It’s easy to feel the gratitude on these bloom-filled, sunny, warm spring days! So, in that spirit of gratefulness, I want to share that it felt really great to me to return to our congregation from a dynamic regional assembly in San Jose. We rock, and in really fantastic ways. There is such good spirit in our community. I am truly grateful to be here!

NOTE:

Grades 3-5 parents, your children have a very special art project this Sunday – they will be making textured and stamped acrylic greeting cards to sell during social hour to raise funds for their Heifer International project. See below for information about their clothing with acrylic paints.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

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

2.    MIDDLE SCHOOL CONS: See information at the bottom of this message. Registration for the June 7-8 overnight at Northlake needs to happen by June 2, but there is limited space. So please let me know if you want me to reserve a space now for your youth!

3.    MIDDLE SCHOOL FUN NIGHT: Friday, May 19^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!

4.    CHILDREN’S CHOIR: The Children’s Choir will sing again for our RE Celebration Sunday on June 9^th. Rehearsals are this Sunday, May 5^th, and June 2^nd. All K-5^th graders are invited to participate, and older youth who are interested are also welcome to join. The kids will meet with Lisa Maynard and Liz Bucklew this Sunday in the Library Room on the 3^rd floor from 12:00-12:30.

5.    YOUTH ADULT COMMITTEE MEETING (YAC): This meeting was amazing – lots of momentum for our senior high youth ministry! We now have co-chairs for our YAC – Mia Shaughnessy and Lorelei Amato. Other YAC members (youth were voted in, and adults were invited by the youth) are Henry Bennett, Lewis Brancati, Shannon Day, Mike Cox, and our lead youth advisor, Shelby Greiner. I am an ex-officio member. We have three immediate projects: visiting other youth groups in our district; creating our WSUU Youth Room on the 3^rd floor; and planning an overnight event in June. Our youth are also committing to support the ongoing Orion Center dinners organized by Marissa Ohoyo.

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 our Spirit Play children will focus on all of our seven promises (UU Principles). In our remaining weeks before the summer program begins, we will revisit some of our favorite stories and themes.

Kindergarten through Second Grade: “Wonderful Welcome”:  This Sunday’s session will focus on the gift of acceptance, a particularly important gift because it makes sharing other intangible gifts possible.

Children can relate to the idea of "acceptance" on a personal, concrete level through their experiences of feeling accepted and accepting others. The simplicity of a child's understanding is not superficial, but deeply rooted in our Universalist heritage that includes the belief in a divine force which accepts each of us as we are. Built into our faith, too, is the belief that acceptance of others begins with acceptance of self.

Third through Fifth Grades: “Love Will Guide Us”:  This week’s session, “Give Love” focuses on the second Unitarian Universalist Source, "Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love," expressed in children's language as "the women and men of long ago and today whose lives remind us to be kind and fair." Our children are experiencing the gift of giving love as they spend time growing funds to provide a family with an animal to sustain them through the Heifer International organization.

This Sunday our 3^rd-5^th graders will make textured and stamped acrylic greeting cards in class – a special project with Alice Britt. Acrylic paints will not stain hands, but they may stain clothing. The kids will also be handling tissue paper that can bleed onto clothing and hands  -- it will stain.

PARENTS -- Our children will each be given a smock or covering for this project, but we suggest that you send them in clothing appropriate for this art activity. Thank you!

Middle School: “Riddle and Mystery”:  This week, as our middle school youth continue to move their White Center Food Bank social action initiative forward, their teachers will weave in key themes from recent curriculum sessions, including interconnectedness, and truth telling. Look for upcoming information about a visit to the White Center Food Bank.

High School: “Our Name is Earl”: This week’s episode addresses Forgiveness and Blame. Unitarian Universalists believe in the interconnected web of life (Principle 7) and in taking care of the community in which we live (Principle 6). We believe that we are all connected to one another – through the air we breathe, the earth we share, food we eat, and the deeds we do. In this way, Earl is very much a Unitarian Universalist. Even though Earl doesn't know it, UUs often believe that if we do good in our lives, our lives become better. Perhaps it is because of Karma, or perhaps it is just because taking care of the community we live in makes the world a better place for everyone to live in. Earl's community is so small that, as he crosses items off of his list, he really does change it for the better in a very direct and immediate way. Our community as Unitarian Universalists includes the entire world, and our deeds are often directed toward living ethically, using the Principles to guide our actions toward ourselves and others, and making the world a better place.

Youth Group will meet this week in the social hall from 6:30-8:30pm with Shelby and Suki. They will start by sharing Pho for dinner.  

Have a fabulous Sunday!

Betsy

Middle School Cons:

1) 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! You can submit them to me -- I will sign, and send them in altogether. Even before that, if I know you're interested, I'll call to reserve space for us. 

2) 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.